Last Chance…

To celebrate Children’s Book Week!

CBW runs from May 10-16, 2010.

And to mark the last day, Leap Books is sponsoring a program at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC.

Check out the flyer for more details.

Come out to hear 7 SCBWI authors and get signed books.

Hope to see you there!

Celebrate Children’s Book Week

I’m lucky enough to be part of this illustrious group of authors who will be celebrating Children’s Book Week at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, NC. Here’s a press release about the event:

CELEBRATE CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK WITH SEVEN LOCAL AUTHORS

Chapel Hill, NC, May 16, 2010—Join seven local children’s and young adult authors for a reading, question-and-answer session, and booksigning. Hear excerpts from David Macinnis Gill’s award-winning Soul Enchilada (Greenwillow); Bonnie J. Doerr’s eco-mystery Island Sting (Leap Books); Carolyn McAlister’s retold folktales ¡Holy Molé! (August House) and Brave Donatella and the Jasmine Thief (Charlesbridge); Maryam Tabibzadeh’s poetic Persian Dreams (Dream Books); Laurie J. Edwards’ biography of R&B singer Rihanna (Lucent) and thriller/romance from the anthology Summer Lovin’ (Wild Rose Press); Adrienne Ehlert Bashista’s picture books on Russian adoption, When I Met You and Mishka: An Adoption Tale (DRT Press); and Anne Runyon’s seasonal picture book, The Sheltering Cedar (Portal Press).

Attendees will be treated to a sneak peek at two of Leap Books’ most recent paranormal releases: Freaksville by Kitty Keswick and Under My Skin by Judith Graves. These teen novels have unique graphics and illustrations by Canadian artist Val Cox.

Leap Books, a newly launched publisher of teen and tween books, is sponsoring this Children’s Book Week . Featured authors are all local members of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), an international organization that provides networking, education, and support for authors and illustrators of children’s books at all stages of their careers.

The American Booksellers Association began Children’s Book Week in 1919. In 1944 the Children’s Book Council (CBC) took over the role of promoting reading and literacy through Children’s Book Week activities. Each year in May, CBC sponsors a nationwide week of events to encourage children and teens to read. A list of these events, as well as related online activities, can be found at the CBC website.

Dark Divas

Summer Lovin’ is featured on Dark Divas today. Leave a comment to win a free copy.

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

1302 North Third Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102
(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.

Surprise!

When I checked my mail recently, I found a lovely surprise. Blogger Keli Gwyn, who had hosted me at  Romance Writers on the Journey sent me a thank-you gift. How thoughtful is that??!! A darling little tablet in its own case and refrigerator magnet. But best of all, they were personalized with my initial, so I know she picked it out just for me. I’ve never had anyone give me a gift for being a guest blogger, so I was doubly thrilled.

Even better was the experience I had when Keli interviewed me. She’s very professional and super organized. The questions arrived a month before the blogging date. She asked that I choose 8 of her very extensive and thought-provoking questions and return them a week before the interview. Then she added her comments, edited the blog, and sent it to me for approval before it was posted. What a great way to insure that the blog is error free! And it’s a testament to her organizational skills and efficiency. She was a dream to work with. Bloggers who are interviewing authors could take a page from Keli’s book. Who knows, you might even find the author will end up blogging about YOU.

How Do You Deal with Rejection?

I’m looking for suggestions from fellow writers on ways they deal with rejection. Post your helpful hints or healing therapies, special potions, or magic formulas at Romance Writers on the Journey for a chance to win prizes.

Here’s the address:
http://romancewritersonthejourney.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/meet-debut-author-laurie-j-edwards/

Come on, even those of you who are mega-successes have rejection stories to share. Eating a whole gallon of ice cream? Bawling in the shower? Throwing darts at the editor or agents picture? Pounding a hole in your office wall? Or perhaps something more constructive (unless you’d already been planning to enlarge your office by knocking down a wall).

Calling a supportive crit group member?? Running 10 miles on a treadmill? (Hmm, just think how svelte that would make me.) Spending a session on your psychaitrist’s couch?

One of the crit groups I belonged to rewarded members with a candy bar for every rejection they received, and every year, we had a rejection party and gave out prizes for the cruelest rejection, the nicest rejection, the funniest, etc. And the person who had gotten the most rejection letters won the grand prize. In another group, we ritually burned our rejection letters in a bonfire while chanting, “I am an excellent writer and I deserve to be published.”

Okay, so I admit it. I hang out with wackos. At least I haven’t danced naked under a full moon while chanting curses against editors…yet. Hmmm, think my crit group would go for that one?

So pop on over to Romance Writers on the Journey and share your rejection stories. If you don’t have a solution, then just share your most painful rejection. We’ll all sympathize, which is bound to help.

Another Great Review!

How exciting is this?? Five out five hearts for Summer Lovin’ from The Romance Studio!! Here’s a quick peek at some of the comments:

“One of the best things in Summer Lovin’ is the variety of locales. From a sand sculpture contest on Vancouver Island to a miniature golf course somewhere in middle America, the appealing heroines set forth. They are from different backgrounds, and all kinds of families, but each one is someone the reader would love to know.

And of course, there are the boys. Cute boys, gorgeous boys, even kind and caring boys.

And a few the reader hopes will go away before they cause any more trouble. But there are definitely boys, because how could a girl imagine her summer without at least the hope of one of these guys to make it special. And maybe a few kisses to make the summer extra sparkly.

Read this book this summer, I think its magic is contagious.”

Overall rating:

Wow! Another Great Review!

Just got a fab review for my story,  “Summer Storms,” in the Wild Rose Press anthology, Summer Lovin’. The reviewer discussed each story individually–how cool is that? Here are a few excerpts from the LASR review:

Summer Storms by Laurie J. Edwards

I’ve never read anything by Ms. Edwards, but I have to say after reading this story that I plan to read some more from this talented author. Summer Storms was my favorite of the anthology…

A heart touching story…I could feel the urgency and emotions of these characters caught in a possibly deadly situation. Outstanding.

Check out the review for more about the stories by the other authors:

Dara Edmondson, Mona Ingram, Kimberlee R. Mendoza, Sydney Shay, and June Sproat

http://longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2009/08/summer-lovin-by-dara-edmondson-laurie-j.html

Wow, I’m Rich!!

Or I will be soon. I’m already dreaming of the things I’ll buy with the royalty check from this:

Our Price: 85,008.00

Prices excluding shipping charge.

Summer Lovin’
by: Dara Edmondson, June Sproat,Kimberlee R. Mendoza, Laurie J. Edwards, Mona Ingram, Sydney Shay

Too bad it’s in Indonesian money… Still it’s exciting to know someone bought it in Indonesia.

Red River Falls Radio Blog

I did a radio show yesterday with a group of other authors. We each read from our books to put together an hour show. I was nervous going into it, but it was fun once I got started. I read the first two chapters of Summer Lovin’ and talked a bit about how and why I wrote it. The show’s archived at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RobinFalls if you want to listen.

So stretching and doing what scares you is good practice for expanding your world, your boundaries, your mind, and your experiences. And just like exercise is good for your body, it’s also good for your soul and spirit. What stretches have you done today??