March Wrap-Up
Book News/Progress:
- I flew out to Denver for my good friend Megan E. Freeman’s launch party for AWAY! The event was wonderful, and I was very excited to see Megan in person again. She’s my accountability partner, so we talk weekly, but since she’s out in Colorado, we don’t get to actually see each other often. I also had a chance to see Stan Yan in person – he’s in my Middle Grade Escapades debut group!
Since I was flying out, Megan also set up a lunch with the Colorado contingency of our agency, East West Literary! It just so happens that my agency represents several authors in the Denver area, so it was a great chance for us to get together, and my agent actually flew all the way out from LA to attend! While I was in Denver, I also went to the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Denver art museum and signed books at a bunch of Denver bookstores!
Apparently I didn’t get a pic with all of our authors, but here are a few pics from the trip (Megan with AWAY, my agent Deborah Warren and I, me and Stan Yan, and one of the Wild Things!):
- If you’re in the Chicagoland area or the Denver or Northern CO area you can see a list of bookstores with signed copies of The Song of Orphan’s Garden on my website HERE!
- I attended Anderson’s annual Children’s Literature Breakfast as a local author. It was a great experience – I met lots of teachers and librarians who are excited about my book!
- School visits: Anderson’s Book Shop set me up with a couple of school visits and I had a few that I set up on my own. These were my first events where a lot of the kids had actually bought the book and some had read it, so that was very fun!
- Book Club: My coworkers arranged for our store book club to read my book this month! This was definitely a departure for them (I don’t think they’ve ever read a MG book before), so I was touched that the book club was game for it. We had a great discussion about writing and publishing and the book in general!
- Signing: I also did a signing at a local B&N (not the one I work at). It was nice to see kids (and parents) get excited about the book as I pitched it to them!
- Gifted book with sprayed edges!! My birthday was in February, but my daughter was holding off on my gift until she came home so she could make it for me. It was totally worth the wait! Check out the gorgeous “sprayed-edge” (actually painted) she made for me? I am in love and in complete awe of her artistic ability!!! (The last pic is me posing with both the book and the Funko she and my mom customized for me for Christmas. If you want to see better pics of that, check out my Instagram carousel.)
Other News:
‘ve had a very eventful few weeks because my husband and I went to Maui to celebrate our 25th anniversary! We had an amazing time! We saw the sights on Road to Hana, hiked and enjoyed a stunning sunset on Mount Haleakalā, did several other hikes, did a whale watching tour, and snorkeled in gorgeous waters with coral reefs and sea turtles swimming right beside us!
I shared some pics on Instagram (I especially love the turtle one – apparently he couldn’t read the sign!):
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What I Read:
- I listened to Traitor to the Throne and Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton. Now I’m ready to read my ARC of The Notorious Virtues!
- I read River of Spirits by Shana Targosz, who is in my 2025 MG debut group. This book is so incredible – it’s no wonder it got sprayed edges to celebrate its glory!
- Finally, I listened to Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. This MG memoir is such a unique story for the MG market – it combines Nayeri’s memories with Persian folklore and intertwines it all in ways you would never expect!
- I listened to This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede and the sequel This Cursed Light. I had the first book for review ages ago and never got around to reading it. Once I listened to the first book though, I had to move directly on to book two!
- I also listened to First Love Language by Stefany Valentine, a recent release that I was really looking forward to. This ones a sweet YA romance!
- Next was A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I’ve had lots of people recommend this book to me as a wonderful cozy fantasy, and I agree. It’s an interesting philosophical read, but I’m not sure cozy fantasies are actually my favorite. I think I need more action in my reads!
- Then I listened to Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I’d actually read this one way back when it first came out, but I have Hamilton’s upcoming book for review so I wanted to refresh my memory (and catch up on the series)!
- I read Werewolf Hamlet by Kerry Madden-Lunsford, a fellow MG debut author from the MG Escapades group! This one is a heartfelt contemporary about having a family member dealing with addiction.
- And then I read Hikaru in the Light by Mai Matsuda. I love that they’re coming out with some manga specifically for MG readers!
- Finally, I read Cloud Puppy and Game On! by Kelly Leigh Miller, adorable graphic novels geared toward 6-9-year-olds. Loved these!!!
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