Happy Thanksgiving!

 I hope your Thanksgiving  (and regular week if you are not in the USA) week is full of fantastic food!

 And of people you love...

Be sure to count your blessings.   I'll be counting mine too....

And I'm thankful for all of YOU! 

Thank you for being part of my life...

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Hugs to all....

(If you haven't entered my English goodie bag give-away...please don't forget to.)

Eating my way through England, OPEN MINDS winner and An English Goodie Bag Giveaway

 If you ever visit England you MUST have a Cream Tea...It's a lovely fresh scone, strawberry jam, butter, and clotted cream.  It is by far one of the most special treats one can have.  Of course you would have it with a lovely cup of tea in a quaint tea room.

 No trip to England is complete without visiting a historic pub for a meal and a drink. 

 My very handsome almost 91 year old Grandad, never fails to take me to a wonderfully historic pub.

 I was doing some WWII research while I was there (more to come in another post).  This is a weeks worth of rations for one person during and for several years after the war.

 Every time you stop for afternoon tea you get a lovely sweet like this.

 Or like this flapjack.

 But as you can see, what I had was another scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream.

 And a lovely cup of tea.

 When I was a little girl you got fish and chips wrapped up in newsprint.  Times have changed.  They now come in these very nice boxes.

 It was unseasonably warm while I was in England, so once we got out fish and chips we walked to the boardwalk and sat on benches and ate our dinner by the sea.  It was fantastic!

 The food was a bit fancier in London.  I can't remember who had bangers and mash, but it was quite pretty.  Someone started eating before I got to their plate, so no picture of that one.  

 This was to be my dinner.  A Smoked Salmon sandwich, salad and chips.  To my surprise, the smoked salmon was RAW!  I pulled out all the slimy salmon and ate the cheese and bread with my salad and chips.

 We went to Buckingham Palace.  It was awesome!  You'll be so jealous when I tell you who's wedding dress I got to see.  After our tour, we went into the garden to have a little something and a cup of tea.  I had a piece of this very special type of cake.  It is the Digestive Biscuit Chocolate Cake that was served at Kate and Williams wedding.  (They had two cakes.)  It was DIVINE!

 The last night we were in London, I was exhausted, so I stayed in and ordered room service.  I have to say this was the best mushroom and onion pizza I have ever eaten!

 Many of you may of heard of Sticky Toffee Pudding.  I'll warn you about it:  They will never serve you a big enough piece...(SOOOO good)

 On the train you can walk down to a little cafe to get something hot to eat or drink.  Someone does walk around with snacks and drinks, but if you go to the cafe they will cook you something.

 I had a lovely cheese and tomato toasty.  (MMMMM)

These two people mean the world to me.  They have been married for over 71 years this year (1941-2011) and they are still in love.I've never seen anything so beautiful! 

The winner of a copy of OPEN MINDS and an OPEN MINDS bookmark is:

 Theresa Milstein

*Do you have a marriage role model?

*When you are in foreign countries do you try the local foods?

*Lastly, be a follower, answer one or both of the questions and you could win an English Goodie Bag. 

 (I'd love it if you tweeted or Facebooked the giveaway, but it's not necessary.)  I'll announce the winner on December 6th.

Pets, Picture Books and Pals...

Can I hear an "Ohhhhh?"  

Macy has spent her whole life trying to make a special (furry) friend. 

 Now she has one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

November is a busy month for lots of writers.  Some participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month--50,000 words in one month) and others participate in PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month--30 new picture book ideas in one month).  I've been dabbling a little in both.  I'm thinking I'm going to have to commit to one or the other, as my brain seems to be skipping around.  

Last weekend I went to the SCBWI-MO conference and had the honor of being critiqued by Quinlan Lee from the Adams Literary Agency.  I submitted my picture book manuscript; Operation Pied Piper to her (you can read the blurb for it on my completed manuscripts page).  As always, I like to share a little of what I learned.  

• At 659 words, it is the perfect length for a picture book.  (big smile)
• Has great details and voice.  (huge smile)
• Interesting time in history.  (big smile)
• A historical fiction is a hard sale for a debut author.  (hmmmm)  Try writing something more commercial, quirky, fun first.
• Story leaves you hanging...not enough action.  (yep, I knew that)
• Would the story be better if it was told through a different character's eyes.  (OMGoodness...I was just thinking that!)
• Consider making it into a middle grade novel.  (Yay!  I've already started writing it and am on chapter 7.)

