Local author Mark Russell is inviting middle-grade readers into a spooky, funny adventure rooted in central Illinois. His new novel, Strangely Bumptious and the Ghosts of Crypts Academy, is written for ages 9 to 14 and blends slapstick comedy with light suspense — more playful than terrifying.
The story follows Strangely Bumptious, a boy who moves to the town of Bloomfield — a place modeled after Springfield and Bloomington, complete with a dragon-shaped lake and a historic village reminiscent of New Salem. When Strangely discovers his new school is haunted, he must figure out how to rid it of ghosts to keep it from closing.
Russell, who grew up in Springfield and once worked as an interpreter at New Salem, says the setting reflects a newfound appreciation for the uniqueness of his hometown. The book carries a nostalgic 1990s vibe, inspired by the kinds of stories he loved as a kid — spooky, quirky, and character-driven. Notably, technology takes a backseat. The time period is intentionally ambiguous, and kids rely on walkie-talkies instead of smartphones.
Strangely also lives with Meniere’s disease, a condition that affects his balance. Russell chose to give his hero both a physical challenge and a ghostly ability, creating a layered character who must overcome real-world obstacles alongside supernatural ones.
Russell, now a full-time writer also assists his wife Meghan with her YouTube channel “The Grocery Lady.” He says persistence is key in any creative field. The book is available for preorder now and releases in June.
Transcribed by AI with human review for readability.
Randy Eccles:
This is Community Voices on 91.9 UIS. I'm co-host Randy Eccles. We are joined by a local author, Mark Russell. He has a new book out for middle school kids. Mark, welcome to Community Voices. What's the name of the book?
Mark Russell:
The book is called Strangely Bumptious and the Ghosts of Crypts Academy.
Randy Eccles:
That's targeted toward mid-level readers.
Mark Russell:
About ages 9 to 14, middle grade.
Randy Eccles:
What drove you to write this? Do you write books for kids a lot?
Mark Russell:
I do, yeah. I just love this genre, this age group, the kind of stories that you find in this age group, or the stories that I fell in love with as a kid in the 1990s. Also, growing up watching those kinds of 1990s movies, spooky, not scary, but...
Randy Eccles:
Not horror, but suspenseful.
Mark Russell:
Yeah, slapstick comedy.
Randy Eccles:
When you're approaching writing a book for that age range, what do you have to pay attention to?
Mark Russell:
You really have to pay attention to making sure the content's age appropriate, that you're writing for the reader, that the flow of the story is engaging, not too boring. You're not talking down to a reader. That's something you learn from reading middle grade books. That's how you get into writing middle grade and learning what is appropriate, learning what kids like to read at that age.
Randy Eccles:
Do you do this mainly from the memory of yourself at that age, or do you have some sort of focus group of kids?
Mark Russell:
From reading books like Chronicles of Narnia, that kind of genre.
Randy Eccles:
Harry Potter.
Mark Russell:
Harry Potter, yeah. Depending on what genre your middle grade book is in, they can be longer or shorter. That's also another consideration is that unless you're writing some big fantasy, typically middle grade books are usually like in the 30,000-to-40,000-word range. That's also something you have back in your mind. You can't be writing War and Peace here. This book, Strangely Bumptious, is about 30,000 words,
It's about a boy named Strangely Bumptious. He comes into this new town with his mom, and he finds out that his school is haunted. In order to keep the school open, he's got to figure out how to rid the school of all of these ghosts.
The city is called Bloomfield. It's modeled after Springfield, Bloomington, with a lot of the same landmarks that we have here in Springfield. It has this lake that's in the shape of a dragon, and it has a historical little village in the center of the town, like how we have here in Springfield. It's one of those things, as you get older, you realize the place that you grew up is actually more unique than you thought when you were a kid. I thought it'd be cool to see a kid's book modeled after the land of Lincoln.
Randy Eccles:
You know it well, because you grew up there. You're able to hone in on those things that if you created a fictional town wouldn't stand out to you.
Mark Russell:
I grew up going to field trips to New Salem, Lincoln's Tomb; The ALPLM wasn't here when I was a kid in the 1990s; going to all those places.
My first job was at New Salem. I dressed up in the outfit in the summer and was a seasonal interpreter. That was my very, very first job. Yeah, central Illinois is something that I'm very familiar with.
In the story, there is a lot of comedy. It's slapstick comedy. I like to think of it as, if you remember Ghost and the Mr. Chicken with Don Knotts, it's a like that, mixed in with a 1990s vibe of stories and movies like Ernest Scared Stupid. The kids in the book, they're not using a lot of technology. They don't have cell phones.
Randy Eccles:
That's different these days.
Mark Russell:
Yeah, that was a conscious choice. I didn't want the kids on iPads and cell phones. If they communicate in long distances, they have to do it by radio or walkie-talkies.
