Another SMUDGE'S MARK Book Giveaway!

See, I told you I'd be posting another giveaway. So here it is:

For a chance to win a copy of SMUDGE'S MARK and other great book-related goodies,

Leave a comment telling me how you (or someone you know) are making your mark in your school, community, city, country or world. What are you doing to make a difference? How are you helping the world become a better place?

The winning comment will be chosen on March 1, 2010 by 12 midnight EST.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you're making your MARK!

(P.S. Yes, an identical contest is being held over at the SMUDGE'S MARK Facebook page. So, FYI one winner will be chosen from each contest)

A big surprise for Smudge's Mark

Wow... how surprised was I to find that Smudge's Mark has been recommended by the Association of Canadian Publishers as one of "the best new Canadian children's and young adult titles published this spring"? Pretty darn surprised, I'll tell you! Especially since it hasn't even been released yet! Wow. Actually, from Simply Read Books (my publisher) Smudge's Mark and two board books by Paola Opal made the list for their respective categories.

Check out the Canadian Books for Canadian Kids website. You'll find Smudge's Mark listed under the "Books for Young Adults" section. Click on the cover to read a blurb. (BTW - you'll notice that's not the final cover design)

What a great way to end the month! :)

Do I See Light?

Well, well, well. I'm told they're hoping to start printing Smudge's Mark next month. How that translates into a release date, I have no idea. But at least they're hoping to start printing...

Wish I could tell you more. But, hey. That's the best news I've heard in a long time.

Maybe there really is light at the end of the tunnel...

At least it isn't raining

It's cold, I'm sick, and it's been snowing. I guess I shouldn't complain. At least it isn't raining like it was a few days ago...

I must say I'm glad to have found Sally Gardner on blogspot. She's one of my new favorite authors and she's just polishing her latest manuscript: The Silver Blade. As it is with authors who are in the middle of editing a novel, she hasn't had the time to update her blog in quite some time. I'm looking forward to when she has a moment to jot down a few notes.

As for me, I've got a bit of time since I'm not in the middle of editing a novel and I'm having a hard time focusing on the sequel to Smudge's Mark. So, I think I'll go catch up with Fat Charlie before I have to go to work. To my other job. The one that pays.

'Longsuffering'? That's about right...

This is the rough image for the cover of Smudge's Mark. Of course the final image will have my name and the book's title on it. It'll be interesting to see how much it will have changed before the book is actually released.

It's weird to think that I'm blogging and website-ing long before you even know that Smudge, Tessa, and Gil exist. I wish I could introduce them to the world - - yesterday!

Waiting is so hard... I'm not well-known for my patience level - or 'longsuffering' as some would call it. Actually, that sounds about right to me; longsuffering.

Well, okay. Long, yeah. Definitely. Suffering, not so much.

Well, maybe a little.

During the last few years, my emotions and perseverance have been tested like they've never been tested before. Oh, it's a good testing, (by that I mean that I'm glad I'm getting published - I know there are lots of people out there who'd give their eye teeth to be in my position) but that doesn't necessarily make it easier. Becoming a published author is altogether a thrilling, exhausting, exciting, nerve-wracking, overwhelming, nail-biting, frustrating, life-changing experience.

It's amazing anyone comes out of this process normal.

Let the fun begin...

And so it begins...

Being a somewhat private person, I never thought I'd ever post my life in the public eye. But, here I am, blogging away. Heck, everyone's doing it! Why not?

Life is never boring, is it? Unless of course you're my 12-year-old daughter. Her facebook status always boldly declares her boredom with life. But, considering the drama she spews on a regular basis, I have a feeling "I'm soooooooooo bored" is just something to say when you've got nothing better.

Anyway, I can truthfully say I've never posted "I'm bored" on my FB page. No way! Not with everything that's been going on these last few years, namely the publication of my first children's fantasy novel, Smudge's Mark. Editing the manuscript could have been my full-time job, if I didn't already have a (paying) job. Getting paid to do full-time work is always a good thing, but not always a guaranteed thing, as anyone who's ever labored over editing a book knows! Well, all that work is finally going to pay off really soon. Smudge's Mark is being published by Simply Read Books and will hopefully be released this spring, 2009. I've even gone ahead and started up a website: http://www.smudgesmark.com/ Check it out sometime. (Are my friends sick of hearing that yet? Ask them.)

I've also become a member of http://www.jacketflap.com/ children's book networking web space. Yikes! Networking! Is this idea that I'm an author really becoming real? "Networking" sounds so official.

Anyway, here I sit listening to Viva La Vida on my iPod, (I'm thinking I really like the idea of a Strawberry Swing) contemplating the concept of "networking", and still wondering why the heck a private person like me is blogging.

Maybe I'll find out one day...