Spread the Love with BITE INTO BLOODSUCKERS Valentines!

Hey!

So, I didn't post last week. I was taken hostage by an alien invader, and I basically slept through the latter portion of the week.*

Sorry about that. You'll get two posts this week, to make up for it!

In the meantime, I've been busy making a SURPRISE for you! Valentine's Day is in four short days, and if you're anything like me, you still don't have any valentines to give anybody. If you have kids and you're anything like me, your kids don't have valentines to give out at their class party, either.

Come on, admit it. You've all done this at least once.

But you don't have to worry, because I've been there, and I've got your back this year. I made some super cute bug doodles and bat doodles FOR YOU, FOR FREE, just because I wanted to do something nice as a way of thanking everyone for all the BLOODSUCKER love. Scissors and sharpies were involved. It was quite the process.

PROCESS.
Also, hey, look, my office is real!

Here's a photo of one of them, when it was alllllmost finished:

Isn't he cute?

All bats are boys to me. Especially the pink and purple ones.

So anyway, these are here, for everyone to download and print. For free! Thanks for being awesome.

Just click here for the high res version, or click here for the low res version.

And if you're interested in my process, let me know in the comments and I'll post about that (with more photos) later in the week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

*Viruses are aliens, too. Especially when they're inside you.

Cover Reveal! Goodies! HUZZAH!

I’m just back from a whirlwind weekend at the SCBWI Canada East conference The Art of Story in Montreal - and what a conference! I saw so many people, and learned SO MUCH, and have so much to share...

But not yet, because I need to decompress and gather photos together and collect my thoughts a bit first. My post-conference post (har har, SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) will come later this week.

In the meantime, guess whose book has a final cover!

It's coming...

This girl's book!

I don't know how covers have gone for you guys, but this cover went through a LOT of changes. A LOT. But boy, do I love this version. Just look at that proboscis! Just look at the hairs on that mosquito! Just look at that blood-filled abdomen!

MOSQUITOES. THEY ARE SO GROSS.

But I love it. I am giddy with cover love.

And look what the UPS man brought me? GOODIES!

Witness my two-tone gorgeousness!

I ordered this awesome tote bag and hat to promote my book! In case you don't know yet, BITE INTO BLOODSUCKERS is the non-fiction book for 7-11 year-olds that I wrote with Kari-Lynn Winters. I got the bag and hat from Vistaprint, and I just LOVE them! Aren’t they gorgeous? (Well, okay - the mosquito isn’t gorgeous. But the MATERIAL is gorgeous! I love the two-tone look.) The tote bag is made of sturdy canvas, and it’s big enough to hold ALL THE THINGS. It’s going to be perfect to bring to school visits! And the hat is just perfect for summer weather!

I am going to be carrying this bag and wearing this hat EVERYWHERE!

To find out more about BITE INTO BLOODSUCKERS (my first book!), which is coming SOON, and to pre-order a copy, check it out online at Amazon, Chapters, and Books-A-Million. (You guys! BOOKS-A-MILLION!!!)

Thanks for your support, and thanks for stopping by!

It's a Party!

This is my second blog post in as many days.

I know. Crazy, right?

It’s a little ridiculous. But sometimes, life is just ridiculous.

I’m posting here to direct you to a party! What kind of party? A Facebook party! Which is the best kind, because PAJAMAS, amirite?

ANYWAY.

Some friends and I have teamed up to put together an event to celebrate our books. Come join me, LE Carmichael, Helaine Becker, and Joan Marie Galat while we SPRING into Science! We’ll have cool links, some science chat, a bit of origami, and, best of all, PRIZES! Including four GRAND PRIZES - one from each of us - for four lucky (randomly drawn) people who email us at the designated Spring Into Science email address posted on the event page.

My prize is this awesome collection of Bloodsucker-inspired cookie cutters. 

These will make the BEST COOKIES!

