Book Tour Shenanigans & Failed Plans

About a month before the release of The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society, Brenda Drake introduced me to the song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time!" Before that, I had no clue it existed. Like zero.

Of course, once I knew about it, I had big plans to use it on launch day and get all kinds of crazy. I planned to video myself and my family dancing to it. Then I decided that we needed a choreographed dance. But between moving, the book tour, and life, none of that ever happened.

Then I travelled to Maryland as part of the Beyond the Pages Book Tour, and spent all kinds of time with authors Laura Shovan, Ava Jae, and Kathy MacMillan.

During that trip, we got up to some crazy shenanigans. We spoke at panels, we signed books, and we spent like 87 hours driving in Maryland traffic. In short, we had an amazing time! So when I told them of my plans for Peanut Butter Jelly Time, they jumped aboard the good ship PB&J without a second thought. After a late night of pizza and s'mores, we got out our sharpies, created Harry Potter dancing bananas in homage to THIS awesome Peanut Butter Jelly Time video, and went for it! We even tweeted this teaser picture:

Alas, when I got back from that tour, I upgraded my failing phone, left 2 days later for the next leg of the tour, and totally spaced posting the AWESOME video that we'd made.

Today I am going to rectify that oversight. And so, without further ado, I present the debut of the Beyond the Pages Book Tour Peanut Butter Jelly Time Video!

Have an awesome day, and good luck getting that song out of your head! It's pretty much permanently stuck in mine.

My Launch in Review

My head is still buzzing over all the excitement of the last few days. On Friday, my book headed out to the world! My twitter feed went wild, and I conducted a couple of polls on two very important topics:

Team Grape vs. Team Strawberry (Team Grape: 25% vs. Team Strawberry: 75%)
&
Chunky Peanut Butter vs. Creamy Peanut Butter (Chunky: 27% vs. Creamy: 73%)

I'm still in shock over the tragic defeat of Team Grape!

On Saturday I had a wonderful launch party at The King's English Bookshop, so today I wanted to share the excitement of the party with a few pictures:

I couldn't have open food, so we had PEANUT BUTTER  cups and JELLY beans.

My parents and sister surprised me with a beautiful framed picture of my cover. It was just perfect to display at the signing.

I brought my very first ever rejection from 21 years ago. (Isn't that amazing?!) As a teen I sent a story idea to Disney, and that envelope contains their polite refusal to even look at it.

I told some stories. I read a few passages from my book . . .

We drew winners for some Pirate Prize Packs and a PB&J Prize Pack.

And I couldn't resist throwing in a booby prize (or should I say Gooby prize?)!

And the whole thing concluded with the signing of lots and lots of books.

Thank you so much to everyone who came both in body and spirit! You've made me feel so special, and I'm grateful to have shared this amazing moment in my life with so many people I care about.

I wish you all a wonderful week, and much happiness!

Launch Day: The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society

It's official!!! The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society is out in the world!! Huzzah!!!

To celebrate, I wrangled my dad (a.k.a. the PB&J guru) into doing a vlog with me. Because everyone should know how to make a PB&J the RIGHT way. Enjoy!

And for anyone who happens to be in the Salt Lake City, UT area, you are all invited to my launch party! It will be tomorrow, April 2nd, at 4:00 pm at The King's English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 E.).

Have a wonderful day! And don't forget to comment with your vote for Team Grape or Team Strawberry!! :)

The Book Countdown: 4 days!

FOUR DAYS!!!!!

A mere four days until The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society is launched into the world!!

My mind is boggling, and I hope you can forgive me if I wax a bit nostalgic . . . because I am in awe that this story – one I started on a whim – is going to find its way to readers throughout the world.

Almost exactly twenty-one years ago, I wrote the very first chapter of this book. Another six years passed before I admitted to myself I wanted to be an author, and I spit out a first draft in a mere three weeks.

It only took one rejection to realize I had a lot to learn.
And so another eight years passed while I studied books on writing, attended writing conferences, acquired critique partners, and wrote and wrote and wrote. That’s when I stumbled on that early draft.

It needed a lot of work. Like an actual plot and stuff. And honestly, it was painful to read because it was a testament to just how ignorant I’d been on the craft of writing. But oh the characters! They jumped off the page and I fell in love with them all over again.

Two more years of writing and revising before I found an agent, and another two to find a publisher.
The road has been so much longer than I ever imagined. But oh my heart! To hold in my hands a thing that I created in my head . . . simply indescribable.

The Sledding Hill

"Come sledding," they said.

"You HAVE to try this hill at least once!" he said.

I watched my boys slide down the hill one by one. Screaming when the sled didn't go where they wanted. Scrabbling to pull themselves back on course before the inevitable . . . WHOOSH . . . disappearing down the cliff face.

They pushed the sled into my hands. "Your turn."

"I don't know about this," I said. But I sat on it anyway. I stared down the sledding path a long time before my sons got tired of waiting and helped me along with a big push.

"You're welcome!" they called as I screamed down the hill and scrabbled to get back on course.

And then WHOOSH! I was speeding down a cliff face and hurtling towards the road, and then it was over. I came to a stop and all that remained was to hike back up.

"Ready to go again?" They grinned. It wasn't really a question.

But I didn't. I watched them sliding and screaming and hurtling down the cliff. I snapped picture after picture. And I was content.

Because sometimes, it's okay to leave the crazy to others.

PB&J Society Bonus Story!

Today’s the day, guys! *throws confetti*

The PB&J Society Bonus Story, “Annie’s Bet,” is now live on the PB&J Society page and free to download!

I’m so excited for you all to meet Annie and Jason!

Also, I bet you’ve been wondering what a PB&J Society is exactly. So while you’re checking out the story, you can read up on the PB&J Society Rules, which are also now posted and downloadable (in a super cute poster format!).

So go on! Go check them out!

And enjoy!

Great Middle Grade Books

One of my favorite parts of becoming an author has been learning about all the other great books that are coming out soon. And even better, I’ve gotten to read a lot of ARCs (Advance Reader Copies). My son has also been taking advantage of this, and he’s gotten to read a lot of them, too. I think I’m going to have him post some reviews in the near future.

But in the mean time, I wanted to share with you some of the amazing middle grade novels that have been and will be released this year.

 

Of these 19 books listed above, I have read 16 of them (including my own). You can check out my Goodreads reviews to see what I had to say. But honestly, I have been so impressed! Science Fiction. Fantasy. Mystery. Magical Realism. Historical. Contemporary. Books dealing with loss. Books dealing with change. Books dealing with mysteries. I found kids facing their fears and learning to find their voice.  I found kids trying new things and making hard choices. I could go on and on (for your sakes, I won’t).

There is truly a book for every reader on these posters above! And although we say that middle grade is for kids ages 8 – 12, I disagree. These books are for people of all ages. I have learned so much about myself and about the world around me as I’ve read these stories. They truly are for everyone. I hope you’ll look some of these up and share the ones you love.

So tell me . . . which ones are you most excited for? Or, if you are looking for a book on a certain topic or of a certain genre, please tell me, and I’ll make a recommendation. I just love, love, love hooking up books and readers!