Shameless Saturday

(left to right) Jennifer Bradbury (SHIFT), Jody Feldman (THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES), P.J. Hoover (THE EMERALD TABLET), Nancy Viau (SAMANTHA HANSEN HAS ROCKS IN HER HEAD), Brooke Taylor (UNDONE), Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES)

These awesome 2k8 classmates rocked at the National Council of Teachers of English conference with their panel: New Voices for a New Generation. They shared the scoop on how to grab reader interest in a technological world. San Antonio, Texas may never be the same again!





More accolades this week for Ellen Booraem's middle-grade THE UNNAMEABLES!

School Library Journal says THE UNNAMEABLES has "a style and charm all its own," and the American Library Association's Booklist says "Patient readers who like a little quirk in their fantasy will enjoy this stick-it-to-the-status-quo romp."

Go, Ellen!





And...you can catch up with Ellen on a couple of blogs! Here she is on the ever-popular Cynsations, talking about her writing life. And then there's a really fun interview on Laura Bowers' Shop Talk








And...Happy Birthday, Jonathan Swift! (November 30, 1667)

Shameless Saturday

Oh, but we have been busy this past week!

(left to right) Zu Vincent (THE HAPPY PLACE), Barrie Summy (I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES), Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES), PJ Hoover (THE EMERALD TABLET) and Courtney Scheinmel (MY SO-CALLED FAMILY) spoke about "Turning Old Writing Tricks into New Reading Treats" at the California Library Association's annual meeting last Monday. They were amazing and awesome! If we do say so ourselves. (Courtney is missing from the picture.)

There was a time when kids went outside to play, made up imaginary games evoking historical characters and aliens from the future, families went on road trips in search of gold, radiation was still a new treatment for cancer, and cancer was still mysterious. In THE LUCKY PLACE by Zu Vincent, families are becoming visibly dysfunctional through the eyes of Cassie, spanning ten years from age three to thirteen...There are complex relationships rich with emotion, told from a soft, gentle, very human perspective. This book will capture the attention of 5th grades and up.

Read the entire review by Lyda At Tales from the Treehouse.




Ellen Booraem loves Kirkus Reviews, which included THE UNNAMEABLES in its Best Children's Books of 2008 special section. The section recommends 50 kids' books for the year. THE UNNAMEABLES also is on the Indie Bound Kids' Next list for Winter 2008/2009. This is 59 books recommended by independent booksellers.

Wow! Go, Ellen!




From Portrait Magazine: SWIMMING WITH SHARKS is a captivating tale that brilliantly portrays the cruel world of teenage girls. Despite the things she does, Peyton is still a character the reader can relate to and empathize with and the reader is taken on a convincing journey with our heroine and narrator as she finds herself in various challenging situations, leading up to a very dramatic and satisfying conclusion.

There are lessons to be learnt about bullying and prices we all pay for it in this strong second novel from author Debbie Reed Fischer. Definitely worth checking out.

Day 5: Farewell PJ Hoover

It's Friday and time to wrap up our launch week with PJ Hoover, debut author of the middle grade sci fi THE EMERALD TABLET.

We're putting PJ in the driver's seat. She's promised to take us on a tour of some of the settings in THE EMERALD TABLET.

Take it away, PJ....

THE EMERALD TABLET is set in some unique places, some only mythological.
First off, the five kids are from the hidden continent of Lemuria. If you aren’t sure where this continent is, it’s under a giant dome at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.



In addition to Lemuria, there’s of course Atlantis, the sunken continent in the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve included a map in case you’re curious where these continents are.



Benjamin Holt (our protagonist) and his friends get to travel to some pretty cool places. One place they go is the Royal Palace in Bangkok—to the temple of the Emerald Buddha. And in case you were curious, this is where the picture on the front of The Emerald Tablet is taken from.




Thank you 2k8 classmates for a wonderful, exhilarating launch week on our blog!

You're very welcome, PJ. Our pleasure.

