Sara2 Blog Tour

I was delighted to be invited to be a part of the Sara2 Blog Tour – and even more delighted when I finished reading both of their amazing books. I may write exclusively MG, but I read YA all the time, and I knew these books were special before I even finished them.

I recommend them wholeheartedly – and I hope you read to the bottom of this hilarious/awesome/thought-provoking duet interview with the authors in question, so you can have the chance to WIN their books, and fall in love with them, too!

And now, to the good stuff…

Sara Squared Blog Tour Banner

Q&A with Debut YA Authors Sara Kocek and Sara Polsky

What’s the best thing about being a debut novelist? The worst?

SK: The best part? If I die tomorrow in a freak accident (karma, pay no attention to this) I will have died knowing that I achieved one of my most difficult dreams. The worst part? If I DON’T die tomorrow in a freak accident, I will actually have to watch my friends and family read my book. These are people who have been waiting for years to read my stuff! And now I can’t delay them any further. It’s like that old dream of showing up at school naked…except this might actually be more terrifying.

SP: Hearing from early readers who’ve connected with the book has been the most wonderful part of the experience so far. The hardest thing? I always find it hard to talk about my own projects without rambling on incoherently or getting embarrassed. But at least now I’m getting a lot of practice!

 

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

SK: I knew when I was eight-years-old that I wanted to be a writer someday. But it wasn’t until one afternoon in college that I found out I already was one. I was home for Thanksgiving break and found myself in my childhood bedroom, poking around through my cluttered desk drawers. Buried under some old flash cards and colored pencils was a small diary with a flimsy lock. When I pried it open, I was amused by what I read on the first page: What a stupid little diary. My life is too big to fit in these dinky little lines. However, as I read further, I grew mildly disturbed. There was an entry about a mean piano teacher—I never took piano lessons. There was an entry about my dog’s funeral—I never had a dog. There was even an entry about my trip to France—I never left the country.

I hadn’t written about space travel or magic. Instead, I had filled pages with stories of utter banality—a complete fictional account of what could have been my life. That’s when I knew that on some fundamental level, I was (and always would be) be a writer. It wasn’t something that I would become someday after practicing a lot (although practicing sure helped me get published). It was something I already was. Just like I had brown hair, just like I had weird toes, just like I was five-foot-three. I was a writer. And proud!

SP: I can’t remember not wanting to be a writer. I used to make up stories about my stuffed animals and dolls and write them down. But as a teenager and adult, it took me a while to find the courage to try fiction. I was convinced that I wouldn’t be any good at it, so I turned to non-fiction instead, focusing on my academic essays and my school newspaper. When I decided to try fiction, my early efforts — which included an unfinished Da Vinci Code rip-off — were terrible. But then I got the idea for This Is How I Find Her, and it wouldn’t let me go. I cared enough about the story to revise and revise until I was happy with the result.

 

The characters in your novels deal with serious problems and they have to make difficult choices. What was it that drew you to address such thorny material, and what do you hope readers will come away with?

SK: I didn’t set out to write a book about bullying, homophobia, or teen suicide; these issues just reared their ugly heads as I got to know the characters. That said, the more I wrote about Olive, Grace, and Tim—not to mention their incredibly bigoted History teacher—the more passionate I started to feel about gay rights as an issue on the national stage. It has been especially exciting to follow the recent Supreme Court cases pertaining to gay marriage. Olive and Reyna even get into a discussion at one point in the book about gay marriage, a conversation that isn’t too different from the one so many Americans have been having lately. I’ve been heartened by the relatively recent shift in public opinion on gay rights, and I hope that readers of my book will walk away leaning in that direction—the direction of tolerance—if they weren’t already.

SP: I’ve always been drawn to writing about difficult topics and complicated emotions. I think that’s because I’m motivated to write by questions I find hard to answer and emotions I’m trying to figure out in my own life — big questions about family and friendship and finding a place for ourselves. I hope readers of my work will be comforted in their own attempts to answer these questions.

