It's almost here! Tomorrow is the day!!

I can hardly believe it!

Tomorrow the book will be officially out in the world! I hope if you read it, you enjoy getting to know Rae.

A blog tour for Falling For You starts tomorrow, so I'll share details about that very soon.

For now, wishing you all a new year filled with wonder, joy, kindness, good health, friendship, and love!

2 more days!

Rae's favorite band!!

3 more days!

Book trailer for Falling For You!!!

I'm so excited to share this with you!

   

And here's another countdown photo, taken in a flower shop, like the one Rae works at:

Just five more days!

6 more days

A 6 word teaser from the book:

7 more days

The countdown begins!

Each day for the next 8 days I'll be posting a picture, counting down to the release of FALLING FOR YOU. If you happen to see it in a bookstore before January 1st, please snap a picture and send it to me! I'd love to see it out in the wild - you can e-mail it to lisaschroederbooks(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks!

Most of the pictures give clues about things in the book. Except for today's. Today's is just because I didn't have anything for 8 days, and there were all these cute little gifts under the tree, and so...

26 random acts of kindness

It is spreading like wild fire.

Kindness.

Something we all need after the sadness and loss we've all felt.

People have been inspired to do 26 acts of kindness to honor and remember the 26 lives taken from Sandy Hook Elementary School.

I found out about it Friday night, and went to bed thinking about what I wanted to do. I've seen all kinds of great ideas: restaurant gift cards, flowers, 26 dimes with some candy in a baggy, dollar bills, buying cups of hot cocoa for children or cups of coffee for adults.

I saw this picture a week ago, and it inspired my idea. Here is a picture of the principal, Ms. Hochsprung, dressed as the book fairy, spreading the love of books with her students. It brought me to tears when I saw it.

This afternoon, my family will go and buy 26 gift cards from Powell's Books and put them in envelopes with the note below, and put them on windshields at a nearby grocery store, where many low-income families shop.

I post about it here ONLY because I think some of my fellow authors and maybe some readers might like to join me and be anonymous book fairies in their town. And it is helpful, when you're strapped for time as most of us are this time of year, to have a template to make it easier. Of course you can change the name of the bookstore and personalize it anyway you want to. You also don't have to write in the names, that's just something I want to do.

***

In honor of the lives of the 26 children and adults that were tragically taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, I offer you this random act of kindness in hopes of bringing a smile to your face this holiday season. Earlier this year, the principal, Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung, wore a white gown and a gold crown to school one day and called herself the book fairy, hoping to spread the love of reading to her students. She is the inspiration behind this Powell’s gift card, a gift for you that you may use for yourself or perhaps a special child in your life. 

Read. Imagine. Explore.

You are number ___ in honor of ________________________________

Wishing you joy, love and peace this holiday season. Please keep the kindness going!

#26acts #26actsofkindness www.facebook.com/26acts

***

If money is tight, I've heard of some people handing out candy canes or a simple card with a kind sentiment. I even read about someone passing out compliments to people on the street.

Certainly, it is good to practice random acts of kindness all year long, but I love the idea of being part of a kindness movement right now, when it is desperately needed, I think.

So, go forth - spread kindness!!

My Christmas stocking

What will Santa bring me this year?

I love this review from VOYA

VOYA is "Voice of Youth Advocates" and is the leading library journal dedicated to the needs of young adult librarians.

This review of FALLING FOR YOU is in the December issue of VOYA:

"Rae lives life around the edges; avoiding the spotlight, hiding the extents of her financial situation and family drama from her friends and teachers. She dreams, though--dreams of being able to move out, of being happy, of being loved unconditionally. When a new guy, Nathan, arrives at school and notices RAe, some of those dreams seem to be within reach, but elation quickly turns to fear as Rae realizes that Nathan has a dark side. Tragedy lands Rae in the ICU floating between life and death, and in that place, she must find the courage to fight for the life she deserves.
     Obsession, neglect, abuse, friendship and love abound in Schroeder's new novel. Each chapter starts with a poem from Rae's poetry journal and the structure of the book leads readers through six months leading up to the hospital. The poetry aspect of this novel gives readers a chance to peek into the depths of Rae's soul and adds dimension to her character. Schroeder has done a wonderful job creating teenage characters from a variety of backgrounds and using those backstories to influence their actions. This novel is ripe for use in a classroom or book club; discussion points include: healthy relationships, poetry as expression, relationship boundaries, and more. Readers looking for a realistic teen read saturated in emotion with love Falling For You." ~ Rebecca Denham

A simple reminder

I became familiar with Sara Teasdale's work when I was writing Falling For You, and I am now a big fan of hers.

I love this poem. I post it today as a reminder that life isn't always ugly and sad, though right now, it may feel that way. And our children, "with faces looking up," need us right now. They need us to be there for them, to love them, to play with them -- to be a light in a dark time. Let us show them the loveliness.

Barter
by Sara Teasdale

“Life has loveliness to sell,

All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children's faces looking up
Holding wonder in a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit’s still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstacy
Give all you have been, or could be.”

Happy National Cupcake Day!

Do you know that December 15th is a very special day? Why yes, it is!

It's National Cupcake Day!!!

photo credit: cakemommy

I'm going to be busy tomorrow shopping and baking and wrapping and all of those fun holiday things, so I thought I would put up a post today, a day early, to say:

HAPPY CUPCAKE DAY - GO FORTH AND EAT CUPCAKES!

and maybe give the gift of a cupcake

book this holiday season...

Look what Santa sent me a little early...

It smells really good!

I love the excerpt my editor picked out for the back:

Only a few more weeks until you can own your very own copy.

An official countdown with all kinds of fun begins on December 22nd, 

10 days before the official release!

YAY - a new book, a new book, a new book!!

