Give the gift of IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES

Yesterday, I was looking at the weather report, as we had plans to go to a tulip farm with my in-laws for Mother's day.

80% chance of rain, chance of thunderstorms and the possibility of hail in some areas. Awesome, I thought. Just SO awesome. Well, we went anyway. It was the last day it'd be open to the public, and I desperately needed a good dose of spring in my life, even if it came with some rainy spring weather that I'm so very sick of at this point.

Last spring was a horrible, soggy mess. This spring, it's even worse, and I'm pretty sure I didn't think that was possible.

If only it were raining cupcakes instead! So, I'm going to make it do that, in my own special way. Because, whenever I start going "Woe is me" it's time to do something for other people.

I have ten *signed* copies of IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES I want to give away. YA author Matthew Quick did this last week with his fabulous teen novel, SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR (which I loved and HIGHLY recommend), so yeah, I'm pretty much copying him. But I checked with him, and just as I thought, he's the kind of person who doesn't mind if I borrow his great idea. Because really, can there ever be too much giving in the world? I think not.

Send me an e-mail at lisaschroederbooks (at) gmail.com and tell me the name of a friend or family member or perhaps a teacher, librarian, or student - anyone who you think might like this book, along with a sentence of two as to why you are nominating this person to get a signed and personalized copy. Please send a mailing address along for the person as well. I promise all mailing addresses will be deleted as soon as the mailing is complete. If you are unsure about giving out someone's address, please do check with them first. The last thing I want to do is make someone angry!!

From those e-mails, I'll choose ten people and send them each a book.

You have until Friday, May 13th to send me your nomination.

And let me take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who have purchased this book, or read it and recommended it to other people. I *really* appreciate it!! Remember it is available in paperback now, so if you haven't had a chance to read it and you've wanted to, you can visit your local bookstore and pick up a copy. The new paperback edition has a sneak peek of the companion novel, SPRINKLES AND SECRETS, at the very back of the book.

OH, and if you shop at Barnes and Noble this week (through May 14th), make sure to use code bookfair #1048605 (on-line or in the store) because 10% of sales using this code will go to the United Way's West Alabama chapter to help tornado relief efforts.

In other news, look what I baked this weekend! Do you know what these are? I'm not going to tell you quite yet, but I'll give you a hint. I get asked for this recipe more than any other one from all of the cupcakes mentioned in IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES. And in the next couple of months, I'm going to tell you all about this recipe and how you can get yourself your very own copy! (They are really good. Even my son, who wasn't sure if he'd like them, said so!)