Randy Eccles:
It's set in current times?
Mark Russell:
It's ambiguous, the time period. That's another thing you see with middle grade books, like A Series of Unfortunate Events. That's another one where the time period is ambiguous. We're not exactly sure. There are cars, there's television. As far as the internet, there's not a whole lot of that. It's not a feature of the book. So the time period is, it's somewhat ambiguous.
Randy Eccles:
Lemony Snicket had a unique universe around him and that's what you create even though you have based it in central Illinois, Springfield, Bloomington, you're creating something that is unique and could be anywhere.
Mark Russell:
That's right. The main character of the book, Strangely, he has a condition called Meniere's disease. He has this fluid that builds up in his ear and causes imbalance. He struggles with his balance A lot. He can't move very fast.
Randy Eccles:
Different from vertigo.
Mark Russell:
A little bit different from vertigo. He has to take medication.
He's also a very picky eater. He gets very squeamish in certain circumstances, sounds and stuff like that. That's a lot of where the humor comes from, is him getting out of his comfort zone, experiencing new things, and a lot of hilarity ensues.
Randy Eccles:
Why did you choose that illness for him?
Mark Russell:
In the book, he has this ability actually to turn into a ghost. I wanted that juxtaposition of him having almost like a superhero ability, but then also having this condition that inhibits his movement. I love characters that have to overcome obstacles. I find that really intriguing. and captivating.
Growing up, I was also a picky food eater. We would go out to family reunions in the middle of August. People would bring in all of their casseroles. It's 100 degrees outside. I just grew up not enjoying a lot of food. That's something from personal experience. This condition with Meniere's, it is something a lot of people deal with. kids in that middle grade group, it's important for them to live in another person's shoes and see what they have to struggle with and overcome.
Randy Eccles:
Whether it's picky eating, or for some families, it's food allergies that makes it really difficult. I don't know if everybody understands how difficult those two things can be, and how sometimes you feel embarrassed because you can't eat what everybody else is eating. You can't order or go to certain restaurants or the family can't go to restaurants because of that. That's good that that it is getting exposed and discussed in the book.
Did you go to school in the Springfield area? What schools?
Mark Russell:
I went to Calvary Academy here in Springfield. I went there starting in daycare all the way through high school. I graduated there in 2001. It's been a while, but yeah, that's where I went to grade school, middle school, and high school.
Randy Eccles:
Did you do any other studies after that?
Mark Russell:
Yeah, I graduated college later on, a few years later, out of a small university in Tacoma, Washington. I finished my degree there.
I worked for the Talking Book and Braille Service for several years, the Secretary of State.
Now I'm a full-time writer, full-time YouTuber with my wife. She has a few YouTube channels, and I'm kind of like her editor. She's the talent, and I'm the behind-the-scenes guy.
Randy Eccles:
Constructive feedback?
Mark Russell:
No, no, no, no, never, never.
Randy Eccles:
Okay. You went out to the Northwest and you decided to come back to Springfield. What pulled you back?
Mark Russell:
Actually, I did that online. I went straight into work after high school, but I later decided to get my degree. By the time I went back to college, they now had online remote options.
Randy Eccles:
What pulled you into writing?
Mark Russell:
Writing, I originally started writing poetry back in junior high. That's where that started. My mom was a writer. She loved to write, so I probably got it from her. She always encouraged me to keep writing and don't lose that itch that you get to write.
I took a break for a while. In 2015, I got an idea for another kid's book and wrote that. Did pretty good. I don't really know where ideas come from when you're writing these stories. I imagine most authors don't. Sometimes they just pop into your head and you just have to get it down on the page. It's like something that you just have to do. I don't know if I necessarily enjoy the process of writing. That can be quite torturous.
Randy Eccles:
Writer's block at times?
Mark Russell:
Yeah, writer's block where you're just tired of it. The most I am excited about a book is actually after the first draft. "Wow, this is amazing." Then you start to edit. It's like, "Man, I have to fix all of this stuff. It's not as great as I thought." You start to think about it, maybe too much, then it really becomes work. But that's actually where all the great writing comes from, is revision and editing.
Randy Eccles:
Your inner critic doesn't go too far?
Mark Russell:
Usually not. Sometimes it does, yeah.
Randy Eccles:
When you get into writing kids books and you say you do this full time, are you able to make a living from that?
Mark Russell:
No, I mean, most writers aren't making a living from it.
Randy Eccles:
Not unless you're Stephen King.
Mark Russell:
Not unless you're Stephen King. You do make like a little bit of money from it. Most writers that are full-time, have to be really successful. The sale of books just doesn't happen as much as it used to.
We make a living doing YouTube. That's actually worked out really well for us.
Randy Eccles:
What's the YouTube channel look like? You said it's mainly your wife who's the front person on that, but what are you doing there?
