This holiday season we sat down with the characters of the Night Buddies series and figured out what they were thankful for this year. Here’s what they said: Crosley: I’m thankful that me an’ John get to go out on more and more Programs together an’ that we can make...
Crosley picked out John to be his Night Buddy, for starters. There must have been a lot of reasons, but the only one Crosley mentions is middle names. Crosley doesn't have one, and neither does John, so they have this in common. Crosley thinks it makes you a little sharper,...
My son John, who doubles as narrator in the Night Buddies series, is the namesake of our colorful ancestor, John Hetherington, a haberdasher of the Strand in London. Old John is my four-times great-grandfather, and may well have been the prototype for Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatter. Surely Mr. Carroll knew...
I've heard that the Black Bottom started in Atlanta, in New Orleans, and in Jacksonville, Florida, in the first decade of the 20th century. It became well known by semi-rural blacks across the south then, and by the 1920s, it found its way up to Harlem where it was featured...
We over here at the Night Buddies Amalgamated have some exciting news for you! The third Night Buddies book, Night Buddies Go Sky High, is going to be released early next year! We will provide you with an exact release date soon, but for now we are officially revealing the cover. As...
Fall is here and with it another round of the North Carolina Writer's Network Fall Conference. The Conference offers a chance for writers of all skill levels and stages of development to network, hone their craft, and develop the marketing skills to take their writing to the next level. I...
It goes without saying that you need to be very familiar with any dialect to capture it on paper. You need to be able to speak it yourself and “hear it inside your head” while writing it down. You need some innate talent, a natural “good ear,” in the same...
It was a terrible shock when my ex-wife first told me that she was going to be moving away and taking our son John with her. I did everything I could to talk her out of leaving, especially since this was at a time when mothers were usually always granted...
If you’ve read the Night Buddies books, you know that the iguana gang stirs up all sorts of trouble for John and Crosley. They are a greedy, manipulative, and evil gang—all the things that Night Buddies are not. But maybe we are just misunderstanding the iguanas because we don’t know...
Whatchamacallit: A small object having a special power and suitable for hanging on Crosley’s belt. If you’ve read the Night Buddies series, you would already know this definition. Crosley’s whatchamacallits are some of the most important things he and John need to be able to make it through their Programs....
An author’s favorite writers can often say quite a bit about where they draw inspiration for their own novels from. For instance, the Night Buddies books are full of imaginative descriptions and witty dialogue, which could be why one of Ol’ Sands' favorite quotes comes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures...
Writing a book that children will fall in love with at a young age is an important goal for many reasons, the most important of which is that one good book can turn a child into a reader for life. Do you remember your favorite book as a kid? Ol’...
Not only have the Night Buddies books won six awards amongst the literary community, but when Ol’ Sands went to visit Mrs. Miles’ third grade classroom this is what he heard: “I think your book is the greatest. It used a lot of imagination. Crosley is the funnyst crocodile. Yerk,...
There are certain characteristics that make a person stand out to be a qualified Night Buddy. Take a look at this list and see if you have what it takes! 1.) Patience—Every Night Buddy must have the patience to endure Crosley’s insatiable appetite for Pineapple Cheesecakes, to wait for his...
We all know that Crosley the Crocodile is pretty awesome, what with his out-of-this-world appetite for Pineapple Cheesecakes and his impeccable Black Bottom dance skills, but did you know just how cool all crocodiles can be? Here are some reasons why Crosley thinks it's cool to be a crocodile. 1.) ...
Sharing bedtime stories with your child is an important night-time ritual for many parents. In fact, research has shown that children of parents who have bedtime stories show increased brain activity, particularly vocabulary and logic skills. Those skills will serve as the foundation for a better reader for the rest of their...