Sunday, December 25, 2011

New Troubled Tweens short story for Christmas!

I woke up a few days before Christmas with the cutest idea for a short story! Mr. Kent, the magic counselor for the Troubled Tweens, has this amazing office with floor to ceiling cabinets in every color. Inside them, he keeps all the objects he made magical when he had powers in the 1960s.

The objects are a trip down memory lane for older readers, and a delight for kids who can imagine how THEY would use such enchanted things. My daughters and I spent one day of the holiday break just brainstorming the magical items in the wall of wonders, and what they'd be for. Nine-year-old Elizabeth came up with the magical lip gloss that keeps your sister from tattling on you!

And twelve-year-old Emily gave us the idea of the magical hula hoop that takes you back in time when you spin it.

You don't have to have a Kindle to read the story. It can be read on a computer or a smart phone or an iPad if you have the free Kindle reader. So go!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I got a lava lamp!

Friend and super-fan Sean came over with a new pink lava lamp a few days ago! Wow! I hope I don't burn my house down, as I worried about in my other post! :)

We had seen these lamps before, of course, but never brand new. It takes almost two hours for the lamp to get going the first time. We took photos every few minutes until the lava lamp started working normally, to show how it got started from factory to real lava!


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Interview at Kids Ebook Bestsellers.com

I feel so lucky! Karleen Tauszik interviewed me over at her web site after Jinnie Wishmaker made the top 10 list for downloads at BooksOnBoard.com.

Every Saturday she updates the newest top 10 for all the major ebook retailers. An awesome service!

So go read all about this journey with Jinnie!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Jinnie the #2 Youth/Young Adult Download today!

Just had to post a pretty shiny from Books on Board! Thank you for those who are buying and reading!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Interview with DD Roy at Working Stiffs

The mystery blog for Working Stiffs recently interviewed my about my journey to get Jinnie Wishmaker out into the world. Go see!

I've been thinking about all the mysteries in the book. Here are several:

1. What happened to Jinnie's parents after the protest in Brazil?
2. Why did Jinnie's aunt and uncle send her grandmother away after Jinnie came to live with them?
3. Why are animals acting like they can TALK to her?
4. Why is the fifth-grade bully Bruscilla so mean?
5. And how is it that Jinnie suddenly knows what people want, even if they try to lie about it?

Oh, so many mysteries. I hope you'll come along and find out more about them. Jinnie Wishmaker is available for download for $3.99 at Books on Board.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Pretty shiny promo page at Books on Board

It's so lovely! A whole web page at the monster e-book retailer Books on Board! Quotes from Jinnie Wishmaker! Pretty little bio of little ol' me!

Go see the shiny!

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?F=000795-roy

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Lava Lamps are ALWAYS magical

I never had a lava lamp as a kid. My mom told me if they fell over and broke, it would make too big a mess, and probably burn the house down to boot.

So my fascination with them led me to add them to Jinnie Wishmaker. When Jinnie first comes to a Trouble Tweens meeting, she has no idea why pink lava lamps are lighting the room.

She won't understand how important they are until very late in the story, when Mr. Kent, the school counselor, turns their power up to purple.

Here's a great video of a lava lamp. I could watch it all day. Maybe it's time for me to buy one. Of course, I'll probably knock it over, make a big mess, and burn down the house.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Mood Rings and Jinnie Wishmaker

Elizabeth's mood rings are purple--she's HAPPY!
Ever since I started writing Jinnie, I've been collecting mood rings. I loved mood rings when I was a kid, so when I first decided what objects would be made magical in the book, this was a clear choice!

If you've read Jinnie, you'll know exactly which one of these rings is the one I used in the book!

Mood rings work when the metal in the ring takes the heat from your fingers to change the color crystals.

Here is how to read a mood ring:

Black: Angry or stressed
Red: Excited
Blue: Calm, peaceful
Purple: Happy, creative
Green: Normal, at ease
Gray: Anxious
Amber: Mixed Up, strange, unsettled

What happens if all the color goes away and the ring goes clear? That's what happens to Jinnie, and only the Troubled Tweens know!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

It's almost release day!

I got word today from the publisher that the e-book version of Jinnie Wishmaker will be part of a promotion that will be sent out -- this week! So sudden! Wow!

Here's the summary of the book, the first in a series for the Troubled Tweens, geared toward middle graders nine to twelve years old.

Eleven-year-old Jinnie has a dilemma--she can grant wishes, but she can't control the results.

Her friend Marcus asks for ice cream, but now eating it makes him sick. The school bully wishes Jinnie and her friends would disappear, but when Jinnie grants it, the girl is blinded by the sun!

The school counselor tells Jinnie to join the Troubled Tweens, a group of kids with similar power problems. Maddy’s touch makes anyone explode in anger. Grace can make people like her--as long as they don’t let go of her arm.

But their loose use of magic attracts the attention of the Loki, a group of magic thieves and pranksters. They want to steal an open-ended wish from Jinnie, and it will take all the limited and messed-up magic she and her friends possess to make sure their powers don’t fall into the Loki’s greedy hands.


I hope you'll go on this journey with Jinnie! I'll post links when the e-book is for sale. It may take a while to get to all the retailers.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

A blog is born

Stay tuned for exciting stuff! A book! With magical lava lamps, mood rings that reveal your power, and the biggest meanest bully there ever was!