“Lively, intelligent prose elevates this story of teenagers versus mad scientists, the third-person point of view offering a stage to various players in their play of galactic consequence. A wild tale in the spirit of Back to the Future, with a hint of Malamud’s The Natural tossed in.” — Kirkus Reviews

Eric Elfman is the author or co-author of fourteen books for kids and adults, including the award-winning Middle Grade Accelerati trilogy from Little Brown, co-written with Neal Shusterman; and Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive (named an ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers) from Random House. His latest book, I Am the Walrus, also co-written with Neal, is a comic sci-fi/ fantasy adventure inspired in equal parts by Jay Ward and Douglas Adams, names that will probably mean nothing to the middle graders the book is aimed at, but will hopefully register with their parents or grandparents! It will be published by Little Brown in April 2023.

Eric has spoken on writing at many SCBWI conferences and events, has been a panelist at the San Francisco Writers Conference, and has served on the faculty of the Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop for several years. As a screenwriter, he has written for a number of Hollywood studios, including Dreamworks, Universal Studios, and Walden Media. Eric and Neal co-wrote a TV adaptation of Tesla’s Attic for Disney TV.

Also a private writing coach, Eric has a number of award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors among his clients.

Eric's Featured Titles

I Am the Walrus (The N.O.A.H Files #1)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Middle Grade Fiction

Eoin Colfer meets Rick Riordan—with a little Margaret Peterson Haddix sprinkled on top—in this hilarious new sci-fi series from award-winning authors Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman.

When fourteen-year-old Noah falls from the trees on his classmate Sahara, he doesn’t understand how, or why, he would have been up there. It’s just one more in a string of strange things happening to Noah lately.

Like when he keels over and every muscle in his body freezes when confronted by bullies. And when he vanishes into the background at a moment he doesn’t want to be noticed. And when he unexpectedly blasts Sahara with a bird shriek while flapping his arms uncontrollably in the middle of a school dance. What does it all mean? And why do there suddenly seem to be so many mysterious people trying to kill him?

Noah’s friend Ogden has an idea…but like all of Ogden’s ideas, it’s out there. Way out there…

Hawking’s Hallway (The Accelerati Trilogy #3)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Middle Grade Fiction

Readers who enjoy strange science, quirky humor, and out-of-this-world plot twists will be captivated by this third and final book in the electrifying Accelerati Trilogy from New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Neal Shusterman and author/screenwriter Eric Elfman.

Nick Slate, in order to protect his father and little brother, reluctantly must help the Accelerati complete Tesla’s great device. Their power-mad leader wants nothing less than to control the world’s energy — but there are still three missing objects to track down.

Nick’s friends can’t help him, as they are spread across the globe grappling with their own mysteries — with Vince in Scotland, Caitlin and Mitch on their way to New Jersey, and Petula’s whereabouts unknown. On his own, Nick must locate Tesla’s final inventions — which are the most powerful of all, capable of shattering time and collapsing space.

Edison’s Alley (The Accelerati Trilogy #2)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Middle Grade Fiction

Readers who enjoyed the strange science, quirky humor, and out-of-this-world plot twists in Tesla’s Attic will be captivated by this second book in the electrifying Accelerati Trilogy from New York Times-bestselling and award-winning author Neal Shusterman and author/screenwriter Eric Elfman.

Fourteen-year-old Nick has learned that the strange antiques in his attic bedroom were left there by the eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla. They are pieces of Tesla’s Far Range Energy Emitter, capable of transmitting “free energy” to the globe. Some components of the contraption are still missing, but the objects themselves seem to be leading Nick and his friends to their current owners.

However, members of the Accelerati, a menacing secret society of physicists, are on the hunt too, and their brazen leader, Dr. Alan Jorgenson, will stop at nothing to foil Nick and steal the objects. It takes a dangerous build-up of electromagnetic energy in the atmosphere to reverse everyone’s fortunes–and lead Nick to his destiny.

Tesla’s Attic (The Accelerati Trilogy #1)

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers |
Middle Grade Fiction

Fans of intrigue, action, humor, and nonstop surprises are guaranteed an adventure unlike any other in Tesla’s Attic, Book One of the Accelerati Trilogy, for readers of “Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles or Kenneth Oppel’s Airborne” (Booklist). 

