Middle Grade Read ~ Wish You Weren't

MMGM aka Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday was created by Shannon Messenger to give middle grade reads the attention they deserve. I'm joining in, today. If you'd like to see more MG books, click HERE to follow other participants. 
Please lend a warm Alleyway welcome to a wonderful writer and mother, who's visited all but nine of the continental US! Impressive... She's so cool that she's agreed to share her thoughts for anyone leaving the opening line to their current WIP in the comments below. How cool! So, if you're interested, leave your opening line in the comments and come back to see what she has to say. AND remember to ENTER her generous giveaway.
SHERRIE PETERSEN still believes in magic and she loves making up stories that allow her to go on wild adventures. In addition to writing middle grade novels, she moonlights as a graphic designer, substitute teacher, freelance writer, school newspaper adviser, yearbook adviser and mother of two children.
Hi Sherrie! I'm so excited to have you splatter your signature on the Graffiti Wall. Tell me, did you enjoy reading as a child?  I was one of those kids that always had her nose buried in a book. Which makes sense because I'm one of those adults, too :)  I had a book of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales that I would read over and over again. My favorites were The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale and The Tinderbox. I loved the tragedy of them as well as the beauty, so I'm not a fan of remakes that gloss over the sadness. I think tragedy can heighten the beauty of a story.
When did you start writing? I started writing as soon as I could hold a pencil. If I didn't have paper around, I'd start writing on the endpapers of my childhood books. It's kind of funny to pull them out now and read my scrawling. The best part is that my son was the same way when he was younger. I remember reading Stuart Little with him and when we got to the end, he was convinced that E.B. White must have dropped and lost the last chapter on the way to the publisher. So he wrote his own ending and we glued it in the back. I'll hold on to that book forever because it made me happy to see his creativity flourishing. And honestly, I think he wrote a fantastic new ending :)

Well, let's tell the readers about your  middle grade pretties that was released in March 2014 by Intrepid Publications!

Description: Marten doesn't believe in the power of wishes. None of his have ever come true. His parents ignore him, his little brother is a pain and his family is talking about moving to Texas. Not cool. So when he makes an impulsive wish during a meteor shower, he doesn't expect it to make any difference. 
Until his annoying brother disappears.
With the present uncertain and his brother’s future in limbo, Marten finds himself stuck in his past. And if he runs out of time, even wishes might not be enough to save the ones he loves. GOODREADS | AMAZON | B&N |  SMASHWORDS
Gosh, I love this blurb.
Care to share your thoughts from your experience in cyber space? Blogging was so valuable to me when I was learning about writing and publishing. There are a LOT of great bloggers out there, willing to share their knowledge and learn from each other. It's such a great community and I'm glad I was able to become a small part of it. Write About Now has close to 100,000 page views and even though I started a separate author website with a blog, I've left my old blog up because it still gets close to 3,000 hits every month from people searching out interviews and writing and publishing advice. 
I couldn't agree with you more. Cyber space is brimming with amazing writers, who give of themselves everyday. It's awesome!
What do you see as the biggest challenge writing for the children's market in today's publishing world?  Being discovered. There are so many books out there to read that it makes finding and connecting with your readers difficult. I love bloggers like you who make it part of their mission to highlight books and writers. It's good for readers and it's good for authors. So thank you!!
I love your enthusiasm, Sherrie! Thank you so much for sharing yourself with us, for offering your thoughts on any commentors' opening lines, and for the generous giveaway. All the best to you, always....
Sherrie is offering up one (1) print copy and one (1) ebook copy of WISH YOU WEREN'T. The ebook portion is open internationally. WINNERS to be announced on June 25th. Go ENTER now... a Rafflecopter giveaway
Alleywalkers, leave your opening line in the comments. I can't wait to read them!