 

Which recent YA novel do you most admire and why?

SK: I loved Riptide by Lindsey Scheibe. Don’t be fooled by the carefree surfer on the cover—it’s not a light beach read. While there’s plenty of sizzling romance, there are also some dark issues at play—namely child abuse. As a writer, I know how hard it can be to achieve a balance between levity and darkness, so I really appreciated how this book blended the two.

SP: I love all of Sara Zarr’s books, and her most recent, The Lucy Variations, is right up there with Sweethearts as my favorite of her books. I’m always trying to figure out how to create more tension in character-driven stories, and Sara Zarr is a master at writing complicated, compelling relationships.

 

What is your favorite line from your forthcoming novel, and why?

SK: I love when Reyna tries to squirm her way out of a bigoted statement by saying that she’s playing the devil’s advocate, and Olive responds, “Well, don’t. The devil already has enough advocates.”

To me, that’s Olive at her best. At those moments—when she’s standing up for what she knows is right, no matter the consequences—I wish I knew her in real life. If she were running for public office, I’d vote for her.

SP: A few of my favorite lines are spoilers, but here’s one from early in the book, when Sophie, my main character, arrives at her aunt and uncle’s house and her cousin answers the door:

“We’re the same height and have the same shade of dark brown hair, but mine hangs wearily down my back, split at the ends, while hers bounces along her shoulders. After the startled moment when she opens the door and finds me there, we avoid each other’s eyes.

We’re good at that. We’ve been doing it for years.”

The relationship between these two characters — cousins who were best friends as children but aren’t any more — is what originally compelled me to write this story, and this scene was one of the first I wrote about them.

 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

SK: Be the most you that you can possibly be. Listen to the songs that make you feel alive. Read the books that make you feel less alone. Observe yourself from afar. Go to parties and pretend that you are floating above the room, looking down at yourself as you talk to people. What do you see? That is your material.

SP: Have patience. Not just with the publication process — though it certainly requires patience — but also with the process of writing and improving as a writer.

 

Readers always want to know how old I am. I tell them I’m really old, but inside I’m about nine. So, how old are you? How old are you inside?

SK: My friends tell me I have an “old soul,” but I think I’ve just done a really good job of mastering the knowing nod and smile. The truth is, I feel like I’m a different age every day. Sometimes I feel like I’m nine. Sometimes I feel like I’m ninety-nine. According to my birth certificate, I’m 27 years old.

SP: I’m 27, but inside I’m about 17.

 

My mom frequently asks me when I’m going to decide to write a “real” novel for grown-ups. Does anyone ever ask you this? What do you tell them? Try not to use four-letter words in your response.

SK: Nobody has asked me this directly, but when I first told my friends I was working on a young adult novel set in high school, a few gave me a look that seemed to say “Why on earth would you want to revisit that?” We used to make fun of certain teachers for being emotionally stuck in high school themselves. Now I wonder if I should be saying the same thing about myself.

SP: Usually I say that stories come to me in different forms — some are fiction, some are non-fiction, some are for younger readers, and some for adults. I would never have written This Is How I Find Her as an adult novel. I might someday write an adult novel, but I definitely don’t view my writing career as a progression toward writing “real” novels.

 

What question do you wish an interviewer would ask you? Give your response here. It’ll feel great.

SK: I wish someone would ask me my favorite word. It is “discombobulate.” Say it ten times fast—I guarantee you will find it funny. 🙂

SP: Where does the title of your book come from?

The book went through a few working titles, but it took a long time to come up with a title that felt right. I made lists and lists, and most of my ideas sounded too vague or felt too young for the story. Finally, in the same week, my editor and I both hit on very similar ideas for the title and knew we’d found the right one. “This is how I find her” is a line from early in the book that also resonates with the rest of the story.

 

Thanks for following along on our blog tour, and thanks for reading!

