on my desk monday

sketch for July's small graces.

and the winner is...

For those of you curious which author photo ended up being used (I couldn't choose, so I let the designer decide) it was:


She liked the flowers.

fortune cookie friday

"Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes."
-Chinese Proverb

blog tour!

My lovely publicist at L,B set up a blog tour for me and it starts TODAY. I guess that means Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is going to finally be out (please come to the online launch on July 1st)!

The first stop is at Little Willow and goes onto July 3rd:

Wednesday, June 24th: Bildungsroman
Thursday, June 25th: Shelf Elf
Friday, June 26th: Paper Tigers
Saturday, June 27th: MotherReader
Sunday, June 28th: Charlotte's Library
Monday, June 29th: Write for a Reader
Tuesday, June 30th: The Mommy Files (with a book giveaway!)
Wednesday, July 1st: Thrifty Minnesota Mama (with a book giveaway!)
Thursday, July 2nd: Creative Madness
Friday, July 3rd: Abby the Librarian


And as a bonus, I just saw (because I love her blog so) Jama Rattigan wrote a wonderful post about The Ugly Vegetables too!

goofy author indulgences

So, I have to admit I have begun to love doing author photos. I've discovered my inner Cindy Sherman;I'm enamored with the idea of transforming myself for that one photo and making the author photo as much a part of the art of the book as the illustrations are.

If you remember, I first started doing this with the author photo for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (which will launch on July 1st!) where a glamour studio in Taiwan took me from this:To this: which has ended up:
For some reason, that just made me feel quite jolly and I decided that from then on I was always going to try to have a themed author picture.

Now, my book coming coming out in Spring '10 is "Ling and Ting." It a fun, sweet and silly early reader (grades K-3) featuring Chinese-American Twins in polka-dot dresses and cupcake cameos.

So, my author photo shoot for it includes photos like this:

Which one do you think I should use?

on my desk monday

A cupcake cookie jar I got at a yard sale! Is it false advertising I keep cookies in there? Maybe I need to find a cupcake shaped cookie cutter.

fortune cookie friday

"Sincerity is the finest point of communication."
-Chinese Proverb

forgot to mention

My small graces painting is on auction NOW and ends on Friday!

URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220434979010

some cake

So last week, I did my last school visit of the year. It's been a very full school-visit year, double the amount I am used to doing. So it has been exhausting--fun--but exhausting, none the less.

Which is perhaps why the school I visit decided that I needed a special sugar rush.
And how special it was! A Kite Flying cake! Isn't it amazing? Let's look at that cake again, shall we?
The first grade and I had a little cake party on the lawn of the school, to the envy of the other grades. They even let me have the leftover cake to bring home (which we ate during the wee hours of preparation for my book launch! I was very grateful, we needed the sugar rush then too).

It was a very sweet way to end the school visit year!

the wheels never stop turning

Recently, I was so touched by the story of Bridget Zinn, a young author battling cancer that I felt I HAD to win something during a recent auction for her benefit. And I did! What did I win?

I won a consultation with author and virtual marketing wiz Mitali Perkins! Not only is she a superb writer, I am in awe of her ability to bend the internet to her promotional will. (Here is a little secret--I am only two steps above a luddite. I have mastered blogger and that is it. If it were not for my sister my web presence would be only this blog.) Mitali is the perfect person to help make my online book launch match my ambitions!

So, we met last week and I feel as if my head is still spinning! With her guidance, I now have:

-a facebook fan page: this will be one of the locations for the online book party as well as the best way for fans to get in touch with me (please join!)

-have an alternative location for my online booklaunch (for those who are not on facebook) at: www.wherethemountainmeetsthemoon.com

-a twitter account: Yes, I've signed up! I'm going to try tweeting for the summer and see if I like it. Please follow me!

on my desk monday

Notes for my online book launch after consult with online guru/author Mitali Perkins(more on that later). So much to do!!!

fortune cookie friday

"Don't be afraid of opposition; remember, a kite rises against the wind. "
-Chinese Proverb

good news

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a 2009 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner!

Also, I just found out that School and Library Journal have given the book a starred review as well. That's 3 starred reviews so far. Wow! Yippee!!!

launch

So the flowers were made, the bags were filled and the sugee cookies were plated.Now all I needed were people! Would it be a disastrous empty room filled with goody bags and echos?

At least I knew my blue rose girls would show. But would anyone else?

YES! Yippee, a full house!

Now, my little speech about some of the background of the book. Just hoping I am coherent:

Then, reading an excerpt (some kids read silently along, so cute!):
Followed by a mad dash for cupcakes to see who won the coins:

While I signed books:

The sugee cookies were eaten (though it took a little encouraging):

And even the paper flowers found new places to bloom:
A lovely, lovely launch.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon could not have had a warmer welcome. Thank you all SO much for coming!

getting ready to launch

Preparing for a book launch is no small task. At least not for me, because I admit sometimes I get a bit carried away with my party ambitions. Luckily, I have some amazing friends that are willing to help me with my grandiose schemes. My super-cool friends worked late, late into the night before my book launch just to make sure everything got done.

Ranida stamped bags:
Luke and Alvina made the boxes and prepped the goodies for the bags:
And Baby Maia did the heavy lifting:

All this while I frosted the cupcakes with the apropos Chinese characters:
See, I'm smiling because I realized that with all this help I'm actually going to get everything done!

Then, Maia chose which cupcakes would be the prize winning cupcakes, with special coins underneath them:



Which were mixed randomly with the others, boxed and bagged:
and finally ready to be picked for the next day:

on my desk monday

miscellany from the aftermath of my book launch (full report coming soon!).

on the way to the grocery store

A prophetic message? Let's hope so

fortune cookie friday

"With true friends . . . even water drunk together is sweet enough. "
-Chinese Proverb

party preparations

You know when a girl buys her baking cups in bulk that there is some serious cupcake baking in the works. And I mean serious! It's almost time for my book launch and these cupcakes are my most promising bait to lure you to come. Remember if you get the cupcake with the coin, you'll win your name or likeness in my upcoming book!

So, I have been prepping and prepping. The bookstore asked that I keep refreshments to a minimum and not messy (which is why the cupcakes will be boxed in the goodie bags), so it took me a while to figure out to have as small treats to modestly serve. I felt like I had to offer SOMETHING (do you think that is an Asian thing or just because I have the worst sweet tooth in the world?); so I got a recipe for Sugee cookies from one my favorite blogs (though I always feel like I've gained a pound every time I click on it). They seemed perfect: Asian-esque, small, unfrosted...but surprisingly tricky. This is what her cookies look like:

It took a couple of batches before mine looked like:

Not as pretty, but still pretty yummy! If you come this Sat. you can try them yourself!