Big Date

The Susquehanna Writers, of which I’m an honorary member, have been reaching out to support area Indie bookstores.  We gave out gift baskets to two Indie bookstores this fall, and now we’re banding together for a group booksigning at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, PA, on December 19, 2009. A large group of authors will have books for sale and will autograph them for you. From romance to history, from mystery to self-help, from thrillers to YA; you’ll find something to please everyone on your holiday gift list. And if these books aren’t enough to entice you (though they certainly should be), the Midtown Scholar offers the largest array of rare and used books between New York and Chicago. They have more than ONE MILLION secondhand and out-of-print books in all fields.

Need a gift for that hard-to-please person? Consider a book. It’s a gift they’ll treasure for a lifetime.

If you want to know where and when to show up, here are the additional details:

3-5 pm, December 19, 2009

3401 N 6th St
Harrisburg, PA 17110
(717) 236-2665

And I’ll be there to sign copies of Rihanna and Summer Lovin‘. Feel free to drop by and get your copy signed if you already have one, or pick up some as gifts for the teens in your life.

Ready to Leap?

Leap Books has posted badge #5. Snag it and let them know. You’ll be in the running for some great swag come January 1. Keep an eye out for each of the new ones.

And if you’re wondering what you can win, check out the prizes they’re offering by clicking here.

If you’re a reader, you’ll be looking forward to the January releases. Here are links to the booktrailers, if you haven’t seen them yet.

 

Freaksville by Kitty Keswick

Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr

 

Last Chance to Win…

Author Tracey Cramer Kelly, helicopter pilot and motorcycle chick, is offering a copy of her book, to one lucky commenter on her blog tour this month.

Like action? danger? suspense?

Last Chance Rescue is all of these and more.

So don’t miss out on the free copy. Comment at one of her blog stops this month and you’ll have the opportunity to be a winner.

Tracey’s appearing now at the Susquehanna Writers blog. Stop by and tell about  your transportation woes or triumphs and you’ll have a chance to snag Tracy’s book.

Gruesome Halloween Treats

Need a last minute Halloween recipe? How ’bout Dead Witches Fingers? They’re suitably ghoulish. See the Wolfy Chicks blog. Author Judith Graves shows you how to make these delightfully gruesome treats.

Pair them with Blood-flavored Ice Cream–a recipe by author Kitty Keswick.

Two treats sure to make your guests howl.

Trick or Treat?

Author Kimberlee Mendoza is giving away a free copy of her YA book, Trick to Treat. Find out more at the Climbing Rose website.

Sarah Bradley has wanted to hang with the popular kids since her freshman year, and now she has the chance. All she has to do is survive a Halloween scavenger hunt with the “in” crowd. When the girls lock her in a haunted mansion, she feels the trick is on her. Then she meets Matt and begins to believe that maybe she got a treat after all. But what if “love” is part of the game?

http://twrpclimbingrose.blogspot.com/

Guilty Pleasures

Often writing is an opportunity to free yourself from the chains of the past. To loose the bonds holding you captive, preventing your spirit from soaring. But for me, that freedom always comes with a price tag—guilt. Writing is fun. Losing myself in another world, becoming brave and strong, fearless in the face of danger, is a guilty pleasure. I avoid writing because I enjoy it so much.

When I indulge, my conscience whispers, “Anything that feels this good must be a sin.”

So I put duty before pleasure and crowd out the siren call of the empty page. It’s easier to clean closets or scrub toilets than to pour out my soul on the page. It’s easier to meet deadlines for copyediting or to critique other people’s work than to free my heart. It’s easier to engage in busywork or to cross off items on my to-do list than to let my imagination soar.

Now what’s your excuse?

Tony DiTerlizzi

Check out this fabulous interview by one of my fav illustrators:

http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1821

The art is to die for…

Masked Man…or Not?

Well, sort of… Not sure what you call it when a plastic figure dresses up for Halloween, but I thought this post from Bonnie Blogs Green was humorous. Bonnie, a Leap Books author whose eco-mystery Island Sting is coming out in January, surrounds herself with Green Teens. And two of them combined their artistic talents to make an environmentally friendly costume for a plastic figure Bonnie rescued after a storm.

Mr. Pumpkin Head

You’ll have to look closely to see who’s hidden under that Pumpkin Head, but I guarantee it’ll be a familiar face.Want to know if you guessed correctly?? Stop by Bonnie Blogs Green, where she unmasks this mysterious stranger.

And while you’re there, check out her other eco-friendly posts.

Feeling Ghoulish?

Leap Books is offering some graveyard fun. Check it out. And while you’re at the site, take a peek at their new Exclusives–2 fab stories set in cemeteries. Perfect for this time of year. Better yet, they feature vampires—what more could you ask? If you need a few shivers to keep you on edge this Halloween season, LEAP on over.

And for a recipe for even more haunting fun, try the directions for the Leap Gravestone Art. It’s definitely art to die for…

Come join me in the closest graveyard for a hauntingly good time.

Kid Lit Contest

Kidlit Contest

Check out Mary Kole’s blog for more details. She’s an Associate Agent with the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and she’s running a query contest until October 31.

The winner gets a 30-page critique of a manuscript. Sounds great! Guess as long as I’m blogging about it, I should send in an entry. Good luck with yours!