Young Authors' Faire Flier

If you would like a printable flier for the YAF 2014 this Saturday, here you go! :-)

Local Author Day 2014 - Fullerton Public Library

Local Authors Day THIS SUNDAY 1-5 PM

Join us for Local Author Day on May 4th! Meet new and favorite local authors of books on a variety of topics, including both fiction and non-fiction. The authors will discuss getting published, writing tips, and thoughts on the writing lifestyle.

Authors: Melissa Buell, Adam R. Collings, Jeanette Gardner,Judy B. Kancigor, Mike Oates, Victoria Patterson, Dick Quis,Zoot Velasco, and Don Westernhaver.

Books will also be available for purchase and signing at the event. We hope to see you there!

Fullerton Public Library

Young Authors' Faire Schedule

Young Authors’ Faire 2014

Saturday, May 10

La Habra Library

Schedule of events/authors

Children’s authors: 

E.J. Altbacker (Author of “Sharkwars” series) and Gladys Barbieri (Author of “Rubber Shoes”)

11 am - 1 pm: E. J. and Gladys at the authors' signing tables

            11:30 - 12 pm : E. J.'s stage time

            12:30 - 1 pm: Gladys's stage time

Young Adult authors: 

Marlene Perez (author of the “Dead Is…” series) and Melissa Buell (author of “The Tales of Gymandrol” series)

1 pm - 3 pm: Marlene and Melissa at the authors' signing tables

           1:30 - 2 pm: Marlene's stage time

           2:30 - 3 pm: Melissa's stage time

*Barnes and Noble will be there selling books and the authors will be signing them!* 

There will also be a PBS Mobile Lab, Dream Shapers, Lakeshore - Bookmark Activity, ELP Books - Literacy Activities, Read Conmigo  -Literacy Activities, RIF SoCal- Read with an Adult, OC Read, OC Public Libraries: Paws to Read activities, and much more!

Last year, there were drawings for wonderful prizes, including books, gift certificates, and games. I anticipate the same thing happening this year. :-)  I hope to see many book lovers there!

Upcoming Event: Young Authors' Faire 2014

I'm happy to say that I'll be at the OC Dept of Education Young Authors' Faire again this year!

https://sites.google.com/site/yaf2014/

Where: La Habra Library, La Habra, CA

When: Saturday, May 10, 2014 from 11:00-3:00 p.m.

Who: Local authors and students will be there!

Barnes and Noble will be there selling books, authors will be talking about writing, students will be presenting their work. This celebration of the writing efforts of K-12 students in Orange County Schools will feature performers, authors, games, prizes and more. This event is free of charge.

Goal Setting for 2014...and Beyond!

 I really like lists. I have many, many lists in my home. Daily "To Do" lists, grocery lists, crafts to make list, birthday party ideas list, etc. etc. As I was thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, I wanted to make a list. Why? A list is something you can see, touch, cross off! Just having a jumble of ideas in my head is not good.

I found this excellent post about "Personal Goal Setting." I like this idea of "SMART Goals."

-S - Specific (or Measurable)

-M – Measurable (or Meaningful).

-A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).

-R – Relevant (or Rewarding).

-T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

Ideas for goal setting!

SPECIFIC

NO - "I want to write a book in my lifetime." 

YES - "I will start writing a mystery novel this year and have the first draft complete by December 31." 

NO - "I want to travel." 

YES - "I will fly to Paris for my birthday next year."

MEASURABLE

NO - "I will write 100,000 this month!"

YES - "I will write 500 words a day." or "I will write 1,000 words this week."

NO - "I will save money for my trip."

YES - "I will set aside $100 each pay period for my travel fund."

ATTAINABLE

NO - "I will lose 50 pounds in two months!"

YES - "I will eat more vegetables and less fries and soda. I will walk a mile each day. By eating healthier and moving more, I will likely lose weight soon."

NO - "I will write the Great American Novel in my first draft!"

YES - "I will write an interesting book and keep revising it until it is fit to be seen by others."

