Mary Beth Kelsey is giving away her book!

Whoohoo! 

Guess who just blew into town?!?

and she’s here

to take care of a few things.

Billie Wisher’s daddy isn’t a no-good bank robber . . . is he?

Billie’s daddy is on the run. If the police catch him, it’s off to Pendleton Penitentiary for sure. And she just got him back, after he spent years away in California. She had big plans for the summer–plans that won’t be any fun without Daddy.

It must all be a mistake. Daddy didn’t mean to rob that bank. If Billie finds him before the cops do, she can help him put everything right. She has an idea where he might be holed up. But Mama keeps asking what she’s up to, and BIllie’s new stepfather, Daddy Joe, is always around, poking his nose in her business.

With her family at stake, Billie’s determined to track Daddy down at all costs–but will anything turn out the way she expects?

Here’s the box

with the author copies.

I’d love to give a couple of signed copies away!

It’s so simple!

1. Comment on this post and let me know you’re in.
2. To get your name in twice, paste the link to this livejournal, or copy this post into you blog.
3. Wait until September 6th, when DS will draw the winners.

Thanks for playing along!

I’m playing,

Today’s pair of time-sensitive links for writer:

From Fusenews: Rights, Radicals, and Rex, T. Nominations begin in September for the Thurber House writer-in-residence program. For more information, contact Patricia Shannon, Director of Children’s Programming, at pshannon [at] thurberhouse [dot] org.

Registration for Kindling Words East and West opens September 6, 2008. The East writers strand will feature Nancy Werlin. The West writers strand features Kathi Appelt.

I’ve been blog hopping, and these caught my eye:

• Harry Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping, Into the Future - A Fuse #8 Production - Blog on School Library Journal
• mediabistro.com: GalleyCat: Isobelle Jade, the self-published model scored a deal with HC UK, sends info about “how to pitch your book when you’re broke….”
• EA disses science fiction: Editorial Anonymous
• At Brooklyn Arden, Cheryl Klein lists her favorite books on writing (I own three of them).
• Two sites for folks who like books: childrensbookreviews wiki and
  Bookscreening - Book Trailers, which, strangely, lacks the book trailer that this blogger called funny, upbeat, and promises an excellent read.

Beware: Blatant Self-Promotion Ahead!

1. Julie Prince has posted an interview with me about Soul Enchilada at YA Books Central.
2. professornana has posted the first official review of Soul Enchilada. Excerpt: “Bug is no damsel in distress (and she would be the first to hit you upside the head for thinking that) but she cannot win without some assistance. Enter Pesto, not a swashbuckling Errol Flynn, but a thoughtful compatriot armed with some knowledge of the netherworld. El Paso and Hispanic culture meets West Texas hardscrabble landscape with more than a tad of humor. SOUL ENCHILADA is a tasty book.”
3. Publishers Weekly mentioned Bug Smoot in its Spring 2009 Sneak Previews
4. The novel is available for pre-order from independents such as Books Inc. and if you have to, Amazon.
5. I’m tired of talking about myself, so I’ll mention that this our last week with the boy before he goes off to college.  We’re planning to spend a few minutes together playing Rock Band (my birthday present from the family)  before he leaves, if he can manage to wake up before dinner time.

It’s August 1st, time to announce the winner of the Candy Heart ARC Contest. The winner will receive both a signed copy of the ARC of Soul Enchilada and a 1:18 scale model of a 1958 Cadillac Biarritz (it’s bigger than it looks in the pic).

In all there were 25 excellent entries. The Teen Judges Three had a difficult task choosing just one heart to receive the prizes. Past members of award committees would admire the very serious way they went about the task of vetting the choices and then going behind closed doors to come to consensus about one heart.

Here are their comments about the winning entry:
“Congrats! I think your candy heart is amusing and creative. It took awhile to decide on the winning candy heart though. I enjoyed many of them.”
–Judge D.

“Congratulations!!!!! I loved your candy heart. I thought it was clever and amusing. I really enjoyed reading all of them, even the ones that didn’t win. It took awhile of debating back and forth and rereading to decide on the winner.
–Judge C. #1

“Ohmigosh, I love your candy heart. It was very creative and hilarious. I cracked up the first time I read it. I debated another heart but yours caught my attention. We decided on the Best!!”
–Judge C. #2

The envelope please.
Riiip.

The winning heart is:

Submitted by

afraclose at http://afraclose.livejournal.com/76994.html

CONGRATULATIONS!!!