I love tradition. Tradition makes me feel all kinds of warm & fuzzy things. One of my favorite traditions since having kids is participating in the Americana Festival Parade in my small home town in southwestern Ohio. I'm registered for a class offered by our wonderful park district called Stroller Strength where, twice a week, a bunch of moms get together and walk or jog for 2.5ish miles while pushing their children in strollers, stopping sporadically to work on arms or legs (and when the kids get fussy, we sing). Go ahead and laugh, all my friends do. After they calm down, I challenge them to push my stroller loaded with kids, snacks, drinks, and activities for an hour. When they calculate that the resistance equals roughly 100 pounds, they usually quiet down.
I've been signing up for this class for about 5 years now, and have enjoyed following the park district float in the parade each summer - rain, shine, or intense heat, as was the case this year.
The kids are ready to go.
We make a quick stop on the parade route for a picture.
And when the sun sets, we catch fireflies . . .
and then go out to watch fireworks . . .
Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!
Saturday, June 26th was a wonderful day full of author fun! I drove roughly 2 hours to northern Columbus to meet two very talented authors for lunch - Kay Cassidy and Julia DeVillers. We ate at Max & Erma's, talked non-stop about bookish things, and concluded our meal with some yummy treats: A plate full of funnel cake fries and a tray of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I don't have a picture of desert, but I have one of the three of us together.
Kristina McBride, Kay Cassidy, Julia DeVillers
After lunch, Kay and I drove over to the Barnes & Noble Polaris for a signing with
Saundra Mitchell and
Rhonda Stapleton. We hung out for two hours, talking up our books, giving out prizes, and offering chocolate to passersby (who doesn't love a little dose of chocolate?).
One of the best parts of the day was meeting Kori (aka @FoodisAwesome on Twitter) who drove 45 minutes to meet us and buy signed copies of our books. Kori is an aspiring author, so we had tons of fun things to discuss.
Kay Cassidy, Kori (@FoodisAwesome), Saundra Mitchell, Rhonda Stapleton, Kristina McBride
Overall, it was an awesome day! I can't wait for the next signing. You can catch me on July 10th at the Learned Owl in Hudson, Ohio where I'll be signing with authors JT Dutton, Mara Purnhagen, and Rhonda Stapleton.
Just found something fun! A picture from the June 8th signing at Books & Company in Dayton, Ohio made the PW Children's Bookshelf today.
Publisher's Weekly Children's Bookshelf
It was a lovely night with some lovely ladies!
The next signing will be Saturday, June 26th at the Barnes & Noble Polaris - 2pm. Stop by to see me, Kay Cassidy, Saundra Mitchell, and Rhonda Stapleton. More details on my website.
It's official. Summer has hit my household. And. I. Am. Loving. It.
Summer always begins with some great stuff, but this year has been better than most.
Why?
Let me tell you . . . (I'll use a list - I'm a huge fan of lists):
1. My husband is a teacher and during the summer he's home every single day. Nothing could be better. His first week home, he gave me three uninterrupted mornings to write, which put me in a state of ultimate bliss.
2. The first official day of summer, June 21st, is my wedding anniversary. My husband and I just celebrated seven years together. Summer solstice was the best day for our wedding - back in 2003, we were both teachers. (For those of you who don't know this dirty little secret, teachers appreciate summer more than students.)
3. The anniversary celebration this year was double the fun, stretching out over a full week. What did we do? (Eek!) TWO Dave Matthews Band concerts! I can't tell you how important DMB is in my life. It's like summer isn't summer without a show. And this year, we made it to two! The first night was incredible because this crazy storm came in as DMB started playing. Huge gusts of wind, streaking lightning, pounding rain, and deep blue-black clouds added so much to the energy of the show. And it was all okay because I had seats under the cover of the pavilion. Night two, exactly one week later, we had clear skies. Thankfully, because this time we had General Admission tickets that landed us on a field in front of the stage. Let me tell you, I've never been so close to these guys. To see their facial expressions as they played was the ultimate experience. I love that my husband inched closer with me even though the heat nearly killed us both. The coolest thing happened after the show as we were dragging ourselves to the car - we passed the tour buses and saw the band up close as they hopped on board and drove away. A super cool end to an exhilarating night!