RELEVANT

NO - "I will be on the NY Times Bestseller List for a year straight."

YES - "I will go to local bookstores and book festivals. I will meet readers and encourage others to write."

TIME-BOUND

NO - "I will quit my job and write 12 hours a day!"

YES - "I will write one hour before work each day." "I will write one hour each evening at Starbucks after my kids go to bed."

NO - "I will train all day for the marathon next month!"

YES - "I will start walking a mile a day. I will start walking two miles a day next month. I will enter that 5K race in 6 months and finish in less than 30 minutes."

 By being precise, you can reach those attainable goals. Think about what we tell our kids. We don't just say, "Be nice." "Be safe." "Do your homework." "Clean your room."

We tell them, "Make friends by asking someone on the playground to play with you today." "Wear your helmet while riding your scooter." "Finish your 2 math pages and then read for 15 minutes." "Pick up your dirty clothes and make your bed."

We give our kids specific tasks and we expect them to accomplish them. Why not do that for ourselves? It might seem simplistic but if it helps you get the ball rolling, then do it! :-)

What are your:

Life goals?

Writing goals?

Travel goals?

Health goals?

Hobby goals?

Start BIG. You want to go to Europe during your lifetime! Who will go with you? How long will you be there for? How much will it cost? If it will cost $5,000, start calculating how long it will take to save up that money. If it takes 10 years, then put those small goals into place. Saving money each month, building a travel itinerary, etc. Work toward your goal and by the time you get there, it will be totally worth it. :-)

I'll leave you with some inspirational quotes!

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

C. S. Lewis

"My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose - somehow we win out."

Ronald Reagan

"People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine."

Brian Tracy

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
C. S. Lewis
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/goal.html#hUshJx4qASfmkyzq.99

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:

• S – Specific (or Significant).
• M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

- See more at: http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html#sthash.3QRVlZtL.dpuf

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:

• S – Specific (or Significant).
• M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

- See more at: http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html#sthash.3QRVlZtL.dpuf

SMART Goals

A useful way of making goals more powerful is to use the SMART mnemonic. While there are plenty of variants (some of which we've included in parenthesis), SMART usually stands for:

• S – Specific (or Significant).
• M – Measurable (or Meaningful).
• A – Attainable (or Action-Oriented).
• R – Relevant (or Rewarding).
• T – Time-bound (or Trackable).

- See more at: http://www.mindtools.com/page6.html#sthash.3QRVlZtL.dpuf

2013: In Review

What happened this year? Thankfully I have blog posts and pictures to help me remember. ;-)

February - I got older. Had a book signing in Fullerton, CA. Went to an Ally Carter signing. Put on an Indiana Jones themed party for my son.

March - Book signing in San Diego, CA.

April - LA Times Festival of Books! Met authors, had a signing, hung out with my friend Gretchen, fun with my husband and kids.

May - Met Eoin Colfer down at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore. Helped with rehearsals for the 4th grade play. Local Author Day at the Fullerton Public Library. Went to NYC for BookExpo America.

June - Met several authors at Mrs. Nelson's Bookstore. Went to San Francisco for signing at Copperfield's Bookstore in Petaluma.

SUMMER - Worked for Eureka Summer Camp - awesomeness! Took a walk with llamas, cooking camp x 2. Was second shooter for the wedding of my college friend.

September - Was a speaker at the Big Orange Book Festival in Orange, CA. Both sons are now in Cub Scouts. Subbing a lot.

October - More subbing. Not much writing. A lot of crafting. Reading. Busy mom stuff.

November - More of the same.

December - Again. Busy. Where did the year go??

2013 was pretty amazing! I've had a great time meeting many new people, read a lot of great books, drank too much coffee, had fun with my kids, and kept the house clean enough to maintain marital happiness. ;-)

Looking forward to 2014 - I've going to attempt to not do what my friend Jessica Grey describes as "over -resolving" in her blog post. I need to make reasonable goals and work to attain those goals. Bite size goals. Once I have those defined, I'll get back to you.

