Giveaway! Jennifer R. Hubbard's UNTIL IT HURTS TO STOP

I'm a big fan of both Jenn Hubbard and her novels. If you haven't read THE SECRET YEAR and TRY NOT TO BREATHE, I recommend you remedy that immediately. 

As it is for all of us who love an author's work, it's with eager anticipation that we await the arrival of their latest novel. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one and once I did, I couldn't put it down until I reached the end. Because it truly would have hurt to stop. I instantly connected with the main character, Maggie, not through shared experience, but through her love of the outdoors and wild mushrooms. At the same time, my heart strings were pulled as I followed and cheered Maggie along her emotional journey.

Contemporary YA novels are my favorite, and I've read loads of them. This one sits at the top of my list for freshness and heart. 

If you'd like to win a copy of this heartening novel, please leave a comment below and then go tweet a link back to this blog post, if you can.

I'll announce the winner here on Thursday, January 2nd.

Attention Faithful Blog Readers!

RED ALERT!!!

THIS IS TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS HORRIFICALLY NEGLECTED BLOG WILL SOON BECOME ACTIVE AGAIN 

BOOK GIVEAWAYS

COMING SOON

STAY TUNED!!!

Paperback!

Yesterday a box of paperback copies of my book arrived. I took one out, fanned the pages in front of my nose and smiled. Beautiful!
You can buy this beautiful thing here or here.
Thanks for all your encouragement and support.

Week 4 #WIPMADNESS Check-In

"Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life."

Pythagoras 

This week was true madness! Not so much by way of working on the WIP, though. The madness came when I arrived home Tuesday afternoon with a terrible headache and discovered 12 men on my roof! Without any notice from my landlord, the roof was being torn off and the skylights were being replaced. So much for the week I declared as officially peaceful and productive. Never mind the roofing debris that's been scattered from one end to the other of my lovely little home. Hopefully they'll finish up early this week. Deep breath. Sigh.

However, three very good things happened this week:

#1 One last bit of divorce business, after months of hassle, has been officially resolved. 

#2 The giant new skylight in my living room is not frosted like the old one, so I can gaze at the starts at night from my bean bag chair. Yay!

AND THE BIG NEWS. . .

#3 JULIUS CAESAR BROWN AND THE GREEN GAS MYSTERY is now available in paperback!!! See it here

And the #wipmadness will continue in November thanks to our host, Shari Green.

Now, for today's theme, my dear writing companions, all of you have aided me in the road to a happier writing life and I thank you. The road this past year has been full of sinkholes and road blocks, but you have stuck with me and encouraged me to keep going. So tell me, what I can do for you this week, Wipsters? What kind of aid do you need from your writing companions right now?

October Wipmadness Check-In: Week 3

"Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul."

Dorothy Day

Today I'm thinking about food. I woke up hungry. Over these past months I haven't had much of an appetite. Haven't been eating enough. But I'm working on that. This is also true about feeding my book-loving soul.

I used to eat three or four novels a week. I had an insatiable appetite for fiction. But ever since my life turned upside down, I've barely read three novels a month. And I live across the street from a huge library!!!

Wipsters, help me get my appetite for books back. Tell me what books I absolutely MUST READ!

Now, as regards this past week of activity, I hope you all enjoyed a measure of success. Tell me what book-related stuff you did and what you hope to do this week. I doubled my goal--revised six chapters last week. I hope to revise another six this week.

So, goals? Must-read books? Tell us all about them. ^_^

October #WIPMADNESS Week Two

“If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.”--Ellen Hopkins

Double Stuff Oreos--Cow Version

So I attended the SCBWI Arizona Annual Conference over the weekend. Met some cool writers. Enjoyed the heat in Scottsdale. Got that great quote from Ellen Hopkins. And played the harp during the book signing. Never mind that I should have been signing books, but the print release of JCB got delayed due to some sort of technical difficulties. Sigh. 

I'd like to say I've been busy writing this past week, but instead I've been busy with annoying busyness of the business variety. Ugh. I fear this week will be worse, so maybe we should set a weekly goal this week and then be better about some twitter accountability. 

Okay. So I'm going to revise at least three chapters of the WIP this week. Who wants to keep my accountable? 

What are you gonna do this week?

October #WIPMADNESS Week One

Isn't she cute?

Cute enough that you can forgive me for forgetting that I needed to post today?

The good news is that I'm plugging along with revisions.

But my life is so full of distractions.

And I'm emotionally exhausted.

What's going on with all of you, Wipsters?

The Most Interesting Thing: Moving Forward

"It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."

