Where I'll be this winter/spring, and some good news about Linc and George Washington

So far, 2015 has been all about writing for me. It's been nice to hibernate a little, especially with all the snowfall we're having here in Colorado.

But I do like to get out every once in a while. And I hope to see you at one of these events, if you find yourself in Colorado!

Here's where I'll be:

Feb. 5, 2015: CCIRA Conference (Denver, CO):

I’ll be at the SCBWI table, sharing all the great things SCBWI has to offer!

 

Feb. 14, 2015: Pikes Peak Writers one day conference (Colorado Springs, CO)

I’m hosting a free workshop for local writers on how to plot a novel using plot points.

 

Apr. 11, 2015: Colorado Teen Literature Conference (Denver, CO)

Presenting a workshop on reaching reluctant MG and YA readers 

Apr. 24-26, 2015: Pikes Peak Writers Conference (Colorado Springs, CO)

Faculty member, presenting workshops on writing MG, plotting, and author platform building.

 

Double Vision trilogy books will be available at the bookstore at all events. Hope to see you there!

And to add a bit of good news: Double Vision: Code Name 711 will be out in paperback on February 10th!

Just in time for Presidents Day (since the book features George Washington), very cool...

To celebrate, there's a giveaway of signed copies over at Goodreads (see nifty gadget to the right). Or be wild and crazy with seven bucks, and buy yourself a copy at your favorite bookstore, or straight from the awesome people at Harper Children's. I love paperbacks, don't you?

 

 

 

Congrats to the 2015 Edgar nominees for Best Juvenile and Best YA!

It's Edgar time! I'll admit that I'm not familiar with any of the Best Juvenile noms, but there were several in the YA category I recognized.

BIG congrats to everyone!

Here's the list:

BEST JUVENILE

Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Space Case by Stuart Gibbs (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Greenglass House by Kate Milford (Clarion Books – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Nick and Tesla’s Super-Cyborg Gadget Glove by “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith  (Quirk Books)
Saving Kabul Corner by N.H. Senzai (Simon & Schuster – Paula Wiseman Books)
Eddie Red, Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)


BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Doubt Factory by Paolo Bacigalupi (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano (Penguin Young Readers Group – Kathy Dawson Books)
Fake ID by Lamar Giles (HarperCollins Children’s Books - Amistad)
The Art of Secrets by James Klise (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Prince of Venice Beach by Blake Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

You can find the full list of Edgar nominees here.

Thursday teen book review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

From the publisher:

Two misfits.
One extraordinary love.

Eleanor... Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough...Eleanor.

Park... He knows she'll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There's a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises...Park.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

My thoughts:

I actually read a YA romance! I didn't think I would read the whole thing, but Eleanor & Park surprised me. The romance feels real and not girly--I could see a boy reading this book, too. It helped that there was a good amount of mystery surrounding Eleanor's lousy home life. It made me hurt for her. The story did run a bit long for my taste toward the middle, making me skim to get to the meat of the story.

What teens might find a bit tough is that the book is set in the 1980s but not advertised as such; I've seen this pop in YA and MG a few times now, and I think it's a little bit of a sneaky cheat, probably to avoid dealing with today's technology.

Ample language and mature situations in this book, so probably not for your middle schooler. But also a nice read for us kids from the eighties.

Making plans for 2015 (or: What's the best that can happen?)

Happy 2015, all! Of course the new year is well underway, I know. I'm just a bit of a slow starter, especially after the holidays. Blame it on the food and the cold weather.

This year, I don't have much in the way of resolutions. Instead, I have plans: stuff that I want to accomplish, and I've created a to-do list to go with. None of this vague business.

I plan to write more--I'm tinkering with both YA and MG concepts. I have an idea for a short story I plan to write. I plan to walk my new puppy (when it's not snowing). And I plan to get together with my Colorado writer friends a bit more. Oh, and I plan to blog on Thursdays.

At a recent author school visit at nearby Discovery Canyon Campus middle school, I saw this on a pin board. I like the positive sentiment, so I thought I'd share it here.

I hope you have a great 2015!