A little perspective, if you will

Yesterday I was reading blogs and there seemed to be quite a few people having troubles with this or that, worried about this or that, wishing for this or that.

I mean, I get it. We all have bad days. We all have days where the rejections get to us, or our kids get to us, or our jobs get to us, whatever.

Last week I found myself wishing I could quit my job and stay home. I thought about how much I would love to stay home and enjoy the summer with my boys, who are getting so big and old and someday in the very near future, will be off doing their own thing in the summertime. But then I thought about all the people who don't have jobs right now, and those who would love to go somewhere like I go for work everyday. Some place where the co-workers are nice and the work isn't so bad you have to stay until eight p.m. every night. Some place where the pay is good and the retirement benefits are even better.

And I think of the important work we do at my place of employment. I think of Bridget Zinn who blogged recently about her Super Awesome nurses at OHSU, Oregon Health & Science University, where I work. I may not be on the front line, caring for people like Bridget, but I'm there, behind the scenes, helping people as I can in my world of Human Resources.

Yeah, so let's stop and think about Bridget for a minute. Read this article about her that ran last week in The Oregonian. If you have another minute, pop up to her name and read her blog.

Next time you are having a bad day, try thinking of Bridget.

On Sunday, I put her name on a prayer card at church. When the pastor said her name, and asked for healing and strength as she battles stage 4 colon cancer, I couldn't keep the tears back.

So yeah, let's think about Bridget. Say a prayer for Bridget if you're so inclined. Go to the auction and bid on something to help her with medical costs.

And then realize the gift that's been given to you this day, and enjoy it.

That's what I'm going to do.

Friday Five in Books

I'm home today, to clean house and hang with the kids. Went to my brother's wedding last night and it was great fun. My kids had so much fun dancing!

Thought I'd quickly share some good books with all of you.

This one, SOUL ENCHILADA by David Macinnis Gill, made me laugh out loud the whoooole way through.



This one, EYES LIKE STARS by Lisa Mantchev, made me wish I could have four little fairies as friends. I think Mustardseed was my favorite. So fun!!



This one, MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD, by Fransisco X. Stark, I'm reading right now and it is incredible.



I'm going to read this one, THE SEASON by Sarah MacLean, next. It's supposed to be sunny for the next 7 days and it seems like the perfect book to read on the patio with a cup of iced tea! I was just looking at goodreads, and wow, everyone LOVES this book.



Hmmm, that's only four. Okay, number five isn't a book, it's a movie. Robert Downey, Jr. AND Jude Law in one movie!! Are you kidding me? Cannot wait!!



Have a great weekend!

Cupcakes, cupcakes, get your cupcakes!

Shame on me, I'm goofing off instead of writing. Going to go for a run, then come back and hunker down before the big b-day party this afternoon. I'm up to 20,000 words on my WIP, so yay me!

Got the final cover for IT'S RAINING CUPCAKES last week. Copy edits are arriving Monday, so things are moving along, although the book won't hit shelves until March, 2010.

This is a mid-grade novel for 8-12 year olds, published by S&S-Aladdin. Here's the jacket copy:

Twelve-year-old Isabel is dying to get out of Oregon. She spends her free time in the library, reading and dreaming about faraway places. When her mom decides to open a cupcake shop in their little town of Willow, Isabel feels like buttercream frosting to a cupcake - stuck. It seems as if it will be another disappointing summer, until Isabel learns of a baking contest in New York City. If she can come up with a winning recipe, she might have a chance of competing in the bake-off!

But Isabel's best friend, Sophie, is also entering the contest, and things always seem to go Sophie's way. To make matter worse, Isabel and her mom don't exactly see eye-to-eye on the type of recipe Isabel should enter.

In this sweet treat by popular teen author Lisa Schroeder, Isabel discovers that maybe it's not about where you go in life as much as it is about enjoying the view from wherever you are.

Two sisters act out I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME

WOW.

This totally gives me chills.

They memorized lines from the book to do this and everything!!

Wow. So cool.

A blog in letters

Dear Agent S.,

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me yesterday. I'm so glad you like the latest YA project! I have been thinking about some of the things you suggested, and I plan to write a new first chapter this weekend, when I have a big chunk of time. I'm excited to move forward on this, and I REALLY appreciate your help. A lot.