2013 End of Year Book Survey

I like looking back over the year at what I've read and reflect over my favorite books. I found this survey at "Effortlessly Reading".

1. Best Book You Read In 2013?
Fantasy/Science Fiction: ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill
Fairytale Retelling: ATONE by Jessica Grey
Contemporary: THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE by Jennifer E. Smith
Dystopian: THE SELECTION by Kiera Cass

2. Book you were excited about & thought you were going to love more but didn’t?

ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card. I really, really didn't like the amount of violence in the book where young children were involved. It disturbed me SO much. I only finished it to see how it would all end up.

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013?
THE ELITE was surprising in that for a second book of a trilogy, it was really good! Usually second books have (unfortunately) an issue with plot lags, likeability, etc. But ELITE was just as good as SELECTION.

4. Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?
For YA contemp - UNITED WE SPY by Ally Carter. I love the Gallagher Girls series!
For fairy tale re-imagining - ATONE: A FAIRYTALE by Jessica Grey.
For Austen-esque - AGAINST HIS WILL by Nancy Kelley.
YA Fantasy - THE RUNAWAY KING by Jennifer Nielsen.

5. Best series you discovered in 2013?
The "Bailey Flannigan" series by Karen Kingsbury.

6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?
Gail Carriger of CURTSIES AND CONSPIRACIES

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?
ALL OUR YESTERDAYS is a sci-fi time travel book that will make your head hurt in the best way. Usually time travel is so vaguely explained that it makes me lose interest or so deeply explained it makes my eyes glaze over. This book does neither! It was amazing.

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?
ATTEMPTING ELIZABETH by Jessica Grey. I love Jane Austen and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE so I had to read AE. It was fantastic! I had to keep reading to find out how it would resolve. LOVE.

9. Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
Probably PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. I re-read it this year for the 5th? time. I'm planning to read it again for a project for next year. :-)

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?
LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger. It's gorgeous!

11. Most memorable character in 2013?
This is hard. I have many characters that stick with me, especially characters from book series. Cammie Morgan from GG is one of my favorite characters ever.

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2013?
NORTH AND SOUTH by Elizabeth Gaskell. I think some of the most beautifully written books are the old ones.

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013?
Again, several answers. ALL OUR YESTERDAYS made me think of time travel for a very long time. THE RUNAWAY KING made me want to be a better writer and tell epic stories. GRAVE CONSEQUENCES by Lisa T. Bergren haunted me for a long time with the amazing story telling and choices characters had to make.

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read?
NORTH AND SOUTH. 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?
“You should have had the decency to die when you needed to."
“Sorry,” I admitted. “I’ve been going through a bit of a rebellious streak. I swear it’s almost over.”  - UNITED WE SPY by Ally Carter

16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?
Umm...let me check Goodreads...Longest is HOUSE OF HADES by Rick Riordan. Shortest is probably the short story collection VIEWS FROM THE DEPTHS by Jessica Grey.

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? Basically ALL of UNITED WE SPY. 

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).
ATTEMPTING ELIZABETH between Kelsey and Mark. <3

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Marta Perry and her Amish mystery novels

20. Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:
THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE. Many people recommended it. When I saw it at the library, I had to check it out. :-)

21. Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?
Fantasy and dystopian, primarily. Young Adult contemporary.

22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?
No one comes to mind...

23. Best 2013 debut you read?
ALL OUR YESTERDAYS. (I really loved this book!)

24. Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?
ATONE and the Fae World.

25. Book That Was The Most Fun To Read in 2013?
CURTSIES AND CONSPIRACIES was fun.

26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?
UNITED WE SPY.

27. Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?
BRUISED by Sarah Skilton. A raw YA contemp that is really amazing.

My official Goodreads book count is 83 for the year. I'm pretty happy with that! I know that I've read more than that because I re-read books and Goodreads doesn't like to keep track of re-reads for some reason. I'm thankful for our public library that keeps good books available because I don't have all the money to buy all the books. ;-)