Girlie

HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS Release Day!!

Woo hoo!! This day has been a long time coming, but it’s here! My first picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson) is out in the world! Because it’s such an exciting day, I didn’t want to post just any blog post. Today, you get a Vlog!!

You can read about how this story was born over on Dawn Prochovnic’s blog. So today, I wanted to give you Girlie and Mr. Daddy’s version of what happened that night! So sit back, relax, and listen to this most interesting interview.

Hope you enjoyed it! And I hope you enjoy reading HELP WANTED MUST LOVE BOOKS!!

Before I end, a big congratulations to Melanie Mortensen who won the giveaway of a copy of my book, and one book of her choice from one of my fellow Debut Crew members!

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You can purchase HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS on bookshop.org, which helps support local indie bookstores. Or if you don’t have a local indie, you can always find it on Amazon or B&N.

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My Crazy in Pictures

The last few months have been full of crazy. Or I could use other adjectives like exciting. Fun. Adventure. Sports. Play. Work. Celebration. Food. Art. Writing. Culture. Bonding. Homecomings.

Lots of good things. But LOTS of things. I’ll be going off-line for a bit since we will be moving in a couple of weeks. But for your viewing pleasure, my crazy (and by crazy, I mean awesome) life in pictures:

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Finding Our Own Path

I have this daughter.

I love her for so many reasons that I couldn’t possibly tell you about all of them. But one thing I will tell you about is her individuality. I love this chica because she is her own self. And she is not afraid of being her own self.

For example. This is her at her last soccer game:

I’ll be honest, I am so used to her being her, that I didn’t even think twice about her skirt until everyone commented on it.

And then there was this Word Find that came home in her folder:

I kind of really love that with the top one, if she had gone straight, she had the word. But that’s not how she saw things. Why make a straight line when you can jump over a letter and get something far more interesting?

She is such an example to me. An example of being true to yourself. An example of finding your own path, even when the world would send you another direction.

As writers, sometimes we forget that. We try to write what everyone else is writing. We try to imitate another author’s style. We focus on what might be big (according to the world) instead of staying true to ourselves. Our own ideas. Our own passions.

It’s easy to get caught up. But it’s better to be ourselves. It’s better to let our individual uniqueness shine like a pink tulle skirt in a soccer game.

Because seriously, who doesn’t secretly envy that girl? Wish they were brave enough to do it, too.

So how are you letting your personality shine? I’d love to hear. 🙂

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An Interview with Girlie: Angela Cervantes (+Giveaway!)

Back in August, one of my super sweet CP’s (Critique Partner’s), Angela Cervantes, published her debut middle-grade novel, Gaby, Lost and Found with Scholastic Press. If you haven’t read it yet, you should! It is a touching story about a girl trying to find her place when her life is flipped up-side down. Here’s the blurb:

Girlie: I’m trying to make people happy by playing with them and sharing my stuff. How do you make people happy?

Me: I love it! She definitely lives up to that. 🙂

Angela Cervantes is a poet, storyteller, and animal lover. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in various publications, including Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul. When Angela is not writing, she enjoys hanging out with her husband in Kansas and eating fish tacos every chance she gets. Gaby, Lost and Found is her first middle-grade novel. She is currently at work on her second book.

You can keep up with Angela at her website:

http://angelacervantes.com/

Now for the Giveaway! I have two signed (paperback) copies of Gaby, Lost and Found to give away to two lucky visitors. Just enter in the Rafflecopter below! The giveaway is open through March 31st. Good luck!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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On Overcoming Criticism

So I recorded this video of my 4 y.o.:

She was very proud of it. But when I showed it to her brothers, 7 y.o. burst out laughing. “Oh! That is so embarrassing for her!”

I worried that she would get all self-conscious, but she was like a duck. The comment slid off her back as she grinned at her video on the computer screen, pride glowing from her.

And it was a flash of inspiration for me. There will always be someone out there ready to criticize. Ready to tell us we are silly (or worse) for doing what we did. For trying to write a book. For daring to think it might be good. For trying to get it published. For having published a book on that subject. Whatever.

But we have to be like my Girlie. We have to love our own work so much that it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Let those criticisms slide off our back and move forward.* We need to be confident in ourselves.

Because guess what? When 4 y.o. asked to watch it again, 7 y.o. caught the bug. “So do I get to make one, too?”

What have you done when someone hit you with a criticism-bomb?

*To be clear, I’m not talking about critique partner or beta-reader comments that were requested. I’m talking about those un-requested, hurtful, put-downs that we can all do without.

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Interview with Leigh T. Moore and a Giveaway!

So Leigh T. Moore’s book, The Truth About Letting Go has been out
a couple of weeks and is doing awesome! Read all about it HERE.

So what else is there to do but have a
giveaway? Hurray! *throws confetti* One lucky commenter will win a copy of The Truth About Letting Go, just let me know in the comments you’re
interested, and leave me a way to contact you.

Last day to enter is March. 24, and
I’ll post the winner on Monday, March 25th. Best of luck!

In the mean time, since I already interviewed
Leigh HERE, I let my 3-year-old do the honors to give you a fresh perspective
on this amazing author. 🙂

Me: If I don’t hear from you in a while, I’ll confiscate Girlie’s wand. See if I can figure out the reverse spell! 😉

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