The Book Monster
I love getting cozy on the couch with my three kiddos, cracking open a book, and reading it with them. I especially enjoy this when the book is clever.
The other day, I read a very clever book with my kids. It made us all smile.
The Book Monster by Emily Waisanen isn’t just a cute kid’s book. She uses language beautifully; alliteration, rhythm, rich words (such as relish, morsel, flavorful). In my house, we love learning new words. Ms. Waisanen certainly gave us a few. She also discusses genre in a clever way. When discussing his favorite books on which to dine, the monster says, “Westerns really wet my whistle”. So fun!
My kids loved this book. I read it several times to them. I know that a book has hit the spot for them when they start quoting it as they play. This is one of those books.
Oh! And the illustrations (by John Konecny) are bright, fun, and compliment the story very well.
I sure do love a good book. And I know you do, too.
Emily Waisanen has offered to give away a book to one of you! Here’s what you do…
1. Comment on this blog. How about you tell us what your favorite children’s book is?
2. Go on over and “like” Emily’s author page on Facebook for an extra entry.
***
Emily Waisanen is a mother of two beautiful girls, Lucy and Hattie. She lives with her husband and family in Fond du Lac, WI where she is currently a stay-at-home mom.
“The Book Monster” is her first book and was inspired by her daughter Lucy who used to chew on her books as
a baby.
As a former middle school teacher, Emily knows the value andimportance of literacy at an early age. She hopes to write more books in the future and inspire others to achieve their writing dreams.
Feeling the Love
We’re just about a week away from Valentine’s Day. Yes, sir/ma’am. The conversation hearts are flying and cupid is getting his bow ready.
Love is in the air.
So is the flu bug. So, be sure that what you’re getting is love before you let it kiss you on the lips.
Ahem. I was saying. Love is in the air.
And I have been feeling the love. Seems like I wake up every single day to a new email or Facebook post giving me all kinds of encouragement about Paint Chips.
It’s very generous of you.
I’m feeling the love. Big time.
Can we spread a little more love? Let’s do it.
I have a one of a kind mug. Only one exists in all the world.
The Paint Chips mug.
The winner of this mug will receive a sampling of Fair Trade Coffee as well as some lovely Valentine’s Day candy and a handmade Valentine from yours truly. Don’t drink coffee? No problem. I can find some good tea or hot cocoa instead.
Here’s how you enter to win…
1. Comment on this post. Tell me what your favorite part of Valentine’s Day is. Hate Valentine’s Day? Tell me why!
2. Post a link to the Amazon or Barnes and Noble page where Paint Chips can be purchases. Post both? Get an extra entry. (click on the names to find the links). Extra entry for each place you post (Twitter, Facebook, etc). Just tag me in the post and let me know in the comments below that you shared!
3. Post the book trailer on Facebook or Pinterest. Have you seen the trailer? My movie making guys did an excellent job with it. Check it out.
I will draw a winner NEXT WEDNESDAY! So, that gives you plenty of time to post a whole lot!
Keep telling your friends about Paint Chips, pretty please. It means a whole lot to me!
Back To It
I spent a week on the flu. What a waste.
If you’ve had the flu this year, you know how really bad it is.
I’m still only going at about 75%.
But I am back to the writing. Back to my novel in progress. And with a new sense of urgency. I figured out what one of my characters really, really wants. And I need to get it to her.
Characters can be a little pushy sometimes.
So, I hope you’ll forgive me for the brief post today. But if I don’t get back to it, my character is going to get upset.
(I know, that makes me sound kind of crazy…but fiction writers are a little)
Snowed In and Medicine Head
I’m not going outside today. Well, except to get the mail. That is, if it looks like there are some fun envelopes in it (I peek out at the mailman when he makes his deliveries).
It just seems like too much effort to put on shoes and step in the foot deep snow. At least I think it’s a foot deep. I don’t know for sure. I’m not about to find the ruler.