Yours truly,
Lisa

***

Dear JCPenney,

This weekend I will be visiting. With two kids and a husband in tow. I hope you have gotten more of a selection in your young men's section than the last time we visited. The kids need some slacks and a nice shirt for a wedding in a few weeks. We don't want a suit, nor do we want t-shirts and shorts. Something in between, although you seem to have trouble with that concept. Think about it - there is more to life than the beach and funerals.

Yours truly,
Lisa

***

Dear NBA,

My kids and I have been disappointed to miss The Biggest Loser the past two weeks. Can you pick a different night for games? Please??

Yours truly,
Lisa

***

Dear Jennifer Donnelly,

I know I'm really late reading A NORTHERN LIGHT, and I honestly don't know what took me so long, but I have to tell you that I think your book is in my top ten all-time favorite books. I finished it days ago and still, I find myself thinking about Mattie and hoping she's okay. What a story. Thank you!

Yours truly,
Lisa

***

Dear Maureen Johnson,

You did an incredible thing in April, implementing BEDA, encouraging people to blog everyday in April. Alas, I didn't join in, but I'm now doing my own thing for May called ANOBIMWI, otherwise known as Almost No Blogging in May, Write Instead. Yes, I realize if everyone participated in ANOBIMWI, what a sad blogging world it would be. But I have a big book to write, not to mention an author's event, a wedding, a kid's birthday, Mother's day, Memorial day, Free Comic Book day, the Wolverine movie, and ten other things I could list but won't.

Without you, I probably wouldn't have come up with ANOBIMWI, so thanks!

Yours truly,
Lisa

***

Dear friends,

If you read Author2Author, I'll see you there every Friday. If not, I'll see you in June! I'll miss you. Be good!! Remember, the Beatles said it best - love is all you need. And in case you don't believe me...



Love,
Lisa

Book recommendation - YOU ARE HERE

So, the last two book recommendations I did, WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson and IF I STAY by Gayle Forman BOTH made the NYT bestseller list. Coincidence? Maybe not! Maybe I have the touch! :)

By the way, I buy and read a lot of books by friends in the blogging community, but I don't necessarily do a Book Recommendation. I'm using this feature for those special times I get an ARC and can do a nice little review before the book is out, to help with the buzz and all that. But anyway, I digress. This is not supposed to be about me, it's supposed to be about Jennifer E. Smith's latest book, YOU ARE HERE. Isn't the cover beautiful?



I loved Jennifer's first book, THE COMEBACK SEASON. LOVED it! So of course I said yes when I was asked if I might read an ARC of YOU ARE HERE and provide a little quote for the book if I was so inclined.

Jennifer writes the way I wish I could write. Beautiful prose with little treasures on every page. And her characters are richly developed and unique. In YOU ARE HERE, we meet Emma who has never felt like she fit in with the rest of her family. When Emma discovers a birth certificate and a death certificate for a twin brother she never knew, she feels like maybe there's a reason she hasn't felt completely whole, and feels the need to go searching for her other half. Her next door neighbor, Peter, has been wishing for a way to escape the small town they live in and ends up coming along, making for an interesting, and endearing, road trip.

The cover of the book will say, "YOU ARE HERE doesn't just take you on a memorable road trip, it takes you on a journey of the heart." ~ Lisa Schroeder, author of I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME

YOU ARE HERE is released May 19, 2009, but you can pre-order it from Powell's Books if you'd like.

Happy reading!

This doesn't help my obsession with Taylor Swift

If I had to list my top ten albums of all time, it would be really, really hard. Maybe even impossible.

But one of the ten would most likely be Def Leppard's Pyromania. It came out my sophomore year in high school and it brings back incredible memories. And "Photograph" is probably one of my all time favorite songs.

I think another of the ten would be Taylor Swift's latest, called Fearless. I've played it more times than I should probably admit. Her song writing abilities are incredible, and I love the music and her voice and well, everything! A few months ago, when S&S asked me a set of questions for their new web site, one of them was if I could change places with anyone, who would I choose. I said no one, because I do like my life, but it would be SO FUN to be Taylor Swift for one day.

And so, when I saw on Jay Asher's blog that CMT did a Crossroads (a special feature where they mix a country star and a rock star or band and have them perform together) starring Taylor Swift and Def Leppard, I immediately went to my DVR and searched for it. And happy day, I found it and have watched it more than once, because it is an hour of awesomeness.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a little bit of awesome just for you.

Taylor Swift   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos