Thankful Thursday - happy news stuff

1. Thanks to all of you FABULOUS people who bid on the ARC of Sprinkles and Secrets for the kidlit4Japan auction. My little book raised $50.00, which is awesome, and it's because of all of you who kept going back to bid. Wow. THANK YOU!! And thanks to Greg Fishbone who is doing SO much work keeping things on track and organized. If you haven't bid on something, there are still new things being posted everyday. Here is the link: http://kidlit4japan.wordpress.com/

2. I got good news on Monday - we were given a wonderful blurb for The Day Before by the incredibly talented Sarah Ockler, author of Fixing Delilah and Twenty Boy Summer. I am a huge fan of Twenty Boy Summer (and most likely Fixing Delilah, which I, sadly, have not had time to read it yet), so it really is an honor to have her say such lovely things about my book. Here is the blurb in its entirety, although it won't all appear on the book.

"The Day Before is lyrical, vivid, and poignant. Like hidden gems that sparkle in the sand, each verse tells its own story; a heartfelt reminder that life's treasures -- friendship, love, and compassion -- are often discovered when we least expect them."

3. I was mentioned in this fun article about a class who wrote letters to their favorite authors. I am mentioned alongside Judy Blume, which is like, whoa!! After reading it, I had two thoughts. First, I don't think my response back was as negative as he made it sound. I hope not anyway! And second, Oh no! I didn't send the girl who wrote to me a bookmark like Christopher Paolini did (I usually do but I had run out). So I found her letter and today I'm mailing the bookmarks to the entire class! I hope they'll be excited to get more mail.

4. On Sunday, in Rhode Island, there was an event going on called Cupcake Madness. One of the many challenges was to bake a cupcake flavor from It's Raining Cupcakes. The winner of the competition was Fatulli's Bakery, who baked strawberry lemonade cupcakes, inspired by my book. There's an article and news clip HERE - at the very end of the video the reporter mentions my book. So fun!! I wish I didn't live across the country, because I want to try those cupcakes!!! I know most people love chocolate, but I'm all about the fruity flavors.

5. Is this a little too much happy happy in one post? It might be, even for a Thankful Thursday post. Okay, here's something - I got Turbo Fire in the mail yesterday. Oh, you don't know what Turbo Fire is? Well, let me enlighten you. It is an intense cardio conditioning program with exercises that supposedly burn up to 9 times more fat than regular cardio does. Some claim they burn 1,000 calories with each workout. I am scared, but I'm going to star it today. I will be very thankful if it doesn't kill me.

Have a great day!