Promise Me Something

Title: Promise Me Something
Author: Sara Kocek
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co.

This Is How I Find Her

Title: This is How I Find Her
Author: Sara Polsky
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co.

 

Sara KocekSara Kocek is the author of Promise Me Something (Albert Whitman Teen, 2013). She received her BA in English from Yale University and her MFA in Creative Writing from New York University, where she taught fiction and poetry to undergraduates. A freelance editor and college essay coach, Sara has served as the Program Director at the Writers’ League of Texas, a literary nonprofit. She is also the founder of Yellow Bird Editors, a team of freelance editors and writing coaches based in Austin, Texas.

 

Sara Polsky

Sara Polsky’s debut YA novel, This is How I Find Her, will be published by Albert Whitman in fall 2013. Her fiction has appeared in Fictitious Force and Behind the Wainscot. She is represented by Suzie Townsend. Sara is a writer and editor at Curbed NY, and her articles and essays have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, The Forward, Poets & Writers, and other publications. She lives in New York City.

This Friday, head to the next stops on this blog tour at Dear Teen Me, which has a guest post by Sara Polsky, and  Left to Write, where you will find a review of Promise Me Something and a signed book giveaway.

Now, if you would like to win signed copies of BOTH books, please leave a comment (with email address) below! On September 7, I will draw a name out of a hat (literally, I’ll have one of my kids help me do this with an actual hat – we’re old school), and announce the winner! (Sorry, US and Canada only for this drawing.) A huge thanks to Albert Whitman and Co. for providing the signed books! 

Happy Birthday to Splendid Academy!

What a year! One year ago today, my first book came out. It was an amazing day. I went with my 92 year-old Grandma to the closest bookstore, where she bought a copy. (I told her I’d give her one, but she refused! It was important, she said, to spend her own money on it. I have the best Grandma ever.)

My husband brought me flowers, and we went out to lunch at the restaurant where I first got the idea for the book. My mom joined us for dinner. It was a delight. Like the birthday of my life’s dreams. Perfect.

I’d like to say that every day of the past year has been just as lovely, but it’s not true. There have been hard days, days where I doubted myself, my writing ability, my hairstyle, my everything! Well, okay. Maybe not my dance moves. But most everything else.

But I never lost sight of the fact that I was living the dream. My dream, the one I’d first had when I was about nine, that I’d almost given up on for most of my life, and that I found again right around the same time the gray hair started coming in. And even on the hard days, I never lost sight of just how lucky/blessed I am.

Some of the most important and lovely things have happened for me in the past year. I had a book signing in Round Rock, my hometown, where my kindergarten teacher Aunt Trudy showed up – right as I was about to start talking about her, and how important she’d been in forming me as a writer! I still remember her leaning over my shoulder when I was four years old, giving me harder and harder books, pushing me, helping me see just how far I could go. She still has the same hairstyle, like white cotton candy.

I also signed a book that day to Herrington Elementary, named for one of my favorite teachers of all time, the late Linda Herrington. She made school fun, let me run off to the library by myself… and at her house, cooked me tomato soup one cold day, with oyster crackers floating on top. Campbell’s tomato soup will forever trigger one of my own Proustian “madeleine” moments, and I will always hear Ms. Herrington’s delighted laughter when I taste it.

I had an amazing book launch party at Bookpeople, where friends and family flew and drove from all over the country to celebrate with me. I was overcome, and thinking about that day still makes me feel oh-so-loved.

But the most memorable day – moment – has to be this one: in Japan, at Yokota Middle School, when a young dyslexic girl came up to me to tell me how much she’d loved my book, that it was the first novel she’d ever read, and that she just had to talk to me about it.

My book. The only book she’d ever read from start to finish.

Ah, yes. THAT was the moment. For that moment alone, I would have gone through all the hard and much harder days that followed the initial “yes” from my editor. For that look on her face, that smile and the sweet conversation we had after, I would go through all the not-so-lovely parts again.

