Just so you know I haven't been slacking...

Look! Look! Matching I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY t-shirts! (left to right: me and Cassandra of Misadventures of a Teenage Writer)

You might remember last summer I met this really talented, brilliant, lively going-into-7th-grader-girl named Cassandra when I was at the Encinitas Library for an author panel. Since then, Cassandra has started a blog and a teen writing club that meets regularly at the library. I know, she's quite amazing. Oh yeah, and she contributes to our Book Review Club.

Anyway...she invited me to be a guest at the teen writing club! So, I climbed into my car and headed north up the highway. It was so much fun! I got to hang out with more creative and talented teen girls. The group (in alpha order) is: Analisa, Carina, Cassandra (Fearless Leader), Katie, Laura, and Lilly. Remember these names! You'll be looking for them in the bookstore one of these days.

What a blast! These interesting and articulate girls range from 4th through 7th grade. They don't all attend the same school, but responded to Cassandra's library flyer about starting a teen writing group. They are chockful of creative ideas and chattiness and support for each other's writing. Incredible! Fingers crossed they invite me back.

AND...If you have even the slightest interest in writing a series, click over to the Through the Tollbooth blog where the wonderful Stephanie Greene has a week's worth of posts on the subject. Here's a link to my guest post.

AND...I guestblogged over at Teen Reads about questions I get asked at school visits. Thank you so much for having me! BTW, this is a different post about school visits than the one I wrote for The Divining Wand where I notice Larramie is offering a FREE copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP until Wednesday, May 26 to a commenter.

I should be back to regular My Town Monday posts next week when we'll be changing things up a bit! In the meantime, check out what these My Town Mondayers have to say.

School Visits, MAKEUP reviews and a Contest!!

Today, I'm guest posting over at The Divining Wand about weird and wonderful questions I've been asked at school visits!

Thank you to the following blogs for lovely reviews of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP: Carrie's YA Book Shelf, Library Lounge Lizard and YA Book Central!

There's a discussion on the hardback vs the paperback covers of I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES over at Pop Culture Junkie

And there's a contest!!
There will be FOUR winners.

One Grand Prize winner will receive autographed copies of the three books in the series, I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP, I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY, and I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES, plus a tote bag and t-shirt! Three lucky runners up will win an autographed copy of I SO DON'T DO MAKEUP and a t-shirt!

To enter, send an email to ISoDontDoMakeup@gmail.com
(note: no apostrophe!) with the subject line "Pick Me!" In the body of the email, include your name and email address (if you're under 13, submit a parent's name and email address). One entry per person and prizes will only be shipped to US or Canadian addresses. Entries must be received by midnight (PDT) on June 30. Winners will be selected in a random drawing on July 1 and notified via email. Check back here after July 6 for the list of winners!

Please feel free to repost the contest details hither and yon! ;)

My Town Monday: San Diego Gingerbread Houses

Sunday morning, I ate breakfast next to this gingerbread house. Mr. Summy and I were at the swanky San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina for Mr. Summy's office holiday party. Remember how I did not want to go? Well, I ended up having a really good time. We even won $150 in Target (my home away from home!) gift cards!!! Then we stayed over. Hence, the breakfast next to the gingerbread house.



In the lobby, there's a display of three gingerbread houses. If you look closely, you will see it's based on the story of the three little pigs! Adorable and creative. I love the angel pasta used to represent straw.

Each year, around the end of November to the beginning of the December, a hotel in our fine city hosts the San Diego Gingerbread City Contest for the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County. (That's quite a mouthful! But a good cause, nonetheless.)

In interesting trivia...
-National Gingerbread Day is actually in June.
-The gingerbread man first showed up in the court of Elizabeth I of England when she had gingerbread men baked in the likeness of some of her guests.
-The Crusaders introduced gingerbread to Europe.
-Ginger has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years, especially as a digestive aid.
-In medieval times, gingerbread was more of a candy.

Totally changing tacks....



i so don't do spooky will be in bookstores TOMORROW!!! As in Tuesday, December 8!!! I am very excited. And a little nervous. It's a bit like leaving your child at school on the first day. Good luck, Sherry! I will be thinking of you. Choose your friends carefully. Be yourself. Have fun.

Please visit The Divining Wand where Larramie has gone to a lot of trouble to write a review/introduction to i so don't do spooky. You'll enjoy it.

And, of course, you'll want to visit our My Town Monday blog to see what the rest of the gang is up to!


sources:
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/beach/gingerbread-contest-sandiego.html
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/california/gingerbread-house-contests-california.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingerbread_man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingerbread
http://www.godecookery.com/ginger/ginger.htm

FIFTY-ONE eggs + links!

a clump of eggs (one of many clumps!)

FIFTY-ONE EGGS!!

Holy Fertile Myrtle Reptile!!

It's late. After 1:30 a.m. and Child #2 are headed to bed. He dug up all those eggs. What a trooper!

And totally changing gears:

A shout-out to Larramie of the Divining Wand who posted an interview with moi.

Another shout-out to Bookworm Readers who posted a review of i so don't do spooky and rated it an overall A!

Thank you, blogettes!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL WHO ARE CELEBRATING!