Yea Baby!

My poem, Fireflies, appeared in the July/August 2015 issue of Babybug magazine 

which is AWESOME! Here are some sneak peek pics. 

Thank you Babybug!!

Ain't No Party...

...like a Mind Your Monsters book launch party! 

Again thank you to the kind folks at the Jensen Beach Barnes and Noble for hosting my first ever book launch party. It was a monster success, if I do say so myself. And I do ... say so... myself... Ahem. Anyway. Here are some photos!

The Craft Woman Cometh

Have a new book? Well then you might be having a launch party. For mine I organized invites, crafts, and more. Here's a quick peek:

The Invites - I had the fabulous Donna Farrell design these flyers which I printed at Office Depot and handed out at summer camps, local stores, and well, pretty much anywhere. If schools had been in session I would've contacted them too. My genius writing buddy Lori Alexander suggested doing two on a sheet so you can save money on printing. I also blogged, posted, and contacted local print media.

The Crafts - I prepped (and practiced with real live children) two crafts. One was coloring sheets with crayons. Thank you Oriol Vidal for providing so many options! The other was a pink monster puppet. Thank you Monica Ladd for the inspiration!. The biggest thing here was to buy small plastic organizers to transport all the bits and pieces. Very helpful! And don't do anything with glitter. Store owners (and most normal people) hate glitter. Too messy.

The Decor - Here we are setting up. Barnes and Noble kindly provided the tables. I brought my big ol' poster (Thank you Sterling!), a small easel for propping up a book on my signing table, a table cloth to hide stuff under my signing table, a tub of monster toys for giving away at the signing table, colored sharpies for signing books, purple balloons because everyone loves purple balloons, and my winning personality.

 

The Activity - I designed a 3' x 4' plywood replica of my book cover with a hole cut in it so that parents could take pictures of their kids while waiting to get to the craft / signing table. My carpenter Sam designed it so I could take off the legs for easy transport, and I can paint the backside with my next book's cover. Who loves a two-for-one? I love a two-for-one! FYI - have a stool in case some kids are too short to reach the hole.

Happy Book Birthday!

Thank you for all the well wishes on my first book birthday! 

Trail of Secrets

Laura Wolfe, friend and fellow author, is launching her fabulous book and I canNOT wait to get my hands on it! Here is Laura's summary and totally cool cover. Mystery? Ghosts? Girl detective? This book has my Nancy-Drew-loving' heart a flutter!

Trail of Secrets, by Laura Wolfe

Fire and Ice YA (Coming August/September 2015)

Spending three weeks of her summer at the elite Foxwoode Riding Academy in northern Michigan should have been one of the happiest times of sixteen year-old Brynlei’s life. But from the moment Brynlei arrives at Foxwoode, she can’t shake the feeling she’s being watched. Then she hears the story of a girl who vanished on a trail ride four years earlier. While the other girls laugh over the story of the dead girl who haunts Foxwoode, Brynlei senses that the girl—or her ghost—may be lurking in the shadows.

Brynlei’s quest to reveal the truth interferes with her plan to keep her head down and win Foxwoode’s coveted “Top Rider” award. To make things worse, someone discovers Brynlei’s search for answers and will go to any length to stop her. As Brynlei begins to unravel the facts surrounding the missing girl’s disappearance, she is faced with an impossible choice. Will she protect a valuable secret? Or save a life?

Age level:  13-18

www.AuthorLauraWolfe.com

It's all in the planning...

Launch Party Note #265: Bring stool for photo booth

Launch Party!!

Ain't no party like a book launch party, 

'cuz a book launch party don't stop!

That's right. I am so excited for my launch, I am quoting Coolio. 

I hope to see lots of faces - big and small - at Barnes and Noble on 8/8/15!