Greetings: coming out of my world of ChAoS for a book give away

Hello! From my world of chaos to yours. I'm coming out of hiding for a long overdue post and book giveaway. Critter has recently been to visit Jill S. Alexander in Texas. You may remember my post about Jill and our serendipitous first meeting. You can visit Jill's blog to read about his visit by clicking HERE.

In honor of Jill's Critter Hosting awesomeness I'm giving away a signed copy of her fabulous book THE SWEETHEART OF PROSEPER COUNTY. It has heart, humor and a strong character voice.

Let me tell you. . . this book is a gem. I stayed up late; laughing, crying . . . copying down snippets of her writing in my little "favorite-quote-collection-book." Most books I read will only have one or two quotes that I decide to write in my little collection book. Jill's book took up 3 pages! Her writing is just that good!

Let me give you an example: Here's a brilliant passage where the main character is describing the town Mayor. It's brilliant because she describes him by describing the people around him. You get a sense of who he is by learning about his relationships with others.

"In addition to his swanky ride, Mayor Nesmith had a money-blowing wife, four whiney rugrats, and the hots for my momma. She avoided him like poison ivy."

Let me say it again . . . Brilliant. And entertaining to boot!

You have to read the book! I believe it so much that I bought 2 copies. One for me and one for a lucky winner.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win. You can gain extra entry points for commenting on Jill's blog, linking this contest to your blog, twitter, facebook or any other sort of social media and becoming (or being) a fan of Critter on Facebook. It will be a big help if you tell me, in the comments, which of these things you have done.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday. Good luck!

Mockingjay Winners!!!!

A great big, huge THNX to everyone who commented and sperad the word about Critter. I wish I had more books to give away to show my appreciation.

Since I only have two . . . it's time to announce the lucky winners.


Copy #1 goes to WordwrangerNC (Donna)

AND

Copy #2 goes to Llehn

You can contact me at ChristyEvers (at) att (dot) net with your snail mail address.

Congratulations!

2, Yes. TWO!!! Mockingjay copies giveaway!!!!

Critter at the Heart and Soul Ball, SCBWI LA

OK, I know Critter has had the majority of my blog time. But it's well deserved, don't cha think?

For those of you just tuning in . . . Critter is the bad-butt (family friendly word choice aptly chosen) flat-Stanley of children's literature blogs. He has been traveling since the fall of 2009 and is currently on his final leg of his travels. When his travels are complete, he will be auctioned off for the children of St. Jude.

Just an FYI, St. Jude runs on an operating budge of 1.5 million dollars a day, funded mostly by donations. ~gasp~ Yep. Makes me feel guilty ordering my daily Starbucks. I'm hoping Critter will be able to make a good dent in at least one day of operations. I need you to help me.

So . . . I figure . . . even if you don't have a ton of money to bid on such a fabulous piece of art, we are in a era of Twitter, Face book and blogs. If you help me get the word out re: Critter and his cause perhaps we, together, can find the people/groups who have the available funds and big-heartedness to make a generous donation to Critter's cause.

So . . . please, if you've got the time please follow Critter on his destination and let others know about his cause well. You can also leave comments on the blogs of people who are hosting Critter to show your support.

Currently Critter is with Cynthia Chapman Willlis in NJ.
Next he will visit Jill S. Alexander in Texas
From there he will go to Ellen Oh in DC
The Grand Finale will be in good ol' Canada with Angela Ackerman.
(insert Rocky theme song here) then the auction.

I want to thank everyone who has supported Critter thus far. Be sure to visit my side bar to see where Critter has been in the last year. Not to mention his brilliant creator, Ian Sands and his interview with the Texas Sweethearts.

You can also become a fan of Critter on Facebook by clicking here and then clicking on the "become a fan" button.

Kids lit peopel RaWk!!!!!!

Critter says he loves you! He thinks that you're all RaWk Stars.

In order to show my appreciation for those willing to help me get the word out, I'm holding a giveaway for 2 . . . that's right TWO copies of the last book of The Hunger Games Trilogy. The recently released Mockingjay.

I will give away two copies to two people who will comment on Cynthis'a blog re: Critter, blog, tweet, face book, be a fan on face book, or use any other social media to promote Critter. You have my permission to use info or pictures on my blog to explain critter's purpose.

you gain 1 entry for each attempt you make to promote critter, so please make sure to mention them all. I want you to get all the credit that you deserve, so in the comments, let me know how you helped me promote Critter.

You have until Tuesday Sept. 7th to comment. I will announce the 2 winners on Wed. Sept 8th

Also, please leave an e-mail or a way that I can contact you.

Andy, Annie and tomatoes

This was my clock. OK. Maybe not the EXACT clock. But this was my clock when I was 4 years old, maybe younger. Now someone is selling it for a ton of $$$ on e-bay. Anyway . . . when the alarm went off it said, "Andy, Andy, please wake up, it's time to start our day." (or something like that.) If there's any more to it, I don't remember.

I remember this clock because my mom was at work and my dad and brother were outside shoveling the Chicago snow. I was in the house all by myself. Sure. My dad and brother were technically "there" but in a 4 year old mind, I was in the house . . . ALONE!!!!! I remember grabbing this clock and a few tomatoes from the refrigerator and hiding under my bed.

Cartoons had taught me well. The clock told me when mom should be home. The tomatoes were to throw at an intruder. I was set!!!