There’s a horse to represent the horsefly, lips to represent the kissing bug, a butterfly (Did you know there is a blood drinking butterfly? Have I given you nightmares now?), a chick to represent the vampire finch, a fish to represent the candiru, and a vampire bat. Awesome, right? I kind of wish I could keep these for myself. Think of all the possibilities!

The party is all online, so click THIS LINK between 1pm and 5pm TODAY, March 7th.

See you there!

Non-Blogfest celebrating Kirsten Hubbard's LIKE MANDARIN

Disclosure: I haven't read LIKE MANDARIN. Yet. But I will. Because based on this Goodreads blurb, I can relate a little. Who didn't have someone who they would have given anything to be like in High School? And it looks like an amazing book. So in the spirit of raising some awareness for a debut author's debut book, here's my post on who I would have given anything to be like when I was a teenager. My Mandarin.

They sat together in every class. Perfect hair, perfect clothes, perfect teeth. Exchanging perfect smiles with their perfect boyfriends. Making plans to go to each other's perfect houses in their perfect neighborhoods on the East side of town, up in the hills, wide boulevards lined with quaint little shops and grand trees. Far away from my neighborhood on the other side of town.

They played fine instruments: piano, violin. Nothing like the uncultured, raw sound of my second-hand guitar. My wild curls were always getting caught in things, but they never had a wisp out of place. My mouth watered at the sight of their rich lunches, wraps and sodas and candy bars, white bread and American cheese. My cheese wasn't American; it was just plain cheddar.

I stole pieces of their lives: the name of a movie, a band, a store, a brand, stowed away on scraps of paper and in the recesses of my mind for future reference. Waiting for the day to come when I would get my invitation to the party.

My invitation came in an acceptance letter, two years earlier than usual. And just like that, I was the Mandarin, and they were just plain cheddar.

Friday Shout Outs!

Hey there, writer-peeps! Another Friday, another last working day before the weekend, another chance to do a few shout-outs to some of my writer-buddies whose blogs you may or may not know about (but which you should all be reading).

So without further ado, I present to you my blog-buddy Emily White, whom I was lucky to meet in person at the conference in NYC and who is super-sweet and so smart and who I wish the best of luck with her recently announced self-publishing venture! Click on her name to check out her awesome blog, guys!

And another well-deserved shout-out to my amazing PB CP Kristen Hilty, whom I finally met face-to-face in NYC. And can I tell you how lucky I am to have scored this gal? She. Is. AMAZING. She forces me to up my game every single time. And she's a really talented writer, too! Go read her blog HERE

And that's it for now, folks. Enjoy the links, and have a great weekend!
.

Friday Shout-Out!

Hey there, fellow writer-peeps. Things are a bit hectic these days, so I'm only going to do one shout-out today, but it's a well-deserved one. Go and check out my friend Lynne Marie, who was kind enough to answer my call for a roommate for the SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC. She welcomed me in New York with a smile and a hug, introduced me to her writer-friends, and was a fabulous roommate.

Check out her blog My Word Playground HERE, and find out all about her upcoming book, Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten, coming this May from Scholastic book clubs. Woo-hoo!

Shout-Outs!

I'm still processing and decompressing after last weekend, and I've been wanting to spread the positivity around a bit lately, so I thought I'd take advantage of my brain-melt-moment and round out the week with some well-deserved shout-outs to some of my writer-friends.

First, a shout-out to my writer friend and sometimes mentor, Robert Paul Weston, whose YA novel DUST CITY (which, in an unusual but clearly well-chosen break from normal blog policy, I reviewed HERE) was nominated for an EDGAR ALLEN POE AWARD! The Edgars are given for the best mystery in various categories, and DUST CITY is nominated in the Young Adult category - way to go, Rob! (And check out his blog - his posts are sporadic, but always interesting.)

Next up, a shout-out to another writer-friend Helaine Becker, who is possibly the most prolific writer I know and whose book WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA made the Canadian Toy Testing Council's 2011 Best Books For Kids list, which you can read about HERE. Plus, she's garnered positive reviews for her book THE HILARIOUS HISTORY OF HOCKEY, and TWO of her books made the Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books for Kids and Teens 2010 list, which you can read about HERE. Write On, Helaine!

