Congratulate Mike on his Staff Pick Kickstarter Campaign! Veteran author Michael Jan Friedman is writing a historical fantasy for reluctant readers based on the advent of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.

“I know,” Friedman said. “Who in his right mind would want to write a book about a calendar? Especially one that’s been around for almost half a millennium?” Nonetheless, he insists, Lost Days is an exciting adventure, steeped in intrigue and the interplay of magical forces. As a history teacher, he is enthusiastic about what the book can mean to students for whom history is a turn-off.

“I’m talking in particular about kids who grew up in underprivileged circumstances,” he said, “kids who never got the chance to see history for the splendid and fascinating tapestry it is. These are the kids I see in my classroom every day. This book is for them.” Friedman said he hopes to capture the attention of these readers with “monsters and demons and blood and death, and magic, and courage, and crazy schemes, and even love. These are story elements that kids, any kids, can latch onto.”

He is financing the publication and distribution of Lost Days through a Kickstarter campaign. Anyone who wishes to back the project can do so at http://bit.ly/MJFlostdays.

Friedman is a co-founder of Crazy 8 Press, an indie publishing concern designed to address changes in the traditional book-publishing landscape. He can be reached at MichaelJanFriedman.net and Crazy 8 Press, as well as on Twitter @FriedmanMJ and on Facebook (Michael Jan Friedman).