I love this memory! I'm even contemplating buying this stupid clock!

Can anyone else remember their irrational childhood moments? I'd love to hear them!

A Critter-inspired Giveaway!

This has been a fun blog week! Fist it started out by lil ol' me winning an ARC giveaway on PJ Hoover's blog for the book "Girl Parts" YaY! I love winning books.

And starting today . . . . Author Tina Ferraro is offering a Critter-inspired giveaway!!!

Tina is the author of "Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress," "How to Hook a Hottie," and "ABC's of Kissing Boys" Not to mention, she's also a sweet-cutie-patootie as well.



Go on over to Tina's blog to show some luv for Tina, Critter and St. Jude, and win a chance for a free book or a 1st chapter critique from a fabulous author on top of it all!


Don't forget to become of Critter on Facebook! Click here to go to his FB fan page.

whooo hoooo!

Critter and I met up with Jacqui Robbins at SCBWI LA. Here's Jacqui giving Critter some luv!

Critter has been to visit Jacqui Robbins in MI. She's starting to post about some of the Critter mayhem in her house. Plus, she called me a "cool person." I think I love Jacqui. (In a totally non-weird way, of course.) I tend to favor people who call me "cool"

anyway, Click here to see what Critter and Jacqui have been up to.

And while your waiting for Jacqui's posts, you might like to know that Critter is on his way to visit YA author, Tina Ferraro. I hear she's taking him to Vegas. whooo hooooo!

You never know who you'll meet. More SCBWI LA

Remember my crazy-canceled/delayed flight from DFW to LAX? ( previous post) Well . . . there's more.

You see, at first, when I got on the original (canceled flight) I was supposed to have a window seat. I ADORE window seats (despite the bathroom dilemma) I like the view and I like having a surface to lay my head and snooze. What can I say? A moving plane is like a rocking cradle to me.

Anyway . . .

I approached my coveted window seat. I saw a man, a woman then and baby. A cute, friggin' baby sucking on a pacifier (in my seat). uggggghhhhh!!!!

"Would you mind switching seats with me?" said the man.

Crap! Now I'll be sitting in the Hell-of-all-middle-seats! "Of course. It's no problem." If only I was the angel in my thoughts like I was the angel of my words.

I would've been a heartless soul to refuse. I couldn't. The angel of words won. The angel of thoughts repeatedly stabbed the back of my eyeballs.

So. I settled in between a nice woman and a young lad several rows back. (in the middle seat)

I blew up my inflatable travel pillow. Adjusted my i-pod. (in the middle seat) Did I mention middle seat?

The nice woman next to me snapped her head in my general direction and said, "Stop it!"

Stop it?

OK. So, I wondered if maybe Critter was up to some of his Critter-tricks. He's a bit ornery, you know.

But then she says (in the most adorable Texas twang) "I'm so sorry, hon. I'm not talkin' to you. My son is traveling with me and he's pokin' me from behind."

awwwwww! She was so adorable! I wanted to pinch her cheeks! But I didn't. I have some self control, don't cha'know.

"That's funny stuff." I replied. Truly relieved that I wasn't sitting next to a stuffity'uppity window-seater, and thankful for the comedy relief. I liked this woman from the very start.

But then, the flight was canceled.

We reboarded 3 (or more) hours later.

I sat next to the nice lady with the Texas Twang once more. But that was OK, because I already liked her.

We giggled at the loud-mouth braggard sitting in the row in front of us. What can I say? We were loopy from the plane delays and flight changes. We must've been easily amused.

I liked her, even though I didn't know her. We talked, but about nothing in particular. Simply pleasant company.

Fast forward to the hotel. . . .

I'm standing in line to check into my room for the SCBWI LA conference and who do I see? It's the nice lady with the twang from the plane.

"Oh!" She said, "If I had known you were coming here, you could've shared a cab with me and my son!"

Nice! Such a nice lady. Wow! We were at the same conference. How amazing. What a small world.


Fast forward once more to the next morning:
. . . I'm sitting in the opening session of the conference. The faculty of SCBWI is introducing themselves on stage.

Who do I see introduce herself as one of the faculty authors? You guessed it!!!! The nice lady with the twang, the one who sat next to me on the plane and whispered "stop it!" in my general direction (although not directed to me)

We spoke several times throughout the conference. Her name is Jill S. Alexander (BTW) She's sweet as pie. I swear, children's literature people are the nicest people on the whole entire earth!

Consequently, I bought her book, The Sweetheart of Prospect County, and I read it in 2 nights. That's a big deal, seeing that I read it during the conference. They keep you going at conferences like this, so it was no easy feat to stay up in order to read a book. However, I read Jill's book. I laughed. I cried. I stayed up way later than I should have. As a matter of fact, I bought a book for myself and I bought an extra to use as a book giveaway, here! On my blog! Might I dub Jill as the Sweetheart of Children's Literature? She deserves it!

Prepare for a book giveaway! Not today, but in the near future.

Not only has Jill agreed to do a future interview, but she will also be a Critter host as well. Stay tuned.

More to come.







Here's a picture of Jill, Critter and her debut novel, The Sweetheart of Prospect county.

I'll blog more about the book, but for now, I have to marvel at our unique meeting. How often does that happen?

I'll tell ya . . . it made the flight delay well-worth it. If you're ever going to get stranded in an airport, Jill is the lady to get stranded with! :0)

The way things work out sometimes . . . it's amazing!