Here is Bette looking over me in Vegas reminding me to plant those seeds! How I wish I could go back and hear her sing "The Rose" to me!

Publisher's Weekly January 21,2008
By Diane Roback

Children's booksellers choose their favorite (and not-so-favorite) books of the year
See if you agree:

Favorite Picture Book of the Year
Toy Boat

Favorite Middle Grade Novel
The Wednesday Wars

Favorite YA Novel
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Most Unusual Picture Book of the Year
The Arrival

Best Book Title
Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Most Memorable Character in a Lead Role
Kek in Home of the Brave

Best Sequel
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallos
Honorable mentions: Knuffle Bunny Too, Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, The Titan's Curse

Favorite Book Jacket
How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird

Funniest Book (tie)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The True Meaning of Smekday

Most Promising New Author (tie)
Linda Urban and Jeff Kinney

Most Promising New Illustrator
Kevin Sherry

Favorite Series
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Honorable mention: The Twilight Saga

Best Nonfiction Treatment of a Subject
The Wall

Most Innovative/Unique Book (tie)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Gallop!

Favorite Book to Handsell
A Crooked Kind of Perfect
Honorable mention: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Best Novel for Young Readers That Adults Would Love If They Knew About It (tie)
The Wednesday Wars and Spud

Hottest Selling Book to Go Out of Stock
Gallop!
Honorable mention: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The Arrival, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Book We Could Have Sold More of with a Better Jacket
The Wednesday Wars and Elijah of Buxton

Oddest Request by a Customer
"A customer brought the Fancy Nancy standee to the desk and said she was offended by the explicit nature of the drawing."

Most Unusual Complaint
"These books are printed in China. Can't you get them printed in the U.S.?"

Funniest Thing a Kid Said in Your Store
"A child said to a staff member, 'Do you live here?'"

Our storytime reader greeted the children with 'Does anyone want to come and listen to some stories?' and a four-year-old boy replied, 'Yes. I watch too much TV.'"

I had fun checking all of these titles out at the bookstore last night. I bought the Wednesday Wars for a gift and I'm reading Elijah of Buxton from the library.

I thought I would join in Anastasia Suen's Non-Fiction Monday by posting a picture of the arrival of my new nonfiction book series, Creature Features.

For many years I never considered writing nonfiction. I thought it would be too much like homework. But soon I found there were too many nonfiction ideas that excited me. So, I decided to step out of my box and give it a try. I'm glad I did. I love writing nonfiction and with twelve books published and twelve more in the works, I'm glad I stepped out of my box and into the nonfiction world.

Research on my newest project has given me the opportunity to meet many wonderful people and their canine heroes that I never would have known otherwise. They've even sparked ideas for my fiction stories.

So when I came home from work on Friday I found a box on my porch containing my author copies of my new series, Creature Features. The covers and photos are absolutely beautiful! I also found the new first edition of Sprouts, our NJ SCBWI magazine which also looks great. The best part about the Friday mail was there were no rejection letters!

Back from a great trip to Vegas. It was my first time there and we had a fabulous time.  There were several surprises for me in Vegas - Bette Midler was there - well her picture was hanging there - she's going to be there in April. I'm sure she's going to sing "The Rose."  We found baseball's Pete Rose signing autographs.  I found Rochelle dancing in "Stomp Out the Noise" which was awesome and so was Rochelle. We had a great visit after the show and I still can't believe we found Rochelle in Vegas!  We also found some dollars at our favorite slot machine.
Now it's back to work.  I'm so far behind in my writing goals that I set two weeks ago I'm not sure I can sleep.  I've updated my web site so if you have a chance take a peek - there are more surprises there too!
Go Giants!

Registration Fee:  $12.00
Round-trip train ticket:  $17.00
NY Metro Card:  $4.00
Dinner:  $6.75

SCBWI Tuesday Professional Series with Rachel Griffiths:  PRICELESS!

I just received a google alert for one of the books in my new series Creature Features so I followed the link and found them on Amazon, Borders, etc.  I haven't heard anything from the publisher and I haven't received any preview copies yet but it says they'll be available January 30th.  It's fun to see the covers for the first time and I think they look great. Can't wait to see what they look like on the inside so I'm hoping my preview copies will be arriving soon!

Google alert is fun. If anyone hasn't used it yet, you can sign up on google.com and you will receive an email alert s.

I've already set my writing goals for 2008 but before moving forward I'd like to look back at 2007.
What I think I've learned in the past year:

Not to take for granted that people we know will be here tomorrow
Addiction is a horrible disease that affects more people than you know
Softball is not just a hobby it's a part of who I am
Cooperstown is a really cool place to visit
Book signings are not scary
Having a positive attitude and outlook can have a huge impact on your life
Visualization can work
I am not smarter than some 5th graders
How to build a web site
If I have to think about it too long, the answer should probably be "no"
How to use an ipod
How to write nonfiction and do it well
Swans attack!

 I went out jogging the other day in the rain because I just had to get outside. I decided to listen to my frequently played list on my ipod which included my favorite song, "The Rose" by Bette Midler. It hit me in a different way this particular day.  The song is about love, I know, but this time these particular
lyrics struck me in a different way:

Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies a seed that with the sun's love
In the spring, becomes the ROSE

It made me think that I need to plant some writing seeds so the spring with bring acceptances.
So, the next day I'm in church singing the lyrics to "People Look East"  Was someone was hitting me over the head with the following lyrics:

Furroughs be glad, though earth is bare
One more seed is planted there.
Give up your strength the seed to nourish
That in course the flow'r may flourish
People look East and sing today
Love the ROSE is on the way.

Coincidence??? I'm not taking any chances, I'm going to plant some seeds in the coming weeks. Spring is just around the corner and I want to find a ROSE in the mail!

Okay, so I've already come up with a list of writing goals for 2008 and yes, some are ones I didn't meet in 2007 but who says you can't carry goals over.  One of my goals for 2008 was to start a LiveJournal so I'm getting a jump on things, so what if my xmas shopping isn't finished and the cookies aren't all baked. I'd rather play here.