For Children's Book Week, check out the Kid Lit Giveaway Hop (with cool giveaways and prizes)

Happy Children's Book Week, all! I'm a little late to the party, but then for me every week is children's book week.

All the same, I thought I should point you to this cool event over at Mother Daughter Book Reviews: a kid lit giveaway connecting to all kinds of other blogs, with great prizes. It's like a giant virtual book party where you can win stuff--now what's better than that, right?

Read on, YA Sleutheri... And consider making it a children's book this week.

Congrats to the Edgar winners!

For Juvenile, The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo won the prize; for YA, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

I read most of the nominees in both categories (didn't make it through all--drat!), and have to say this was the strongest year in nominees I've seen. So big kudos to the winners and the nominees!

Let's all have some cake...

Summer reading giveaway of DOUBLE VISION!

All that talk about summer fun and reading got me inspired to do one last giveaway of Double Vision over at Goodreads. So enter if you dare, over here, or at the nifty widget to the right.

Happy reading, all!

Pondering summer fever and books

I'm Fleur, and I have summer fever. Don't tell anyone...

I'm well (most well, really) past the age of going to school, yet at this time of year, I feel like a distracted sixth-grader. I'm ready for summer fun: running through the sprinklers, being lazy for no reason, eating ice cream--it happens every year around this time. Just like in August, when I feel like buying new notebooks and pencils. Odd, no?

I'm also looking forward to lots and lots of summer reading. And I'm hoping you'll give me some recommendations.

What's the best book you've read lately?

Thoughts on the Boston lock-down, real vs. fiction, and #yalit mysteries

Of course, it isn't me having these insightful thoughts--I'm still down in ol' Mississippi. I watched the terrible events in Boston unfold on the news, like most everyone else.

But author friend Diana Renn (of the great YA mystery Tokyo Heist) who lives in the Boston area wrote a great post on the subject over at Sleuths, Spies and Alibis. Go read it.

Some musical inspiration for your Monday: Eric Hutchinson: "Rock & Roll"

I've been listening to Eric Hutchinson a lot while writing, and thought I'd share it with you for some inspiration. In case you could use some.

When I went to look for his music videos on Youtube, I was surprised to find there were very few. Why is this guy not more famous? Odd...

Anyway, happy Monday!

 

Hope to see you at the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival!

I went to this festival last year, and had such a blast. It's in Hattiesburg, MS--hope to see you there! I'll be signing Double Vision at the USM Barnes & Noble.

And they're actually letting me host a session on reluctant readers on Friday, so come say hi if you're attending...