Marvelous Middle Grade Monday - New Lands and a Giveaway!

A couple months ago I posted about the first book in the Chronicles of Egg series - DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE.  Today's MMGM features the second book, NEW LANDS, which was released the beginning of May. Read to the end of the post for a giveaway of both books!

NEW LANDS
by: Geoff Rodkey
released May 2013

NEW LANDS picks up right where DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE left off.
From Goodreads:
After a narrow escape from Deadweather Island, Egg and his slightly deranged partner Guts head for the remote New Lands. They’re in search of the lost Okalu tribe, who hold the key to the mysterious treasure map that Egg can't decipher. But the ruthless Roger Pembroke is hard on Egg's trail, and the New Lands are full of new enemies — against which our heroes only weapons are their brains, their courage...and the two dozen swear words Guts just memorized in the local tongue. 

They're going to need help. But who can they trust? Is Kira, the beautiful and heavily armed Okalu refugee, their ally…or their enemy? Is Pembroke's daughter Millicent on Egg's side…or her father's? Why on earth is the notorious pirate Burn Healy being so nice to them? And the biggest question of all: what shocking secret is Egg about to discover in the shadow of an ancient Okalu temple?

I'm about halfway through the book and loving it. This second book features more mystery then the first (like what is Burn Healy really up to?), but still is filled with action and adventure. I can't wait to find out what Egg is going to discover.

G.P. Putnam's Sons has graciously offered a giveway of a paperback copy of DEADWEATHER AND SUNRISE and a hardcover copy of NEW LANDS. Please see the Rafflecopter form below to enter.  Just a reminder, in order for your comments below or other options to count in the giveaway, please use the Rafflecopter form to enter your email address. I will post the winner next Monday.

Have a great week and be sure to stop by the other MMGM features this week.  See my list to the right with my favorite sites.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A shout out to Midwest Illustrators

Since there was so much to share last week about the Wild, Wild, Midwest SCBWI Conference, I thought I would wait until this week to share one more great part of the weekend. Yes, many of the attendees are writers, but very talented illustrators also attend. Saturday night was a juried art show and I enjoyed seeing the work of so many talented artists. Today I thought I would share a few of my favorites. Click on their names to see some of their work.

Sheralyn Barnes

Mike DeSantis

Angie Kidd

Janet McDonnell

Sharon Vargo

I hope you all have a great week!

SCBWI Wild, Wild, Midwest Conference Recap

This past weekend was amazing! I can't believe how much I learned and how many cool authors, illustrators, agents and editors I met. Being with such a wonderful group just reinforces why I'm writing for children, and the support from everyone is so crucial in my writing journey. Rather than make this an incredibly long post, I'm just going to bullet point the highlights of what I learned.

• "In writing, nothing is wasted but the paper." - Lin Oliver via Sid Fleischman
• "Don't force the funny." - Chris Rylander
• The key to Voice - maintaining the interior logic of your story. - Brett Duquette
• Picture book writers - be sure to have little description or action in your words.  Leave that to the illustrator. - Peter Brown
• When writing middle grade, be sure that your main character's thoughts match his spoken vocabulary. - Linda Pratt
• When writing dialogue, write the way people talk. - Lin Oliver
• You must know the primary role your character is playing for your story.  Once you figure that out, what is his/her controlling belief? - Kathi Appelt
• Jill Corcoran is an amazing query letter teacher!
• I also learned that it is smart to know your competition and how your book is different, manuscripts are pulled from the slush pile AND published, some editors don't read query letters, and award winning authors/illustrators can get nervous too.

Needless to say, my brain is full right now! I also wanted to give a shout out to Summer the owner of Summer's Stories, a bookstore in Kendallville, Indiana. She is the nicest person and a true book lover. I would definitely encourage you to check the bookstore out if you live in the Fort Wayne area.

Now I'm off to write and revise!  Have a great week!

Thanks, Chris Rylander!

Oh, one last thing - Just wanted to share the books I was able to get signed.

Thanks, Peter Brown!

Thanks, Kathy Appelt!

A Monday Post

It is probably obvious to those who follow my blog regularly that it is a work in progress. The break I've taken for the past few weeks has let me reevaluate and make a few changes. I've realized how much time can get eaten away by social media, and I've taken steps to make sure I don't overdue it with other blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  I don't want to be so busy that I miss moments like these tiny spring flowers poking through the ground.

That being said I'm going to start posting only on Mondays. Some weeks will be a Marvelous Middle Grade Monday post or a post on another book, some may be an update on writing, some may just be a quote. This means that I won't be participating in Perfect Picture Book Friday anymore. I've come to the point in my writing that my main focus has become middle grade fiction and picture books are moving to the back burner.  I'm excited for the change and hope you will all stick with me!

Progress continues on my middle grade novel. I'm nearing the end of my major revision to change it from third person to first person. I'm excited for this story and hope to get it completed soon. With baseball season underway for my family, writing time can be hard to come by, but I've set some goals for myself which I hope to complete.  I don't know about you, but I've come to an age where if I don't set goals and keep to-do lists, I don't get things done.  

I'm also excited about a writing conference I'm attending this weekend - the Wild, Wild, Midwest SCBWI Multi-State Conference in Fort Wayne. Some of the speakers include Kathi Appelt, Peter Brown, Jill Corcoran, Matt Faulkner, Kendra Levin, Lin Oliver, Linda Pratt, Chris Rylander and Jane Yolen to name a few. I will definitely share my experience next Monday!


Another exciting thing for me is I'm now the co-coordinator for SCBWI-MI's SE-Mitten Meet Up.  My friend, Patti, and I will be hosting monthly get-togethers for SCBWI members in the Metro Detroit area starting in June. We are excited to support our Michigan chapter in this way.

Have a great week!

A Winner and a Link

I'm happy to announce the winner of The Passionate Mom by Susan Merrill.  Congratulations to 

Molly E Hulse!!!

I will be sending you an email shortly for your address.

I would also like to share a link to a great blog post by fellow SCBWI - MI member Vicky Lorencen. Her post this past Monday really encouraged me in my writing journey, and I set a new goal for myself for this week that I hope will stick for even longer.  The thoughts could be applied to many other aspects of life too. It's a short and sweet post with a punch. Check it out!  http://vickylorencen.com/2013/04/15/ready-to-get-steamy/

Have a great rest of the week and for those who didn't win a copy of The Passionate Mom, stop by Susan's blog this week for excerpts and giveaways!