Finally, a shout-out to new writer/illustrator-friend Debbie Ridpath Ohi (pronounced OH-hee), who is a SCBWI Conference success story! She tells SCBWI Team Blogger Lee Wind (whom I met, and who is generous and supportive and lovely) all about how a rejection turned into a contract HERE. Check out her blog(s) HERE and HERE. (And in other places too - Google her, this lady is an amazing online networker. She is EVERYWHERE!) And look for I'M BORED, written by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Debbie, coming out in 2012 with Simon and Schuster.

That's it for now. Check out those awesome writers, have  great weekend, and come back next Friday for more shout-outs!

In Which I Spill My Sekrits

But not here. Gotcha!

Okay, seriously now: I'm being interviewed today! Woo-hoo!

The lovely Michelle Merrill is interviewing me today on her faboo blog, Perfecting the Craft. So, head on over there for some fun questions. (Also, if no-one comments, I'll feel like a doob. So, please, brighten my day and go comment on my interview!)

And don't forget to enter my One-Line Pitch Contest in yesterday's post to win a query/first 5/picture book critique!

One-Line Pitch: Don't Leave Home Without It, and a Contest!

The SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC (and yes, you can just show up on Saturday and register as a walk-in!) kicks off tomorrow with the writer's and illustrator's intensives, and I am EXCITED! And one thing every writer - whether you're attending the conference or not - needs to have ready is a one-sentence pitch for their book.

But how can I condense my whole, complicated, 70,000-word book into one sentence, you ask?


Well, let me show you.


First, take out a piece of paper and write on it three headings: Main Character, Conflict, Stakes/Resolution. So for example, for one of the picture books I'm pitching, I've written: Penelope, huge hair overshadows all her achievements, figures out how to do something even bigger than her hair.


Then you just connect them all together:


PENELOPE'S HAIRY PREDICAMENT is about a kid who hates that her huge hair overshadows everything else she does, so after several failed attempts to make it less noticeable, she finally figures out how to out-do her own 'do.


Remember: it's one line. There's no room - and no need - for subplots and secondary characters. Focus on the heart.

Which brings me to the contest!


Post your one-line pitch in the comments below by MIDNIGHT on FEBRUARY 4th, and my favorite will win a query critique OR first 5 pages critique OR full picture book manuscript critique by yours truly.


If I get more than 50 entries, I'll offer TWO PRIZES! So, tweet and blog away! (Although this is a contest, so you won't get any extra entries for tweeting or blogging, but you WILL double the amount of prizes, thus increasing your chances of winning something.)

The Two Faces of Publishing

Many of you have heard about the travesty that was the TODAY SHOW's snub of this year's Newbery and Caldecott award winners last Tuesday. Those of you who haven't can get the scoop in this Publisher's Weekly article. I won't get into the details here, but what it boils down to is that the TODAY SHOW chose to forego their traditional interview with the winners of the two most prestigious awards in children's literature, and aired an interview with Jersey Shore's Snooki instead. Interestingly, Snooki was there to promote her new book.

Let's just pause for a moment to let that sink in.

Are you ready to continue? Okay.

There has been outrage from the people in publishing, as well as disgust, which I share. Their move has been called a ratings grab, which in one respect makes good marketing sense, but when you look at it and realize that they have every other day in the year to do high-ratings shows with celebrity authors it becomes clear just what a flimsy excuse that is. And as for Megan Kopf's explanation that "the show was booked for the entire week," well. We've all known for a while when these awards were going to be announced. It's not like they crept up on us. It's called "planning ahead."

