Brain Burps About Books Podcast #211

Why Peter Lerangis Was On Air Force One

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This Week’s Guest is Peter Lerangis!

Peter Lerangis is the author of more than 160 books, which have sold more than 5½ million copies and been translated into 33 different languages. Seven of his books have made the New York Times–Children’s Bestseller Lists: The Colossus Rises, Lost in Babylon, and The Tomb of Shadows, Books 1 through 3 of The Seven Wonders series; The Sword Thief, The Viper’s Nest, and Vespers Rising (the latter co-authored with Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson) in The 39 Clues series; and The Dead of Night, Book 3 in The 39 Clues: Cahills Vs. Vespers series.

Peter and I talk about

• How Peter left showbiz behind for the glamour life of the writer.
• How Peter got started in his writing career.
• His actual sales number being closer to 15 million copies but only counts 5 million. Only. Find out why.
• Z is for Moose and the sequel and what is Peter’s connection.
• Our 100 Favorite Children’s Books of the Year Randomly Organized.
• Singing. (He sings to me!)
• What’s it’s like to eat a Dove Bar on Air Force One and why Peter got to do that.
• The Seven Wonders series.

P.S. I LOVE his answer to my usual last yard sale question!

Note to my podcast listeners

When I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR I thought, “Hey! I could do that, but with children’s publishing as my focus!” That’s how Brain Burps About Books got started. Writing is so solitary. I thought it would be a great way to get to talk to my friends and make new ones, plus I could help others learn. Maybe I’d learn some stuff myself, too. I’ve had the privilege of talking to the first three National Ambassadors for Young People’s Literature, to librarians and New York Time’s bestselling authors. I’ve interviewed to booksellers and publishers, writers, illustrators, app creators, and app distributors, and more! There is always something new on the horizon to learn and to share. So many listeners have asked how to support the show, and actually, now you can. I’ve installed a donate button to help defray the costs of producing the show. What do you learn or get out of Brain Burps every week? If it’s worth donating a dollar, two dollars, five, or whatever you think the show is worth to you, it would help enormously. The show costs $20 a month to keep on the server, and that’s only if there are four shorter episodes in a month. That number doesn’t include other costs like my time to research and record, post, edit the intros and outros, web hosting, and equipment and software to do all this. I ended up loving podcasting. I love my listeners. My “Burpers!” This is my gig, I know. and like I said, it’s an incredible experience for me. But if you’ve you’ve been helped, or just love it too, and you’re able, here’s your opportunity to help defray the costs. No matter what, thank you for being a Burper!

  Sometimes I’ll tell you about something that has impressed the heck out of me. If you decide to purchase what I’ve recommended, you do not pay any more but I’ll get a referral fee. But I will only use a referral (or affiliate) link if it has earned my trust.