--Theodore Roosevelt 

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what it means to move forward, in many aspects of life. In some ways I've moved forward by leaps and bounds, in other aspects I'm stuck. When it comes to my writing, I'm trudging through thick mud, struggling to put one foot in front of the other, to take even one new step. I did finish print galleys this week, but that wasn't writing. That was proofreading. Never before have I struggled so hard to take just one step forward. I have goals. Plenty of goals. I make promises to myself. I want to move on to better things so I guess I'd better follow Teddy's advice and muster that labor, that painful effort, that grim energy and that resolute courage. Help me, peeps. I need your words of encouragement!

The Most Interesting Thing: It's Not About Me

ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so really, it's not all about me. But that's how I'm feeling right now as I try to go about putting the word out about Ace's debut novel. If you know me, you know I've spent years promoting other people's books. It's what I love to do. But now I need to spread the word about my own book and it's uncomfortable and awkward and I feel like a pushy used car salesperson. I'm struggling to figure out a way to do this that doesn't seem so ucky wuck. This week I came to a liberating conclusion:

The best way to promote my book is to keep doing what I love to do--promote and encourage others!

So my dear peeps,  what are your thoughts on the subject of self-promotion?

Meet Ace's Special Guest--J.Q. Rose

Hi Ace,

Thanks so much for hosting me today. It’s fun to swap blogs. I invite all your readers to visit the J.Q. Rose blog to see what you are sharing there.

You asked some fun AND thought-provoking questions.

On Writing:

Favorite thing about writing a first draft: The excitement of beginning a new story and defining the characters and making up the world they live in. Uh-oh, is that three things? Sorry.

Best thing about writing for kids and/or teens: With my non-fiction book for girls, I hope to broaden their horizons and inspire them with the stories of amazing women.

Favorite word: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from Mary Poppins)

One word that describes your path to publication: Eye-opening

If I could have two dream careers, I’d be an author and a: video game creator

On Life:

If I could snap my fingers and solve one of the problems here on earth, it would be: hunger

One question I wish I had a definitive answer to: How do they stuff toothpaste into the tube? Try putting it back in!

Best thing about being a child: I wouldn’t have to prepare meals.

Worst thing about being a child: I HAVE to eat what Mom fixes.

Best thing about being a teenager: Being strong

Worst thing about being a teenager: Fitting into the group.

Most memorable teen moment: My senior year of high school, I had the idea for our fall festival parade float. It was fantastic and our class created the most beautiful float with all the details, but the FRESHMEN won the award for best float! I was crushed.

One thing I’d like to say to my teen self: It’s alright to be smart.

A quote I live by: The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.—Eleanor Roosevelt

My dream vacation: Actually this winter we are finally going to go on our “dream” vacation. My husband and I owned a floral shop and greenhouse business. You can imagine we were always glued to the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, CA where every float was decorated with plants and flowers and seeds etc. Nothing man-made could be used to decorate the floats.  We always wanted to go to the parade, and FINALLY we will be attending Jan 1, 2014. Not going to the football game, but it would be cool if Michigan State would make it to the Big Ten championship!

In My Perfect World…

Everyone would get ice cream and chocolate cake at least once a week.

There would be an abundance of flowers and peace.

No one would be deprived of food.

Every child would have love.

No one would ever have to use food stamps.

The Internet would be free for everyone.

Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women

Tagline: An interactive e-book  to inspire and empower girls to achieve the careers of their dreams.

Back of the Book: An interactive e-book filled with dreams and passion to inspire, entertain, and empower girls. Fifteen remarkable career women in a variety of occupations share their stories about their work and the path they took to become successful in their dream careers. These diverse careers encompass women in the arts, business, science, medicine, ministry, entertainment, and sports. Learn about contemporary women who have discovered cures to stamp out disease, made people laugh, earned Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, and crossed the country in the cab of an eighteen wheeler.

Book Trailer 

Buy Links:

Smashwords  

Amazon  

Kobo 

Barnes and Noble

Sony 

Study Guides

Smashwords 

Amazon 

BIO: After writing feature articles in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the world of fiction writing with her first published novella, Sunshine Boulevard, released by Muse It Up Publishing in 2011. With Girls Succeed she returns to her first love, writing about real people.  Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. Spending winters in Florida with her husband allows Janet the opportunity to enjoy the life of a snowbird. Summer finds her camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.

Connect with J.Q. Rose online at:

Girls Succeed blog 

J.Q. Rose blog

Author website 

J. Q.  Rose Amazon Author Page 

Final July #WIPMADNESS Check-In

"In summer, the song sings itself." ~William Carlos Williams

Yellow's smoochin' red, don't ya think?

Here we are at the end of July

Summer's flyin' by

Are you having fun?

All I want to do is cry

But I still write and try

To have some fun

And so we reach the end of July, Wipsters.
As for writing, I am still pouring out the angsty poetry.
What about you? Are you having some fun?
And who is going to continue the #WIPMADNESS in August?

Winners!