I have to say Quinlan was lovely and very supportive.  Her presentation to the whole group was outstanding. If you have the opportunity to interact with her at a conference, go for it.  She is super friendly and a delightful speaker.  She even took some extra time to visit with my dear friend Susan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the Pals part of my post...

My wonderful bloggy friend Sheri Larsen has been working furiously on picture books this month!  If you don't know Sheri you should hop over and check her out.  She has a great site full of useful information for writers of all genres, plus she's wicked cool!

If you haven't entered my giveaway for Susan Kaye Quinn's new book OPEN MINDS hop over and leave a comment.  I'll announce who the winner is on my November 17th post.

Everybody's pal (and picture book writer) Robyn Campbell has been sick all week...so if you get a chance to hop over and give her a virtual hug I'm sure she'd appreciate it.  

Are you participating in NaNo or PiBo this year?  

Do you have a pet that you love more than chocolate?

Thanks for stopping in and hugs to all!!!

Help Push String Bridges to Number One on Amazon!

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit
the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written and performed by the author herself, for free!



All you have to do is
purchase the book today (paperback, or eBook), November 11th, and
then email the receipt to:

jessica.carmen.bell(at)gmail(dot)com

She will
then email you a link to download the album at no extra cost!

To purchase the paperback:

Amazon USA

To purchase the eBook:

Amazon USA

Amazon UK

To listen to samples of the soundtrack, visit iTunes.

If you are
not familiar with String Bridge,
check out the book trailer:

Rave Reviews for String Bridge:

“Jessica Bell’s STRING BRIDGE strummed the fret of my
veins, thrummed my blood into a mad rush, played me taut until the final page,
yet with echoes still reverberating. A rhythmic debut with metrical tones of
heavied dark, fleeting prisms of light, and finally, a burst of joy—just as
with any good song, my hopeful heartbeat kept tempo with Bell’s narrative.” ~ Kathryn Magendie, author of Sweetie and Publishing Editor of Rose & Thorn Journal

“Poet and
musician Jessica Bell's debut novel String Bridge is a rich exploration of desire, guilt, and the
difficult balancing act of the modern woman. The writing is lyrical throughout,
seamlessly integrating setting, character and plot in a musical structure that
allows the reader to identify with Melody's growing insecurity as her world
begins to unravel … String Bridge is
a powerful debut from a promising writer, full of music, metaphor, and just a
hint of magic.” ~ Magdalena Ball, author of Repulsion
Thrust and Sleep Before Evening

“Jessica Bell is a brilliant writer
of great skill and depth. She doesn't pull back from the difficult
scenes, from conflict, pain, intensity. She puts it all out there, no holds
barred, no holding back. She knows how to craft a scene, how to develop
character, how to create suspense. This is an absolutely brilliant debut novel.
I look forward to reading her
next novel, and next and next.” ~ Karen Jones
Gowen, author of Farm Girl, Uncut Diamonds and House of Diamonds

Connect with Jessica:

String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell

Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/

Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell

Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Please Help Jessica get the word out on her book by TWEETing and/or FACEBOOKing this post using #StringBridge!


Hugs to all...

OPEN MINDS...Do you have one?

I was lucky enough to score a signed copy of Susan Kaye Quinn's newest book on her blog last week!  I'm so excited about this book.  I don't get up early to do anything and I've been getting up early to read it before I start my day.  Yep, it's that good!  I'm going to give away a copy of Susan's book and a book mark to help celebrate the release of Open Minds.  All you have to do is follow Susan and me and leave a comment on this post.  I'll post the winner on my November 17th post.  Random.org will chose the winner.  

Susan is an amazing person! She has engineering degrees (B.S. Aerospace Engineering, M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering) and has worked everywhere from NASA to NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) to a little Venice Beach restaurant called The Green Bean (I was the bookkeeper). I've designed aircraft engines, studied global warming, and held elected office (as a school board member). Now she writes novels and has the coolest business card that say "Rocket Scientist and Author." 

Here's the summary and links where you can buy Open Minds...

