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The Adventures of Tomato & Pea — Blog Tour Review and GIVEAWAY!

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It is so exciting when a writing colleague is published for the first time. It is even more exciting when that colleague is eleven years old! I first became aware of Erik, the Kid Who Reviews Books, when we both participated in Picture Book Ideas Month in 2011 (that link leads to a guest post Erik did for PiBoIdMo), then joined Julie Hedlund’s fledgling group 12×12 in January 2012. Eric was nine back then, blogging book reviews, and working on his writing even then. I interviewed Erik and his sister on my blog, and was impressed with the ways they each express their creativity. Now Erik is launching his first chapter book, The Adventures of Tomato and Pea, Book One: A Bad Idea, and I am delighted to be a part of the blog tour. I think it says a great deal about Erik that when he put out a call for people to participate in his blog tour, he got so many responses that the tour is stretched over two weeks, some days with more than one post! I’m also delighted to be able to give away one paperback copy of book one of The Adventures of Tomato and Pea to a lucky commenter. Anyone who comments on this post between now and noon eastern time on Thursday, September 19th, will be entered into a draw. I’ll announce the winner on Friday, September 20th. Now, on to my review!

And the winner of Raising Bookworms is…

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KIRSTEN LARSON is the winner of my August giveaway. One copy of Emma Walton Hamilton’s Raising Bookworms: Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment will be winging its way to Kirsten in the near future. Congratulations, Kirsten, and thanks to everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to comment.

W is for … Wand

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As In the Spotlight week continues, we turn our attention to the outward accoutrements of a Fairy Princess. (Fairy Princesses are very particular about their royal attire.) It is, of course, essential for a Fairy Princess to have a crown, wings and … a WAND! I have a Fairy Princess wand. So has Geraldine. It helps us remember to let our SPARKLE out. Mine was made by a talented woman in Minnesota, Patricia Jensen. You could have one of Patricia’s wands, too, since Patricia created the wand that I’m giving away as part of the Fairy Princess Grand Prize this week. I’m delighted to be interviewing Patricia on my blog today, so that you can get to know a bit about this very creative woman.

V is for … Very Fairy Princess: Spotlight Worthy!

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Yes, my Wednesday Worthy for In the Spotlight Week is none other than Geraldine, the Very Fairy Princess herself! (She assures me that fairy princesses are very comfortable in the spotlight.) Through the generosity of Emma Walton Hamilton and her co-author, as well as their publisher, Little, Brown & Co., Geraldine has graciously agreed to a brief interview. Thank you, all! (Thanks especially to Emma — you’re a gem who sparkles brightly every day!) If you missed my link to Emma’s excellent post about there being more to princesses than meets the eye, check it out — “Embracing My Inner Princess.” Also, take a look at the incredible list of real-life princesses and all the good they do in the world at The Very Fairy Princess website. But do come back here for the interview with Geraldine!

U is for … Underscore

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I don’t mean taking a ruler and drawing a line under your words to emphasize them. That’s a different sort of underscore altogether. The underscore I’m talking about is a film term — the music that runs through a movie, enhancing and emphasizing the action and emotions of the film. Sometimes, one is hardly aware of the underscore. Sometimes one is more aware than one should be, if the music is too loud, or does not suit the action. Scoring a film is not an easy thing to do. One of the most masterful examples of underscore in my experience is the score for the film Victor/Victoria (and indeed, Henry Mancini won an Oscar for this score). Listen to that music. I’m not talking about the songs sung by the performers, I’m talking about the underscore. One example — the “Cat and Mouse” music that so aptly reflects the action as King Marchand and his bodyguard sneak in to Toddy and Victoria’s hotel room, then try to make their way out again without being discovered. Watch the movie again. Listen to the underscore. You’ll hear what I mean. There are underscores in writing, too.

T is for … Tagline

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Taglines. You’ve all read them. They are those concise, highly memorable slogans used to promote a film. In a few words, the tagline encapsulates the key concept of the movie. Taglines are riveting. They stay with you. The best of them become part of society’s lexicon. To read some of the best movie taglines ever written, check out Filmsite’s listing of Great Film Taglines (but I’d appreciate it if you waited until you’ve read the rest of this post!) Taglines can be used to great effect by writers, as well.

Writer’s Resources Giveaway WINNERS!

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Thanks to the random number generator at random.org, it is easy to select a winner of a giveaway, and know that it is a totally fair and random selection. (Thank you random.org!) There were many entries for the writer’s resources giveaway — as always, I wish I had a book for each of you. However, there could only be two winners, and they are… (drum roll starts faintly, increases in volume, then dies away…) ~  ~  ~ The 2012 Guide to Literary Agents goes to ANGELA BROWN! Congratulations, Angela. Your book will be in the mail soon. The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters goes to DIANE TULLOCH! Congratulations, Diane. Your book will also be in the mail soon (it has a rather long voyage ahead of it, so it might take a while.) ~  ~  ~ And, just a heads-up for April. There is a giveaway planned for the end of April, of a brand-new, hot-off-the-press picture book (and another cool item to be disclosed the final week of April). Stay tuned!

Writer’s Resources — Wednesday Worthy and a GIVEAWAY!

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Yes, I think writer’s resources deserve a shout-out as Wednesday Worthies. It is invaluable to an aspiring/emerging writer to learn from those who have traveled the road before. I don’t like facing the wall when I work, so my desk faces out towards the room and I look directly at my bookcases when I look up from Mackie (Mackie is my Mac laptop and boon writing companion). The bookcase that is directly in my line of vision houses picture books on one shelf (along with a sign that says “This Space Reserved for Publications of Members of the Children’s Book Hub”), middle grade novels on the next shelf, and YA novels and writing resource books on the shelf below that. Just looking at them is inspiring. Opening them is even more so.

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