Blog - AJ Vanderhorst

All Posts
Casey
Philosophy
KidLit
Writing
Sylan Woods

Apr 16
2 min

New Short Story: The Ghost of CreepCat

Ghost of CreepCat takes place in the Casey Grimes universe and includes a familiar character—as well as a brand new one.

114 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Jan 21
2 min

New Year, New Casey Grimes

Happy new year!—and maybe more to the point, here's hoping you've enjoyed some pleasant distractions lately. A few recent favs at our...

28 views0 comments

Where in the Woods is Casey Grimes (#2)?

AJ Vanderhorst

Dec 7, 2020
1 min

Where in the Woods is Casey Grimes (#2)?

People keep asking me when hard copies of Trickery School (Casey Grimes #2) will be available. The answer is any day now...but since...

51 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Nov 23, 2020
2 min

Casey Grimes #2—TRICKERY SCHOOL

CASEY GRIMES at TRICKERY SCHOOL from INtense Publications is due to be published in a week!

36 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Sep 25, 2020
3 min

Casey #2 Update and a Big Award

Casey earned bronze in the Readers’ Favorite International Awards Contest, a competition that attracts thousands of entries annually.

44 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Jul 17, 2020
2 min

Casey Grimes Slow-Burning Summer Update

5-star reviews, an author interview for Wild + Free, a call for kid art and other Casey Grimes news.

28 views0 comments

Casey Grimes Author Interview for Wild + Free

AJ Vanderhorst

Jul 14, 2020
1 min

Casey Grimes Author Interview for Wild + Free

Here's an extended clip from an author interview I recently filmed for the national homeschool group, Wild + Free.

44 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Jul 13, 2020
1 min

A Call for Casey Grimes Kid Art

All this colorful, horrifying Casey Grimes art is too good to waste. So in the near future, I’ll be adding a Gallery to show it off.

60 views0 comments

Mostly Invisible Boy is Book of the Month!

AJ Vanderhorst

Jun 9, 2020
1 min

Mostly Invisible Boy is Book of the Month!

Casey is Book of the Month for June in Goodreads' largest middle grade group, Great Middle Grade Reads.

86 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

May 18, 2020
2 min

The Book is Out There!

The Mostly Invisible Boy doesn’t just belong to me and my family anymore.

25 views0 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Apr 20, 2020
2 min

The Book Debut Post

During a pandemic is a crazy time to do a lot of things...having a book debut is definitely one of them.

67 views0 comments

Here's One Book Who Will Debut As Planned

AJ Vanderhorst

Apr 13, 2020
4 min

Here's One Book Who Will Debut As Planned

The Book Speaks Up About Its Decision to Leave Quarantine I think the book had its mind made up from the beginning. Not the...

84 views0 comments

In Which I Wrestle with Social Distancing in the Writing Industry

AJ Vanderhorst

Mar 25, 2020
4 min

In Which I Wrestle with Social Distancing in the Writing Industry

In the pages of our books, initiative is rewarded & everyone is significant. In the industry, social distancing is more the norm.

49 views2 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Mar 12, 2020
3 min

Casey Grimes Update, March Edition

News on cover design, title selection and a pub date for The Mostly Invisible Boy.

42 views0 comments

Three Things I Learned from Writing a Sequel (Casey 2)

AJ Vanderhorst

Feb 4, 2020
3 min

Three Things I Learned from Writing a Sequel (Casey 2)

Experience in writing a sequel is something you don’t get until after you need it.

44 views2 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Jan 16, 2020
2 min

All Good Writers Read

Writers should read voraciously. More than any other type of creator or entrepreneur.

52 views3 comments

3 Things My First Classroom Visit Taught Me About KidLit

AJ Vanderhorst

Nov 23, 2019
3 min

3 Things My First Classroom Visit Taught Me About KidLit

When I did a 5th grade author talk earlier this week, I came to some surprising conclusions re: kidlit and the industry.

103 views2 comments

AJ Vanderhorst

Nov 5, 2019
2 min

Invisibility Ho! And How to Escape It

Many big accomplishments have been made possible by the i-power. But invisibility has a way of bleeding over into real life...

70 views2 comments

First Ever Official CASEY GRIMES Update!

AJ Vanderhorst

Oct 9, 2019
3 min

First Ever Official CASEY GRIMES Update!

Every journey into a secret forest society in charge of monster control begins with a single step.

93 views0 comments

In Defense of Non Absentee Parents in Children's Literature

AJ Vanderhorst

Oct 2, 2019
3 min

In Defense of Non Absentee Parents in Children's Literature

I argue we should see more parents in the pages of kids' lit. Parents with agency, personality. Who don't die in about 5 seconds.

73 views3 comments

{"items":["6079d0168b72e80015838e51","6009c62ffb258e00177d96bf","5fce5b2b46cf6d0017146035","5fbbdcad3200dd0017902ba7","5f6e1ae5b48da000178bd88a","5f11bc2ef768e20018d3a3a7","5f0de26d617b6e001774462a","5f0c85e8476f1a001754352a","5edfa78de099280017c6ba07","5ec2d5d2836964001721eaaa","5e9de92d72c5f400176fa8d8","5e94d5f8e6cdfb0017fcc286","5e792a126f3993002df5a6fc","5e6a70c5f5a4650017c08abd","5e39c3b2da60640017f2a964","5e20c2b95239a70018b633ec","5dd986b7bfeae20017913a8b","5da0bef46a7bbe00179daf3f","5d9e326b4191620017e02d00","5d94e2dadadfdb0017f0ec7e"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":940,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.25)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":940,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":940,"galleryWidth":972,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}