After their home burns down, fourteen-year-old Nick, his younger brother, and their father move into a ramshackle Victorian house they’ve inherited. When Nick opens the door to his attic room, he’s hit in the head by a toaster. That’s just the beginning of his weird experiences with the old junk stored up there. After getting rid of the odd antiques in a garage sale, Nick befriends some local kids–Mitch, Caitlin, and Vincent–and they discover that all of the objects have extraordinary properties. What’s more, Nick figures out that the attic is a strange magnetic vortex, which attracts all sorts of trouble. It’s as if the attic itself has an intelligence . . . and a purpose.

Ultimately Nick learns that the genius Nikola Tesla placed the items-his last inventions-in the attic as part of a larger plan that he mathematically predicted. Nick and his new friends must retrieve everything that was sold at the garage sale and keep it safe. But the task is fraught with peril-in addition to the dangers inherent in Tesla’s mysterious and powerful creations, a secret society of physicists, the Accelerati, is determined to stop Nick and alter destiny to achieve its own devious ends. It’s a lot for a guy to handle, especially when he’d much rather fly under the radar as the new kid in town.

Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive: A Compendium of Fulsome Facts

Random House |
Middle Grade Horror
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Middleshool Visits

Eric Elfman is a popular visitor to middle schools. Whether addressing an auditorium full of kids, a classroom, or a small group of hopeful writers, Eric’s interactive presentations and workshops keep kids spellbound and engaged. His goal is to inspire students to read more and to encourage them to write; to show them that writers are real people, too; and to reinforce the message that everybody has a story in them.

He starts with how he became a writer, presenting some of his early efforts, which kids always enjoy: a clip from a horror movie spoof he wrote and co-directed in high school, Attack of the Killer Peanuts, or a clip from Captain Harlock, a Japanese anime that he wrote English language dialogue for (his first paid writing gig). He’ll also show a clip from an episode of the X-Files, then read the same passage from his novelization of the episode.

Eric’s interactive presentation on Nikola Tesla has been enjoyed by classrooms throughout the nation. He’ll discuss the many steps in the writing process, from research, through developing an idea, writing a first draft, and revising. The passages he’ll read from books he’s written, such as Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive, or co-written with Neal Shusterman, such as Tesla’s Attic and I Am the Walrus, will keep students entertained, and also teach them something.

The remainder of time he devotes to answering students’ questions, whether about the writing process, his life as a writer, working with a co-writer, Tesla, getting published, etc. He is happy to talk about whatever the students are interested in.

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Nikola Tesla: Erased From History

Nikola Tesla, who lived at the beginning of the 20th century, created inventions that have had a profound effect on our daily lives in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and yet we never learned about him in school. Why was he erased from history?

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Gross Stuff: Around You and In You

A presentation using material from Almanac of the Gross, Disgusting & Totally Repulsive

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Spooky Folklore From Around the World

A presentation using material from Very Scary Almanac and 3 Minute Thrillers

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A Writer's Life

Eric speaks about being a writer and how he became one— including some of the amusing things he had to do when starting out. Eric will answer student questions, like how he develops an idea, research and revising, what and he’s working on now.

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Small Group Writing Workshop for Students

Duration: 1 period
Participants: 10-15

Eric will give a short talk on a writing topic— point of view, internal monologue, or one of the host’s choice.

Students are invited to present an excerpt from a piece of their own writing; Eric and the group provide constructive feedback.

Author Q&A to conclude the workshop

Tesla’s Attic Trailer | Directed by Jarrod Gaiman (Neil’s Son) and music by Robby Elfman (Eric’s Son)

Eric’s Study Guides

Eric’s Coaching & Workshops

Eric’s Hometown Bookstore | Order Signed Books

Honors, Awards & Recognition

New York Times Bestseller
ALA Recommended Book for Reluctant Readers – Almanac of the Gross
San Francisco Writers Conference Speaker
Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Speaker
Utah’s Beehive Book Award – Tesla’s Attic
VOYA Top Shelf honoree – Tesla’s Attic

Media clips

Coming soon!

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

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