And The Winners Are...

And the winner of KISSED BY AN ANGEL is

 Martha Ramirez!

You can buy 

KISSED BY AN ANGEL

for little to nothing and help these precious children!

http://www.amazon.com/Kissed-Angel-Robyn-Campbell/dp/151936055X

And the winner of HOW TO SAVE YOUR DYING CHURCH is Connie Arnold!

Pastor Jon White's book 

HOW TO SAVE YOUR DYING CHURCH

 can be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/How-Save-Your-Dying-Church/dp/1516863615/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455216474&sr=8-1&keywords=how+to+save+your+dying+church

Speak Out Against... (& winners)

If you have ever been in a violent or controlled relationship, you probably recognize you don't want your children to be involved in that same type of relationship.  But what can you do? Talk to your children, WAY before they are teens.  They have to know they're valuable and deserving of love, respect and kindness.

I firmly believe books show kids how to treat others and how they should be treated.  Books can give them courage and show them a path to a better life.

If you are in a controlling or violent relationship it will effect your children...It's hard to leave a partner whether you are 16 or 60, but everyone deserves love, respect and kindness.  You are modeling what a "normal" relationship is, so what they see at home is really important.

There are places and people you can turn to if you are in this type of relationship.  If you belong to a church, a pastor may be able to counsel you.  A professional counselor could help too.  There are lots of organizations you can turn to: Help for Abuse, Dove, Inc, Domestic Violence, go to Google, there are lots of informational sites, more than I can even imagine.

If you suspect your teen is in a controlling or violent relationship, these sites have indicators you can look for and suggestions...

One of my writing friends Susan Oloier asked me to join her blog tour about his important issue.  Below are two books that involve teens in violent relationships.

Outcast

by  Susan Oloier

Noelle dreams of a different life, one where Trina Brockwell doesn’t exist. Trina has bullied Noelle since junior high. Now she’s tired of it. With the help of her black-sheep aunt and a defiant new classmate, Noelle seeks revenge. But vengeance comes with a price: Noelle risks friendship, her first love, and herself to get back at those who have wronged her.

Outcast is available at several sites.

Break from You

by Rebecca Green Gasper

Love shouldn’t hurt this much…Brooke Myers wants to believe she has it all: the perfect guy, the perfect relationship, the perfect life. She wants to believe it so much that she's willing to overlook the fear, the isolation, and the pain her boyfriend has caused her. She knows it isn't right but tells herself that love isn't always easy. However, when a fire destroys the restaurant during homecoming dinner, she forms an instant bond with the boy who saves her, one her boyfriend wouldn’t like. With the pain of a concussion reminding her of how bad things can get, she is forced to re-evaluate the relationship she has with her boyfriend and face the ghosts that haunt her. Brooke once believed love was all it took…but is it enough? Is it truly love when you've lost yourself in it?

You can find more out about Rebecca and her books on her blog.

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Congratulations to Carol Riggs for winner a copy of Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer!

And Congratulations to Angela Ackerman and Kelly Polark who won Princess in Training buttons from Tammi.  

When you look in the mirror tomorrow, I'd like you to remember, you are special, you are valued and you deserve to be treated with respect!

Tammi Sauer is in house...A giveaway...And a winner

If you know me very well, you know I am a HUGE fan of Tammi Sauer's work.  Her new book PRINCESS IN TRAINING is soooooo much fun!  The illustrations are fantastic too.

Here's my little blurb:

Princess Viola is an awesome skateboarder, but not the "perfect" princess that the king and queen would like her to be.  So what would any good parent do?  They send her away to Princess Camp where she should learn how to behave like a proper princess.  But....it's not as easy as it sounds.  Viola tries hard, but has quite a few mishaps until a dragon comes along and her unprincess like skills cause her to save the day.

It's not only a fun read, but it  shows young readers that it is okay to be different or have different skills.  I give PRINCESS IN TRAINING five stars....ahem out five stars.  :)

I met Tammi several years ago in one of her workshops.  She is an amazing writer and I hope you'll hop to the link and see all that I learned from her.  I am always trying to pick her brain (because it is amazing) so I sent her a few questions and she agreed to answer them for us.