Before you click away, dear bloggy friends, here's what's ahead. Tomorrow is Shameless Saturday where we bring you the week's good news. Then next week is...launch week for Stacy Nyikos, debut middle grade author of DRAGON WISHES. You won't want to miss it.

Day 4: Can PJ Hoover trick us?

We're baaaack! It's Day 4 of PJ Hoover's launch week for her debut middle grade sci-fi THE EMERALD TABLET.

Well, well, well. What have we learned about PJ so far?

She writes good books. Proof: THE EMERALD TABLET.

She's fun. Proof: We've got pics of her real-life launch party.

She's brave. Proof: She picks up scorpions with her bare hands.

She's smart. Proof: She designed chip doohickeys for years. More proof: She can solve a Rubik's Cube in two minutes.

Hmmm.....But just how smart is PJ Hoover? Can she fool us? Maybe. Maybe not.

Here's PJ's description of THE EMERALD TABLET

Benjamin and his best friend Andy are different from normal. They love being able to read each other's minds and use telekinesis to play tricks on other kids. In fact, they are getting all set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin's mirror starts talking. Suddenly, Benjamin's looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace which can only be reached by a teleporter inside the ugly picture in his hallway. And that's the most normal thing he does all summer.

Now we have to guess what happens next. Read carefully. Don't let PJ trick you.


Answer 1: The teleporter takes Benjamin to Mars, along with his best friend Andy, where they must go undercover in a city of mutants to investigate oxygen shortages and corruptness within the government which leads Benjamin to find out he has really been brainwashed and is secretly working for the government and trying to eliminate the scornful mutants.



Answer 2: Benjamin finds himself the new ensign on the Starship Enterprise. Wesley Crusher has been promoted to Chief Engineer, and someone young and new is needed on the bridge. But no sooner does Benjamin teleport to his new post, the Enterprise is attacked by the Q. The Q realize Benjamin’s potential and convince him to join their ranks. Benjamin agrees as long as his best friend Andy can come along also. And so Benjamin and Andy roam the universe, creating havoc and making new friends as they go.


Answer 3: Benjamin teleports under the ocean to a structurally impossible dome. But the dome hasn’t been created by humans, and Benjamin discovers he’s not really a human after all. He thinks the summer will be a blast until an age old relic convinces him he needs to save the world by finding a way to stop the age old war with Atlantis and restore peace to the earth.

So which is the right answer? What do you think really happens in THE EMERALD TABLET?

Day 3: PJ Hoover and Her Real Life Launch Party!

My release party was a blast! You'd have thought it was a wedding. Everyone was staring at me. Except there was no big white dress and no flower girls twirling down the aisle.

So many people came out to support me. And I had awesome little pumpkins with candy corn and laminated backpack tags as party favors. See the way I'm thinking, it's much harder to throw away something laminated, especially when it already has a clip on it ready to hang on a backpack zipper.
Oops, just realized I forgot to put these on my kids' backpacks these mornings.


First and most important, Team Emerald Tablet. My son was thrilled to help set up, his specialty being stacking the water bottles.

So what to do at a release party?
First, have lots of candy for the kids. The punch was also a hit.

My awesome editor, Madeline Smoot, introduced me to the over 150 people who showed up (!).

I showed my book trailer (note - I need LOUDER speakers).
And then I gave a presentation featuring tons on pictures, PowerPoint animation (a new skill for me), a reading of the first few pages of The Emerald Tablet, and a quiz with giveaways.

Featured in the prize pumpkins were

• laminated The Emerald Tablet bookmarks
• a notebook and pencil to write down ideas
• glow sticks to stay up late reading The Emerald Tablet
• and t-shirts featuring the cover of The Emerald Tablet and the Lemurian Alphabet.

We sold out of books and took orders for tons more!

Before the party, my books were actually on the shelf (yes, right up there with The Hunger Games and Libba Bray)!



So that’s it! I’m officially released!

Day 1: P.J. Hoover

We're cracking open a bottle of cyber bubbly to celebrate our launch week for P.J. Hoover, MG author extraordinaire of The Emerald Tablet

And let us tell you a little about P.J.

