Authorpreneur Dashboard – Norris Bloom
Crowns and Kingdoms Book One: Tarshish
Children's Books
In the first book in the Crowns and Kingdoms series, Norris Bloom takes you back in time to the medieval days of Tarshish. The king of Tarshish summons a secret meeting of all the noble kings from kingdoms near and far, putting forth the idea of a secret pact. In order to preserve their kingdoms, each king reluctantly agrees to fake the death of their next born child. Secretly placed in a cottage, the children are taught the virtues needed to be honorable and effective rulers. As the children grow older, Judoc and his Night Invaders continue their assault on the kingdoms. When Judoc claims the throne of Magog and turns his sights on Tarshish, young Zora is forced into battle. With the help of her best friend, Sundiata, Zora uses her head and her heart to defeat Judoc and save the kingdom of Tarshish.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Book One: Tarshish
Kids Should Live by Their Own Code of Chivalry
Crowns and Kingdoms Book One: Tarshish is the first book in my series dedicated to inspiring kids to adopt and live by their own code of honor. The questions at the end of each book ask the reader to think about the difficulty of making decisions, standing up for what they think is right, and not losing sight of empathy for others. Start the Crowns and Kingdoms journey today!
The King's Dilemma
What if you had to make a really difficult choice? A choice between deceiving the person you love most and doing what you think is needed to save an entire kingdom. This is the dilemma that the King of Tarshish faces in chapter one of Crowns and Kingdoms Tarshish.
Crowns and Kingdoms - Tarshish
Children's Books
In the first book in the Crowns and Kingdoms series, Norris Bloom takes you back in time to the medieval days of Tarshish. The King of Tarshish summons a secret meeting of all the noble kings from kingdoms near and far, putting forth the idea of a secret pact. In order to preserve their kingdoms, each king reluctantly agrees to fake the death of their next born child. Secretly placed in a cottage, the children are taught the virtues needed to be honorable and effective rulers. As the children grow older, Judoc and his Night Invaders continue their assault on the kingdoms. When Judoc claims the throne of Magog and turns his sights on Tarshish, young Zora is forced into battle. With the help of her best friend, Sundiata, Zora uses her head and her heart to defeat Judoc and save the kingdom of Tarshish.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms - Tarshish
IGNITING IMAGINATION
As a reader, I love the aspect of creating images in my head as I delve into the story. As a writer, there is no bigger joy for me than to spark a child's imagination with the joy of reading. At the end of each Crowns and Kingdoms book, there is a set of book club questions for the reader to ponder and discuss, expanding on the imagery process. Here is a sample question from Crowns and Kingdoms Tarshish. In your imagination,where is the kingdom of Tarshish located? What kinds of details have you created to add to the written description of Tarshish?
THE KING'S DILEMMA UNFOLDS
The honorable King of Tarshish has made the most difficult choice that a father could make, and now he must learn to live with the consequences. In the first several chapters of book one, we watch as the king struggles with his decision. He questions himself time and time again--did he make the right choice by sending his daughter away? In chapter 10, he sees his daughter, Zora, for the first time in fourteen years. It doesn't take long to find out if the King of Tarshish made a good decision or a very bad one...
Racism In Medieval Times
I think most people would agree that discrimination is something that is a learned behavior. My series explores the notion of a group of ethnically diverse children growing up as a family unit. I created this family by having kings from various kingdoms bring their infant children to a secret cottage. But what would these children do if they witnessed racism, sexism or bullying? Would they speak up? Crowns and Kingdoms encourages young people to adopt and live by a code of chivalry.
MEDIEVAL LIFE AS A TEEN
Children had to grow up much faster during medieval times. We know form history that there were several "child" kings. Crowns and Kingdoms explores the notion of child/teen rulers based on my firm belief that people of all ages, genders, races and cultures have the ability to make positive change in the world. I wanted to tell the story of what challenging decisions young rulers might have faced, including the most basic choice of all: the choice to use power for good or for evil.
