by Phil | Mar 20, 2016 | Basketball, Books
Rookie of the Year — The Inspiration for a Storyline In Rookie of the Year, the second book in my Rip and Red series, the new girl in class, Takara Eid — a.k.a Tiki — comes from an Egyptian family. A storyline involving her (the girl between Rip and Red on the...
by Phil | Jan 26, 2016 | Books, Education, Ideas
When we lived in Brooklyn, whenever we saw our friends, it was usually only for a quick bite or a drink or to chill on the roof. More often than not, we all had one eye on our screens because someone was always running to pick up the kids at afterschool, heading to...
by Phil | Dec 8, 2015 | Books, Ideas, Social
If you’ve seen the book trailer for my middle grade novel, A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME, you know who Reece is. Well, Reece needs our help. Reece Simmons is a fifth grader at Hamilton Elementary in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Texas. He was one of the students who helped...
by Phil | Nov 30, 2015 | Cool Finds, Ideas, Memories, Social
A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME is for Erin. Erin is Erin Murphy. Erin’s my agent. In the acknowledgments, I wrote: The words — “listening to the music of the moment” and “our name is our virtue” — are from Jason Mraz’s,...
by Phil | Nov 18, 2015 | Education, Ideas, Out Of My Mind
If you’re looking to introduce my middle grade novel, A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME, to your students, I’ve created an under-two minute book talk. It’s right here: Last year on my YouTube Channel, I launched a mini-web series called OUT OF MY MIND. I talked...