Mark Russell:
It's called "The Grocery Lady." She'll go into grocery stores, Costco, Aldi, and higlhlight deals. We've been doing that for five years. Costco, there's not one here in Springfield. We have to go up to Peoria or St. Louis, but she'll go into Aldi here in Springfield, Sam's Club.
When we first started, we didn't make anything. It was a side gig because you don't make money at it at first. But we kept at it. We didn't give up. Then it took off. It became too much work because we have five kids.
Randy Eccles:
Five kids is a full-time job in itself.
Mark Russell:
Yeah, eventually it became too much and I had to help her do it. So, I do a lot of the editing. It works out. We make a good living at it.
Randy Eccles:
A lot of people hear about influencers these days. It sounds not exactly that, but building up a following in social media, on YouTube, whatever it is, can be monetized. And that's what you're saying you've been able to do with this?
Mark Russell:
Yeah, it took a while. It's taken a good five years to get it going to where it's like we could do it full-time. When you start out, you're always afraid. Is it too late to start? I'm in my early 40s and I made this career change. So, it's never too late.
You do have to continually revise what you're doing. We didn't start out doing stuff in the grocery store. You might see my wife at the grocery store. She's really tall. Her name's Meghan.
It takes a while. You have to play around with what people want to see from you on YouTube. So, we've had to change, we've changed the name of the channel several times.
Randy Eccles:
If somebody wanted to find your YouTube channel, where would they go?
Mark Russell:
It's called The Grocery Lady on YouTube. Yeah. Google it on YouTube, you'll find her.
Randy Eccles:
If they want to find Strangely Bumptious and the Ghosts of Crypts Academy, where would they find the book?
Mark Russell:
That's going to be at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, anywhere books are sold.
It's available for pre-order right now. It'll be coming out in June.
I'm excited about it. I'm 90% sure people will like it. Not 100% sure, but there's a good chance. Sean Bixby did the illustrations. There are seven to ten illustrations in the book. He did a fantastic job.
Randy Eccles:
The cover looks great. It displays well. Do you have your own website if somebody wants to follow your writing?
Mark Russell:
I don't, no. I should probably do that.
Randy Eccles:
Doesn't hurt. Anybody in the arts, whether a musician or a visual artist, or a writer, it's difficult to focus on your art as much as you'd like. Especially to make a living with it. Most folks have worked for a long time getting to do their art. They can make some incremental income or satisfy the need for expression. You can spin it into something like, the evolution of your video cast, to earn money, but then sometimes the art changes. You're doing things to keep the revenue coming in and attract that audience as opposed to the original art that you wanted to execute.
Mark Russell:
The number one rule is, don't give up. The successful people, writers, YouTubers, they're the ones that kept at it. If you're a writer, you keep publishing books, self-publish, keep submitting, you keep going at it and at it. Eventually, like the YouTube channel, something sticks and it lands and it takes off.
Randy Eccles:
Like the digital realm, fail fast and keep going.
Mark Russell:
As a writer, it's your job is to get rejected. It's your job is to fail, especially when you're creating something.
Randy Eccles:
That's a fun skill to get going, right? Learn how to get rejected.
Mark Russell:
Yeah. Yeah, you can't have frog skin if you're going to be any type of creator. That was hard for me to learn. Dealing with criticism, rejection... Nobody's born with that. You have to learn that, and it takes years, it takes a long time.
Randy Eccles:
Seeing that things... go on. The doors don't close just because something didn't work. It is a huge lesson to strengthen your courage to keep going on those types of things.
Mark Russell:
Yeah.
Randy Eccles:
Anything else you'd like to tell us about what you're up to, your book?
Mark Russell:
I hope people check it out, read the reviews. I had a lot of fun writing this book. It I just started reading it the other day. I'm like, "Wow, this is really, I like this. It is really good."
Randy Eccles:
That's cool that you can go back and read it. Some folks can never look back at their work.
Mark Russell:
Usually I'm like that. I can't, look at that again. I usually do. But this one, I'm proud of it. It's a fun read.
Randy Eccles:
Do you think it'll be intellectual property at some point, and someone will want to spin it into a cartoon, or a show, or something like that?
Mark Russell:
The publisher handles all that for me. Anything's possible if it's popular enough. They did ask me if I want to make it into a series and do more books. I thought about it a little bit. It could be a series and there could be a book two in the future.
Randy Eccles:
It seems like IP is the thing these days. Once you get something going and successful, keep that universe going and get people back to revisit it. I'm excited for you. I love when people are able to do things like this.
We've been talking with Mark Russell, the author of Strangely Bumptious and the Ghosts of Crypts Academy. The book will be available soon. Keep an eye out. Thanks for joining us today.
Mark Russell:
Thank you.