I wrote a book that mattered to at least one child. What more is there to want in this writing life?

Happy birthday to my life’s dream. I hope yours comes true for you, friends. I will bake you a cake when it does!

XOXOXOXO

 

 

The Writing Magic of Santa Fe

What is it about Santa Fe? I go there, I get story ideas. I go there with bad story ideas, I get better ones. It’s almost miraculous. I don’t even have to hike out into the desert or meditate or anything. Although that is fun, too.

Hi, friends! I’ve been gone on the world’s most awesome road trip with my family. We drove in my super-sexy minivan from Austin to Palo Duro Canyon, Santa Fe, Taos, Pagosa Springs, and Silverton… where we rode the train and got mooned by 6 people.

Seriously, Silverton/Durango people. Who moons? (Hmm. Good question. Note to self: Possible picture book title. Who Moons?).

Oh, look, a train! Oh, look a gorgeous countryside! Oh, look, hairy butts!

Oh, look, a train! Oh, look a gorgeous countryside! Oh, look, hairy butts!

Anyway… then we went to Mesa Verde National Park, the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest National Park, White Sands, and ended in Fort Davis, Texas.

We did these things on the trip:

White-water rafted

Whitewater kayaked

Rode a coal-powered steam train down a mountain

Free climbed ENORMOUS boulders (well, okay, not enormous)

Went caving

Soaked in about 20 natural hot springs

Climbed into a ton of Ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings

Saw Californian condos, elk, wild turkeys, peregrine falcons, golden eagles, hummingbirds by the dozen, mule deer, tarantulas, and so many other things…

Also, did I mention the moonings? My kids will NEVER forget that part.

So. Much. Fun.

But the weirdest part was the revelation in a restaurant in Santa Fe, when I was sitting with my husband, moaning about how my current novel just wasn’t clicking. Over corn chipotle soup and fajitas, it suddenly became perfectly clear to me what was missing. (Yeah, I know. I’m supposed to leave my work on home when on vacation. It just doesn’t work that way for writers. I mean, I guess I could leave my brain at home in a jar or something. Note to self: Write a character who has a brain collection.)

Now, if this had been the first time I’d had a revelation in Santa Fe about a book, I’d think it was a coincidence. But it keeps happening to me, my whole life! I go to New Mexico, I think about writing, I get inspired.

If anyone can explain this, I’ll buy you a sopapilla. Of course, you’ll have to meet me in Santa Fe in August to eat it – I’m going back. This time, I’m going solo, to the amazing AROHO Women’s Writing retreat at Ghost Ranch.

I think, after a week of writing in the desert right outside Santa Fe, I’m going to have a good draft to start tinkering with.

Or who knows? Maybe I’ll get some more story ideas. It is sort of the place for that, for me anyhow.
So, where’s your place, Writer Friends? New York? Sedona? Your back yard? The shower?

I’ll see you in two weeks!

The Grand Canyon, which was just grand.

The Grand Canyon, which was just grand.

Nightingale’s Nest Has a Cover!

I am over-the-moon excited to show you the cover for my next book, NIGHTINGALE’S NEST, today!

Honestly, I had no idea I’d be posting about this so soon. But the lovely folks at Razorbill gave the go-ahead, and I can’t wait to share. This is, after all, the book of my heart, and I think the cover they came up with is stunningly gorgeous.

So… just to delay a bit, let me tell you about the book.  Here’s the back cover copy from Amazon:

A powerful novel about friendship and family that calls to mind Bridge to Terabithia

Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., or “Little John” as he’s always been known, is spending his summer helping his father with his tree removal business, clearing brush for Mr. King, the wealthy owner of a chain of Texas dollar stores, when he hears a beautiful song that transfixes him. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree.

There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice, and Little John’s friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in his life, for his home is dominated by sorrow over his sister’s death and his parents’ ever-tightening financial difficulties.