I’m 50 minutes from another dose of daytime medicine that isn’t supposed to make me drowsy. But it does. It makes me downright weird. And, let me tell ya, if you have stock in cough drops, I am personally making you rich.
I’m sick and snowed in.
Since I’m not coherent enough to write anything smart/funny/profound, I won’t try. Instead, I’m going to share some links with you. A couple of fabulous friends had me on their blogs this week. Go on over and check them out!
Peter DeHaan interviewed me on his blog Tuesday. Click HERE to read that.
The Inkwell Inspirations featured me as a guest blogger yesterday. I wrote about anxiety. Check that out by clicking HERE.
And today, Dina Sleiman, my editor and friend, wrote about her experience working with me on “Paint Chips”. Check that out HERE.
Thanks for sticking with me, even in this medicine head fog. And, if you’re a blogger and would like to join my blog tour, let me know! I still have some open dates in February! I’d love to hang out with you on your blog!
Have a great weekend!
10 Great Books From My 34th Year
Congratulations to Shelana Ferris! She is the winner of Monday’s give-away!
My good friends, tomorrow is my birthday. Tomorrow I turn 35.
And I’m SOOOO okay with that. No. Really. I am.
Anyway, I read a whole bunch of books as a 34 year old. BUT, I wanted to share 10 with you. And tell you what was so great about them.
Cool?
And, at the end of the post, I’ll have a chance for you to win something kind of cool. But you’ve got to work for it…just a little. 🙂
Now, in no certain order, are 10 Great Books From My 34th Year…
~ Every Bush Is Burning by Brandon Clements. I reviewed this book a few months ago (read that review HERE). I appreciate that Brandon had a story to tell and did it, not listening to the demands of the “market”. Well worth the read.
~ Isn’t It Time For a Coffee Break by Amelia Rhodes. Amelia blended humor, personal stories, Scripture, and practical action steps to create this book about doing life together. Great to read with a book club, women’s small group, or Sunday School.
~ Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Either you love it, or you hate it. Nobody seems to be “middle of the road” on this novel. I loved it. Foer is a modern day literary giant.
~The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. I read this to my kids. It is fun, touching, full of meaning…so much more than what you might expect from a book written for kids. Beautiful, beautiful book. So much better than the movie. Read this. Now.
~ The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I know, so sue me. I liked this book. But not because it was popular or because Peeta is so much better in the book than the movie (although it’s true). This book is a mirror for us as a society. Yikes. Not looking so good…
~ Jesus For President by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. This book caused me to ponder my responsibility as a Christian who votes in USA elections. It was a good time to refocus my allegiances, and to consider if they are to God or country.
~ Until We All Come Home by Kim de Blecourt. Fast paced, well written, honest. Kim gave all the glory to God. All of it. I respect that a whole bunch. Read my review of this book HERE .
~ King Arthur’s Very Great Grandson by Kenneth Kraegel. This picture book is beautiful. The story is funny, touching, meaningful. Get thyself to Amazon and buy this book for your kids…and for yourself. It’s a great one.
~ Zora and Nicky by Claudia Mair Burney. Beautifully written, full of conflict, ending in redemption. Very glad to read this book. Very grateful for the author who put her heart into it. This is what Christian fiction can and should be.
~ Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by L.L. Samson. Fun book for middle grade. The narrator has a great, humorous voice. The action is exciting. The characters are believable. I look forward to reading the other books in the Enchanted Attic Series!
Now it’s your turn! Tell me a few books you’ve read recently. What made them great?
Comment on this blog for a chance to win a Paint Chips canvas tote bag!
Very Pinteresting!
Hey Howdy, Friends!
It’s Tuesday. Can you believe it? Make sure you get entered to win an attractive “Paint Chips” tote bag. Click HERE for your chance to win!
***
Yesterday, I read a GREAT article by literary agent Rachelle Gardner about how to help your favorite writers (ahem…or one you just really want to help out…like me, maybe). You can check out her blog post HERE.
