Lu & Lu Series

Do you know every nook and cranny of your neighborhood? How about UNDER your neighborhood? Do you let your kids walk home from school? It's just a few blocks, right? What lurks in the shadows? In the bushes? Or scarier yet, under the bushes?  Or is it all just happy-go-lucky Huckleberry Finn and exploring and adventuring in your own neighborhood? When do you know the difference? Maybe your kids know. Maybe they don't. How will you learn?  It began as a simple walk home, the same one we did every day after school. But our dog's ball went into something of a hole, or was it a cave? Maybe a tunnel. But are there tunnels in the city? The ball was pretty close to the entrance, but just far enough to be a little spooky. Should we just forget it?  WARNING TO PARENTS: there are some questionable parenting decisions in this book. It is not intended as a parenting handbook. There's a fine line between making the right decision and making the fun decision. When to choose which? How much do you involve your children in daily decisions? What if they involve danger? But what if your kids think it might be fun? You get the idea. Maybe I need a disclaimer ... ;-)  You know in scary movies when you yell, "Don't go in there!" We went in. Yeah, I know. Ask your 8-year old why.

  The babysitter flaked and four young boys have pretty much free reign of a castle. "Wait, what?" they ask. Yes, they heard it right. While one of their dad is getting married, the boys are free to explore the castle.   "They're old enough to be responsible, aren't they?" one dad asked the other. Ah, we soon shall see what the boys discover as they explore the castle, make new friends and learn of the secret of the Markree Castle.   But what is the secret of the castle? What lurks behind all of those doors down in the cellar? Who's that scary old guy Killian? Is Alastar to be trusted?   You see, dear reader, I don't know yet. These four boys are the creative behind the story. In many ways, I'm just the messenger. The story and magic and secrets of the castle are up to them. It's a collaborative effort and we talk, we imagine, we have Skype calls with poor WiFi connections while two boys are getting ready for bed in San Francisco, California and the other two are having breakfast in a restaurant in their hometown of Beijing, China.   How is this going to work? How are two dads and four boys going to write a book together? Who knows! Has it been done before? Who knows! Who cares!   What's happening is that we're all working on a project together. The kids are digging deeper into their creative minds and their dads are learning sides of their kids that they didn't even know existed. What would your child answer to the question, "If you could have any magical power, what would it be?" Do you know what your child would answer? Of course not. But you might have an idea. Do you know what's fun? Ask your child and guess (quietly) what they might say. Then listen to what they say and see how it differs from what you thought they would say. The answer might surprise you.   That's how we're writing this book. It's a collaboration of these four boys and two dads (from different families). Three of us live in San Francisco and three of us live in Beijing. We're using shared online documents and Skype calls to communicate the story, the characters, and what's going to happen next.   This first book (available April 1, 2015 in honor of Li & Lu's first adventure, The Secret of Kite Hill) has turned into more of a story that we had imagined and it's going to make this book only the first part of a series with the four boys at the castle.   Oh, dear reader, I wish I could tell you what's going to happen in books two and three, but I don't know myself. We'll have to see what the boys come up with. But for now, enjoy The Secret of the Markree Castle and please leave us a note in the comments as to what you'd like to see in the upcoming books.   Thanks for visiting. We hope you enjoy The Secret of Markree Castle.

4 boys, 3 days, 1 castle. You do the math. It adds up to adventure, trouble and ... fries. In "The Secret of Markree Castle," 4 young boys find themselves in a 1 castle for 3 days and the nanny who was supposed to watch over them ... flaked. "That's OK," their parents said, "They're old enough now and responsible, right?" You can practically hear the boys' voices, "Sure, dad, we're responsible ... !" Then queue the evil background laugh and kids boiling pots of parents deep in the dungeon and ... I have to stop. It doesn't get that bad, I swear. But you see, dear reader, this book was written together with these 4 real life boys. We had Skype calls together (2 of the boys live in Beijing, China), we shared emails and asked lots of questions (for example, "If you could have any magical power, what would it be?"). I think it's fair to say that I learned more about my boys and their 2 friends writing this book together with them than I did hanging out with them all together. The Secret was the first book in the Markree Castle series and got the boys through the first night. This is the second book in the series and in "The Key to Markree Castle," the boys are in deeper than they thought possible, with the future of the castle in their hands. Here is a list of bullet points of takeaways from the book. -- 9-year old references no adult could possibly understand (or want to). -- Soccer, fries, and a castle. What else could a few boys dream of? -- Useless phrases in Dutch and Mandarin you can use at school to impress your friends! -- Written with the help of real 9- and 11-year olds. -- Parenting strategies so questionable your kids will be begging you to adopt them (the strategies, not the kids). -- Rarely before witnessed insight into the minds of young boys on their own with no parents. -- Study guides included on medieval castle architecture. (OK, not really.) -- Fun for the whole family! (Depending on your family, of course.) -- Bonus: learn the names of Donald Duck's nephews in Dutch and Mandarin!  

4 boys, 3 days, 1 castle. What could possibly go wrong? This is the final book in the 3-book Markree Castle series (and the 4th book in the Li & Lu series). You think that's confusing, wait until you learn how to say Donald Duck's nephews in Chinese. That kind of extremely useful knowledge (and more) awaits you throughout the pages of the Markree Castle series. So jump on in and enjoy!

Li & Lu are BACK. They've been busy. Moving to Holland, enrolling in new schools, gathering paranormal powers, new basketball teams.  Apparently, Lu has been working on his paranormal abilities (who knew!? … that's a paranormal joke) while Li has been studying … math.  I know. I know.  Both seem preposterous. But which one sounds more feasible? Both defy conventional wisdom and I personally have no idea.  Remember:  I'm just the messenger.  I wish I could say that I came up with the storylines and weaved them into the perilous suspense thrillers that they have become. But alas, I just "download" the information and it comes through my fingers and onto the page.  A few words from Lu.  A comment from Li. And we're off to the races.  You see, they are boys. They don't communicate. Well, not in the way girls do. Most boys use two syllables and call that dialogue. Others, like Lu, can't be quieted even with an acoustic foam cube.  I digress. Li & Lu are back. They're ready for action.  And yet again, the dog. The poor dog. He means well. But he just manages to get into trouble. Then again, he's a dog. And they are boys. It's a mathematical certainty that there will be adventure.  Li & Lu are going to work together like never before. They're almost friends. They almost like each other.  Almost.  Welcome to book number five of Li & Lu.