P. J. Hoover grew up in Virginia visiting museums and dreaming of finding Atlantis. Prior to writing full time, PJ worked as an electrical engineer in Austin , Texas , where she lives with her husband, two children, Yorkshire terrier, and two tortoises (King Tort and Nefertorti).
























P. J. is the author of the FORGOTTEN WORLDS trilogy, a middle grade science fiction series for kids 8-14. The first book, The Emerald Tablet, tells the story of Benjamin Holt who not only is from a hidden world under the Pacific Ocean , he’s not even human. And he’s stuck spending his summer saving the world.



From the cover flap:
Benjamin and his best friend Andy are different from normal. They love being able to read each other's minds and use telekinesis to play tricks on other kids. In fact, they are getting all set to spend their entire summer doing just that when Benjamin's mirror starts talking. Suddenly, Benjamin's looking at eight weeks of summer school someplace which can only be reached by a teleporter inside the ugly picture in his hallway. And that's the most normal thing he does all summer.



Some great reviews from older reviewers include:

"I enjoyed it as an adult, but I know that I would have adored it as an 11-year-old. In truth, ever since I finished it, The Emerald Tablet has been popping back into my head, as I wonder what's going to happen to Benjamin and his friends going forward. Highly recommended for later elementary and middle school readers, boys and girls, fans of traditional fantasy or not." -- Jen Robinson, Jen Robinson's Book Page

Five Stars - Recipient of the Gold Star Award for Excellence"I loved every minute that I was reading it, and I feel like I want to reread the book over and over again. ... While reading the book I kept thinking that in a way it was almost like a myth that was being told and how cool it would be if it was actually true... Fans of Rick Riordan’s PERCY JACKSON series will particularly enjoy this book." -- Teens Read Too

"Anyone who enjoyed discovering the world of magic with Harry Potter will enjoy diving into a different magical world with Benjamin Holt and his friends " -- Balanced Steps


"This is a wonderful beginning to a fantasy middle-grade trilogy. Hoover's writing is extremely compelling and makes the book hard to put down." -- Book Chic

And let’s not forget the kid reviewers:

" The Emerald tablet was THE best book I read in a long time! It is a great/awesome book and you will NEED to buy it on October, 21,2008! " -- Bookworms' Reviews (Bookworm Number 1)"Step aside, move down, you unworthy Newbery Award winning books, and such! This book qualifies as the greatest, most AMAZING book in the history of books! I couldn't put it down." -- Bookworms' Reviews (Bookworm Number 2)

"This is FREAKING awesome!" -- Eleanor at Present Lenore



Come back tomorrow for the skinny on how PJ found a publisher. Plus some stuff about PJ and working a Rubik's cube at lightning speed. We kid you not.

CYAL8R

It's been a fun week with our Now & Later lists. As you dig into your kids Halloween candy tonight and find those sassy, sweet squares, be reminded of where you've been and where you're going.


PJ Hoover

In 2008, my greatest accomplishments were:

1. Writing 2 new books
2. Releasing my debut novel, The Emerald Tablet
3. Signing with agent Laura Rennert
4. Quitting my day job to write full time
5. Spending more time with the people I care about!

2018 I hope to have:

1. Published 10 more books
2. Met Zahi Hawas
3. A full time housekeeper
4. Someone else to cook my meals (since I rarely do)
5. Regular writing retreats with my awesome critique group

Jen Bradbury

In 2008, my goals were:

1. To revise my wierd mummy book
2. Start our kitchen remodel
3. Blog a little
4. Learn to make really good Chili Rellenos so we don't have to go out for Mexican once a week
5. Not obsessively check my Amazon ranking

By 2018, I hope to:

1. Finish that kitchen remodel
2. Have a new book out every year
3. Have my kids in school so I can maybe teach part time again (we'll need the cash for that remodel)
4. Not hate gardening
5. Have completed a big bike tour with our kids with us on tandems! Europe? New Zealand? We'll see!

M.P. BARKER


Greatest writing accomplishments:


1. Had an actual published book in my hands with MY name on the cover, after 10 years of work and more than 70 rejections!

