Thinking about Gifts?

It's that time of year again, where the holiday decorations suddenly explode - and it seems as if it starts earlier every year. I've already ordered my photo holiday cards. They are sitting on the dining table waiting for Thanksgiving day morning. This is when I will address them and have them ready to send on December 1st.

In the meantime, I have started to shop. This year, I thought I would put together a list of cool places to visit online for awesome gifts that you might not have known about.


Eco-Friendly Gifts

http://www.sproutwatches.com/
If you are looking for watches, these bright and eco-friendly timepieces are made from corn! Better wear than to eat! The company page really is well written and tell the consumer all about their ideals. Read it here.



http://www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/collections/recycled-gifts
They even have bicycle chain bowls! How cool is that?
Here is what UncommonGoods has to say about their company: "At UncommonGoods, we want to change the way business is conducted by making sustainability a part of every decision we make. Each month, employees from all areas of our company gather to discuss how we can make UncommonGoods more environmentally friendly, socially responsible and an ever-more rewarding place to work."



http://eco-friendly.novica.com/

I think they have some wonderful gifts!
Novica has this to say about their company: "[Novica] want[s] to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow. At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe. [Novica] want[s] you to know about who you're buying from. [Novica] want[s] you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it."

Fun Gifts



Who doesn't like Bowling for Zombies? Perpetual Kid has so many goofy and fun items. Go wild.

Fave Online Gifts
MoMA STORE
I love the Fish Tank Hotel.

 


















But the best gift you can give is the gift of reading.

Order an autographed copy of the THE CASTING. 
Morgan Hill Bookstore
253 Main Street 
PO Box 2455
New London, NH 03257
(603) 526-5850
HOURS:
Monday to Friday 9:00 - 5:30
Saturday 9:00 - 5:00
Sunday 11:00 - 3:00

or go to PugaliciousPress.com 

Have Fun Shopping!

Ann Haywood Leal, Children's Author

Ann Haywood Leal braved the 98 degree temperature to spend time at Market on the Green in New London, NH to sign her books, A Finder's Keepers Place and Also Known As Harper. It was a pleasant (and very hot) afternoon.

An interested reader get's to meet the author.





















 Boys do read!

Ann and my daughter, Kendra had so much to talk about.
You can follow Ann @AnnHaywoodLeal


Thanks for sharing your wonderful books!

Summer 2012 - Prepping for the Next 12 Months

Summer 2012 is already booking up. The family calendar is starting to have fewer and fewer unmarked days. What I want to know is how do I fit it all in?

I have one writer's retreat scheduled and I can't wait. I've started a new YA and have been working on the outline. I'm hoping these three and a half retreat days will consist of writing as much as I can of a new first draft.

Now on to bigger and better things: 2013 NESCBWI Conference. The Call for Proposals for the 2013 NESCBWI Conference, "Word-By-Word: The Art of Craft will go out June 1, 2012. So mark your calendars. With the call going out earlier, the deadline will also be sooner, August 27th, 2012!

Registration Table at the 2012 NESCBWI Conference

We will be looking for all levels of craft workshops, particularly those that are for advanced or master level writers. These Master level classes we are calling studios and will be 180 minutes.

So, please start thinking about what you would like to propose. Also, preferential consideration will go to presenters who have sent in two or more proposals.

Spring Fling Hop W1nners!

The winners are:

Drum roll please....

Bridget H.

Melissa F.

Tobi H. 

 The winner of Timeless will receive their ebook copy in June when the book is released.

Thanks to all who entered! Check back often so you can enter the next book giveaway coming this summer.

Thanks

W is WIN A Book!

Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

Win 1 of 3 Books!

Click Here For More Spring Fling Giveaway Excitement!

Can't Wait To Win It? Buy it Now

Robyn must decide her future at the coming of age ceremony, but choosing the right path is a challenge. Most girls in Robyn’s village will choose traditional roles of healing, midwifery or farming. None of these choices appeal to Robyn. Instead, she yearns for the red-hot crucibles full of molten bronze and the roaring fire of her father’s foundry. But her future brother-in-law, Gilhey, her most ardent challenger at the foundry, has other plans. Will Robyn find the courage to stand up to Gilhey and become the bronze caster she longs to be?

Can't Wait to Win It? Buy it Now

As the littlest Hapenny, Maewyn Bridgepost spends her days from breakfast to midnight nibble scrubbing the hearth, slopping the pigs, and cooking for her guardian, who never spares a kind word. Mae dreams of her long-lost mother, the day she can be rid of Gelbane and finding a life worth living. As if life as a servant wasn't bad enough, Mae learns that Gelbane is a troll-and Hapennies are a troll delicacy.

New eBook Available June 1, 20

This Young Adult Romance Anthology makes its way through time, visit the Holy Roman Empire, French Revolution, Victorian England,











Giveaway Details 
1 winner will win any one of the above titles.
Paperback to US only, Ebook open Internationally
Ends May 8, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ISBNs

I've known what an ISBN is for as long as I can remember. I've been a reader since I was 4 years old and those numbers on a book cover or jacket flap always represented something secret. Add a barcode and you have a secret language.

Enter The Casting Give@way Now

Only 4 days left to register to win 1 of 5 copies of my debut middle grade novel, THE CASTING!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Casting

by Joyce Shor Johnson

Giveaway ends March 21, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Hapenny Magick by Jennifer Carson

Hapenny Magick by Jennifer Carson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this story! The illustrations are wonderful.

Maewyn may be the smallest of the small, but she has so much heart and determination on her side. When she learns the terrible secret to her brutally mean guardian, and finds out that she has magick she finds two wizards to teach her how to use it to protect the villagers she loves. Through all of her travails, Maewyn learns about friendship and family and sacrifice.

Beautifully written. If you enjoy fairytales, then you'll enjoy Hapenny Magick!


For more about Jennifer, go to her website.



View all my reviews

22 Days Until 50!

That's right, I turn 50 in 22 days! Kind of shocking when I think about it. So many thoughts are racing around in the old gray matter but I won't go there now. 

What I really want for my birthday, is for my friends and and family to pledge $15 and support my kickstarter Book Project, The Casting. Not matter what happens, this book is debuting on April 1, 2012.

Spending $15 gets you a dedicated and signed softcover copy ($25 gets you a hard cover copy), and some other awesome swag! Please make an old lady happy, and pledge $15 today!

Don't make me beg, it might get ugly.

Please!

Now go have a glass of wine and celebrate with me!