School Visits Are the Best

I recently did a school visit at a local school near my home. They had never had an author come to visit them before, so they were very excited. The faculty had to turn away some of the classes that wanted to hear me speak because of the fire code's maximum capacity in the gym. I don't think I've ever spoken to such a big group before. They had fourth grade up to ninth grade--with some interested third graders thrown in for good measure. They were a fabulous group and I had a lot of fun talking to them about how you go about writing a book. My favorite part of school visits are the question and answer periods that come at the very end. Here are some actual questions that were asked of me by kids this time:

1) Have you met J.K. Rowling?! (Don't I wish!)

2) Can you name one of the characters in your books after me? (Get in line behind the lovely ladies I work with who think they should all be in my books by now.)

3) Which team are you on--Team Edward or Team Jacob? (Uh--Team Peeta?)

Seriously--I kid you not. I almost burst out laughing right there on stage!

If You Like Forbidden Sea . . .

 Have you ever wondered how Amazon does their book recommendations? You look up one item and all sorts of great suggestions come up of other books you might enjoy. Click the link below to see an awesome visual re-creation of how this works.

 http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/amazon-book-search-results-visualized_b46441?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+PW+Daily&utm_campaign=8473fdd026-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email

The link below is the visual list created for finding books like Forbidden Sea. So cool, check it out!

http://www.yasiv.com/amazon#/Search?q=forbidden%20sea&category=Books

Dolls in the Dark

My mother and I have been reading one of my new manuscripts--one that has haunted dolls in it. So one day, after reading, my mother went into my room without turning on the light, to place something on my bed. When she turned around, she came face to face with the doll pictured above. Now, you have to understand. This particular doll is big. (two feet tall) He is usually kept in a glass display case out in the living room with all of my other dolls. But a couple of my nieces accidentally knocked him over and I took him into my room and stood him against the wall so that he would be safe until the kids had gone home. Unfortunately, that was when my mother had her run in with him in the dark. He totally scared the snot out of her. I must admit, he does look a little like one of the dolls I described in my book. She said that was why he startled her so bad. It was like my story had suddenly come to life. My mother is not normally a jumpy person. She said, my story had just made it seem so real. We couldn't stop laughing about the incident afterward.

Coming Soon!

Okay, maybe not SOON. Writing a novel always takes so much more time than I think it will.

I recently spoke with my agent, Amy Boggs, and we started planning what manuscripts I should begin working on next. I always have dozens of story ideas simmering in the back of my mind--but I can only work on a few at a time. Deciding which one to begin working on next is always a big decision. After all, it can take years to get a book ready for publication. If I'm going to be spending that much time and effort on a story it has to be one I really love. I currently have four novels I'm actively working on. That's right FOUR. And I am so excited about finally getting to write these stories which have been patiently waiting their turn! I've been creating characters, plotting out story lines, and creating new worlds. One of the stories has illustrations, so I've even started drawing again as well. It's been far too long--I'm really enjoying it. Telling a story in a visual format has its own set of challenges that are completely different from a novel that is only told only in words. Getting my brain around it can really push my creative limit at times. But it is so much fun to try something different!

Will any of these stories find a home at some publishing house in the near future--we will soon see!

Pirates Ahoy!

A bunch of my nephews and nieces came to stay for the weekend. After they'd all gone home, I went to clean up the mess in the toy room and this is what I found had been done to my pirate ship:

My pirates are gonna be living in high style now! I'm guessing one of my nieces got tired of the plain old boring dollhouse and decided to liven things up a bit. At least those scurvy pirates will travel in comfort as they plunder the seven seas. Do you think they have a doily for when their walking the plank?

Contest! With PRIZES!

Contest Now Closed



A friend of mine is putting on a great contest with lots of cool prizes! I'm one of the sponsors donating a prize. Click the link below to find out more.

http://windwaithemermaid.blogspot.com/2011/11/contest-with-lots-of-prizes.html

All Ready for Halloween!

I found this adorable Halloween bedspread for sale online and had to buy it. When I went to bed the first night, I quickly discovered the ghosts glow in the dark. How cool is that? And don't you love the matching ghost accent pillow? I'm all set for Halloween. Are you?