But then Mr. King draws Little John into an impossible choice—forced to choose between his family’s survival and a betrayal of Gayle that puts her future in jeopardy.

Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale’s Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice.

Intrigued? I hope so! Because right after that, right there on the Amazon page, are the BLURBS! I have to admit, when my agent, editor, and I started asking our favorite authors if they would blurb my upcoming book, I’m pretty sure we didn’t expect them all to come back with amazing quotes (any one of which would make an awesome tattoo, if I went in for optional pain).

But they did all write loveliness. Words I read and re-read, feeling as overwhelmed with gratitude as I can ever remember.

Here are some snippets from most of the authors:

PRAISE FOR NIGHTINGALE’S NEST:“An extraordinary read—I had to tear myself away from it.”—Katherine Catmull, author of Summer and Bird“Perfectly captures the challenges of growing up and dealing with loss. Get ready to have your heart touched.”—Shannon Messenger, author of Keeper of the Lost Cities

“Tugs and tears at the reader’s heart. . . . lovely and magical.”—Bethany Hegedus, author of Truth with a Capital T and Between Us Baxters

“Riveting. . . . This is a book you’ll long remember.”—Lynda Mullaly Hunt, author of One for the Murphys

“Loftin’s eye for strange beauty in unexpected places often takes the reader’s breath away.”—Claire Legrand, author of The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

“Will haunt your soul—and lift your heart.”—Kimberley Griffiths Little, author of The Healing Spell and The Year the Butterflies Came

“A haunting, beautifully told story!”—Bobbie Pyron, author of The Dogs of Winter and A Dog’s Way Home

“The kind of book I wanted to read slowly.”—Shelley Moore Thomas, author of The Seven Tales of Trinket

“This is a work of tremendous heart.”—Anne Ursu, author of Breadcrumbs

I declare, I may swoon, just seeing them all together like that. All those talented friends and author folk! And they all loved my book! And the longer blurbs (yes, these amazingly talented authors sent LOTS of words) will be in the opening pages of the final book.

Which you can (cough, cough) pre-order on Amazon already, if you do that sort of thing. 🙂

Of course, it’s not going to arrive until February 20, so you may have to stare at the picture of the cover, and re-read those blurbs obsessively until that day. Or maybe that’s just me. (And yes, you too, Mom.)

Oh, the cover? Is it time to show you the COVER? It was created by Japanese genius Tsuji Megumi, if you’d like to know, who may or may not be a magical creature from the land of Perfect Art. So, so talented.

Drum roll please…

Cover for Nightingale's Nest

 

I love it all. The girl, the leaf letters, the colors, the mood… Definitely time to swoon.

So, what do YOU think? 🙂

 

Super Swag Sunday Coming Soon!

GET READY FOR

The 2nd Annual
SUPER SWAG SUNDAY!!!

When:  June 24th thru July 1st


Where:  laurisareyes.blogspot.com/


Why:  For a chance to win lots of cool promotional items signed by 42 of today’s best middle grade and young adult authors!


Win? Did you say WIN?


YES!

Every day for seven days, Laurisa’s blog will spotlight some of the most amazing new books for kids and teens! Monday thru Saturday visitors will be able to enter for chances to win one of 6 swag packs containing everything from signed bookmarks and postcards, to pins, pencils, totebags, stickers, key chains, lip balm, charms and more!
On the last day, SUPER SWAG SUNDAY, one last MEGA SWAG PACK will be given to one very lucky winner! This pack so far includes everything listed above PLUS:

1- hardbound copy of THE UNWANTEDS signed by author Lisa McMann
1- TEST TASTE charm bracelet
1- TOUCHING THE SURFACE T-shirt
1 – LOVE AND LEFTOVERS charm necklace
1 – SEND ME A SIGN guitar pick
1 – paperback copy of EVERTASTER: THE BUTTERSMITH’S GOLD signed by author Adam Sidwell
1- hardbound copy of THE SCORCH TRIALS signed by author James Dashner
1- hardbound copy of THE ALWAYS WARS signed by author Margaret Peterson Haddix
1 – OyMG! T-shirt
1 – Original Artwork Print from FISHTALE signed by author Catherine Masciola
1- LOSING IT water bottle signed by author Erin Fry
1 – hardbound copy of LOSING IT signed by the author

And more prizes are still being added to the pile!

