My Cover Reveal Day!!!

Today is the day!!!

The happy-dancing, random-screaming, exclamation-filled day that is otherwise known as my COVER REVEAL day!!


via GIPHY

So one interesting tid-bit before you head over to Pop! Goes The Reader to see what it looks like (finally!!!) . . .

A secret I've been holding for a while is that Amazon has a picture of my book on its site. BUT it IS NOT THE FINAL COVER. No. You have to got to Pop! Goes The Reader for that. I don't know when it will be fixed to the final cover, but if you want to see what the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) cover looks like, you can check out Amazon, too. (And eeep! If you happen to want to pre-order it, it's now available for pre-order!)

Okay, okay, I will detain you no longer! Go forth! Check out my beautiful book cover that I'm totally in love with at Pop! Goes The Reader.

And while you're there, don't forget to enter for a chance to win an ARC of THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY by moi, Janet Sumner Johnson.

The Things I Don't Know (aka Weird Research)

Writing books has been the most humbling experience of my life for so many reasons. SO. MANY. But today, I'll just talk about one: The things I don't know!

Oh, the things are vast, and many.

Silly things.
Important things.
Interesting things.
Things I SHOULD know.
Things I know I learned once upon a time.

Some of these things can be easily researched online. Some require experts (Hellooo Dr. Husband, you have been a life saver!). Sometimes I find a book on the subject. Some things require good hard study and mathematical equations (and then I'm back to seeking expert help . . . hellooo Father and Sister Mathematicians!! You're the best!).

So before I bore you to death, here are some of the things I have had to research in the name of writing, though I won't tell you why (bwahaha!):

• The shortest number of moves with which you can win at chess
• The history of cameras (Brownie's, etc.)
• The history of Peanut Butter
• Pirate clothing
• Names and types of knives/swords
• Regional names (first and last, for various regions)
• How 911 dispatchers answer the phone (and no, I DID NOT call 911 to find out)
• What EMT's do when they arrive on the scene
• What substances on the periodic table are most unstable
• Weird science experiments
• Science experiments/substance combinations that might cause explosions (And everytime I did a search, I worried the NSA would be after me! Book research, I swear!)
• How to qualify for a Nobel Prize (including nomination process and timeframe)
• The Randall Sundrum model of string theory (it's actually pretty fascinating!)
• Horse grooming techniques
• Names of horse parts and wagon/carriage parts
• Time it would take to travel to the moon/mars
• Calculating rocket paths for meeting an object in space
• How tasers work
• Substances that are bad for dogs
• Methods for extracting the essence of something
• Snowboarding terms/skills
• Famous snowboarders
• How to qualify for the Olympics as a snowboarder
• Official rules of croquet

Anyway, I could go on for a good long while. So many things I don't know! And fascinating to discover that writing isn't only about English and Grammar. Wasn't I wishing I'd taken a few more math classes?

So how about you? Are you an expert in any of the above (And if so, please inform me so I can pick your brain!)? Do you want to learn about any of these things? What is the weirdest research you've ever done?

Books from my Childhood

I've been reading the Harry Potter series to my kids, and it's been awesome. And not just because I can get them to do their chores with the promise of reading another chapter. They've loved it!

But doing so has really brought back memories of my childhood. Curled up on the floor or in my bed, listening to my mom read stories to us. I even remember staying home sick from high school (HIGH SCHOOL !!!), and laying on the couch listening to her read to me. She has been a long-time lover of children's literature, and I directly attribute my obsession with it to her.

-----> This is me way back then, so you can better imagine me sitting on my mom's lap, listening to stories.---->

There weren't nearly as many choices back then, but what there was, she found them. I wanted to mention a few, because not only have all of these amazing books have influenced who I am, but these authors were the pioneers that made what I'm doing even possible.

As a little kid, my mom read picture books to us. A few stand out in my memory as ones we made her and my dad read over and over and over. THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK by Jon Stone was the BEST.

Fear of the unknown was a real thing for me back then. (Okay, it still is.) I remember hating to go downstairs on my own, because WHO KNEW what might come out of that big pot-belled wood-burning stove down there??? And it was dark. And it smelled funny. And the carpet had this crazy brown and orange pattern that could start spinning and might HYPNOTIZE me, and what would I do then???

Point being, I got Grover. I understood! I sympathized with his fears. But I still laughed every time we turned that page, and the story got messier and messier, and the pages got rattier and rattier (both figuratively and literally because we read that book so much). I LOVED being part of the story. It was all so real. Even though of course I knew it wasn't.

And I don't want to ruin the ending for any of you who might not have read it (and if so, watch out for the Goodreads link above . . . they aren't so careful), but this book made me braver. It helped me step up my courage, and you know what? I dared go downstairs on my own (okay, maybe not at night, but baby steps, people). I dared press forward into the unknown. Because lets face it. Life is full of A LOT of unknown. This book was a real part of my childhood. One that influenced me big time. So thank you, Jon Stone for writing it! Thank you, Sesame Street Creators for making such a great character!

