From HarperCollins Children’s Books:

Please stop by and see us at booth #112 at this year’s NCTE Convention in San Antonio, Texas, and check out the newest books from HarperCollins. We’ll have lots of free galleys of upcoming titles, including those pictured at the right, so don’t miss out! Also collect other great giveaways, including an exclusive Teacher’s Edition of Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, which has a teaching guide for both Love That Dog and the newly released sequel Hate That Cat. (All free promotional materials have limited quantities.)
And don’t miss our star-studded lineup of authors, who will be signing their new books (plus other favorites!):
Sharon Creech
ALAN Breakfast Speaker – Sat. Nov 22, 8:00–9:15 AM
Booth #112 Signing: Hate That Cat (sequel to Love That Dog) – Sat. Nov 22, 9:30–10:30 AM
Sid Fleischman
Author Strand: The Realities of Biography – Sun. Nov 23, 8:30–9:45 AM
Booth #112 Signing: The Trouble Begins at 8 – Sun. Nov 23, 10:00–11:00 AM
Melissa Marr
ALAN Workshop – Mon. Nov 24, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: Ink Exchange (companion to Wicked Lovely) – Sun. Nov 23, 9:00–10:00 AM
Virginia Euwer Wolff
ALAN Workshop – Mon. Nov 24, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: This Full House ARCs (final novel in the Make Lemonade Trilogy) – Sun. Nov 23, 9:00–10:00 AM
Naomi Shihab Nye
Conference on English Education Luncheon – Fri. Nov 21, 12:30–2:15 PM
AAL Roundtable Session Keynote Speaker – Sat. Nov 22, 5:45–7:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: Honeybee – Fri. Nov 21, 2:30–3:30 PM
Ralph Fletcher
Children’s Poetry Notables Conversation – Fri. Nov 21, 9:30–10:45 AM
Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Conversation – Sun. Nov 23, 1:00–3:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: How to Write Your Life Story – Sun. Nov 23, 10:00–11:00 AM
Pat Mora
Featured Session: Our Community: Creative, Connected, Committed – Fri. Nov 21, 9:30–10:45 AM
Booth #112 Signing: Here, Kitty, Kitty!/¡Ven, Gatita, Ven! – Fri. Nov 21, 1:00–2:00 PM
Rita Williams-Garcia
Author Strand: The Realities of Culture – Sat. Nov 22, 8:00–9:15 AM
ALAN Workshop – Tues. Nov 25, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: Jumped galleys – Sat. Nov 22, 11:00 AM– 12:00 PM
Jane Yolen
Author Strand: The Realities of Poetry: Shifting Forms, Formats, Content – Sat. Nov 22, 9:30–10:45 AM
Booth #112 Signing: Johnny Appleseed – Sat. Nov 22, 1:00–1:30 PM
Terry Trueman
The Right to Write: Authors on Writing Outside Their Culture Panel – Sat. Nov 22, 8:00–9:15 AM
Booth #112 Signing: Hurricane – Sat. Nov 22, 2:00–2:30 PM
E. Lockhart, Sarah Mlynowski, and Lauren Myracle
ALAN Workshop – Mon. Nov 24, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM
Booth #112 Signing: How to Be Bad – Sat. Nov 22, 3:00–4:00 PM
David Macinnis Gill, ALAN President
Booth #112 Signing: Soul Enchilada ARCs – Sat. Nov 22, 2:00– 2:30 PM
Jody Feldman
New Voices for a New Generation Panel – Fri. Nov 21, 11:00 AM –12:15 PM
Booth #112 Signing: The Gollywhopper Games – Fri. Nov 21, 4:00–4:30 PM
Chris Riddell
Engaging the Disengaged: Taking the “Boring” Out of Books for Boys Panel – Fri. Nov 21, 11:00 AM–12:15 PM
Booth #112 Signing: Ottoline and the Yellow Cat – Fri. Nov 21, 4:00–4:30 PM
Laura Ruby
ALAN Workshop – Mon. Nov 24, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM
Beth Kephart
ALAN Workshop – Mon. Nov 24, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM
Allan Stratton
ALAN Workshop – Tues. Nov 25, 8:00 AM–4:00 PM

Because you can belong to enough social networks (is that really true?), I’ve created a Ning network for Soul Enchilada called “Soul Enchilada Supremes.” The content will be pretty the same as my Facebook, MySpace, and official website, but hey, how can I turn down free web space?

Want to join? Go here.

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.

To celebrate the release of Advance Reading Copies of Soul Enchilada, I’m holding contests to give away ARCs. The Candy Heart Contest is the first of three.

I got the idea for the first contest from something one of the characters in Soul Enchilada (SoulEnchilada.com) reads off of a warped fortune cookie: “If you love something, set it free before you have to pay child support.”

Here’s the candy heart I created with the phrase:

Now, let’s see what you can create!

To enter:

1. Create your own candy heart at http://www.cryptogram.com/hearts/ . Your heart can say anything you’d like. You are not limited to phrases from the ARC (since you haven’t read it).

2. Copy and paste this entire post–as well as the image of your candy heart–on your blog, Facebook, MySpace, website, etc.

3. Once you’ve completed #3, email me at davidmacinnisgill AT gmail.com with the link to your post. Voila! You’re entered in the giveaway.

4. The contest will be judged by three teen readers based on the criteria of originality, design, and message. The contest closes July 31st.

5. The prize is a personalized, signed ARC and a special gift, TDB by the judges. The winner will be contacted via email. Her/his name and winning entry candy heart will be posted on my lj blog, as well as my home site DavidMacinnisGill.com.

Good Luck!