A note about Advanced Review Copies

Some reviewers have early copies (called Advanced Review Copies or ARCs) of FALLING FOR YOU (releasing 1/1/13) which is very exciting! A big thank you to those who read it with the intent of talking about it in the coming days or weeks.

If you'd like to try and win a copy, my publisher is giving away five of these early copies over on goodreads. You only have until December 10th to enter, so hurry!

I know, like every book, some will love this one, some will like this one, and some may not like it so much. And that's okay - whatever you end up thinking of the book, please know I'm thankful you took the time to read it.

I do want to mention one thing though. An ARC is NOT the final book. And it's not just typos that are an issue in ARCs, it's actual changes to the story. I made some content changes during the first and second-pass pages and those changes are NOT in the ARC.

If something didn't sit right with you, or you wanted more of an explanation about something, or... whatever, keep in mind you *might* get that in the final book.

Just something I wanted to mention, and something for reviewers to remember about ARCs. In order to get them out early enough for the professional reviewers, it's just not possible to get all changes in before they're printed up. It's not ideal, but it would be much worse, I think, to not have any early copies at all.

In the coming days, I have lots of fun things to share! In a couple of weeks, I have a fun countdown planned counting down the days for the release of FALLING FOR YOU. I have the book trailer I will share with you sometime in the next month. And there is a HUGE blog tour happening in January, that Gabrielle over at Mod Podge Bookshelf has coordinated for me.

It's going to be an exciting month!!

Thanks and Happy December! ho ho ho

November in Review

My friend, Jen, does a blog post at the beginning of every month talking about things that happened the previous month, and I LOVE them. I have decided to copy her and do them too. I'm not sure if her categories change every month, but mine may, we'll see. Also, I think she adds to it throughout the month, as things happen, and that is definitely what I'm going to do from now on, since this hurts my brain trying to remember everything!

So, here is my review of November, 2012.

Special days I celebrated this month and how:

• My mom and step-dad came down over the Veteran's Day weekend, so we had brunch at our house with my sister-in-law and niece. My brother was sick, so he didn't come, and we missed him. It was sort of an early Thanksgiving celebration, but not on Thanksgiving and there wasn't any turkey.

• For the real Thanksgiving holiday, we went to my brother-in-law's house and had dinner with him and my husband's parents. It was a nice, relaxing day and this time we DID have turkey. And pie. Oreo and pumpkin, if you're curious. I made the Oreo pie and it was a big hit!

Gifts I gave and received this month:

• I put five copies of Sprinkles and Secrets, signed, along with a box of Legos under the giving tree at church. Tomorrow my youngest son and I will be volunteering to wrap gifts for kids in the area who might not otherwise have a very good Christmas if it weren't for the generosity of the Christmas basket program at our church.

• I sent out a whole bunch of goodie bags to members of my street team for helping to spread the word about FALLING FOR YOU (coming January 1).

• I got an Advanced Review Copy of Linda Urban's next book, THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING, that I'm really excited to read. 

Movies and TV shows worth mentioning:

• My husband dragged me along with him to see Lincoln. It had a slow start, so I took a little nap. After that, I enjoyed it, though I do see its faults. I'm pretty easy to please, however.

• The four of us saw Wreck-It Ralph and we all loved it. A really fun movie.

• I rented a really fun, quirky movie that I highly recommend, if you like romantic comedies. It's called Take Me Home.

• Movies out now I want to see: Life of Pi, Argo, Anna Karenino and Silver Lining Playlist. Most likely will not see them in the theater, so will have to wait for the DVD. Movies coming in December I want to see: The Hobbit and Les Miserables. 

• I am still enjoying Nashville immensely. As someone on twitter said so well, I'm pretty sure my love of the show comes down to 50% Connie Britton and 50% cute boys in plaid shirts who sing.

• Let the countdown to the third season of Downton Abbey begin, please!! It returns January 6, so that is only 37 days from today! 

New recipes or restaurants we tried:

• I made this parmesan chicken, and we all enjoyed it.

• My oldest son finally tried the chicken pot pie that I make and LOVE, and he said, "It's not bad."

• I think I'm going to attempt something different and special for gifts this year. I'll let you know how it goes next month! Wish me luck!!

Special or unusual purchases I made:

• The floor in my office is covered with Christmas gifts, and I'm not going to tell you any of them. 

• I bought four new pillows at the Black Friday sale at Fred Meyer because they were 50% off. No one likes them because they are way too puffy and need to be broken in. The only thing I can think of doing is to rotate them and sit on them while I'm watching TV.

• I bought two pairs of shoes from shoes.com that I'm waiting for, and I fully intend to return one of them, because I couldn't decide and finally just ordered both. I've never done that before - ordered two with the intention of returning one. Clearly I am getting more comfortable with the ways of on-line shopping. Lord help me.

• I pre-ordered Lifehouse's album, releasing December 11th, titled Almeria. I am so excited for this, I cannot even tell you.

My accomplishments:

• Finished a middle-grade manuscript and sent it on its way. Go, little book, go!!

• Wrote 20,000 words on a new YA novel.

• Revised about 1/3 of a contracted MG book. This is one of the hardest, if not THE hardest, revisions I've ever done. I hope the book is better for it!

• Personally, the only thing I can think of is that I lost five pounds. And I'm sure I'll gain it all back  in December. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Anything else noteworthy:

• One of my son's best friends spent most of November in the hospital. We've been so worried about him. He's truly one of the nicest kids I've ever known. He is back home now and we are hoping he continues to improve.

• My husband's uncle passed away November 8th. He was 76 and lived a good life. We couldn't make it to Arkansas for the service, but my mother-in-law said the church was packed, many of them people he had helped throughout the years through A.A. 

• My mother-in-law turned 75 on November 29th. Yay!!!!

Happy December to you - may it be merry and bright!