Calling all Goddess Girls! Enter to win an autographed Goddess Girls: Aphrodite the Beauty by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams (Aladdin, 2010)…
plus an Aphrodite the Beauty swag bag, featuring:
–24-color eyeshadow from Claire’s;
–seven lip glosses with faux rhinestones;
–multicolor bracelet;
–Goddess Girls bookmark.
From the promotional copy:
Aphrodite delights in helping mortals in love, but she’s pretty annoyed at the constant attention she gets from the godboys at Mount Olympus Academy.
When she decides to give Athena a makeover, she’s a bit unprepared for the result. She didn’t count on all the interest Athena’s new look would get. And she certainly never thought she’d find herself jealous of one of her best friends!
But when the hottest godboys at school start ignoring Aphrodite, she learns that some boys are nicer and more sensitive than others–including a mortal youth who has requested her help in winning the heart of a young maiden.
Can she put her jealousy behind her and help him find true love?
Other books in the series include Athena the Brain (April 2010)(excerpt) and Persephone the Phony (April 2010). See also a Cynsations guest post by authors Joan and Suzanne.
“The authors intertwine an enchanting mythological world with middle-school woes compounded by life as a deity or blessed mortal. The books should be popular with fans of girly, light fantasy.” — School Library Journal
To enter, just email me (scroll and click envelope) with your name and snail/street mail address and type “Aphrodite” in the subject line. Facebook, JacketFlap, MySpace, and Twitter readers are welcome to just privately message me with the title in the header or comment on this round-up; I’ll write you for contact information, if you win. Deadline: midnight CST, Sept. 9. One winner will be randomly chosen and announced here on September 10th. U.S. entries only.
The winner of a signed copy of Busing Brewster by Richard Michelson, illustrated by R.G. Roth (Knopf, 2010) was Katie in New York, and the winner of Vampire High: Sophomore Year by Douglas Reese (Delacorte, 2010)(author interview) was Jason in Ohio. Both winners have been notified, and their books are on the way. Note: I’ll announce a new YA book giveaway soon!
More News
Funny Books Featuring Multicultural Protagonists by Mitali Perkins from Mitali’s Fire Escape. Peek: “Feel free to add more suggestions of funny books in the comments, and I’ll update the list.”
My Word Playground: The Reading and Writing Blog of Children’s Author Lynne Marie. Lynne writes picture books and magazine articles. Her debut picture book is Hedgehog Goes to Kindergarten (Scholastic, 2011).
2010 Call for Judges from The Cybils: Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards. Sign-up deadline: Sept. 15. Source: Finding Wonderland.
Montana Author Launches Publishing House by Claire Kirch from Publishers Weekly. Peek: “After his latest book, The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, was turned down by 15 publishers, Sneed Collard III, the author of 50 books for children, who received the Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award in 2006…has formed his own publishing company, Bucking Horse Books, and is publishing the 64-page picture book himself this fall.” Source: Alice Pope’s SCBWI Children’s Marketing Blog.
Learning from the Masters by Carolyn Kaufman from QueryTracker.net. Peek: “Every time you read a line that brings you to a breathless halt, fold the page down (or up, if you’re near the bottom of the page) to the line where the passage begins.”
Kid-Friendly Books About the Writing Process: compiled by Donna Bowman Bratton from Simply Donna. Peek: “There are wonderful books aimed at inspiring children to write and read.”
Sob Inducers by Alvina Ling from Blue Rose Girls. Peek: “As I always tell agents and announce at writer’s conferences, I’m a sucker for books that make me cry.”
Publish Your Children’s, Tween, or Teen Fiction in Today’s Market: How to hook an agent with your ‘Once upon a time…’ and make your own fairy tale: a webinar at 1 p.m. EST Sept. 23, taught by literary agent Mary Kole of Andrea Brown Literary Agency from Writer’s Digest. Duration: 90 minutes.
Peggy Clement is the debut author of Queen of the Castle, a children’s chapter book, published by Oak Tara Publishers. She is a reading teacher of over 30 years and lives in Lumberton, Texas.
Thoughts on the Fifth Anniversary of My First Book Contract by Sara Zarr. Peek: “Terrain I wanted to explore has been explored. Now the globe is spinning beneath my fingers; it’s up to me to apply pressure where I want to stop. It’s not up to me how it all might turn out.”