But let's get back to why Snooki was there in the first place, and who put her there. She has (purportedly) written a book. Published by a publishing house. (Gallery, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, in case anyone is interested.) And, since she's a celebrity author, she most likely has a publicist assigned to her by that publishing house, who probably called the folks at NBC (which broadcasts the TODAY SHOW) and got Snooki her spot on the show. This person could have requested a different date, or even insisted on a different date; maybe he or she did, maybe not. My guess is not, because I can't see NBC arguing a point like that with the publicist of someone as huge as Snooki. But either way, the publishing industry needs to carry its share of the blame here.

You all know that I have read books by celebrities that I have liked, and I have read books by celebrities that I have thought were drivel. (The books, not the celebrities.) And we all know the mantra: books by celebrity authors make the publication of all those other books (you know, the 80% that don't earn out) possible. Snooki's book is probably, at some point in my future, going to indirectly put bread on my table. And we say that we should accept it, because how else can publishing survive? If this is what people want to read, then we have to give it to them, and then we hope that while they're there they pick up some of the higher-quality stuff too. But if we're going to accept this, then we have to understand what comes with it: not only the loss of a publishing slot to a celebrity book, but a loss in publicity share.

The world of marketing and publicity is already extremely skewed towards celebrity authors. Even if the folks at NBC were right in their prediction that a story about award-winning authors and illustrators wouldn't garner much interest, they were wrong to pull the plug on the interview on the assumption that it would harm their show in the long term. This is an interview that should have happened. It is a sad fact that high-quality books, especially children's books, need this kind of publicity.

But it's a slippery slope, guys.

If you're upset by the omission of the Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners in the TODAY SHOW's programming, you can write to NBC and tell them. (Scroll to the bottom of that link.) You can also go to the campaign page on Facebook, and "Like" it.  And, of course, you can blog about it, and tell other people who care about quality in literature to do the same.


And of course, feel free to discuss this further in the comments.

WINNERS!

I hate to tease.

Really, I do.

I should just get to posting the winners of my giveaways now, and not worry about all the buildup, shouldn't I?

It would be the nice thing to do.

*wicked grin*

Okay, okay, I'll do it!

Here we go...

(ha, ha...)

Okay, for real this time!

Ready?

The winner of a signed copy of RAISED BY WOLVES by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is...

RaShelle Workman!

(YAY!  Applauds, sets off virtual fireworks.)

The winner of a signed copy of WICKED LOVELY by Melissa Marr is...

Lynda!

(YAY!  Applauds, sets off virtual fireworks.)

And - wow, was there a lot of competition for this one, guys, and I wish I could give a copy to everyone who entered - the winner of a signed copy of DUST CITY by Robert Paul Weston is...

Paul Greci!

(YAY!  Applauds, sets off virtual fireworks.)

So check your emails, guys!  And if you don't have an email address linked to your profile, then email me - my addy is up there in the right-hand corner, where it says "Get In Touch".

And thanks for entering!

YA Spotlight and Contest: DUST CITY!

Today is a very special day on the blog, guys. Today I'm doing something I once vowed NEVER to do - I am reviewing a book. But it's not just any book - it's DUST CITY, by Robert Paul Weston. (Rob is the mind-blowingly crazy-brilliant author of MG novel ZORGAMAZOO, which won the Silver Birch Award... And which rhymes. Yup. I said he was brilliant, didn't I?)

And what's more, I have one brand-spanking-new, signed copy of DUST CITY to give away!

I am very excited to be able to spotlight this book today. Not only is it a thought-provoking read, but it does something I love, which is take a very modern story and put it in an extremely dark fairy tale setting. It pays homage to the original tone of the stories of the Brothers Grimm, to great effect. Here's the publisher blurb:

"Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?


His son, that's who.


Ever since his father's arrest for the murder of Little Red Riding Hood, young Henry Whelp has kept a low profile in a Home for Wayward Wolves, until a murder at the Home leads Henry to believe his father may have been framed.


Now, with the help of his kleptomaniac roommate, Jack, and a daring she-wolf named Fiona, Henry will have to venture deep into the heart of Dust City: a rundown, gritty metropolis where fairydust is craved by everyone - and controlled by a dangerous mob of Water Nixies and their crime boss leader, Skinner.