Modern Day Knights-setting the theme of the series
I wanted my series to inspire kids of various ethnic backgrounds to adopt their own modern-day code of chivalry by "doing the right thing" and encouraging others to do the same. Too often, medieval kings and queens within books are portrayed with the beautiful, princess getting saved by the rich, powerful king. The Crowns and Kingdoms series showcases that all people have trials to overcome and that popularity and leadership is often accompanied with responsibility and difficult decisions. This excerpt from the prologue sets up the meeting of all the noble kings from various kingdoms. The kingdoms are fictitious, but represent a wide variety of cultures. Each book of the series follows one of the teens as they fulfill their destiny.
Orphans?
My favorite books as a kid were James and the Giant Peach, A Little Princess and A Secret Garden--all having some type of orphan as a main character. I LOVE the notion of strong child characters that overcome adversity. In Crowns and Kingdoms Tarshish (the first book of my series) young Zora and her friends contemplate becoming orphans should their beloved foster parents die during the plague that has besieged the kingdom of Tarshish. What would Zora and her friends do without William and Millie? How would they survive at such young ages? Worse yet, what would happen if they encountered the evil Judoc and his Night Invaders?
Crowns and Kingdoms - Magog
Children's Books
Vivi discovers, with the help of her good friend Queen Zora, that she is not an orphan at all,but rather the only surviving member of the royal family of Magog. Vivi leaves her friends and the comfort of Tarshish to travel to the distant kingdom of Magog to claim her throne. Once in the new kingdom, she discovers Magog is a very wealthy land, but also one cloaked in fears of witchcraft. As a healer herself, Vivi struggles to find a way to prove that using herbs for healing is a far cry from the evils of witchcraft. Eventually, Vivi takes a stand when she realizes that along with power and wealth comes the responsibility of doing the right thing.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms - Magog
Medieval "Healers"
The earliest form of medicine in various cultures was the use of herbs for their medicinal properties. I am always intrigued with the mention of Medieval "healers" within fictinal stories or even factual accounts. Vivi is one the older kids within the secret cottage. She isn't brave or particularly good with a sword, but she posses great knowledge and skill regarding plants and herbs and their healing properties. It is fun as an author to give characters their personality, and many of my readers have said that they especially like Vivi.
Conquering Fear
Vivi's challenge is to overcome her fear if she is going to become an effective ruler and create a kingdom that she can be proud of. In this excerpt, Vivi takes the first step of conquering her fear when she visits the dungeon that once held the escaped "witch girl."
Brotherly Love
One of the best aspects of writing is describing relationships. I am especially interested in family relationships and what really constitutes a family. The Crowns and Kingdoms series is based on a group of ethnically diverse kids raised together from infancy that form their own unique family. Each book then follows one of the children as they leave their family and travel to their own kingdoms. This excerpt is based on the relationship of an older brother's love and care for his younger sister--a common bond that many can understand.
Imagery
One of my favorite aspects of writing a series of books is creating the different kingdoms. I draw inspiration for the various kingdoms from current or ancient areas around the world, and I often tie in myths and/or legends from history. I believe it is all the small details that makes a kingdom feel real to the reader. This short excerpt is an example of how imagery can help set the scene and differentiate one kingdom from another.
MISUNDERSTOOD
Have you ever been misunderstood? It's very hard to be brave enough to speak out when you are in the minority. This is the dilema that Vivi faces when she arrives to the kingdom of Magog. Can she overcome her fears and find the strength to stand up for what she believes in?
Everyone has Fears
Vivi is the main character of book two (Magog) of the Crowns and Kingdoms series. At first glance, Vivi seems like she has it all---but does anyone really have it all? Deep down the idea of being a ruler terrifies the beautiful young queen, and in this excerpt we can see that really Vivi is just a typical young girl.
