Guest Post: Karen P. Toz

Today we have Karen P. Toz author of Nate Rocks The World.

Ten-year-old Nathan Rockledge cannot catch a break. After all, life as a fourth-grader can be hazardous what with science projects to deal with and recess football games to avoid. Everyone, including his best friend Tommy, seems to have bad luck when hanging around Nathan. Throw in an older sister who is a royal pain, a dad who is stuck in the past, and a mom who keeps trying to poison him with her awful cooking, and poor Nathan’s life as a fourth grader appears to be completely doomed.

Armed only with his sketchpad, his imagination, and his wits, Nathan Rockledge navigates the perils of the fourth grade in style, to emerge heroic, as Nate Rocks, proving that even a ten-year-old can accomplish great things.

Follow the quirky and imaginative adventures of ten-year-old Nathan Rockledge as his cartoons come to life.



On Writing: Did You Always Want To Be A Writer?

“Did you always want to be a writer?” This is a question I get asked repeatedly. So many of the authors I have met over the last few years knew from a young age they wanted to write. It was their passion right from the onset. It should be right? Writing is a passionate endeavor. So I always feel a little awkward when my response is, “No – I didn’t realize I wanted to write until just a short while ago.”  Sixteen months ago to be exact.

For so long, I was under the impression that you are either a writing person or a numbers person. I was a number person. I loved math ... still do. On the flip side of my theory, I also hated English class. (See? I’m talking in theorems – that proves it.) To seal my fate, I went off to study business, law, and accounting. There would be no comparative literature classes in my coursework.

So what happened? It’s simple really, at forty-something years old; I decided that an idea for a book I had been carrying around in my head should be put on paper. I can’t explain why... I can’t explain how... I just opened my laptop one spring morning and started writing. I can tell you it was an instant love affair. I wrote everyday – sometimes setting my alarm clock for the crack of dawn, just to get in some quiet writing time before things in my house started to get hectic. I finished my book within just a few months and quickly started on my second book, Nate Rocks the World.

That first book (an adult contemporary story) still sits on my hard drive – maybe I’ll do something with it someday. For now, I am having fun with my Nate Rocks series.  I am now working on the second in the Nate Rocks series, Nate Rocks the Boat – to be released this spring. I don’t always get to write everyday anymore, but I am still just as hooked as I was when I started. 

Now when people ask me what I do, I sat I’m an accountant and a writer. There is no reason I cannot do both. I tell my children all the time to dream big, and now I follow my own advice.

About Karen Pokras Toz

Karen Pokras Toz is a writer, wife and mom. Karen grew up in Orange, Connecticut and currently lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. In June 2011, Karen published her first middle grade children’s novel for 7-12 year olds called Nate Rocks the World. She is currently working on the second book in the Nate Rocks series, Nate Rocks the Boat, to be published in 2012. Karen is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), Association of Independent Authors (AIA), and the Independent Author Network (IAN).

To Learn More About the Nate Rocks Series:
Website:  www.karentoz.com
Blog: http://kptoz.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenptoz
Twitter: www.twitter.com/karentoz
Amazon: http://amzn.to/txbX0Z
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/uviYpn
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5009570.Karen_Pokras_Toz
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQgnRIqW6G4