Can Henry solve the mystery of his family's sinister past? Or, like his father before him, is he destined for life as a big bad wolf?"

 How awesome is that?


There are a lot of things I like about this book. It deals with a number of issues that are very relevant to teens today: drug abuse, gang violence, identity crises, and more. These ain't your momma's fairytales, folks. And while Henry grapples with these issues, he does so in a world in which nothing is black-and-white. In Dust City, there is a whooole lot of grey, right up to the end. Just like in life.

Additionally, the characters in Dust City are very well-drawn. Henry does good things, and bad things; smart things, and really, really dumb things. He makes mistakes, just like every other teenaged boy out there, and every other character in this book is like that. And I loved them for it. When I found myself thinking, No, Henry, don't do it! It's a set-up! I knew I was onto a winner. Not many authors can make me care about their characters enough to think at them. And meeting each new character and figuring out which traditional fairytale they were from, and then finding out that I was right as I got to know the character more, was like getting little presents throughout the narrative. Awesome.

And also - and this is kind of shallow, but... You have to feel the cover of this book. It's textured. It feels... I`m not going to tell you how it feels, but I`ll tell you that I love it; it is so, so appropriate for this book. You have to go to your nearest bookstore and stroke it.* (The bookstore people will understand; they've probably beat you to it, actually. You know you want to.)

Don't you want to read this book right now? Well. You could go out immediately and buy it. You could immediately order it for your Kindle. Or you could win a signed copy right here, right now. In fact, I think you should go ahead and buy a copy anyway, because you're going to want to have a copy to read and re-read while your nice autographed copy rests pristinely on the shelf.** It's that good.

How can you win a signed copy of this book, you ask?

It's easy. Just:

1) Be a follower of this blog.

AND

2) Leave a comment on this post, telling me the name of your favorite fairytale.

The contest will run until MIDNIGHT on the night of MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1ST. I will put the names of every person who enters into a hat, and randomly draw the winner. The winner will be announced on my Wednesday Wisdom post on November 3rd. (In case you're wondering, my favorite fairytale is Hansel and Gretel.)

Good luck! And... GO!


*Yes, I do that. Bookstore people love me.
**Yes, I do that, too.

Random Pre-NaNo, Pre-PiBo Stuff

There's all kinds of great stuff going on right now here and in the rest of the blogoverse, so I'm postponing the usual Wisdom post until next week.

FIRST UP: There are TWO WAYS to enter the HALLOWEEN CONTEST EXTRAVAGANZA!!! You can either comment telling me your wacky costume ideas, OR email me a picture of yourself in your costume. So don't be shy! Enter here.

SECOND UP: OMG, guys, have I got a great author spotlight and book giveaway contest for you coming up tomorrow. I am so excited! It's going to be awesome, so come by and enter, okay? Okay. You can enter both tomorrow's contest and the HALLOWEEN CONTEST EXTRAVAGANZA! It will be easy-peasy, I promise you.


THIRD UP: I guess you noticed from the title of this post that I'm probably going to do NaNoWriMo. In fact, I have so much of my YA paranormal outlined that I have decided that I AM doing NaNo! WOO-HOO! And, of course, I am also doing PiBoIdMo. I'm pretty sure I can come up with 30 PB ideas in 30 days; my 3-year-old is a rich source of material. I mean, his big thing is running around the house with his underwear on his head. So, yes! to NaNo!  Yes! to PiBo!  YES! to my head exploding! (I'm just kidding about that last part...I think.) I am not yet set up on these things, so I will post over the weekend with links to my pages so you can buddy me.


FOURTH UP: Obviously, this means that I will have less time for blogging.  Like, a lot less.  Like, none.  I will maintain a thrice-weekly posting schedule, comprising of Mondays (random updates, writerly thoughts, linkages, etc.), Wednesdays (Wisdom), and Fridays (Favorites/random writerly stuff).  But I won't really be commenting as much on other blogs, at least not for the first half of November while I have family visiting from overseas (OMG, I must be MAD). And of course, we'll be right back up to five-posts-a-week from December 1st!