Ace has closed his eyes and picked winners from amongst you who helped spread the word about his book. If you're on the list, please email Ace within a week: AceHansenMG(at)gmail(dot)com

Edith wins a copy of Ace's Book

Jennifer R. Hubbard wins an Amazon Gift Card

And most important, gummy worms for:

Brooke Younker

Sandy

Susan Bernhardt

Suzanne Warr

Beverly Stowe McClure

***Big green hugs and kisses to all of you!!!***

Please keep spreading the word! ^_^

Wipmadness Week 4 Check-In

Hello Everyone!

Due to a severe electrical storm Saturday night, I am without Internet. Yikes! So I'm sitting outside my closed library on the bench and it's about to rain again. So without further ado, tell us how you're week has been. Mine has been hectic and emotional and I feel like I need Ace to take me to his home planet for a while.

How are you, Wipsters?

Interview Madness!

How well do you know this alien?
How well would you like to know this alien?

I want to thank all of you who have kindly volunteered to let my sassy little buddy loose on your blogs. You are thoughtful and brave people and I appreciate you very, very, very much.

If you're interested in having Ace visit your blog, please let me know in a comment below.

Here are the links of interviews to date. If you just can't get enough of Ace, please check them out. If you've had more than you can take, I don't blame you. ^_^

Deb Marshall's Reading and Writing for Kids Blog

Barb Davis Pyle's The Mind's Elbow

Kip Wilson's Blog

Lisa Lickel's Living Our Faith Out Loud

Candilynn Fite's Blog

Penny Estelle's Penny's Tales

Jaye Robin Brown's Hanging on to Wonder

Suzanne Warr's Tales from the Raven

Kai Strand's Strands of Thought

Mary Waibel's Waibel's World

Barbara Ehrentreu's Barbara's Meanderings

Elle Strauss's Blog
Beverly Stowe McClure's The Story of a Writer
Melissa Menten Writes
Denise Jaden's Blog
Chris Weigand's Blog
Marsha West's Blog
Meradeth Houston's Blog

#WIPMADNESS Week 3 Check-In

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."

Henry Ward Beecher 

I want to give all of you dear ones a huge thank you for all the support you've given me in getting my debut novel published. I especially want to thank you for the tremendous support you've given and continue to give as my book makes its way into the real world. Looking back on last Friday, I realized that the majority of publicity and support came from all of you. I am enormously grateful.

What are you grateful for today?

Let's Celebrate Little Green Buddy's Special Day!!!

IT'S PARTY TIME!!!

Now Available!!!

Thanks for stopping by to celebrate with me and my little green buddy. He's so excited he woke me up at midnight and has been bouncing like a super ball all over my bedroom ever since. Anyone know how to calm down an amped up alien? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

It took a ton of persuasion, but Ace agreed to give a way a couple of prizes. Someone will win an ebook copy of JULIUS CAESAR BROWN AND THE GREEN GAS CRISIS! Ace also has five packets of gummy worms to share with five candy eating readers (yes, I had to twist his little green arm about this one) and an Amazon gift card. He said he'd send it if the winner promised to buy 5 copies of his book with it, but I told him that wasn't fair. So he finally agreed the winner could use it for whatever he or she wanted.

What do you have to do to win one of these prizes, you ask? Do whatever you can to get the word out about Ace's book. He believes you fabulous earthlings are his best friends in the whole universe and will spread the word everywhere. Some of you have already requested loads of bookmarks and offered to have Ace as a guest on your blogs. Talk about it, tweet about it, scream about it from the tops of mountains. Just let Ace know what you plan to do in a comment below. He'll close his bulging yellow eyes and pick winners on July 26th.

Ace knows you want to help make this book a huge success so he can buy more gummy worms to send back to his home planet (or so he says--don't believe him). If you've read Ace's book (or were one of his awesome crit partners) please take a moment to review it on Amazon and/or Goodreads or add it it to your TBR list there or recommend it to others. Or if there's anything else you can think of, please do it! ^_^

Gigantic thanks to all of you who have volunteered to host Ace on your blogs. You are very brave!

Here are links to some fun interviews with my sassy little green buddy:
Deb Marshall's Reading and Writing for Kids Blog
Barb Davis Pyle's The Mind's Elbow

I will add to this list as the interviews pop up and collect them all for a future post.

Ace gives you a huge sloppy kiss just for stopping by. Don't worry. The green stain usually disappears within a week.

Ace Hansen, the smartest green alien in the Milky Way Galaxy

If you'd like to learn more about Ace (of course you do!) you can find him on:

Ace Hansen's Website

Twitter

Facebook

If you'd like to purchase JULIUS CAESAR BROWN AND THE GREEN GAS MYSTERY it's available as an ebook now and is coming in print Fall 2013:

MuseItUp

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

July WIPMADNESS Week 2

Go out and get busy or I'll sic Daisy on you!

