Holiday Shopping

 It's that time of year again. 

May I suggest the perfect holiday gift for all the kids on your list? 
A book signed by the author.






My very first signed book came from Frances Parkinson Keyes, given to me when my parents returned from a trip to New Orleans where she was signing Once On Esplanade.
(Whoa. Worth $75? I'd better dig that one off the bookshelf!)


Some clever writers even put a special note in their signatures.

I found a book by fellow Tampa Bay writer, Fred Koehler at Inkwood Books and he added a personal note. 

Authors love to sign at their book events. In fact, if you know where an author lives, give a nearby bookstore a call. They might just have them already signed, waiting for you.

Check this list from Square Books in Oxford. 
It could make a book collector out of you!


Since I LOVE Greg Neri's new Johnny Cash biography, I bought a couple. 
For gifts, of course.

These won't be going anywhere but my own bookshelves. But I'm sure that if you buy a book by either Caroline Starr Rose or Nancy Cavanaugh and email them via their contact info on their website that you'd like a bookmark signed or a bookplate, they'd be happy to send it.

I do it all the time for my own book! 
And I bet lots of other writers would love to make your gift very personal.

For holiday giving or if there's a new baby gift you need, my friend Aimee Reid has offered to send you a signed bookplate for her new picture book, Mama's Day With Little Gray. Check out the link to request a bookplate here:  http://www.aimeereidbooks.com/free-personalized-bookplates/

So make that gift special this year. There's still time if you hurry on over to the authors' websites, Facebook pages, etc.  Happy Shopping to All!


(A few words about autographed books in general can be found HERE.  Kind of reminds me of the 4th grade boy at a school I visited last year who told me all he wanted was my signature. Not his name. He planned to sell it on Ebay soon... Wonder how that worked out for him.)

HOOKED

"A story is movement from stability to instability to new stability." 
Les Edgerton, HOOKED.


 Did I mention "More to Come" from our fabulous Miami SCBWI event?

(While you're thinking about SCBWI, check out Fred Koehler's ILLUSTRATED wrap-up, HERE.)


One of my favorite, helpful, fabulous moments was the workshop with Sara Pennypacker. On her website, she lists her favorite writing books:



I happen to own one of the three she shared with us last Sunday in Miami: Scene & Structure, a Writer's Digest Book by Jack M. Bickham.

And my friend Teddie was willing to lend me another:  
HOOKED by Les Edgerton.

So guess what I did yesterday? 
Borrowed and reread that one.
 




A bit from an earlier post on that book:

1. An overview about opening scenes and what's important included this reminder-
"Take time to craft not only the first sentence, but the rest of the opening...For gosh sakes, don't pair adjectives in an attempt to make the description more powerful. The rule of thumb with adjectives is that with each additional one, the power is halved, not doubled..."

2.The chapter on characters suggests "beginning with an out-of-the-ordinary character... can instantly pique the reader's interest."
(My question- is this a good plan for kids' novels? Or should we soundly establish the point-of-view character first?)

3. "A great first line buys you a lot of points" with editors and agents.
But we all know that, don't we...

Enough reading about writing. Now, let's get to it!