Crowns and Kingdoms - Nok
Children's Books
When Sundiata reads Princess Tahtahme’s letter given to him from his best friend,Queen Zora, he knows that he must leave Tarshish at once and travel to the far away kingdom of Nok on the Dark Continent. Sundiata finds Nok to be vastly different from Tarshish, especially since the people live in constant fear of a ghost ship that seemingly causes people to vanish in the middle of the night. As Sundiata unravels the mystery of the ghost ship, he also solves the mystery of Princess Tahtahme’s missing twin brother.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms - Nok
Crowns and Kingdoms - Nok
Children's Books
After helping his best friend Zora secure her crown and the kingdom of Tarshish, Sundiata is summoned once more by young Queen Zora. Only this time, it is not the kingdom of Tarshish that is in trouble, it is Princess Tahtahme and the far away kingdom of Nok that desperately needs his help…
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms - Nok
I believe the "good guys" do win.
Today as I watch the news, I am reminded why I really wanted to write my series of books. It seems like kids now get bombarded with negativity and evil--anywhere from trashy, reality t.v. to horrendous actions perpetrated by a small population of people. I believe that the good on this earth far outweighs the bad. My hope is that kids of all races, religions and genders connect with some of the good guy/gal characters within my series, inspiring them to live by a modern-day code of chivalry.
Believe in the Magic
Many times I look to folklore and mythology for various ways to weave magic into my books. I love stories passed down from generation to generation of the many different types of faeries said to inhabit so any of the lands from which I take my inspiration. This excerpt of a conversation between Jemil and Sundiata shows an example of this when Jemil describes the Abatwa faeries found within the kingdom of Nok.
Princess Tahtahme
Princess Tahtahme was one of my favorite characters to create. I looked many places for inspiration, but I finally found a story about a real "Queen Tahtahme" from Jamaica. The real queen was also known as Queen Muhmusa and also as the "hidden queen". Queen Tahtahme fought to free Africans from the English slavery and rule. I loved reading about her and soon knew that I had found the perfect name for my warrior princess.
Turn a Blind Eye?
Throughout history, there have been many times that people have turned a blind eye to horrific things happening right in front of them. When evil rears its ugly head in Nok, strong, young characters face this ugliness head-on. Children and young people often have more courage than adults to stand up for what is right. I believe we have many young, modern-day knights all around us!
Building a strong character
One of my favorite parts about writing books is creating the characters. Crowns and Kingdoms Book Three: Nok revolves around a very strong character within my series. Sundiata emerges as the natural leader within the group of children living in the secret cottage. This excerpt begins to let the reader know that Sundiata is not just an excellent swordsman, but that he is also a boy with strong moral convictions.
Chapter 1
Book Bubbles from Chapter 1
Crowns and Kingdoms Book 5 Pale
Teens
Young Brennus is not one bit surprised when Aegis of Pale arrives at the secret cottage in Tarshish and tells him that King Rory the Red has summoned him back to Pale Castle. But once in the kingdom of Pale, Brennus is very surprised to find his kingdom involved in a brutal feud with the neighboring kingdom of Britannia. In addition, tales of invaders from the north sailing toward their kingdom has King Rory preparing for battle. Will Brennus be able to help the kingdom of Pale mend their feud with King Kenneth of Britannia? Will the kingdom of Pale be able to protect their borders from the invaders and, more importantly, will Brennus even survive if the invaders land on the shores of Pale?
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Book 5 Pale
Live like a modern-day knight
There are many opportunities for me to write about chivalry and "doing the right thing" within the setting of my medieval/fantasy series Crowns and Kingdoms. My hope is that kids will be inspired by the actions of my characters and choose to live their life following a modern-day code of chivalry.
Creating Real Characters
Even though I write in the genre of fantasy, I try very hard to create characters that are "real". My hope is that the eclectic group of kids within the secret cottage are people that my readers connect with as both character and reader navigate the world and its challenges. My ultimate goal is that each book within the Crowns and Kingdoms series contains a character that inspires the reader to live their life as a modern-day knight and abide by their own code of chivalry.
