Less than two months and a nice Kirkus review

It is almost August. Why does summer have to fly by so fast? Do you know what comes after August? Yes, that's right - September. Silly question, I know. But this year, September is an exciting month. Do you know why?

Because THIS happens in September:

I've updated the "Books for Kids" page to include a short summary. If you want to make sure and get it the first week it's out, here are the places you can pre-order. Just click on the link and it'll take you to the book's page. Pre-orders are a very good thing for an author, just FYI.

Powell's Bookstore

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Your favorite independent bookstore

And, a bit of good news: I just received the first review, from Kirkus, and it's a good one. It'll be available on-line two weeks before the publication date, but I'll share this line I especially like: "Ultimately, Lily's choice to celebrate her unique abilities and interests affirms readers' rights to do the same."

I can't wait for my cupcake loving readers to discover this story! A big, huge thank you to all of you who have been so supportive of this series that I've had so much fun writing!!

Friday Five

I haven't done a Friday Five in a long time! Aren't you excited? I know I am! Here we go...

1) Stormy's eye is FINALLY all better. Thanks for all the good thoughts! It was a long two months with appointment after appointment and procedure after procedure, trying to get that corneal ulcer to heal. What finally did the trick was putting a contact lens in her eye. The vet explained to me how it works, but I don't remember and it's not really important that I understand how it works, I'm just thankful it did! Here she is in all her cuteness, free of the cone of the shame, finally!

2) Yesterday I had to take my son downtown for a mid-term, since he's taking a class at PSU this summer. Traffic was horrendous all the way in and I seriously thought he was going to be very, very late. One lane was moving faster than the others, so I got into that lane and then switched back later, which I know annoys people, but I had to do it, right? Once we got into town, traffic was really backed up and I finally told my son to jump out and run. So he did. He literally ran down the sidewalk, passing all the stopped cars. He said he walked into the room at 5:31 (only a minute late). WHEW. After that, I went shopping to try and get my blood pressure back down to an acceptable level. I can't stop thinking about a dress at Banana Republic that I really, really loved. As a person who stays at home 90% of the time, I need another dress like I need another pretty pair of heels. Still, I can't stop thinking about it. I may go back and get it. We'll see.

3) The UPS man just dropped off a package. Yay, more work for me! Not really that excited, to be honest, but I'll take it because it needs to be done and it means one more book that is that much closer to being on the shelves. This has been the busiest year of my life as a writer. If I think about it too much, it kind of freaks me out, so I just try to take it one day at a time and do what needs to be done that day. And, you know, write a blog post when more work comes my way. Obviously.

4) I have a new favorite artist, and yes, there may be a reason why. *whistles nonchantly* What do you think? Check out Nicoletta Ceccoli's work. Lovely and magical and a little bit eerie.

5) Tomorrow I'm participating in the Relay for Life. I know we get asked often to donate to causes, but if you haven't yet donated this year to help the American Cancer Society fight cancer, I'd love it if you'd make a donation to my team: Click HERE to find the donation page.

Happy weekend! Make it a good one!!

Thanks to my awesome readers, I can draw a cupcake!

One of the things I love about writing for younger readers is that they often send me something they've drawn when they write me letters. As you can imagine, I get many wonderful cupcakes. Let me show you just a few of them.

by Chloe:

by Maddie:

by Aisling:

by Natasha:

When I was 8 or 9 years old, I used to love drawing flowers. I'd draw flower after flower after flower. Recently, I've wished that I had practiced drawing cupcakes, because I've never been happy with the way I draw a cupcake. But, thanks to my readers, I've been following their patterns a little bit and practicing. And guess what!? I'm not ashamed anymore of my cupcake! 

by me:

Thanks readers - you've turned me into a cupcake artist, and I *love* you for it!