Pearson Prize Teen Choice Award

Back in November last year, I received an email invitation to participate in the Pearson Prize Book Award contest from the Learning For a Cause Organization. I’ll admit, I was a little puzzled at first because I had not heard of this organization prior to receiving the email, and didn’t know how they would have heard of me.

Thoughts From the Morning Commute – Controlling Characters

Pegasus has long been my symbol for imagination. You put wings on a horse and imagination takes flight. Of course, my fondness for Pegasus may have been fostered by the number of trips we would make by car from Southern California to Northern Washington during my childhood. We made the trek at least twice a year, and invariably we would gas up at the Mobil stations.

Thoughts From the Morning Commute – The Young Adult Genre

As I read through some articles this morning, I ran across a great video called YA haters by Jackson Pearce which was a video response to some ridiculous remarks by the New Yorker, Entertainment Weekly, and The Atlantic about the young adult genre. I have embedded the video in this post so you can enjoy it as well. Jackson Pearce is an up and coming writer, who has her debut novel, As You Wish coming out in August 2009 (and is currently available for pre-order.) I really enjoy Jackson’s sense of humor and quirkiness, and have browsed a few of her other videos as well. Maybe I’ll have to turn Denny into my camera man and start V-logging too. I’ll get Phoenix to play me because she likes to pose for the camera. (All right, already. . . I digressed.)

LA Times Book Festival ~ Day 1

The day was absolutely gorgeous. Sunlight streamed down from blue skies and the air remained cool from the breeze that blew through the campus. We could not have asked for better weather to join several thousand visitors and exhibitors on the UCLA campus today, to celebrate the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Denny and I arrived just shortly after … Read More

Book Festival Here I Come

I think I might actually be ready for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this coming weekend. I have received my order of books, have business cards, bookmarks, hand out cards, and posters. And I designed t-shirts for both Denny and I to wear at the event with the Misfit McCabe traveling book site (Where in the World is … Read More

Celebrating Teen Lit Day

YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Assocation) which is the fastest growing division of the ALA (American Library Association) decided in 2007 to create a Support Teen Literature Day in conjunction with ALA’s National Library Week, which occurs during the month of April.  This concept has really covered some ground in the past two years, and we are quickly approaching the … Read More

Dancing on Top of the World

I’m doing a happy dance because I have officially completed the editing process (phase I) for Nowhere Feels Like Home! Whoo Hooo!! People, I think we might actually have a book on the way. The phase I editing process is always the worst (unless of course I happen to be in phase II, III, or IV of the editing process … Read More

Day 2 of Good Progress

It is extremely satisfying to note that I had a second day in a row of good progress on editing my novel, Nowhere Feels Like Home. With the starts and stops that I have been experiencing, and inability to focus on getting the job done, prior to yesterday, I began to despair (just a teeny tiny bit). I should really … Read More