SEE YOU TOMORROW!!!

OMG, Guys! A Blog Award!

RaShelle Workman over at A No. 2 pencil stat! gave me this lovely blog award, guys! Isn't it beautiful? I love rainbows - they really are magical. And I LOVE cherries, especially the maraschino ones you get on cupcakes! (So they're full of chemicals - I love them, okay? They bring back happy childhood memories. Don't judge!) And my mantra is to choose joy - I believe that if you chose joy, then life will truly be good. So this is, in a lot of ways, the perfect award for me.


Thanks, RaShelle!  You really made my day!


And RaShelle's blog is pretty awesome, so make sure you go and check it out!


Of course, there is a protocol for this award, and in addition to thanking the person who gave it to me, I have to answer the following question: If I had the chance to go back and change one thing in my life, would I, and what would it be?


Ooh, good question. This is a toughie, because although there are things I would like to have done differently, I know that if I had, I might not have my wonderful husband or my beautiful kids in my life, and I would never want that. Maybe just focus more on writing and acting earlier on. I wish I had done that, instead of being in the position now where I feel kind of like I'm playing catch-up.


And now I get to fulfill my final obligation, which is to share the love by passing the award on to up to six other lovely bloggers out there! So without further ado, six people who I want to give this award to are:


1) Nathalie, over at Yup, I Read That - 'cause she is so funny, and her posts are so varied
2) Jennifer Hoffine, over at YA Audiobook Addict - who has the only audiobook blog I know of, and who is really smart
3) Casey McCormick, over at Literary Rambles - who has possibly the most informative writers' blog on the planet
4) Catherine Johnson, over at Kangaroobee's Blog - who posts some great tips and tricks
5) Rachael Harrie, over at Rach Writes - whose blog is awesome
6) Ali Cross, over at her self-named blog - who goes from funny to factual to helpful on her super blog


Those are some great blogs up there, guys, so check them out and offer them some congratulations for having such great blogs.


And have a great day!  I'll be back over the weekend with the announcement of my HALLOWEEN CONTEST EXTRAVAGANZA!

And the Award Goes To...

Almost two weeks ago, I was honored, thrilled, and deeply touched to receive the Versatile Blogger Award!

My very first blog award, guys!  Isn't it beautiful?  Now, we have already established my 21st Century Caveperson status, so of course, it has taken me a couple of weeks to figure out how to get it into my sidebar.  Anticlimactic, I know.  But I finally did it, and it's there, and I just want to take this minute to thank Angela McCallister over at Jaded Love Junkie for this award.  She's got a great blog, so go check it out!

Now, nothing good really comes free - those of us with Little People in our houses know this, yes? - so this thing haz rules, guys.  Rule number one is that you thank the person who gave you the award and link back, which I have done.  Rule numero due is that you have to post the award on your blog, and you can see it over there in the sidebar all shiny and new-looking and beautiful.  Rule number three is that I have to choose fifteen others upon whom to bestow this award, and rule number four is that I have to let them know ('cause not to would be kind of mean, wouldn't it?).

Do you know how many deserving bloggers there are out there, guys?  I mean, really, do you have any idea?  HUNDREDS.  Narrowing it down to fifteen was really hard, folks, but I think I've done it.  The fifteen recipients of the Versatile Blogger Award are:


1) Christine Fonseca, author of Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students
2) Heather Ayris Burnell, author of Bedtime Monster
3) Carolina Valdez Miller, over at Carol's Prints
4) Cynthia Jaynes Omololu, author of Dirty Little Secrets
5) Kate Kaynak, author of Minder, Adversary, Legacy, and Accused
6) Elana Johnson (You don't have to put it up, girl, but I'm giving it to you because your blog is made of AWESOMESAUCE.)
7) Jennifer over at Extreme Reader Book Reviews 
8) Franklin Beaumont over at Flash Fiction Daily 
9) Vic Caswell over at Hairnets and Hopes
10) Holly Cupala, author of Tell Me a Secret
11) Hannah Moskowitz, author of Break
12) Jen Stayrook, of WriteOnCon fame
13) Kelly Polark, whose blog is just too funny
14) Shelli Johannes over at Market My Words
15) Krista V over at Mother.Write.Repeat

Those are some awesome blogs, so I hope you make time to go and check them out.  And have a great day!