What High Concept Means by Nathan Bransford – Literary Agent. Peek: “…[a] novel/movie/TV show’s plot can be described very succinctly in an appealing fashion.”
What Kind of Career Do You Want? by Mandy Hubbard. Peek: “The truth is, though, there are many kinds of careers. Do you want to be the Meg Cabot/James Patterson type, with a new book out every time I visit the store? Or do you prefer to be the John Green, with a book every 18 months or so? If you had to choose between Literary Acclaim and Bestseller status, which one would you choose?” Note: John, for example, has acclaim and is a best-seller, so ideally, you can pick both (to the extent such things can be controlled).
Six Months On: Emma Dryden talks about drydenbks and the state of the publishing industry: an interview from Lia Keyes. Peek: “I’d hope authors will want to learn as much as they can comfortably tolerate about digital publishing—at the very least, what the various digital options are, what their rights are when it comes to royalties and rights, and the general lingo used when maneuvering the digital landscape so they will stay apprised of what’s going on in their business…”
Daniel Powers on Picture Books: Part 1, the Physicality of the Picture Book from Uma Krishnaswami at Writing with a Broken Tusk. Peek: “We perceive the world around us based on the earth’s horizon, and everything we see and interact with has a physical relationship to this line, making the landscape format perfect for illustrations packed with detailed settings.”
Inside the Writer’s Studio with Janet S. Fox by Bethany Hegedus from Writer Friendly; Bookshelf Approved. Peek: “Initially I try to find my beginning, middle and ending scenes. Then I work on a template that includes the overall story structure and arc, the rising/falling action, scene and sequel.”
Interview with Amber Vilate – author, editor and publisher of Young Adult Literature Review by Melissa Buron from Book Addict. Peek: “It started out as just a small podcast where we reviewed books. The podcast has since grown to incorporate audio fiction as well as author interviews. I added a review blog last year to support the podcast. The magazine was introduced as a further extension of the podcast.” Learn more about Young Adult Literature Review.
Oregon Reader’s Choice Award: a new award from Oregon’s youth librarians and reading teachers. The junior division is fourth to sixth grade. The intermediate division is seventh to ninth grade. The senior division is tenth to twelfth grade. Note: Oregon students in grades four to 12 may vote.
Secrets to Author Promotion by Carolyn Kaufman from Query Tracker. Note: especially recommended to introverts and the self-conscious.
Congratulations to Paul Fleischman, winner of the Pen Center USA 2010 Literary Award in the Children’s-YA division for The Dunderheads, illustrated by David Roberts (Candlewick) and to finalists Kate DiCamillo for The Magician’s Elephant (Candlewick); Benjamin Alire Saenz for Last Night I Sang to the Monster (Cinco Puntos); and Liz Garton Scanlon for All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane).
Making a Picture Book Dummy by Don Tate from Devas T. Rants and Raves. Don offers photos and insights into the creation of images for Duke by Anna Celenza (Charlesbridge, forthcoming).
Cynsational Screening Room
Check out the trailer for The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O’Connor (FSG, 2010), and read a recommendation of the book by Greg Leitich Smith from GregLSBlog.
More Personally
Ask Winston: Mitali Perkins and Cynthia Leitich Smith on Time Management from Kirby Larson at Kirby’s Lane. Peek: “…take responsibility for your success, protect your writing time, and remember that you’re only human. Change things up, when you need to! “
Regarding Jingle Dancer, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu (Morrow/HarperCollins, 2000), The Reading Teacher cheers in its September issue: “The illustrations gracefully complement Smith’’s heartening portrait of a harmonious meshing of old and new.”
Thank you to Carmen Oliver for featuring my book trailer for Holler Loudly (Dutton, 2010)! And thank you to Cynthia Lord for mentioning Holler Loudly among her friends’ upcoming fall books! Most appreciated.
Giveaway Reminder
Surf over to Mundie Moms to read the latest interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, and enter to win bookplate-signed copies of Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007, 2008) and Eternal (Candlewick, 2009, 2010)!
With Blessed (Candlewick, 2011) coming soon; now is a great time to get caught up on the series, if you haven’t already. Or enter to win a book to give to your local high school or public library.
All you have to do is fill out a short form. Deadline: Sept. 15; U.S. entries only.
Cynsational Events
The launch party for Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?! by K.A. Holt, illustrated by Gahan Wilson (Roaring Brook, 2010) will be at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at BookPeople in Austin. Read a Cynsations interview with K.A.