2. Being a part of the Class of 2k8

3. Pulled off nearly 50 book promotion events (so far!) from signings and discussions at bookstores, libraries and schools, to radio & TV interviews to online interviews and guest blogs--including the Class of 2k8 Southern New England Mini-Tour and slumber party extravaganza all without killing myself (so far, that is)

4. Got good reviews in Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, and was featured in Kirkus First Fiction Special Issue

5. Learned how to make a web site.


In 2018, I hope to:


1. Be making a full-time living as a writer, with a new book written every year.
2. Take at least one super-fantastic vacation to another country every year
3. Finish renovating my house and yard!!!
4. Read more books, watch more movies, listen to more concerts
5. Learn to relax and enjoy life and not run around like a crazy person all the time




We'll be seeing you Now and Later. Happy Halloween!

Shameless Saturday

We've got lots to celebrate here at 2k8 with contests and rave reviews. Please give us a woot!

SLEEPLESS author, Terri Clark, is giving away an authentic Navajo dream catcher on her blog. For your chance at sweet dreams and for a sneak peek of her paranormal thriller, click here.

Also, Terri is pleased to announce that her essay in FLIRTING WITH THE MONSTER, an anthology about Ellen Hopkins and her work, will be published by BenBella books in May of '09.

PJ Hoover celebrated the launch of her middle grade science-fiction novel THE EMERALD TABLET! THE EMERALD TABLET received a great review from Brianna over at Balanced Steps. Brianna compares THE EMERALD TABLET to Harry Potter and says this: "Anyone who enjoyed discovering the world of magic with Harry Potter will enjoy diving into a different magical world with Benjamin Holt and his friends...for you Potter fans, the experience is TOTALLY different from Harry's." Thanks, Brianna!

Tasha at And Another Book Read gave THE EMERALD TABLET a fantastic review! She had this to say: "I loved every minute that I was reading it, and I feel like I want to reread the book over and over again. ... While reading the book I kept thinking that in a way it was almost like a myth that was being told and how cool it would be if it was actually true... Fans of Rick Riordanʼs PERCY JACKSON series will particularly enjoy this book."
Thanks, Tasha!

And Book Chic also gave THE EMERALD TABLET an awesome review including this tasty morsel: "This is a wonderful beginning to a fantasy middle-grade trilogy. Hoover's writing is extremely compelling and makes the book hard to put down." Thanks, Book Chic!

And speaking of Book Chic, this has been one busy reviewer. He's also written a great review for THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE by Liz Gallagher and plans to feature Courtney Sheinmel as November's Fresh New Voice in YA and Barrie Summy as December's Fresh New Voice in YA!

Cynthea Liu posted a fun interview with Nancy Viau, author of SAMANTHA HANSEN HAS ROCKS IN HER HEAD.

Publisher's Weekly gave Courtney Sheinmel's MY SO-CALLED FAMILY a starred review and called it "smart, original and full of vitality."

Shameless Saturday

Courtney Sheinmel's MY SO-CALLED FAMILY was reviewed on Teens Read Too, and it was given 5 stars along with a Gold Star Award for Excellence!

Instructor Magazine reviewed Jenny Meyerhoff's Middle Grade debut Third Grade Baby (Illustrated by Jill Weber) in their Five Best Back-to-School Reads column. YAY!

The Book Vault Blog has an awesome review up of Brooke Taylor's UNDONE.

Be sure to check out P. J. Hoover's The Forgotten Worlds Book 1: The Emerald Tablet great review on Teens ReadToo where it was given 5 stars along with a Gold Star Award for Excellence and her other great review where it was Highly Recommended by Jen Robinson. Go PJ!!!

Zu Vincent's The Lucky Place is the August pick for ALAN Review! How cool is that? Plus she's scored excellent reviews at SWON Libraries:

"Zu Vincent does a wonderful job of taking the reader into the mind of a child handling the divorce and remarriage of her mother. Vincent delicately handles the emotions children feel as they experience life changes and learn to look at their parents through the telescope of reality. This extraordinary work of realistic fiction should be shared with any child experiencing the divorce and/or remarriage of a parent."

and Metapsychology Online:

"The Lucky Place is an outstanding read for anyone who wants a young child's inside view on divorce and illness. With her optimistic protagonist, Zu Vincent charms the reader and shows us that there is a lighter side to every dark tale."