4. The most fun is that the celebration isn't yet over! We have a dinner planned for next week - a low-key night to honor our time together. We'll also be celebrating some fun book stuff . . .
5. Remember the three uninterrupted mornings of writing? Well, they were VERY productive. I sent the first 6 chapters and a synopsis of a new book to my agent a few weeks ago, and just got the word that they're ready so submit to my editor. So I did. Huge. I mean, HUGE step toward the completion of book 2. Now, I wait to see if my editor and the others at Egmont USA approve this idea for my next book. I'm crossing my fingers!
Now, I'm not sure how many of you are DMB fans, but the songs they played at the two shows were incredible. If you're not familiar with the music, you may want to check out the following songs . . . especially the second night's setlist. AMAZING!
Tuesday Jun 15 2010
Riverbend Music Center
JTR *
Proudest Monkey *
Satellite *
Lying In the Hands of God *
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
Funny Th
Last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet some very cool authors. I was giddy with excitement as I drove to the Books & Company at the Greene in Dayton, Ohio - ready to meet my online friends in person for the first time. Still riding the high from my launch party at the same location the previous week, I walked up the steps to the event area and found some familiar faces: Kay Cassidy, Julie Kagawa, Saundra Mitchell, and Amy Brecount White. All four authors have middle grade or young adult titles which came out this year.
Can I tell you how awesome it was to sit in the audience and cheer on these talented authors? The discussion generated by questions from the audience spanned topics from thematic development, how each writer writes a book - pantsing or outlining, what kinds of things an agent and publisher do as a book moves through the process of being published, and much more.
I was so happy I could join! But even happier sitting there thinking that I am now one of them! A published author with a story to share!
Saundra Mitchell and Julie Kagawa hang out before the panel discussion begins.
Amy Brecount White and Kay Cassidy prepare to sign some books.
Sara Bennett Wealer (Elevensie), Julie Kagawa (Tenner), Amy Brecount White (Tenner),
Saundra Mitchell (Deb), Kay Cassidy (Tenner), and Kristina McBride (Tenner).
To top it all off, I bought some super cool books!
My launch party, which was hosted by the Books & Company at The Greene, was an exciting event! Lots of people showed up to help me celebrate the launch of my debut, The Tension of Opposites.
From pre-school to adulthood, friends from all stages of my life were in attendance. I shared my journey to publication (a long and tedious ride), played my trailer, and read the first few pages of my novel before drawing for gift bags containing some of my most important writing essentials (a favorite pen, a notepad, and M&M's were a few prizes up for grabs). After I finished, I signed a whole bunch of books. The event started at 7 p.m. and I wasn't finished signing until well after 9. It was estimated that I sold 150 books.
Thanks to everyone who came, and to all of those who sent me well-wishes from afar! My launch week was stupendous because of all the wonderful support I have received.
The crowd quickly filled in the seating area and became standing room only in the very back. I felt quite special!
Me sharing a picture of the celebration when I accepted a 2-book deal with Egmont USA last summer - we took the kids out for ice cream. Check out the nice table of books that fancied up the event location.
Books & Company did a wonderful job!
I've realized that I use my hands a lot when I talk.
My husband filmed the event. Check out our old-school video camera.
The crowd.
The first book I signed.
Some of my former high school yearbook students stopped by to purchase a book. LOVE them!
And one of my best friends, who's been a part of my life since middle school.
Plus, of course, my supportive parents.
Today I am up on the Guide to Literary Agents blog with a guest post about Revision. Wanna know the two dirtiest words in this writer's vocabulary? They both start with "R" . . .
Click on the above link to check out my entire post.