100 Followers Giveaway of Awesome!

I've reached 100 followers on my blog, guys!  And there are about a hundred people I have to thank for that.

YOU.


So I decided a while back that for my 100 Follower celebration, I wanted to have a giveaway!  At first, I thought I`d give away a critique or something.  Then, my husband came up with something even better.

See, when I found out the Smart Chicks Kick It tour was coming to a bookstore near me, I got really excited.  I mean, really, REALLY excited.  Like, buy all the first books by all those amazing ladies even though I hadn't read them yet so I would have permanent records of my couple of hours in the same room as them, grin and giggle my whole way home, tell all my friends EXCITED.  Then when my husband saw my hoard, he 1) had kittens; and 2) refused to continue to finance my literary excesses (and buy the bookshelves necessary to store the evidence of my literary excesses), and he insisted that he would only be okay with this if I agreed to give some of my newfound treasures away!

OUCH.


But, you know, this is understandable.  Our house looks like a book-junkyard.  We have WAAAAY more books than will fit on the shelves.  It's a lot of dusting, and it makes it hard to vacuum.  So, after reading those beautiful books, and caressing their beautiful covers, and gazing lovingly at the beautiful signatures in them, and doing some soul-searching, I have decided to give away my copy of SHADE, signed by Jeri Smith-Ready, to one of you, my faithful followers.


Here's the blurb from the jacket flap:

"Best. Birthday. Ever. At least, it was supposed to be. With Logan's band playing a critical gig and Aura's plans for an intimate after-party, Aura knows it will be the most memorable night of her boyfriend's life. She never thought it would be his last.

Logan's sudden death leaves Aura devastated. He's gone.

Well, sort of.

Like everyone born after the Shift, Aura can see and hear ghosts. This mysterious ability has always been annoying, and Aura had wanted nothing more than to figure out why the Shift happened so she can undo it. But not with Logan’s violet-hued spirit still hanging around. Because dead Logan is almost as real as ever. Almost.

It doesn't help that Aura’s new friend Zachary is so understanding—and so very alive. His support means more to Aura than she cares to admit.

As Aura's relationships with the dead and the living grow ever complicated, so do her feelings for Logan and Zachary. Each holds a piece of Aura's heart…and clues to the secret of the Shift."

SHADE is a great book.  I read it in one sitting, and it literally churned my stomach, because it touches on drug and alcohol abuse, and this is my greatest fear when it comes to my kids.  As soon as it got to the drunken party part, my stomach started doing its clench-unclench-flip-flip-flip-clench routine and I thought, Please, God, don't ever let this happen to my kids.  Plus, it kept me wondering throughout the book about Aura and the secret behind her ability to see ghosts.  And Zachary?  Let's just say I have a thing for all things Scottish and leave it at that.  So, it's hard for me to give it up, but I know that one of you will really, really, really enjoy it, so that makes it a little bit easier.


And, Jeri signed it in purple.  How cool is that?


There will be one first prize awarded (SHADE, signed in purple by Jeri-Smith-Ready), and one second prize (a query or first-five pages or full PB critique by Yours Truly).


SO HERE'S THE DEAL:


To enter this giveaway, LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST.  One comment = 1 entry.  You must be a follower to enter this giveaway.  Old followers get +2 entries, new followers get +1 entry.  (So you get a minimum of 2 entries, guys!)

FOR EXTRA ENTRIES:
+1 For Tweeting this giveaway, link in your comment.
+1 For every follower you send my way, tell them to tell me you sent them.
+1 For linking to this giveaway in the sidebar in your blog, link in your comment.
+1 For linking to this on your Facebook page, link in your comment.
+5 For writing an actual blog post just about this giveaway, link in your comment.