Cool Contest going on at Laurel Snyder's blog, and the prize is a pre-release signed copy of her new book Up and Down the Scratchy Mountains!! The skinny is you blog about a job for which you'd be unsuitable, and she'll pick a winner! Good Luck!

The Texas Library Association

Last month, 2k8er Stacy Nyikos, 2k9er Bev Patt, 2k9er Gabriele Goldstone, and author Linda Joy Singleton participated on a Cultural Diversity panel at the Texas Library Association's annual conference. They talked about multiculturalism in their writing. And they were so amazing that they've already been asked back for next year!

( left to right) Stacy Nyikos, Bev Patt, Miriam Hees, Lila Guzman, Linda Joy Singleton, and Gabriele Goldstone




Here are some books that were available for free at the conference. If you look closely and really squint, you can make out the following books by 2k8ers: Emerald Tablet by P.J. Hoover, I So Don't Do Mysteries by Barrie Summy and Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle.

It's just too fun for words!

Web sites! The List You Can't Miss

Class of 2k8 members love Web sites!

Here's few more thoughts on the subject:

Web sites provide author bios.
My favorite part of any author’s site is the Bio page. What can I say? I love checking out the wizard behind the curtain! After checking out the author, I always click over to the frequently asked questions. Not only are they usually very interesting and informative, but because I’m a debut author I need to prepare myself for what kind of questions I may one day be frequently asked.

And since no one has ever frequently asked me anything—except maybe if they could have my book for free—I decided to *steal* some FAQ’s from some of my favorite authors and answer them as best I could on my own site.
~Brooke Taylor, Author of Undone,
http://http://www.brooketaylorbooks.com/


A Web site is a fantastic marketing tool.
People will tell you it's an essential marketing tool these days, but I think its most important role is giving readers a more personal glimpse of the writer, a sense of the personality behind the book… and that can deepen and enrich your understanding of her work, as well as forge a feeling of connectedness between author and reader—and connecting with readers is what writing is all about.
~ Elizabeth C. Bunce, Author of A Curse Dark As Gold,
http://www.elizabethcbunce.com


A Web site adds professionalism.
I have a Web site because I love the idea of having a Web site. But more than that, it makes me feel the part of being a writer. For the past fifteen years, I've designed chips (the kind that go in computers, not in your mouth), so when I started writing, there was a certain part of me which felt like a poser. Like I was pretending to be something I wasn't. And even now, with my first book coming out later this year, it's still kind of hard to identify myself as a writer.

So what does my site do for me? It makes me feel professional. It gives me the opportunity to present myself in a positive way. And it makes others view me as a positive and professional author. Writing is fun; I love it and want to do it forever. It is more than a hobby, and I want anyone who visits my site to see that and understand.
P.J. Hoover, Author of The Forgotten Worlds Book 1: The Emerald Tablet,
http://www.pjhoover.com/


A Web site can be jam-packed with activities.
A Web site is a really good way for me to showcase my books, introduce readers to me, and to pass information on to school librarians about what happens when I come to a school to visit. I also use the site to put up teacher packs, i.e. information, games, coloring pages, mazes, extra websites, writing assignments, that teachers can use with my books either before or after I come, helping to build upon the information I present when I am there.
~Stacy Nyikos, Author of Dragon Wishes,
http://www.stacyanyikos.com


Web sites satisfy curiosity.
I think a Web site gives readers a place to get to know you, learn more about your books and your plans, and maybe try something new.
~Regina Scott, Author of La Petite Four,
http://lapetitefour.com


A Web site is the place to be.
To a writer, a Web site is very important. The Internet is where we all go now...and having a pleasant, interesting presence there can help a writer attract and keep readers.
~Marissa Doyle, Author of Bewitching Season,
http://www.marissadoyle.com/