And I realize this is all going to take more space than one blog post can handle, so I'll just have to blog about this again. In the mean time, tell me about a book that influenced your childhood. I'd love to hear!

Fancy Nancy Festivities (a fancy word for "parties")

I was first introduced to Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor almost 6 years ago when I discovered the original book on display in the library. Even though I was never a Fancy Nancy, I thought it was brilliant! My daughter was an infant at the time, but I read it to her (and my boys who also thought it was very fun).

And who knew that my daughter would turn out to be the fanciest of Nancies?

So when my local library threw a Fancy Nancy party, I was all over that. And so was my daughter.

We RSVP'd, and my daughter dressed up in her fanciest clothes. She even borrowed a hat from our neighbor.

At the party we decorated tiaras.

We ate cookies and punch.

We listened to Fancy Nancy books.

And when it was over, we decided that we simply must throw a Fancy Nancy party of our own. The plans are in the works.

What I love about this book is that it encourages individualism, and that it finds a sneaky and fun way to introduce new vocabulary. Kids are tricked into learning! It doesn't get much better than that. ;)

How about you? Who is one of your favorite characters from a book?

The End of Summer

Summer is officially over. The kids are back in school, the weather is cooling down, the summer frenzy is ending and the school one is beginning.

 

I planned so many times what I wanted to say on my "I'm back!!" blog post, but I'm not nearly as organized as I like to think I am. And whenever I tried to focus, the rush of it all filled my brain.

So the rush is what you get. Because so much happened this summer. SO MUCH! (and honestly, this is the abridged version):

Life Stuff:

• Moved to Oregon

 

• Entered my first ever county fair (with my awesome cinnamon twists)

 

 

• Won 2^nd prize in the county fair (I thought this deserved its own bullet point)

 

 

• Made hand-shaken ice-cream with my kids (4^th annual, baby!)

 

 

• Canned actual fruit (the lids sealed and everything!)

 

 

• Attended my first-ever crawdad cook-out (yep, they just lay it all out on the table)

 

 

• Painted a painting (can you tell which one's mine?)

 

 

• Spent time with family

 

 

 

Book Stuff:

• Joined the Sweet Sixteens debut author group
• Received and returned 1^st edits (on time!)
• Wrote a dedication and an acknowledgments page (surprisingly hard!)
• Started a Facebook Author Page
• Became a "Goodreads Author"
• Discovered PB&J on a list of anticipated 2016 MG releases (!!!)
• Received my ARCs (still swooning!)

 

 

This Summer has been such a learning curve. I won't prattle on just yet about all the things I learned, but hopefully in the future.

In the mean time, what awesome things did you do this summer?

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:

This might have been one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Ile de Ré on bikes!

Oh wait! I mean THIS was my favorite part. Tartelette aux fraises!

I could have stayed here forever. So peaceful!

You can't go to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower.

Or the Mona Lisa.

 

(Do I look exhausted??? Yeah, it was the end of a full day of travel and site-seeing. I was EXHAUSTED. All-caps are needed to fully capture the feeling.)

And Versaille. (Though it wasn't my favorite. Don't hate me!)

My 11-yo and I took the stairs to get to Sacré Coeur.

Yep. We are that awesome.

And Crèpes. Need I say more?

Home never felt so good!

 

Because I got to watch my soccer star!

 

And play with my crazy, pink-loving Girlie.

 

 

And yes! This is me making my book deal all official. Release date is Spring 2016!!

 

I hope you all have a great summer! I'll be back as soon as I get my world organized in my new place.

In Which I Gush About Librarians

I LOVE our local library. And more importantly, my kids love our local library. My sons aren't shy about asking the wonderful librarians for help, and my daughter knows right where to go to find the cool computer with kid-friendly games (which are, of course, all educational).

One of our favorite things is the summer program. The nationwide theme this year is:

Every Hero has a story

 To add to the fun, our library made this awesome photo background (complete with cape and mask) for our photographing pleasure.

And see that kid right there? My second grade graduate? This reading program has fueled his love for reading. All year he's been meh about it. Reading wasn't horrible for him, but it was something he did when we made him.

But since the summer reading program started, he's been determined to get in the minutes to earn those books and prizes . . . he's a different child. He just finished Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein.

And before that it was all three of the Case File 13 books by J. Scott Savage. And he's now dying to write to Mr. Savage who is now his favorite. (My reluctant reader as a favorite author!)

Obviously I love the summer reading program as an author. How great that kids are reading!

But I love it even more as a mom. I just want to thank all you librarians out there who work so hard to encourage a love of reading. Who put awesome books on display, and make going to the library a treat. Thank you for sharing your passion. Thank you for making it fun. Thank you for opening doors upon doors of opportunity and adventure to my children, because that's what reading does.

Is anyone else out there participating in their library's summer reading program?