You don`t have to add up all your entries; I like math.  (Yup.  Big huge NERD over here.  I'm cool with it.)  Deadline for comments is Midnight on the night of Friday, October 8th.  Winners will be announced on Monday, October 11th.

You have one week.

GO!

PHOTOS. OF. AWESOME!

Remember those photos I promised you?  I bet you thought I was going to let you down, what with there not being a new post up this morning, huh?

Well.  It took a little longer that I had hoped, but I finally (temporarily) got my camera working.  And as for my awesome weekend, let me just say...

I got to meet the ladies who wrote all those.

Did I mention I got their books signed?

All those books?

Yeah.  And the women were pretty great, too - the funny, quick-thinking, hilarious kind of great.  And the generous kind - they signed books for HUNDREDS of people.  HUNDREDS.  Margaret Stohl actually came out and worked the line, signing books and chatting while people were waiting, because she's that cool and nice.

So, yeah.  AWESOME.


NOW: since I have almost a hundred followers, I'll have an announcement coming up in the next couple of days, involving a contest with some pretty cool prizes.  AWESOME prizes, even.  But not yet.  For now, I'm going to go lie down in the middle of my books of awesomeness.

To Blog, or Not To Blog?

I'm being a bad writer today and breaking from my schedule (Bad Ishta!), but I saw Elana Johnson's blog post yesterday on whether we promote good books, or books by authors we like based on their online presence, and it really got me thinking.  I decided to do some field research (online, of course - who says "field research" has to involve actually going somewhere?) on just how much of an online presence these mega-best-selling authors have, anyway.

The answer?  A lot.  Of the top ten books on the current New York Times bestseller list for MG and YA books, only one is by an author whose debut novel came without a whole whack of blogging, tweeting, facebooking, and other e-fanfare beforehand.  And since that debut 6 years ago, the author has stepped up his e-presence considerably, with a regular blog, website, and Twitter account.

What does this say for aspiring authors everywhere?  To me, it says an online presence is pretty important.  Will blogging your butt off make a mediocre book into a best-seller?  Probably not.  You still need to pour the bulk of your effort into writing an amazingly good, un-put-downable book.  But in an age where tweens and teens are almost universally wired, being accessible (and likeable!) online will almost certainly give you the edge over authors who aren't.

What do you think?  Is an e-presence essential to the debut author's success?

My Thoughts, but Somewhere Else

Or, I'm Being Interviewed!

The lovely (and funny) Bru has interviewed me on her blog, Pitch Slapped. (Isn't that a great blog title? See, I told you she was funny!) Needless to say, I am flattered and thrilled and all sorts of happy that she wanted to do this. Yay, Bru! So hop on down there, and check it (and her blog) out!

See you there, and thanks for stopping by.

Close Encounters of the Literary Kind

I popped into my local Chapters bookstore yesterday, (that's the Canadian version of Borders or Barnes and Noble), and had the pleasure of running into Rich Meyrick, there to promote his new book JASPA'S JOURNEY: THE GREAT MIGRATION.

Rich was friendly and enthusiastic, and his book - an adventure set in the serengeti - sounds like a lot of fun for middle-grade-level readers. Apart from the obvious writer-chat (I blog! Do you? Have you been to such-and-such conference? Etc.), Rich was gracious enough to congratulate me on my recent magazine publication, and to sign my brand-spanking-new copy of his book, which I can't wait to read!

It served as a good reminder for me of how hard authors need to work to promote their books. Before I started writing, I only thought of marketing in terms of the really big-sellers, with their dolls and their movies and their posters and what-have-you. I thought marketing was something the publisher did for you. But I was wrong. Being a writer is not just about writing; it is also about self-promotion.

Thanks to Rich for helping me remember that, and more importantly:

Congratulations, Rich, on the publication of your first fiction novel. May there be many more to come!

Thanks for stopping by.