Meet Middle Grade Author Raymond Bean

Carpinello's Writing Pages is excited to welcome Raymond Bean and his new MG novel A Ticket to the Bigs. Can't think of a better way to start March than with the author of Sweet Farts!

First, a bit about Raymond:

I’m a dad, a teacher, and the author of the Sweet Farts and School Is A Nightmare series. I’ve always enjoyed writing. I remember writing dialogue bubbles on my pencil box as a small child.

Why did you pick to write books for MG?

It was the genre I enjoyed most when I was a kid. Additionally, I teach fourth grade, so I spend a great deal of time reading books in the genre with my class. It’s a natural fit.

What types of books do you like to read?

 I like to read funny books.

When you are not writing, what do you like to do?

When I’m not writing, I’m usually thinking about writing. When I’m not thinking about writing, I like to spend time with my family.

Tell us about A Ticket to the Bigs and how the story came to be.

I’ve always been a big baseball fan and a fan of all things ridiculous. Writing a funny baseball book has been on my mind for many years. Imagine Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Major League Baseball…and Will Ferrell is Willy Wonka.

Here's a peek at A Ticket to the Bigs:

The Riptide is professional baseball’s newest team. It’s also the worst. The players are washed up, lazy, and should have retired a long time ago.

Tommy is the team’s biggest fan. He goes to every home game, watches the away games on TV, and even blogs about the Riptide. He knows everything there is know about baseball but is the worst player in his local Little League. So how did he end up on baseball’s biggest stage?

Will Panzell is the owner of the team. He’s also completely nuts. He lies, cheats, and schemes to sell tickets to Riptide games. His latest stunt is so bananas it has the whole world shocked, and it might just be crazy enough to work.

When Will and Tommy’s worlds collide, baseball may never be the same again.
 

Have you written other books? If so, tell us a bit about them.

I wrote the Sweet Farts Series. It’s a three book series. The main character sets out to find a cure for the smell of human gas. My School Is A Nightmare Series follows a a reluctant fourth grader through a very strange school year. Each book in the series takes place during a different time of the year, for example: The first week, the first field trip, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. My goal is to follow him all the way through the year.



What’s next for your writing? Are you working on a new story?

I released the fifth School Is A Nightmare book in late October. In January, Benji Franklin: Kid Zillionaire made its debut. It’s a really fun book that I think young readers are going to love.


What advice do you have for other authors?

Write as often as possible and release at least one title a year.


Where find Raymond and his books: 

Website

Amazon