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."--Dale Carnegie

Anybody here not busy? I thought I was busy before, but this week leading up to JCB'S pub date is INSANELY BUSY! I keep reminding myself of two bits of wisdom I've incorporated into my life. Both are helping me keep my sanity right now.

Bit of wisdom #1 comes from the Gospel of Luke:

"If, therefore, you cannot do the least thing, why be anxious about the remaining things?" (Luke 12:26)

Bit of wisdom #2 comes from Tiny Little Baby Steps By SARK: 

"Micromovements are tiny, tiny little steps you can take towards completions of 

your life. I'm a recovering procrastinator and perfectionist and I have a short attention span, 

so I invented Micromovements as a method of completing projects in time spans of 5 

minutes or less. I always feel like I can handle almost anything for 5 minutes!"

So, dear ones, what do you do when you feel insanely busy?

Little Green Buddy Shares His Outrageous Thoughts on Getting His Book Published

Angelina: So Ace, your book comes out in exactly one week, how do you feel about that?

Ace: Will people send me gummy worms? If so, I feel great! 

Angelina:  You better hope people send you gummy worms, because I won't buy them for you anymore. They turn you into one crazy alien and I won't be a party to that.

Ace: Party? Did you say party? Are we having a party to celebrate the fact that I got a book published and you didn't? 

Angelina: Don't forget, I did help you get this book published, you know. 

Ace: And now you need to encourage people to buy my book! Because I need money to get gummy worms since you're being so mean about them. 

Angelina: How about we stop talking about gummy worms and tell all these lovely people where you got the idea for your story.

Ace: Hmm. I guess it has always interested me that you Earthlings fart invisibly and still try to hide it. You blame each other, blame your pets, or pretend you didn't fart at all. So I wondered what would happen if one day you Earthlings started passing green gas like us aliens. So I wrote a story about it. 

Angelina: How did you go about writing your book? Did you use a laptop or write by hand?

Ace: I write like all aliens, with my left middle finger.

Angelina: How many times did you revise the novel?

Ace: Revise? No way. We aliens use permanent ink.  It comes out perfect the first time. Is it not that way for you Earthlings? 

Angelina: Not exactly. So what will you do to celebrate the release of your book next Friday?

Ace: Eat gummy worms all day long. Blow green gas. Pull the tails off cats. Burp purple bubbles. The usual things. Why do you ask? Do you have something special planned for me? Like a party?

Angelina: We'll see. But you have to promise to leave cat's tails alone, okay? Now how about we let all these lovely people ask you questions. Is there anything you'd like to ask Ace about his book or his journey to publication?

Ace: If you send me gummy worms, I'll answer. 

Angelina: Enough, Ace. Just answer the questions. 

Welcome to July Wipmadness Week 1

"There is no great genius without a mixture of madness."

Aristotle

Welcome to July Madness! Let me tell you what's true madness. I spent yesterday in one of the most beautiful places on the planet (Sedona--see photo for proof) and most of the time my eyes were glued to my laptop screen as I reviewed my galleys. Yep. Dedication. Or stupidity. Not sure which. Trip to Sedona was planned. Galleys came as a surprise. 

What kind of madness is mixing with your great genius these days?

I Need You!

"'Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after."--William Shakespeare 

HELP!!!

HELP!!!

HELP!!!

Many of you have been hanging with me and have encouraged my feeble self over these past few agonizing months and I thank you. But now I need your support more than ever!

In two weeks my debut MG novel, JULIUS CAESAR BROWN AND THE GREEN GAS MYSTERY, will hit the earth. 

With all the turmoil that has been my life lately, I've not been able to devote as much time and energy into the launching of my first novel as I otherwise would have.

"What can I do to help?" you ask.

Thank you for asking.

Thanks to one of my loveliest writing partners, I now have fun bookmarks to share. If you'd be willing to distribute 10 bookmarks or more to kids who you think would love this book (or teachers or librarians) that would be a huge help. If interested, please email me:

yascribe(dot)angelina(at)gmail(dot)com

And if you have any other suggestions or would like to interview me or talk about this crazy novel on your blog, please let me know in a comment below or email me at the above address. I may be able to persuade Ace to throw in some gummy worms to sweeten the deal. ^_^

I appreciate all your loyal support.

The Most Interesting Thing: The New Love of My Life

Beautiful, isn't she?

For twenty years I've said, "Someday I'm going to play the harp."
That day is now.
Sierra is her name.
She has an amazing voice.
Just 23 pounds, and so elegant.
She vibrates with excitement when I play with her.
Isn't she gorgeous?

Little Green Buddy Got a Book Cover!

Available July 12, 2013

Don't you love it?

Here's the link to the book at the publisher's site : MuseItUp

What do you think?