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy) by Susan Kaye Quinn is available in e-book (Amazon US (also UK,France and Germany), Barnes & Noble, Smashwords) and print (Amazon, Createspace, also autographed copiesavailable from the author).

 If you don't know Susan you need to hop over and check her out!  Not only does she write young adult books, but also women's fiction and  YA Romance....

So  I'd like to introduce you to Susan...


Me:  I'd like to thank you for dropping in for a little chat.   

Susan Kaye Quinn: Thanks for having me! Talking about writing is second only to actual writing in the fun department. Especially when chatting with my friends! J

Me: A few months ago you self published a book for your son, Adam.  Was that a practice run for Open Minds?

Adam’s book is free for the e-version on smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/64737

SKQ: I didn’t intend it that way. At the time, I was querying Open Minds and getting lots of interest from agents. I figured I had a good chance of getting representation and still intended to pursue that route. At the same time, my son had spent the whole school year working on his novel (and editing after I critiqued it). When he was done, I promised we would print up copies for his teacher and friends. Being well aware of the rise of self-publishing, I figured e-books would be a great way to give copies to his friends without going broke at the copy shop. Turns out that printing a POD book costs LESS than getting a manuscript printed at the copy shop. I was stunned! So, I dove in, figured out how to format it for print, and we made a cute book for him. I’m very proud of him (and he’s proud of the final product, which is even better!).

ME: Can you tell us a little about the process of self publishing Open Minds? 

SKQ: Over the summer, my thinking shifted about traditionally publishing Open Minds. Editor (and thus agent) interest was waning in paranormal, even though people were still buying it like crazy. Self-publishing was becoming more and more respectable. Authors I respected were pursuing both traditional and self-publishing at the same time. Having published through a small press, I did a careful weighing of the costs (professional cover and editing) vs. the potential payoff. If I was going to self-publish, I wanted a product that could proudly sit on the same virtual shelf with traditionally published books. I decided I could do that, and pulled Open Minds from the agents that still had it, so I could self-publish in time for Christmas.

Me: How did you come up with the storyline for Open Minds?

SKQ: It started as an entry to a first paragraph contest on Nathan Bransford’s blog! I wanted a catchy first paragraph, and none of my current stories had one. So I decide to write one for a story that didn’t exist. As I mulled some story ideas that had been floating in my head, the image of a girl sitting in a classroom full of mindreaders popped into my head. Everyone read minds, except for her, and her isolation in that world was utter and complete. The rest of the story grew out of that first picture. (I didn’t win the paragraph contest, though. J)

Me: I think I heard a rumor that you were going to write a sequel.  Is that true?

SKQ: Absolutely! In fact, I’ve already outlined Books 2 and 3 of the Mindjack trilogy. I have a very detailed outline of Closed Hearts(Book 2) and plan to draft it during National Novel Writing Month, which is either a brilliant idea or completely crazy. I haven’t decided which. Ask me at the end of November. J

Me: When I sit down to write I have to have a thermos of coffee. Do you have any writing rituals?

SKQ: I almost always have tea on hand. It’s not so much a ritual as a continuous drip of caffeine. Because apparently I need it.

Me: I have Jolly Rancher (Lenny sends them to me) on my desk.  Do you have a writing vice?

SKQ: How lucky are you, getting candy from Lenny?? My writing vice is that I spend too much time doing it. I have to pry myself away from the keyboard. #addicted

Me: Finally, any words of advice for aspiring writers?

SKQ: Write, write some more, keep writing. Seriously, the most important thing you can do is a large volume of work. The second most important is to continually strive to improve your craft: study bestsellers, swap critiques, read books on writing. Finally, give yourself room to breathe and discover who you are as a writer. Writing is a process of self-discovery as much as it is about storytelling. The two are intertwined. Only you can tell the stories you have! Allow yourself the freedom to be yourself in your writing.

Me: Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit and I wish you the best of luck with Open Minds.

Susan Kay Quinn: Thanks so much for having me! The support of my blogosphere friends during the launch of Open Minds has just been overwhelmingly awesome. I am so lucky and grateful to be a part of this writing community!


You can find Susan on:

 Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Please stop back on November 17th to see if you are the lucky winner of a copy of Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn and her bookmark.  (Ya'll know I love bookmarks...)