REVENGE
Often times when we act in haste and rage we regret our decisions later. Unfortunately, no matter how badly we want to take back our actions at times, we simply can't. Crowns and Kingdoms Pale visits this notion when a knight is unjustly killed and the idea of revenge follows....
Crowns and Kingdoms Book 4 Bohemia
Teens
The fourth book of Norris Bloom's Crowns and Kingdoms series follows Adela as she reluctantly agrees to travel with Aegis of Bohemia to his distant kingdom. Once there, she discovers that Bohemia is a poor, nomadic kingdom with many unusual customs. Unable to refuse the crown, she becomes the queen of the gypsies, but struggles to solve the problems facing the Bohemian people. Far worse, gypsy code demands that she be married within a year. Adela's worst fears become reality when she realizes that her future is solely in the hands of the drabarni—the wise couple of the kingdom.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Book 4 Bohemia
We often fear what we don't know....
One of my favorite things about traveling to different countries is experiencing their unique customs and way of life. I think people often fear things that they are not familiar with rather than learning how and why other cultures do things differently than they do. In this excerpt, Adela is clearly intrigued by the unique appearance of Aegis of Bohemia.
The Aha Moment!
I love this aha moment when Adela reaches the point when she is able to look past what she perceives as her flaws and truly love herself. My hope is that my characters inspire my readers to accept and love themselves for who they are as well.
STRIVING TO IMPROVE AS A WRITER
When I wrote the first three books of my Crowns and Kingdoms series, my goal with each of them was to come up with an original idea, write a story that made sense to the reader, and eventually turn that story into a printed book. It was a good way for me to start my writing career since that in itself was very intimidating and at times overwhelming.With Book four I really tried to challenge myself as a writer. I enlisted the help of my brother (a published author and an English teacher in Japan) who has helped me improve all aspects of my writing. I'm very grateful to him as many of my readers have told me that I found my voice with book four and book five. As adults we sometimes forget that it is never too late to learn new things and follow your dreams. My goal continues to be to write a book better than the last one.
Body image and teen self-esteem
As a parent of three grown kids, I know how hard it is for teens to develop positive self-esteem in a world that rewards unattainable perfection. For this reason, I have tried to give all of my main characters moments/issues of self-doubt within themselves. Crowns and Kingdoms Bohemia tackles the very common issue of weight and self-esteem. This excerpt portrays how so many times the perception we have of ourselves is so different than how other people really see us.
The Gypsy Kingdom of Bohemia
I find the gypsy culture very mysterious and intriguing, so there was no doubt that one of the kingdoms within my Crowns and Kingdom series would be that of a traveling gypsy kingdom called Bohemia. I had a lot of fun describing the people that I imaged might be part of this wonderful group of characters. This excerpt gives insight to when Adela first examines Brando's appearance.
Crowns and Kingdoms Book Six: Eryx
Children's Books
Nikolette is the newly crowned queen of Eryx, but she finds herself in quite a predicament when she receives a frightening message from the neighboring kingdom of Goth. Faced with the realization that an invasion from evil King Iodoc is imminent, Queen Nikolette struggles to create a plan to defend her sea kingdom. Will the young Queen Nikolette find a way to secure the shores of Eryx and keep King Iodoc from setting foot upon the sands of her kingdom?
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Book Six: Eryx
Crowns and Kingdoms Book Six: Eryx
Teens
Nikolette is the newly crowned queen of Eryx, but she finds herself in quite a predicament when she receives a frightening message from the neighboring kingdom of Goth. Faced with the realization that an invasion from evil King Iodoc is imminent, Queen Nikolette struggles to create a plan to defend her sea kingdom. Will the young Queen Nikolette find a way to secure the shores of Eryx and keep King Iodoc from setting foot upon the sands of her kingdom?