One of her suggestions was to make fun “Pins” with quotes from the book to put on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Etc.
Well, I took her advice. As of right now, I only have a few to share (and they are on Pinterest…just in case you wanted to repin them). Here they are. You go on ahead and share them, pin them, whatever you’d like!
More to come later this week!
Have a lovely day!
WINNING! Big Give-Away Week!
Thursday is my birthday! Yippee! Hip Hip Hooray!
And the only thing I want for my birthday is for LOTS of people to have their hands on “Paint Chips” (or…well…their hands on their ereaders that are loaded with the novel…you know what I mean)!
Therefore, this week will be full of give-aways and chances to tell people about “Paint Chips”!
Okay. Here is the give-away for today (Monday, January 28, 2013);
A lovely “Paint Chips” canvas tote bag! This is a limited item (I only ordered a few of them). Great for a library book bag or a reusable grocery bag.
To win this bag, you just need to do the following things. Do one or all! But the more you do, the more entries you get into the drawing!
1. Comment on this post. How about we share a (clean) joke?
2. Post a link to your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linked In, Pinterest, yada yada page. You can share a link to this post, the book trailer, the Amazon sale page…or all of them. Just tag me in the post or leave a link to that post in your comment. I’ll include the links you can share at the end of this post.
3. “Like” my Facebook author page. Just click HERE. If you already “like” me, just let me know in the comments.
4. Purchase the book for your Kindle, Nook, iBooks, etc. Just let me know in the comments if you’ve bought it.
5. Mark “Paint Chips” as “to read” on Goodreads. If you already have, just let me know in the comments.
All right. Let’s get this Give-Away going! I’ll announce a winner on Wednesday!
Go! Go! Go!!!!
LINKS
Buy for Nook, iBooks, as a PDF
Thanks, everybody! It’s going to be the best birthday ever!
Reading From Paint Chips
First of all, Congratulations To Kelly Haven! You won the super awesome, amazing, fun prize pack from Amelia Rhodes!
Second, I want to try another new thing here at the old blog. I have had the privilege of sitting in on readings, hearing an author read his or her words. Well, since I can’t come and read to each of you individually (because I think I’d rather have coffee and chat if we were face to face), I thought I would record myself reading to share with you.
Forgive the video quality. And the angle of my face (I was reading off my computer).
And, if you like what you hear, I’d be honored if you would consider purchasing the Kindle version (sorry, still waiting on Barnes and Noble) or pre-ordering the paper trade book (out in April). Or, by all means, go ahead and order both. I’m not going to stop you.
The scene I’m reading today comes from Cora’s recollections of an event from her childhood.
Layers — How I’m Like Cora
In Paint Chips, Cora has a dream in which she covers herself, head to toe, with paint.
“Cans full of paint sat all around me. Different colors. Green. Orange. Blue. Yellow. They filled the living room of the mountain shack. I stuck my hands in the cans and covered my hair and face and body with layers of paint. The more I spread across myself, the less recognizable I became. A glob of ugly color, misshapen and stiff.”
(Paint Chips, 2013 WhiteFire Publishing)
Cora, throughout the book, deals with all the different layers she has used to cover over the difficult and painful events of her life. This woman has so many defenses, she no longer is able to feel.
You know, when I started writing this book, I marginalized Cora. Made her almost comical in her suffering. After writing the first draft, I realized that she needed more. She needed redemption. She needed healing.
Because, in a whole lot of ways…
I’m Cora.
And, I suspect, many other people are, too.
I’m like Cora in my anxious thoughts, my desire for perfection, fear that I allow to bundle up inside me. But most of all, I’m like Cora because I desire to cover over things. To hide them. To pretend that they aren’t real.
I’m also like Cora, because I had a moment of change.
Tell me about you. Do you identify from a character from a book? How? How might you be different from that character? I’d love to hear from you!
susiefinkbeiner.com 