So be sure to stop by laurisareyes.blogspot.com/ every day from June 24th thru July 1st for plenty of chances to win. Stop by now and follow the blog to receive notifications of when the event starts posting.

See you then!

Sweet News: The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest Is On!

Happy Summer! It’s that time of year when some kids turn on the television for the next two months… and some start turning pages as fast as they can. Librarians all over have wonderful programs to keep kids reading. I’m doing some library summer book club visits to help promote in Texas – and on a wider stage… I’m pleased as punch to announce that my book, The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, is one of the books on Kay Cassidy’s “The Great Scavenger Hunt Contest!” (Thanks, Kay!)

So, if you’re a librarian, a reader, or just interested in what this is all about, check out Kay’s page. And join the great hunt! Its’ free, it’s fun, and your kids may just put down the remote control long enough to fall in love with a book or two. (I’m off to mail a copy of my book to donate right now!)

Happy Reading!

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Kidlit Cares for Oklahoma: Donate Today!

Hi, friends!

Oklahoma is having some real troubles, y’all. I know lots of people may want to help, but don’t know what to do. Here’s one quick and easy way you can donate to American Red Cross Disaster Relief to help out – and you might even win one of the amazing books a whole bunch of authors have donated!

Click here to check out the amazing, generous, talented, and all around lovely Kate Messner’s blog post for directions to donate and be entered in the drawing. You can contribute $10 or up! You might win my book… or one of many dozens of others.

And let’s all keep Oklahoma in our thoughts. <3

POISON Giveaway winner!

Sorry for the slight delay on the winner announcement. I was enjoying the Memorial Day weekend with the kids… one of whom just drew a name out of a hat (okay, a popcorn bucket). And the winner of the new copy of POISON by Bridget Zinn  is…

Shelli!

Hooray, Shelli! I know you’ll love this book. Shoot me an email and I’ll mail it to you.

Now, back to the New Novel. Have I ever told you people how much I love writing about magic?

A Celebration of Bridget Zinn + POISON Giveaway

A few years ago, when I was going through the process of looking for an agent and then an editor, I started noticing some names popping up over and over again on the websites and twitter feeds I haunted. (I’m pretty sure most of us do that — wannabe authors, I mean. We form a sort of virtual worldwide community, bonded together by the adversity of rejection and – finally, maybe – by success!)

 One of the other authors I noticed, just about on the same career trajectory I was following, was Bridget Zinn.

 

I didn’t know much about her until I saw a tweet with her name in it. She had gotten her book deal, it turned out!

But the tweet was about a fundraiser. Because in the middle of all her great writing-related news, Bridget had also learned something else. She had cancer.

Her smiling face prompted me to bid on items in a silent auction to help with her medical bills. I offered up prayers and thoughts of healing for this smiling woman I’d never met – because I did know her, in a way. I knew her hopes and dreams were the same as mine, her path very similar. We were both almost there, almost to the shining moment of seeing our books on the shelves, our names on the spines, our stories in the hands of young readers.

And then Bridget, the effervescent librarian, writer, and new member of the kidlit tribe, died.

She would have been an Apocalypsie, a member of the supportive group of debut kidlit authors whose first books were slated to come out in the 2012 (the supposed end of the world, according to Mayan calendars). Her book was delayed a bit, understandably, and it came out in March of this year.

And it’s fantastic. POISON, her debut YA fantasy, is delightfully funny and fast-paced, the exact sort of book I buy for my myriad nephews and nieces. The sort of book kids fall in love with and hand around to all their friends at school.