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Book Six: Eryx
My Atlantis
I have always been intrigued with the legend of Atlantis. There is nothing more magical than the idea of a sunken kingdom existing at the bottom of the sea. This notion is what inspired Crowns and Kingdoms Eryx (the sixth book of my series). I had fanciful fun marrying medieval times with the mystery of sunken treasures and sea sprites!
Crown and Kingdoms: Book 5 Pale
Children's Books
Young Brennus is not one bit surprised when Aegis of Pale arrives at the secret cottage in Tarshish and tells him that King Rory the Red has summoned him back to Pale Castle. But once in the kingdom of Pale, Brennus is very surprised to find his kingdom involved in a brutal feud with the neighboring kingdom of Britannia. In addition, tales of invaders from the north sailing toward their kingdom has King Rory preparing for battle. Will Brennus be able to help the kingdom of Pale mend their feud with King Kenneth of Britannia? Will the kingdom of Pale be able to protect their borders from the invaders and, more importantly, will Brennus even survive if the invaders land on the shores of Pale?
Book Bubbles from Crown and Kingdoms: Book 5 Pale
REVENGE
Have you ever noticed that revenge often just makes a bad situation even worse? Crowns and Kingdoms Pale is a story about forgiveness and the positive things that come from letting go of past resentment.
Everybody Loves Leo
Children's Books
Ever wonder what your dog does while you are on vacation? Everybody Loves Leo introduces the days of the week, encourages reading out loud through repetition, and focuses on LOVE of family and dogs. The illustrations are fun and showcase the beautiful, diverse world we live in today.
Book Bubbles from Everybody Loves Leo
Who will watch Leo?
Everybody Loves Leo has been such a fun book to create. Leo is my daughter's rescue dog, and he is a real character! The idea for the book came to me when our family was away on vacation. (We went too far away to take Leo with us, and we felt a little sad.) Then my daughter started getting pictures of Leo doing something fun with a new person each day. We thought it was so funny that everybody loved Leo so much that they wanted to take him for the day! I guess it's true--Everybody does love Leo!
What does your dog do when you are away?
Follow Leo as he embarks on his own vacation when his owners are away. Everybody Loves Leo is a story about love, family, and dogs. Pre-order NOW on Amazon.com.
Everybody Loves Leo
Book Bubbles from Everybody Loves Leo
Crowns and Kingdoms Goth: Book seven of the Secret Cottage Series
Children's Books
Young Sage knows what must be done to claim the throne of Goth from evil King Iodoc, but when he disregards the advice from his elders and rushes into action, he finds himself brutally attacked and left for dead. Only when Sage wakes up in a strange cave in the Red Mountains of Goth does he realize that his life was spared. While living in the mountains, Sage's wounds heal, and he learns the meaning of being the true Prince of Goth. With the help of the holy man Sancho Pacal, the Royal Eagle Knights, General Sanchez, Lady Marina, and the rest of the resistance, he is ready to storm Goth Castle. Will Sage claim the crown for himself? Will he restore Goth to the peace-loving kingdom that it once was? Sage will need everything to go according to plan if he is to succeed in liberating the people of Goth.
Book Bubbles from Crowns and Kingdoms Goth: Book seven of the Secret Cottage Series
The Choice: chivalry or indifference?
This excerpt showcases young Sage's dilemma and his choice to help fellow human beings rather than stay in the background--even when staying in the background would be far more beneficial to him.
Inspiring readers to live with honor
Crowns and Kingdoms Book Seven:Goth is the latest book in the series dedicated to inspiring young readers to adopt and live by their own code of honor.
Everybody Loves Leo
Children's Books
Everybody Loves Leo is a picture book about Leo's vacation while his family is on vacation. The book reinforces days of the week and uses repetition to encourage reading out loud. Above all, it's a story about love!
Book Bubbles from Everybody Loves Leo
