#PitMad Prep

I'm waiting for #pitmad (the twitter pitch party on 3/29) to start...and I'm rewriting my pitches...

Dum-de-dum...willing to crit yours if you'll crit mine...The first is for my MG fantasy. I like this one. The other three are for my YA contemporary...still playing with it.

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The assignment is Toenail not Tooth; but for Moth, rappel hook beats pink tutu any day! Think Tinkerbell meets Artemis Fowl. MG  #pitmad

Kate is sure Scott didn’t torch the 8th Green. Proving it is harder than beating him at golf, especially since he won’t deny it. #pitmad

When Scott won’t deny torching the 8^th Green, proving he’s innocent is more important to Kate than winning the big tournament. YA  #pidmad

Money stolen, the 8th green torched; Kate spies on her friends to solve the crime and save the family golf course from ruin. YA  #pidmad

Golf Tip Tuesday: Manners

It's almost spring. That means it's almost time to get back on the links. Though if you're a serious golfer, you won't let a little cold or snow interrupt your game.

Golf is often called the "gentleman's sport" -- which means manners matter. Of course, show up on any golf course at any time (or just watch the golf channel), and you can you'll find your share of cursing and bad manners and even club-throwing. Because it seems like manners matter less today than they once did.

But they do. When someone has good manners, you almost always notice. Seriously, manners matter in real life, too.


In business, having good manners is usually referred to as acting with professionalism. On a good day it's easy to have good manners and be professional. On a bad day, it's harder. Much like when you hit a bad shot off the tee into the water hazard, it's hard to keep your mouth shut when things are going badly. It's so tempting to lash out and say something best left unsaid.

In the publishing industry, it's really important. The industry is so small, you really want to make sure (especially on social media) that you're as professional as possible. You never know who's listening. Who's watching. And it's only your own brand that you're hurting.

In golf, you always know the serious players by their good manners, even when they are playing badly.

I've blogged about Manners before...here: Golf Tip Tuesday: Manners

Setting on YAStands

I'm over at YAStands today talking about Setting. http://yastands.blogspot.com/2013/03/ramp-up-your-setting.html

If you missed it...I revealed my Picture Book Cover art yesterday! Scroll down or click here.

Happy Wednesday!

Cover Reveal: WORST CASE OF PASKETTI-ITIS by Kristine Carlson Asselin

Guys...I'm so excited to share this with you...

I wrote this book when my 10-year-old daughter was 3. I never thought this day would come! The art work is by the talented Luisa Gioffre-Suzuki. The book is schedule to be released in June from 4RV Publishing. 

Drum roll...

Pasta is the perfect food to Petunia!  There are so many different varieties!  Why should she eat anything else?  Her mother, her teacher, and even the lunch-lady, warn her that she might turn into pasta if she doesn’t try something else. Could she really turn into pasta? Would it be farfalle? Or maybe fettuccini? Petunia finds out, to her dismay, that “you are what you eat.”

I'm starting the marketing soon. If anyone is interested in hosting a blog tour or a spaghetti feed (lol), let me know!

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate

I'm usually not at all good at reading award-winners. THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN was a birthday gift, and honestly, I hadn't even heard of it before it won the Newbery this year.

That said, it's adorable, poignant, and un-put-downable.

It's the story of a gorilla, raised in captivity, and ultimately who rescues himself from his prison at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Told entirely from Ivan's perspective, it's a story of friendship, loyalty, and love.

After finishing the book, I read this Interview with Katherine Applegate from School Library Journal. Knowing that Katherine Applegate cut her writing teeth on ghost writing middle grade books, and writing formulaic Harlequin Romance, gives me such a sense of respect for her. Working writers must write, and she's learned her craft through writing a lot of different types of books, for a lot of different audiences.

LOVE!

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From Goodreads:

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

WONDER by R.J. Palacio

Sometimes you come across a book that hits your heart so hard, you have no choice but to cry. Not because it's sad, but because it's so true and honest. And real. Cry and then spread the word.

Released in 2012, WONDER was a New York Times best seller, and a "best of 2012" for School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publisher's Weekly.

Have you read WONDER by R.J. Palacio yet?


From Goodreads:

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Told from the perspective of Auggie, his sister Via, his friends Summer and Jack, and Via's friends Justin and Miranda, WONDER takes place over Auggie's first year in "real" school--5th grade for him. It's more than a book about a boy convincing his classmates he's just like them. It's a book about how one boy's life touches all of the lives around him. 

You should read it. You'll laugh and you'll cry. And then you'll tell everyone you know that they should read it.

Can you tell I loved it? 

The totally cool thing was that my 10-year-old read it immediately after me. And the day she finished it, we talked about it with a friend of hers who had also read it. So much fun to have a conversation about a poignant book with some smart fourth graders.

The Twitter Club

Soo...I have this perpetual flashback...

I'm at a party. I see two acquaintances chatting. I screw up my nerve, walk over and make a witty comment related to something one of them just said. I laugh at my own brilliance before I realize. Silence. They stare blankly before walking away, leaving me standing there...the fading chuckle still on my face.

The feeling of wanting to fade into the wallpaper is overwhelming.

And unfortunately, Twitter sometimes makes me feel the EXACT. SAME. WAY. Oh, I try to banter. Add my snarky comments to a conversation. Will myself to be funny and charming...and...and...funny.

It happened the other day. My funny comment fell flat...and the conversation died. I felt like the girl with the giant L on her forehead.

Twitter sometimes makes me feel like I'm on the outside. All those funny, charming, brilliant people interacting. And then there's me. Just trying to fit into the club. Trying to join in the conversation. 

But you know what? I refuse to fade into the wallpaper. Because sometimes, the cool people talk back. They laugh with me. They follow me. And it feels good to be on the inside. And I always try to remember when someone joins the conversation what it feels like to be the wallpaper.

Using Motivation to plot

I'm talking about using Motivation to Plot over at YA Stands today. Come join me!

http://yastands.blogspot.com/2013/03/using-motivation-to-plot.html?spref=tw

Have a great day!

My Epic Fairy Tale FAIL by Anna Staniszewski

 

From Good reads: 

Fairy tales do come true. Unfortunately.

Jenny the Adventurer is back, and this time she's off to the Land of Tales: the crazy place that all fairy tales come from. If she can defeat an evil witch and complete three impossible tasks--all without getting eaten by blood-thirsty monsters--Jenny might finally get some answers about what happened to her parents.

This is one adventure Jenny can't afford to fail.

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We've been waiting for Anna Staniszewski's sequel to My Very Unfairy Tale Life since last summer. It was worth the wait. My 10-year-old beat me to the mailbox when we got the ARC. She dived into it and ended up finishing it while we were in Florida.

Here she is reading in the hotel lobby while we checked in.

She says, "it made me want to keep reading! My mom had to beg me to stop reading." (at bedtime).


I read it after we got home. 
 
Jenny is a great heroine. Funny, snarky, brave. Everything you want in a middle grade hero!

I loved the additions of Jenny's friends, and more of her aunt. We can't wait for the last installment to find out if (hopefully) Jenny is every reunited with her parents!

We're off to Anna's book launch this afternoon.

Congrats to Anna for a great sequel!