When did you begin writing?

I have always been a writer. As a kid, I was very big on getting mail, so I joined a penpal club. But those weren’t the only letters I wrote. I spent hours sending fanmail to various celebrities, including Loni Anderson and Barbara Mandrell.  Somewhere I have a collection of retro 8 by 10 glossies to prove it.

It wasn’t until 1997, however, that I began toying with the idea of writing picture books. I would write one day. Stop for 36 days. Write again for a week. Stop for four months. I didn't make a commitment to writing until the spring of 2003 when an illustrator visited my daughter's preschool. Seeing someone who was actually in the business inspired me to get serious about writing. That day I decided to devote my kids' nap time to writing. Even if my mom called. Even if Oprah was on. One year later, I got the offer for my first book—Cowboy Camp.

Do you have an agent?

Yes, my agent is Laura Rennert at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Can you tell us about the journey took until you reached publication?

When I first decided to try to become a children’s book writer, I would write something on Monday, send it out on Tuesday, and expect multiple offers by Friday.  Little by little, however, I learned more and more. I wrote. I read. I studied successful picture books. I attended conferences. I found a critique partner and a critique group. And those early stories? They were awful, but I never once thought of them as a waste of time. Those were my practice stories. It’s the same with sports or playing a musical instrument. The best way to get better at something is to practice.

Are all your books published by the same publisher?

I work with a variety of wonderful publishing houses—Bloomsbury, Disney-Hyperion, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Simon & Schuster, and Sterling.

What one thing would you say to prepublished authors?

With a lot of perseverance, some talent, and a little luck, YOU can sell a picture book. (In my experience, an unlimited supply of frozen Milky Ways also helps.)

Do you have any special news you’d like to share???

I am really excited about my upcoming book with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt called Nugget and Fang. This book is illustrated by the oh-so-amazing Michael Slack. It focuses on the unlikely friendship between a minnow and a shark.  I am hoping Nugget and Fang make a huge splash in spring 2013.

And finally the all important question:  What is your favorite kind of cheese?

Wow, that’s like asking me who my favorite child is. I am crazy about cheese. I should totally move to Wisconsin in my support of cheese.

Here are some places you can learn more about the awesome Tammi Sauer.  (I bet that makes her blush!)

website: http://www.tammisauer.com/

blog: http://tamarak.livejournal.com/

her books

I am giving away a copy of Tammi's awesome book, CHICKEN DANCE...

and Tammi is giving away two of her PRINCESS IN TRAINING buttons (so cute) on November 15th.

Now for a winner of WE HEAR THE DEAD by Dianne Salerni:

Janet Johnson

And the winner of a signed bookmark for her upcoming book CAGED GRAVES:

Kelly Polark

Thanks for dropping by!

Hugs to all!

The Winners Are...

The winners of the top two prize packages are Maeve Fraiser & The Desert Rock!

 Consolation prizes go to Gail, Medeia Shariff, Crystal & Melissa Sarno!

If you are a winner (I know all of you are winners in life), please email me your full name and address so I can post you your prize.  

I'll be back to my normal Thursday postings this week...I had a super trip in England and plan on doing a post with photos (hahaha) later this month, along with a vacation souvenir giveaway.  It will include chocolate!

Have a wonderful week!

Judith Engracia Picks....Three Winners!

Judith and I would like to thank everyone who entered our critiquing contest. A special thanks to those of you who took the time to give each other feedback. 

Judith said choosing the winners was difficult...She ended up deciding on three winners instead of two!  I'll be passing the three winners names and emails along to Judith and then she'll get in touch with you.

DRUM ROLL.....(Please)

The winners were:

Entry number 2 by Kathryn Kupanoff,

   Entry number 4 by Amy Sonnichsen and

 Entry number 19 by Carole Anne Carr.

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and got some good feedback.  I'll be posting an interview with Judith later this week and so you can learn a little more about her.  Don't forget you can check out the books that Judith is reading on her blog....

Do you have any plans for this week?  I'm hoping to see some signs of spring, of course I know I'm not in control of that.  LOL!