It’s a gloomy, gray day in Pennsylvania — the perfect weather for the launch of Eleanor, Alice, and the Roosevelt Ghosts!
Buried family secrets. Vengeful ghosts. Two very different cousins.
Last week, I revealed the cover for Eleanor, Alice, & the Roosevelt Ghosts. This week I have a sales announcement to share!
Jadie in Five Dimensions is a mind-twisty, space-bendy adventure into geometry and physics. Inspired by Edwin A. Abbott’s Flatland, which fascinated me in middle school, and with homage to the great science fiction writer William Sleator (especially The Boy Who Reversed Himself), this story has undergone many revisions over the span of 5 years before transforming into a version worthy of publication. I have changed point of view and verb tense, rearranged events, refined the science and math elements, and dropped the number of POV characters from 6 to 3. (6 POVs? What was I thinking?) I can’t wait to work with my fabulous editor and the staff at Holiday House as Jadie’s story bounds into the finishing laps of its journey toward bookhood. (more…)
I am very excited to finally share the gorgeous, wrap-around cover commissioned by Holiday House for my upcoming new release, ELEANOR, ALICE, & THE ROOSEVELT GHOSTS (9/1/20). I’ve been blessed with some beautiful covers in the past, but this one might just be my favorite!
But first, a summary …
It’s 1898 in New York City and ghosts exist among humans.
When an unusual spirit takes up residence at their aunt’s house, thirteen-year-old Eleanor Roosevelt and her cousin Alice are suspicious. The girls don’t get along, but they know something is not right. This ghost is more than a pesky nuisance. The authorities claim he’s safe to be around, even as his mischievous behavior grows stranger and more menacing. Could their aunt and her unborn child be in danger? (more…)
A little over ten years ago, MG/PB author Nancy Viau and a friend were discussing book signings and the awkwardness of sitting at a table alone while shoppers dash by, avoiding eye contact at all costs. They wished there was a way for authors to combine signing events so that no one would have to sit alone. Nancy conceived of a way to do just that, and the KidLit Author Club was born on January 1, 2010. KAC is made up of authors from NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE, and VA who banded together to promote, market, sign, and sell their books at bookstores, schools, libraries, conferences, and festivals.
I wasn’t part of the club back then but joined in 2013, shortly after the release of my second book, The Caged Graves. By then, the KidLit Author Club not only organized multi-author signing events, but they had started attending conferences, making presentations as a team, and basically providing a support network for fellow members. They spread the word about new opportunities, recommended other authors for events they were unable to attend themselves, and generally provided advice on how to promote books without going crazy. (more…)
Since the death of my dog Sorcia in January, I’ve been volunteering at CompAnimals, a no-kill, all-volunteer pet rescue shelter in Landenberg, PA. Although they take in all animals in need, they specialize in hard-to-place cases — animals missing fur, missing limbs or eyes, needing surgery, etc.
Take SAM, for instance. Picked up by animal control on the streets of Baltimore, Sam was discovered to have multiple broken ribs and vertebrae in various stages of healing, indicating long-term abuse. My family temporarily fostered Sam, giving him some much needed pampering before CompAnimals sponsored his FHO surgery to remove the crumbling ball of his hip joint which was causing him pain with every movement.
