Monkey Madness Monday: Springing ahead

I HATE daylight savings time. That extra hour of sleep in the morning is precious to me (I know it's a facade, it's not really an extra hour, but that early in the morning it feels like it). To take that away from me, well, it's just cruel. I'm not a springer, I don't spring to anywhere, especially not to an hour less of sleep.

I used to be an early riser. I thrived on it, getting up before the sun, drinking my coffee, catching up on my news, Facebook, and Twitter. But now I stay up late working or whatever, and I sleep like crap, so I value every single second of sleep I get.

Can we petition the powers that be to keep our hours as are and not spring ahead? I mean, it's not like it's unheard of. Arizona does it!! (Yes, I realize Arizona has one season, but still, come on! Who's with me?!?)

Would that mess up the whole space/time continuum and cause the earth to implode on itself?

F³A: Blatant Self Promotion

Well, ya know, have to do it sometimes. So I'm announcing some events I'm involved in next week with some other YA writers. We call ourselves, New Kids on the YA Block.

Schedule:

March 14, Third Place Books 7 P.M.
17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA

March 15, Olympia Timberland Library 7 p.m.
313 8th Ave. SE, Olympia, WA

March 16, Garfield Books, 7 p.m.
208 Garfield St., Suite 101, Tacoma, WA


Here is who will be there and a short description of their novels:

ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, by Kendare Blake:
Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation. He kills the dead. When a job takes him to a new town after a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, he expects an easy kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, who has killed everyone who has dared step into her deserted Victorian house.
Kendare appreciates Greek mythology, rare red meat and veganism. Visit her at www.kendareblake.com

DON’T EXPECT MAGIC, BY Kathy McCullough
After her mom dies, Delaney Collins moves in with her estranged father and discovers that he’s a fairy godmother—or rather, a fairy godfather—and that she’s inherited the skill as well. Although she doesn’t believe in happily ever afters, Delaney is forced to help Flynn, a boy at her new school, win the girl of his dreams. But as she gets closer to making Flynn’s dream come true, Delaney finds herself with a wish of her own…
Kathy lives in Los Angeles, where she writes books and screenplays. Find out more about her at www.kathymcculloughbooks.com.

THE FAERIE RING, by Kiki Hamilton
The year is 1871, and Tiki has been making a home for herself and her family of orphans in a deserted hideaway adjoining Charing Cross Station in central London. Their only means of survival is by picking pockets. One December night, Tiki steals a ring and sets off a chain of events that could lead to all-out war with the Fey. For the ring belongs to Queen Victoria, and is a reservoir which holds a truce binding the rulers of England and the realm of Faerie to peace. With the ring missing, a rebel group of faeries hopes to break the treaty with dark magic.
Kiki believes in faeries, and magic. You can visit her website at www.kikihamilton.com.

FLYAWAY, by Helen Landalf
Flyaway, a contemporary realistic novel set in Seattle, centers on 15-year-old Stevie’s struggle to come to terms with her mom’s addiction to meth. While her mom is in rehab, Stevie stays with her annoyingly perfect Aunt Mindy, who gives her a taste of a more normal teen life, forcing Stevie to choose between loyalty to her mom and the chance to move forward into a more positive future.
Helen Landalf is author of two pictures books and five books for teachers. When she’s not writing, she works as a Pilates instructor and teaches dance to preschoolers. Visit her website at www.helenlandalf.com.

NEVER EIGHTEEN, by Megan Bostic:
Seventeen-year-old Austin Parker’s dying wish is to help his loved ones understand that life is short, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Plagued by addiction, abuse, conflict and loss, they’ve given up. He’s desperate to help them live—even though he never will. It’s probably hopeless, but he has to try.
Megan Bostic loves sock monkeys, the color black, and her crazy beautiful daughters. Find out more at www.meganbosticbooks.com.

