Archive for August, 2010
August 31st, 2010
It’s GCC time! This week, I’m delighted to bring you the fabulous…
Kristina Springer
Welcome, Kristina!
The Girlfriend
Name:
Kristina Springer
Short Bio:
Kristina Springer is the author of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS and the forthcoming PUMPKIN PRINCESS (fall 2011). She has a Masters in Writing from DePaul University and she resides outside of Chicago with her husband and children. Visit her at www.KristinaSpringer.com.
Kristina loves to hear from readers, so please visit her at www.KristinaSpringer.com, on her blog (KristinaSpringer.blogspot.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KristinaSpringer) or on Twitter (@TinaSpringer).
The Book
My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours
August 31, 2010
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
**On shelves now**
Seventh grade was supposed to be fun, but Tori is having major drama with her BFF, Sienna. Sienna changed a lot over the summer—on the first day of school she’s tan, confident, and full of stories about her new dreamy boyfriend. Tori knows that she’s totally making this guy up. So Tori invents her own fake boyfriend, who is better than Sienna’s in every way. Things are going great—unless you count the whole lying-to-your-best-friend thing—until everyone insists Tori and Sienna bring their boyfriends to the back-to-school dance.
Up Close and Personal
1. PURSUING YOUR DREAMS: Everyone has the ability to be extraordinary, they just have to embrace what makes them unique and special and pursue their dreams with passion and confidence! Was being a published author a dream of yours? If so, how does it feel to have achieved your dream?
Yes! It didn’t become a dream for me until I was in my twenties but then I was determined and it feels amazing to be published.
2. CHANGING YOUR WORLD: Changing the world doesn’t have to mean finding a cure for cancer or creating lasting world peace (though it definitely can!). It just means finding a way that you can make the world a little better off for having lived here, whether it’s making a difference to one person or a million, to the earth, to animals… whatever is important to you. What is one way you would personally like to make the world a better place?
Make people laugh. 
3. GRATITUDE: Gratitude is a huge part of the You 2.0 life. Taking a moment to count our blessings is the best way to remember what’s truly important (especially when life is hectic and crazy!). What are you grateful for?
My family, my friends, reality tv (kidding), my health, and happiness!
Author Fun!
4. SECRET SQUEE MOMENT: What is the coolest thing that’s happened to you since becoming a published author?
Walking up to my booth at ALA and seeing a long line of people waiting to see me—it was pretty cool!
5. ALL-TIME MOST MEMORABLE BOOK: What book had the greatest impact on you growing up?
The Little House on the Prairie series.
6. THE REAL DEAL: If you could go back in time and give your teen/tween self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Hold tight, things seem intense and dramatic now but life post high school is a blast!
Thanks to Kristina for a fun interview. Be sure to pick up your copy of My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours today!
August 28th, 2010
What a great turnout we had for Skip a Starbucks Day to help the awesome C.J. Redwine finally bring her adopted daughter home! You helped raise more than $4,000 of the $8,000 they need to bring Johanna home from China.
As promised, I am giving away an extra special combo pack with a Cinderella Society mini glass slipper, a TCS glass slipper bookmark, and an ARC of the sequel to The Cinderella Society, CINDY ON A MISSION, when ARCs go out in early 2011.
And the winner of the extra special Cinderella Society combo pack is…
Valorie
(aka Truth Be Told blog)
Congratulations Valorie! Please contact me here with your mailing address by September 15, 2010 to receive your prize. Thanks to everyone for being your amazing, generous, awesome selves!
August 23rd, 2010
The chance to help someone so deserving AND be in the running to win cool stuff?
Life is good, I’m telling you.
The scoopage is this:
C.J. Redwine, my wonderful friend, agentmate and fellow Pixie Chick (our 2008 GH class), is a force of nature. She hosts a hysterical blog (I just blogged there with the famous Were-Llama), teaches writers how to write rockin’ queries and is a rockin’ writer in her own right. But that’s just C.J. in her professional life.
In her personal life, she and her wonderful husband (who is a super talented cupcake baker LIKE WHOA) have been trying to adopt an orphaned little girl from China for the last five years. With delay after delay, they are finally on the verge of bringing her home! But… with delays come expense hikes and new red tape and they now need an additional $8,000 to bring their daughter home at last. You can read about C.J.’s journey here. If this doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will.
So many of us want to help bring their family together! So C.J. created the fabulous idea of Skip a Starbucks Day – where instead of getting your usual Starbucks, you could donate that $5 to the wonderful adoption fund. But C.J. is all about paying it forward (even though adopting a child is the ULTIMATE paying it forward already!), so donors will also be in the running to win fabulous prizes too!
You could win an ARC of Rachel Hawkins’ DEMONGLASS…
You could win an ARC of Bree Despain’s THE LOST SAINT…
You could win the Grand Prize Made of Awesome…
Plus TONS (oodles and scads and loads) of other fabulous prizes. But wait, there’s more! You can even win COOL CINDY GEAR and an ARC from me!
For my contribution, I’ll be offering up:
A mini TCS glass slipper…
A cool glass slipper bookmark…
And (drum roll, please)… an ARC of the upcoming CINDY ON A MISSION (the sequel to THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY) when ARC’s go out in early 2011!
No cover available because it’s SO EARLY! And you could be one of the very first to hold one in your hands next year!
Here’s what you need to do to help make a difference for one very deserving family:
1) Go here and read the full story. Seriously, it is amazing.
2) Click on the Donate button in the upper right corner
3) Donate at least $5 (though you’re always welcome to donate more – I did!)
4) Come back here and comment below by Thursday, August 26th to let me know you donated and hope to win the extra special Cindy prize pack. (C.J. will double check my winner against her donation list, just so’s you knows.)
With your help, we can give a little girl a real home for the first time in her life. Now that’s making a difference.
(Disclaimer: This organized little to do list was stolen from Rachel Hawkins and tweaked for here because no one touches Sophie’s lip in CINDY ON A MISSION.)
August 13th, 2010
I’m counting down the days to my deadline for CINDY ON A MISSION, the sequel to THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY, and have some fun things planned for the web site to finish out the year! Here’s what’s in store in the months ahead…
It’s Big Blog World
Coming this fall, look for these fun features on the blog:
– A month-long Booklover Spotlight series on dozens of awesome YA book bloggers
– A month-long Author Cave series (See where the magic happens and get the inside scoop on what your favorite authors’ writing processes are like!)
– The return of the Bundle of Bookmarks giveaways!
Newsletter goodness
I’ll also (finally!) be launching my newsletter this fall with some long-awaited HUGE (and totally exclusive) giveaways just for newsletter subscribers.
Haven’t signed up yet? Just sign up in the left hand column of the home page. Easy peasy and your email address will never be shared – this is a no spam zone because SPAM ROTS.
Just For Writers
And coming in late 2010 and early 2011, a brand-new section of the site called FOR WRITERS. I’ll be including the Teen Author Challenge here for easier use and adding loads of articles about embracing your own writing process, boosting your productivity, having fun with effective marketing and social networking, keeping your sanity in the business, and much much more. I’ll also have some awesome words of wisdom from tons of your favorite authors to share!
But first, it’s back to work. Just wait until you see what the Wickeds manage to pull off in chapter one of CINDY ON A MISSION (coming Fall 2011). It shakes the Cindys to the core and threatens the Sisterhood in ways Jess and the Sisters never imagined.
