"A hell of a lot of state, this Idaho... you’d have to come from a test tube and think like a machine not to engrave all of this in your head so that you never lose it."
— Ernest Hemingway
"There is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." — John Ruskin
Look at that joy! Mission Objective: Get copy of The Secret War is COMPLETE. Now for that little side trip around the Moon. safe travels, team! If you aren't leaving the atmosphere today, buy your copy here! 👇📚✨
#TheSecretWar #Artemis #HistoricalFiction #NASA #Godspeed
Walking into history together! 🚀 As the Artemis crew prepares to orbit the Moon, the final 1944 intelligence briefing is complete. The Secret War, launching simultaneously. Safe travels to the NASA team! 📚🌕
#Artemis #TheSecretWar #HistoricalFiction #JointLaunchDay #ToTheMoon
It’s official. The Secret War has launched. This story is for the kids who look at the margins of history. For the tinkers, the photographers, and the ones who notice what the adults ignore. toddburlesonwonders....
It’s a joint launch day! Artemis heads for the Moon, and my 1944 historical fiction, THE SECRET WAR, hits the shelves. They look intensely focused on their 1944 briefing here. Wishing the NASA crew a safe and successful journey! 🚀📚
The Secret War launches TODAY! 🚀
1944 Dayton: Jamie discovers a secret "ghost engine" at Wright Field—and a single camera flash changes everything. 📸✈️
Watch the Chapter 1 read-aloud here:
We can neither confirm nor deny the rumors that their primary mission objective is a book reading for lunar broadcast. Look at those heroic stares—they know the stakes. Happy Launch Day to us all! 😉🚀🌕 #ArtemisII #TheSecretWar #Parody #LaunchDayDoubleFeature
A big day for aerospace! The Artemis II crew is launching to circle the Moon, and my historical fiction novel, THE SECRET WAR, is launching into bookshelves everywhere.
I hope they have a lot of storage in that Orion capsule, because they’re going for a ‘sold-out on the moon’ strategy. #MarketingAtAltitude #LunarSalesTarget #TheSecretWar #BiggestRangeBookLaunch #Parody
You think your book launch had good range? Try a lunar orbit! With the Artemis II crew on the job, THE SECRET WAR is redefining ‘wide release’.
I think not. #TheSecretWar #Artemis #BookGoals #SpaceLaunch #Parody #LunarDelivery
What a beautiful sight: THE SECRET WAR lifting off towards the giant full moon. A special delivery, destination: deep space. We're pretty sure one of these copies is currently helping the navigation computer. Coincidence?
You think your book marketing is big? We went for interstellar. With my book launching the same day as Artemis, we decided the only acceptable way to promote THE SECRET WAR was by plastering it across the entire first stage of the SLS rocket.
This is what a book launch at 17,500 mph really looks like. Every available surface is a bookshelf for THE SECRET WAR! Good luck to the Artemis team on a truly weightless read. #Artemis #TheSecretWar #ZeroGReading #CapsuleParody #BooksEverywhere"
Final system check of the capsule before launch: Oxygen levels? Go. Communication relays? Go. Mandatory personal item stowage check for unauthorized copies of THE SECRET WAR? ...Uh, maybe we slightly missed the weight allowance?
Give it up for @tburleson.bsky.social ,friend, educator, school librarian, and now PUBLISHED AUTHOR w/his historical MG THE SECRET WAR!
And educators and librarians, Todd know how to create much more than a lesson plan for this! Check this out!
groggorg.blogspot.com/2026/04/beyo...
If you know a teacher or a parent of a 10-13-year-old, I’d be honored if you shared this post with them. toddburlesonwonders....
One more sleep! The Secret War officially launches tomorrow on Amazon and soon at your favorite local bookstores. It’s been a ten-year flight, and I’m so grateful for this community.
Tomorrow is Launch Day. This story simmered for ten years—from a 1,000-word picture book to a full middle-grade mystery. It’s a testament to patience and the "maker" way of not giving up on a prototype.
Free resource guides for your library clubs are up on my site! 📚 toddburlesonwonders....
Fellow librarians! Ever find a historical footnote so weird you had to write a book about it? 🙋♂️ For me, it was Orville Wright’s final flight in 1944. That moment became the symbolic heart of my new MG novel, The Secret War.
"The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves."
— Kahlil Gibran
I greatly appreciate your support, friend!
As a librarian, I often talk about "learning to learn," but lately, I’ve been thinking about "learning to see". Today’s post explores the pedagogy of the abstract. How do we teach students—and ourselves—to find meaning in the layers of an image rather than just the surface-level facts?
This shift has reminded me that "learning to learn" is a lifelong, iterative process. Sharing some thoughts on the methodology of the blur:
As a librarian, I’ve spent 34 years teaching the power of inquiry. Recently, I applied that same pedagogy to my own photography—moving away from literal "artifacts" toward abstract discovery.