THE YEAR WE WERE FAMOUS, by Carole Estby Dagg
In 1896, a Clara Estby and her suffragist mother walked from Washington State to New York City in a race against the calendar to win money to save the farm and prove women could do it. The book is based on newspaper articles which described their real-life 4,000-mile trek and their narrow escapes from flash flood, days lost in the Snake River Lava Fields, shooting a bandit, camping with Indians and a meeting President-elect McKinley.
Carole writes in Everett and a converted woodshed on San Juan Island under the supervision of a bossy cat. Visit her at www.CaroleEstbyDagg@yahoo.com.

Hope you can make it to one of the events!

Non Sequitur: Today is national crabmeat day. Enjoy your crabs!! er...

Friday Scribbles:

Random Pandora Song of the Week: Vcr by The XX (I'm listening to the Gotya station)

Book of the Week: Velveteen by Danny Marks. It's not out yet, but I have the ARC. Excited!!!

Movie of the Week: Weird Science. I watched it with my kids the other night. I forgot how funny it is!!

Quote of the Week: "Two-thirds of promotion is motion." ~ have no idea who said this, but I like it.

Have a great weekend!

Girls Write Now Day

Yep, today is Girls Write Now Day. I bet you didn't know that, did you? The Girls Write Now mission is to provide guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk girls from New York City's public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career, and life choices.

The Girls Write Now mission is to provide guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk and underserved girls from New York City’s public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career and life choices.

They are a community of women writers—educators, editors, poets, novelists, playwrights they’ve provided guidance, support, and opportunities for New York City's high school girls to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy choices in school, career, and life.

They offer:

One-to-one mentoring relationships that blossom during the academic year through:

• weekly pair meetings
• intensive, genre-based monthly workshops and craft talks
• our Girls College Bound college-prep series
• the popular CHAPTERS reading series, which culminates in the publication of our anthology

How awesome is that? Doing school visits in my own area, I've seen students with the desire to become writers, but they maybe don't have the guidance or support they need to really get started.

I'm considering starting my own group in my neck of the woods.

I've realized that people want stuff. From me. They want my book. They want my swag. They want an interview. They want a guest post. They want it for free.

Is it okay to say no? Sure.

But I don't. Ever.

Do I get burned out? Yes.

So why don't I say no you ask? The answer is twofold.

I donate for giveaways because I want my book to reach the ends of the universe. I want it to find its way to every continent, every country, every library, every school. I want it to be read and loved and shared. This is how it works, especially with a book like mine.

I also donate because I like to give back. I donate the book to auctions to help raise money for countries that have been impacted by earthquakes, cities whose schools have been destroyed by by tornadoes, and families that have been overloaded with debt because of medical expenses.

So while it's okay to say no and many times I want to say no, I don't. What about you? Is it worth the stress, the time, the money to give of yourself not only to help yourself, but to help others?

Or am I just insane.

Read Across America Day

So, March 2nd, Dr. Suess' birthday, was Read Across America Day. I totally missed it. Probably because I was working, cleaning, writing, and going to two soccer games.

Anyway, coincidentally, I found myself and my children not reading. I was reading sporadically here and there, helping a friend with her manuscript. I don't remember the last time I saw my kids with a book in their hand. Social media seems to be the new "book". Reading texts, Facebook posts, and Tweets have taken the place of literature. And in my opinion, this is making us dumber by the day.

Last week I went to my bookshelf which is stuffed with awesome books: YA, classics mysteries, horror, etc, etc. I grabbed a book for each of my children, Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach for Thing One, Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris for Thing Two. It just so happens that I have to read two books for an intensive session on voice for the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators Western Washington conference next month. So, I picked up my book, Gary Schmidt's Okay for Now, which so far is amazing.

I think the reason I thought about this was because of my visit to Tacoma Community College, in which I talked to an English 85 class about the importance of reading.

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go." ~ Dr. Suess

The above quote is basically what I talked about. How reading makes you smarter, more knowledgeable and expands your vocabulary, among other things.

So, in this day and age of social media and technology, don't forget to pick up a book every so often, even if it's on your e-reader. Let's not become a nation of idiots.