 

When Bridget’s cousin asked me to take part in the Austin leg of POISON’s national book tour, at the amazing local indie bookstore, Bookpeople, I was honored and excited. A whole group of Austin authors came together to help launch Bridget’s book, to celebrate for her. To celebrate her.

Photo from Bridget Zinn POISON book launch

PJ Hoover, Barrett Dowell (Bridget’s husband), me, Cory Putnam Oakes, and Mary Zuniga Johnson (Bridget’s cousin).

 

I have given copies of her amazing book to libraries in Texas and Japan – and I’ll probably keep giving them! I adore this book.

But the copy I got at the Austin signing – filled with the names of Austin authors and a stamped signature of Bridget’s – means something more to me. I keep it near my writing desk for a reason. On those days when I feel like surfing the Internet or eating my weight in M&Ms instead of writing, seeing Bridget’s book reminds me that we don’t know how much time we have to fulfill our dreams. And when I open it, and see the names of the writers who came to support her life, and her work, I remember I’m not alone, no matter how solitary the writing life can feel.

 

The world is filled with stories to write, moments to savor them, and friends to help celebrate every step on the journey. And if we’re lucky, books like Bridget’s can fill that journey with laughter and delight.

If you would like a special signed copy from the Austin launch of POISON, they can be purchased from Bookpeople directly.

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I’d like to invite you to celebrate Bridget’s life, her book, and the community of authors that launched her debut novel by giving away a copy of POISON. If you would like to enter, leave a comment about someone who has inspired you (A writer? A teacher?). Comments will be accepted until May 24, midnight CST. Names will be printed out, placed in a hat, and the winner drawn by my ten-year-old kid. (Let’s not get too fancy, people.) If the winner does not respond within 48 hours with a valid email address to the contest notification posted on my blog, another name will be drawn until someone who’s paying attention wins!

Oh, and North America only for this, please. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Splendid Events in May!

Hiya!

I’m back, just to show a couple of pictures from recent events, and share a couple of things I read that I thought were amazing.

First, I’ve been having fun – writing, yes, but also doing some short talks, interviews, and school visits!

I did a Skype school visit with a wonderful group of kids in Manor ISD, and their lovely librarian Micheal Harper. Thanks, Ms. Harper, for bringing me into your library and letting me chat with those great kids!

I had a lovely time last week presenting to the Austin/Houston Society of Layerists and Multimedia artists on creativity and not giving up. I spoke, signed books, and had an excellent brunch as well. Thanks, gals. (Here are a few of the members with me!)

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A few days ago, I had the chance to present to a lovely group of kids at the Austin Jewish Academy’s book fair. Some of the kids in the audience were quite young, so I toned down the scary bits… but I don’t think they would have cared! I also talked about other books I’ve loved recently that were for sale at the fair: One For The Murphys, The False Prince, Gustav Gloom and the Peopletakers, The One and Only Ivan, and more. I love seeing kids get excited about books, don’t you?

Here I am with Sharyn Vane, the liaison who invited me to the AJA:

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And now for a couple of very good things! First, if you are a teacher or librarian, you’ve probably heard about Claire Legrand’s book, The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls. Well, she’s giving away TEN copies to celebrate the paperback launch! So hop on over to her blog and enter. I adore this book!

Next, the lovely Rebecca Behrens (author of the 2014 debut WHEN AUDREY MET ALICE), singled out my dear Principal Trapp on her “favorite villain” post on a new website for MG books. Thanks All For One and One Four Kidlit, and Rebecca, too!

I adore this post by the Penderwicks author Jeanne Birdsall. Touching, lovely, and so true. Books really do save lives – and childhoods.

Now, it’s back to the page for me. I’m a busy bee these days, and I gotta make the honey. Write well, friends!

Next up: School visits at Oak Hill and Wooldridge Elementaries, and… oh, did I mention? I’m going back to the AROHO Writing Retreat/Conference at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico this August! WOOHOO!