Bookie Brunch & The War Game

A very big thank you to Velvet for contacting me to be a part of bookie brunch this October. You can read the post here and see what I and others have to say about books of an unusual size.


I also have a new indie book coming out in 1.5-2 months called The War Game. 

The talented Claudia of phatpuppyart.com/ designed the cover. She's also done many covers for Amanda Hocking and others as well.

If you are interested in an advanced e-copy of my book to review on your blog, please let me know in some shape or form :)

Here's a short description on my book, "Pearl, a teenage orphan of a lesbian couple and an illegal citizen of an Untied State, is shuffled around from camp to concentration camp. She meets John at a former amusement park turned prison and they hatch a plan to escape to Canada (because, as the saying goes, “You Can in Canada!”). But various threats-from whispers of “cards”, a place called Camp Z, soldiers doing their daily “shopping”, and an arranged marriage, threaten to tear them apart."

 

Updates!

I know it's been awhile since you're all heard from me but I am 1/3 done from writing a story! At this point, I will tell you that it takes place in a dystopian future with a little romance thrown in. It's told from the perspective of a 13 year old girl. It will be a full length young adult novel, as opposed to the novella/short story format I used for Thinks and Things.

If anyone is interested in reviewing, let me know, for I am compiling a list of bloggers I'm going to contact in a month or two. I won't have any hard copies this time around though.

Speaking of Thinks and Things, I got a nice review for Thinks and Things from Darlyn and Books.

Thinks and Things can be downloaded or read free online from Smashwords (all sorts of formats) and also free for the nook via BarnesandNoble. I also recently (just yesterday, in fact) listed it on Amazon. Amazon does require me to charge something for it and the lowest I can go is 99 cents.

Good news to share! A few months back I did a random yahoo search on Thinksandthings and I saw that I made it into the top 200 best selling kids ebooks on B&N! I was #164 and today I am #209. And there's over 6,000 titles on that list alone so colored me surprised. I may have actually gotten further up the list but I have no way of knowing how high it might have gone. Also, unfornatunately, I have no idea of knowing how many people have read it through B&N since it's listed as a freebie.

Summer Reading List '10

I'm going to keep track of all the books I read this summer and beyond! Here's most of the ones I've read

Books
The Book Thief
 Nancy Drew #26 Clue of the Leaning Chimney
Betsy Was a Junior
Betsy and Joe
Nancy Drew #12 The Message in the Hollow Oak
Nancy Drew #22 The Clue in the Crumbling Wall
Nancy Drew #18 Mystery of the Moss-covered Mansion
Nancy Drew #28 The Clue of the Black Keys
Nancy Drew #2 The Hidden Staircase
Nancy Drew #1
Snuff

Magazines/other materials
New Moon May-Jun 09

Books! Super Short Reviews

I'm just one year away from getting my license in elementary education. So, this summer I am going to spend ample amounts of time reading children and teen's literature! I also have a taste for weird books as well. I will reviewing the good books I've read from time to time in this here blog:

A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
A girl (in 1937) goes down south to live with her grandma for a year. I loved this book-very unpredictable and funny.

Coraline by Neil Gaimen
(Just came out in theaters). I liked this book and I liked the ending in the book better. This book didn't have the little boy that tries to befriend Coraline, she doesn't fall asleep in the other house and wake up in her own house each night, and the two old ladies don't have a million stuffed Scotties (if I'm recalling accurately).

The Collection of Alison Dare, Little Miss Adventures by J. Torres (graphic novel)
A nice look at a different part of the world, while not relying on cliches but defusing them. A lot of vocab/foreign words that children might be unfamiliar with are introduced.

Autobiography of My Dead Brother Myers
Black characters in a city where gangs and poverty are present. Has pictures from the main character's sketchbook. The beginning and ending come full circle.

The Little Endless Storybook by Jill Thompson
This storybook is apparently based on Neil Gaiman's Sandman characters, which I haven't read yet (I'm putting basically the entire catalog of Gaiman on my summer reading list). I love, love Thompson's art! She also did a book called Magic Trixie, that's somewhat similar.

Days Like This J. Torres
A graphic novel on the rise of a girl group in the 60s (50s?). I love the Ronnettes, the Shirelles, etc. so I liked reading this :)

Bridge to Terabithia Paterson
A book about living in a small town, friendship between a girl and a boy and death.

What the World Eats Menzel and D'aluisio
Lots of photographs of families around the world and what they eat for a week, how much it costs, etc. Includes profiles on the families and a family recipe.

Children's Picture Books Review

Now since I'm an elementary education major (emphasis in Communication Arts/Reading/writing/yadayda) as well as an avid reader, I will occasionally review books (children, teen, fiction, etc.) from time to time.

Today, I went to my local library, picked up two books I had on hold (I will most likely talk about those in a later entry, after I have read them of course) and then I went the kids picture book section and just grabbed a bunch of random picture books.

I grabbed about 7 or 8 hardback picture books but I only truly enjoyed four of them. The others that didn't make the cut were either boring, a little bit too weird, or had a not so very interesting or satisfying ending. I won't be reviewing the ones I didn't like :P



Blue Burt and Wiggles by Derek Anderson.

I grabbed this book because the cover looked kind of like it could be a dvd cover for a Pixar movie. On an interesting side note, the author/illustrator is from Minnesota (my state!)

The art and perspective is awesome in this book, I just love the artwork. I sometimes believe that the artwork can really make or break a picture book. A lot of the stories in kids' books are sometimes quite simplistic (obviously) about ordinary stuff, told in the same way as it's been told dozens upon dozens of times before.

While this story is about a friend moving away, it's told in a very creative, fun, new way.

This is a story about a bird (Burt) and his friend, Wiggles (worm). Winter is coming soon and Burt needs to fly away. They both scheme up a plan to make summer stay so therefore, Burt can stay and hang out with Wiggles. The way they scheme and plot and how the other animals in the forest unintentionally wreck havoc onto their plans is hilarious.

This is a very contemporary book and even the story would make a good Pixar short.

More picture book reviews later!