Si, Se Puede--Yes, you can!

1. Not as much going on this week. Whew. Nice to finally be able to take a breath! **Some finds this week: 2. Really loved this latest ALVIN HO book: YA Books Central review: http://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfiction/15620-alvin-ho-allergic-to-babies-burglars-and-other-bumps-in-the-night Teaser: The interactions he has with his fellow classmates are real and also funny too. And I love his family! The multicultural dynamics in this series is a breath of fresh air. Some of my favorite parts include having Flea, the patched eye girl in his class, telling a news reporter that Alvin is pregnant. That's why he's so big. And the reaction of Alvin, is priceless! So much to love in this story. His older brother Calvin and his interest in anything to do with DMV rules. **You never too young to know them! I love his engineering design to help stop a thief that has been robbing houses near them. Laugh out loud hilarious with a character who will sure be a hit in any ele...

1. The beginning of this week was filled with tons of stress but thank goodness I listened to my prompting. Let's just say don't assume anything when you do your research. I learned a huge lesson. Mega huge. Later, I will post the whole scenario so others might not make the same mistake I did. 2. Still looking for fun swag to put in my giveaway coming next month! Here's one photo: But I just found this Audrey Hepburn bag on Amazon for under $6. What do you all think? I'm filling it with signed copies of NO MORE GODDESSES and CROSSED OUT. Some of my swag ideas include a gift card to In and Out Burger; $15 iTune card, $10 Claire gift card Plus temp tats; bookmarkers; some of Selena's bubblegum/candy stash WWAHD buttons. And other fun stuff! Check back on August 3rd for more details! 3. Read The first book in this series was a nominated 2012 Cybils book. I loved the voice and couldn't wait for the next book! My YA Books Central ...

Mandy at YA Books Central got me thinking this morning about blogging some fun tidbits from my new YA fantasy: Today I thought I'd introduce you all to Jordan, the protagonist of my story! Jordan Lake is a typical fifteen-year-old teen who just happens to love vintage clothing, romance, and Audrey Hepburn: Jordan's motto, whenever she's in a bind or doesn't know what to do is, "What Would AH Do?" She attends McKnight High school: **Fun tidbit: I based Jordan's HS on a school close to us in Mission Viejo, California(around the area where the setting of this book). Loved the huge pepper/eucalyptus trees that are native to this area. I've even been known to go up and rub the bark which has a slightly menthol smell. Other loves include writing her own lists. **She got this idea from Audrey Hepburn's movie WAR AND PEACE. A couple things in that list are Paris: She fantasizes of reinacting a scene from Audrey Hepburn's m...

1. Today's my mother's birthday! Need to call her and wish her a happy one! Funny how you never really realize how much you love and appreciate them until you have kiddos of your own! She's the one on the far left hand side. We have similar smiles, don't you think? 2. The fab Mandy at YABC send me some goodies: Right now reading: A DARKNESS STRANGE AND LOVELY It's set in Victorian Paris with zombies. Got to love that! 3. Finished reading the last book in the ABANDON series by Meg Cabot Totally love the humor mixed with a retelling of a Greek mythology tale. 4. Decided to go back to my revision, since I've had others asking me about it. Here's a teaser I posted on GRAPEMO: Espie's first encounter with those from outside her community: A sick sensation of a bazillion insect legs scampered up my body. A strong prompting to run as fast away from them hit me. But my legs were frozen in place. Weasel face smirked and punched ...

**Totally forgot to put this together yesterday! 1. Costco. Yep. Costco. Had to make a Costco run early this morning. I found it's better to get there around 10ish before everyone else shows up. Why? Less crowds which means no panic attacks and also I don't feel so rushed to get in and out. Another plus today had to be the MG dummy stand filled with some award winning books. Kudos Costco. Now you only need to do that with YA. **Hate to say this but not all YA is Twilight and/or Hunger Games. 2.Yoga mediation. I've been trying to go to Savita's mediation class at least once a week. It's tougher than I thought! But trying to calm self down and think positive thoughts. 3. On FB there's been a post about whether or not some with ADHD kiddos give them meds or not. After son came back from his week long scout camp, he was proud to announce he didn't take his. Now he told me he can go all summer without them. So far so good. This is such a...

It's been fun, everyone! Now I'm passing my #wipmadness pom-poms to Angelina who will host the month of July! http://yascribe.blogspot.com/ Now the winner for last month is Mary Ann! Email me at ixtumea@gmail.com for the book you'd like! I still have:

1. This week son's been away at scout camp in the Sierra Nevadas. It's been kind of strange and very quiet around here. 2. Husband took the week off so we've been catching up on movies. Saw: Verdict? I thought it was pretty good. Loved this actor in The Tudors and he didn't disappoint in this latest version. The only thing that did bother me was all the flashbacks and he seemed to be brooding alot. We did go to the luxury theater to experience the comfy chairs and dining service. The tickets cost $34 for the two of us and for lunch it ended up being $24 for sandwiches, $11 for drinks, $6.50 for popcorn, and $5 for beer battered fries. Total cost? $89 which included a tip. We loved the chairs and the experience. Didn't like the very high prices but heck it's not called luxury theater for nothing. 3. Now You See Me This was a very fast paced show that kept us on our toes. What we liked was the who done it wasn't who we thought it would...

I'm excited to be a part of this blog tour! My YA Books Central review: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/15487-ocd-the-dude-and-me Here's a teaser of my review: I felt the voice of this book was right on the mark. Danielle's struggles and the way she looks at the world reminded me of my son. This story doesn’t follow the usual storytelling format but rather is told in a journal type style that also reflects the character so much. This is Danielle’s senior year in high school. She has her own share of highs and lows and is recording her me-moir, hoping her last year in high school will be eventful. A classroom trip to England is approaching and Danielle isn’t sure she wants to go. She doesn’t think she’s attractive but rather fat with unmanageable hair. A series of events happen that help her not only grow but come out of her shell. I loved Danielle. Her almost blunt-like behavior might come across as too abrupt to some but to me felt very real. The author...

Cool! I made the local paper news: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/book-514346-discussed-authors.html?pic=1 Apparently you have to have an account to pull up link so here's what was in the article: ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Authors Kathryn Fitzmaurice, Jessi Kirby, Morgan Matson, Kim Baccellia and Laurie Stolarz were at the Rancho Santa Margarita Library Saturday to meet with teen readers to discuss their books, writing styles and lives as writers. The authors write books for teens and young adults. Fitzmaurice discussed her book "Destiny, Rewritten" and Kirby talked about her book "Golden," while Matson talked about how she conducted research for her second book, "Second Chance Summer." Baccellia discussed the design of her new book, "No More Goddesses," and Stolarz discussed the plot of her book "Deadly Little Lessons." Plus here's me discussing my writing process:

First off, I thought I'd share the cover of my upcoming book NO MORE GODDESSES: What you all think? I think this calls for a happy dance! Also rumor has it NO MORE GODDESSES should be out the first week of July! I also was able to attend a YA author panel at a local library and got to share my own writing with some teens who attended. It was so much fun meeting these amazing authors! Right now reading GOLDEN by Jessi Kirby. She's the author on the far right. You all should see her book. It's gorgeous! I also finally got to meet Laurie Faria Stolarz author of DEADLY LITTLE LESSONS and my favorite YA paranormal series BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES. Plus Kathyrn Fitzmaurice author of the adorable MG--THE YEAR THE SWALLOWS CAME EARLY. **Kathyrn also took a class from my former UCIrvine writing mentor, Louella Nelson. Talk about a small world! Now for our theme today I thought I'd tie in something from the above photo. Notice something? Yes, I'm not...