#TrueFriends and a Great Giveaway

Back in this blog post I told y'all about a writing retreat I went to a couple of years ago.

It was at the beautiful vacation home of Kirby Larson.

(l to r) Kirby Larson with Winston the Wonder Dog, Susan Hill Long, Augusta Scattergood, and me

The amazing result of that writing retreat is that ALL FOUR of the manuscripts that we worked on there were published this year!

 
So we decided to keep the Sisterhood united and work together to help our books wing their way into the world.

We have some #TrueFriends goodies for you!

Here are 4 quick videos from us, telling a bit about our books.

HERE is a fun activity kit.

And...drum roll, please...a fantastic giveaway!!

Go HERE to enter to win books and/or a Skype visit.

The Sisterhood

In June of 2014, Kirby Larson invited Augusta Scattergood, Susan Hill Long, and me to have a writing retreat at her beautiful vacation home in Washington state. We all jumped at the chance.

What a special time we had!

Here we are with Winston the Wonder Dog. (l to r): Kirby, Susan, Augusta and me

Writing all day.

Then critiquing (so important).

Then breaking to watch the sunset and drink a little wine.

And here's the coolest part:

All four of the manuscripts we were working on at that retreat were published this year!

What are the odds? Seriously.

Here they are: 

AND Augusta's book and my book are publishing on the SAME DAY (August 30).

What are the odds?

Here's the fun part: we call ourselves the Butterfly Sisters. Here's why (as I remember it....we might all have variations of the story).

In an early draft of WISH, I had a scene where the main character hurls some very harsh words at her friend. Harsh and sharp. I then wrote that she wished she could take those words back...scoop them up like butterflies in a net.

My brilliant peers pointed out to me that that metaphor didn't seem appropriate for gathering harsh, sharp words.

Dang it! They were right. 

But I loved that phrase so much I was determined to keep it. I just moved it to a more appropriate place.

So we had a running joke about butterflies.

And all four books have some sort of reference to butterflies. (Go read the books and see if you can find them.)

So there you have it. 

AND...this year Kirby invited us to have another retreat. BUT...Delta Airlines dealt me a lousy hand and cancelled my flight. So I couldn't go!!!

But we got together to critique the best we could:

Long Live the Sisterhood!

Love That Cow

Okay....could I love that cow any more?
I don't think so.
Do I adore the work of Sharon Creech?
Um, heck, YEAH!

I love this book so dang much.

"...the smells and the heat and the noise were pouring in the windows and squeezing us from all sides."

*Sigh*

"It seemed they didn't want to waste friend effort on someone who was leaving town."

*Sigh again*

"The voice full of honey but the words...not."

*Big heaving sigh*

This book VIBRATES with action and sounds.....the WORDS:

Lurched

Ambled

Lumbered

Skittered

Lunged

Careened

Clambering

Zooming

Ogling

Screaming

Vibrating

Wailing

Bellowing

And then there is this:

"Sometimes an hour is a blink

A flash

A wink, a flicker

A dashing gallop

And sometimes

An hour stretches

Thuddingly

Second by second

An endless

Eternity

of drips"

THUDDINGLY?

Who even thinks up that word?

I really, really, really loved this book.

And so will you. 

But, um, sorry.

Pub date 8/30

Patience

Student Blurbs for WISH

I adore these blurbs for WISH from Patrick Allen's awesome 4th graders in Colorado.

"This is the best novel of the year!" --Kinsey 

"Soon it will have a New York Times best seller stamp on it!" --Norah

"I WISH it were out sooner!" --John

"Wishes might not come true, but reading this book made mine come true!" --Michael

"Great mix of comedy and emotion. This book makes wishes come true!" --Caleb/Hannah

"Now I know what to wish on." --Ben

Shout Out to McDonald Green Elementary

Big thanks to Mrs. Weeks

 and all the great students at

McDonald Green Elementary School

 in Lancaster, SC.

I had a blast!

 

I love HAMPDEN MEADOWS!

I could NOT be prouder of these amazing students at Hampden Meadows Elementary School in Barrington, Rhode Island!

Thank you to Ms. Mitchell and her creative students!!

Another Hampden Meadows Shout-Out

I've visited Hampden Meadows Elementary School in Barrington, Rhode Island, for many years.

They are without a doubt one of the BEST schools for an author to visit.

The kids are so well prepared.

They've read almost all of my books.

They've made fantastic art projects and posters about the books.

They decorate the hallway.

And best of all, they are as excited to meet me as I am to meet them.

You can see some of my past visits HERE.

But now I've moved down to North Carolina - too far to visit.

So we did the next best thing, thanks to teacher Mrs. Mitchell and media specialist Melanie Roy.

We Skyped.

 

And once again, I was absolutely blown away by the time and effort the kids put into my books.

Check out these great projects.

 

 

 And one student made an amazing stop motion video that I will post when it's available on YouTube.

Thank you, Hampden Meadows!!!

 

Cover Reveal for Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America

Drum roll, please......

Here

is

the

fantastic

cover 

to:

Isn't it the coolest?? 

Mr. Puffball, El Gato and the gang take to the road in search of some fantastic footage for their buddy film. 

Will Benedict Cumbercat sabotage their every move?

Will they meet an adorable yet irritating kitten named Pickles? (Hint: yes.) 

Will Rosie, as director-in-training, ever stop megaphoning ‘Cut!’?

 

Find out when you hop aboard this fast-paced travel adventure – 

It’s van-tastic!

This second book in the series, Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins) by Constance Lombardo releases on September 27. 

So, run.....

don't walk...

to your local indie bookstore

on September 27.

Great Day at Harbins Elementary School

I had a great day at Harbins Elementary School 

in Dacula, Georgia.

They chose THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER

for their One School-One Book program.

I was greeted by a super sign.

The students had made some terrific frogs like Tooley Graham in the book.

I got some chocolate frogs!

More frogs and even a letter!

Here I am talking to the K-2 students over their closed circuit TV.

Amazing media specialist, Kathy Schmidt, showing me their Water Wonder 4000.

I signed a lot of books.

Third graders

Fourth graders

Fifth graders

Thanks for a great day, Harbins!