Authors on the Air host Pam Stack welcomes award-winning YA author Ronald L. Smith to the studio.  Here is Ronald's autobiography:    "I pretty much figured I would never write a novel, but my imagination was reignited by the multitude of books for young readers that came out during this time: Lemony Snicket.and many others from authors such as Holly Black, Neil Gaiman and Suzanne Collins. Here were the types of books I loved as a kid: books that sparked the imagination and introduced readers to different worlds.  So with this renewed interest in writing I joined The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, found a critique group, went to several conferences, and, most importantly, immersed myself in the world of children’s literature.  Several years later I had two finished novels—neither of which were very good—but it was an important chapter in my writing journey. My third novel, Hoodoo, was requested by an agent and was sold a short time later  in a publishing auction to Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt."

About THE OWLS HAVE COME TO TAKE US ALL AWAY:  Twelve-year-old Simon is obsessed with aliens. The ones who take people and do experiments. When he's too worried about them to sleep, he listens to the owls hoot outside. Owls that have the same eyes as aliens—dark and foreboding.

Then something strange happens on a camping trip, and Simon begins to suspect he’s been abducted. But is it real, or just the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy and role-playing games and is the target of bullies and his father’s scorn?

Even readers who don’t believe in UFOs will relate to the universal kid feeling of not being taken seriously by adults that deepens this deliciously scary tale.