Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

Mmmmm... Dr. Seuss Cupcakes!!!

Want the recipe?

All you have to do is answer the following question. You'll find the answer in my new novel, Sprinkles and Secrets:

What is the name of Sophie's Mom's home-based business?

Isabel's Mom's business is It's Raining Cupcakes. But what is Sophie's Mom's called?

Send the answer to: lisaschroederbooks(at)gmail.com (with @ instead of at) no later than Friday, October 14th, and I'll send everyone who gets it right the recipe on October 14th.

Good luck and happy reading!

Monday Motivation - the first draft is YOUR story

"Writing is rewriting... If you fall in love with the vision you want of your work and not your words, the rewriting will become easier." - Nora DeLoach

I love that quote. The first draft is about getting the story down that you want to tell. The words might not be the right ones. The scenes might not be the right ones. The characters may be flat and dull. But it's okay. Write because you have a story to tell and fall in love with that story. Later, you will revise to take care of all those things.

Just get the story down - and let yourself fall in love with it.

I've been writing 1,000 words a day on my WIP. Sometimes I go back and tinker with earlier chapters, and I know some writers don't let themselves do that because they'll do that forever. But for ME, that tinkering often helps me get back into the story - back into the world that can be hard to reenter at times.

That's the thing about first drafts. We have to figure out what works for each of us. I've learned what works for me. I now know I can do 1,000 words a day pretty easily in an hour or two, if I open the document, read some of the previous day's work, tinker if necessary, and start writing.

I also know that the reentry is easiest if I leave off in the middle of a scene, in a place where I can pick right up and keep going. Sometimes I leave myself notes to remind myself what I want to happen. But I now know it's so much easier to get writing when I've left off in the middle of something rather than the beginning of a new chapter. Blank pages are HARD, so I try to avoid them as much as possible when writing a first draft.

Figure out what works for you. Write to get the story down. Remember, it's YOUR story in the first draft. Don't worry about anyone else. Write for yourself. Fall in love with it.

There's plenty of time later to do the work to make other people fall in love with it.

Winner!!

Thanks to everyone who entered for the Leisl & Po contest.

The winner is Kate!!! 

 Kate I'll be e-mailing you to get your mailing address. Congratulations and thanks again. Happy Friday!!

I love my job

Tuesday, the US women's soccer team was at NIKE World Headquarters, where my husband works. They had let employees know that they were allowed to come out from 3:30 to 5:30 and see the women play, get some autographs, have hamburgers and hot dogs, etc. It was really meant to be a celebration of this great team. My husband asked me if I wanted to come down, and it was such a beautiful afternoon, how could I say no?

The CEO of NIKE took the field with a microphone and asked Coach Pia and Abby Wambach some questions before the women started playing.

There was a moment, toward the end, where Abby said, "I feel so lucky to do what I love. I have the best job in the world." Coach Pia then piped up with, "No, I think I have the best job in the world." And then the CEO said, "And I think I do."

I thought to myself, Well, really, I do.

And as I watched Abby kick the ball around with her teammates later, I thought, every day, they go out there and do their best. They play because they love it. Yes, girls look up to them, and yes, they inspire others to be the best they can be, and so much more.

But ultimately, it's all about the love they have for the game they are playing.

And so it is with us, writers.

I love books. I love reading. I love writing. Yes, there are bad days. Yes, some days it's really, really hard. I bet Abby would say the same thing about her job.

But in the end, I really do love it. And that's what it comes down to in the end.

Happy Book Birthday and Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

It's here, it's here, September 20th is here!

It's the official release date of Sprinkles and Secrets.

Here's my final surprise for you!

Because SO many kids e-mailed me asking if I had the Dr. Seuss cupcake recipe from It's Raining Cupcakes, I went ahead and developed a recipe! Do you remember the Dr. Seuss cupcakes? She decides to try a Dr. Seuss cupcake at a very special bakery toward the end of It's Raining Cupcakes.

If you'd like to have the recipe, all you have to do is e-mail me the answer to this question at lisaschroederbooks(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @) by Friday, October 14th, and on October 15th, I'll send everyone who gets the question right the recipe as an attachment.

Here is the question: What is the name of Sophie's Mom's home-based business? 

Keep in mind, this is SOPHIE, not Isabel. The answer is NOT It's Raining Cupcakes. You have to read Sprinkles and Secrets to find out the answer to this question!

Happy reading and good luck!

And finally, here is the last Fun with Cupcakes video. Guess what I'm reading to my cupcake friends?

Giveaway - ARC of LEISL & PO

As you probably know, the day we've been counting down to is almost here!! Make sure you stop by tomorrow because I have a one last surprise to announce, and if you plan on reading Sprinkles and Secrets, you definitely want to hear about this surprise!

But today is a different kind of surprise. Today I want to give away a really special middle grade novel because as much as I love reading YA, MG novels have a special place in my heart. I love them in a different way. The 10-year-old reader in me gets SO excited about a heart-warming MG read.

A friend picked up an Advanced Review Copy of this book for me at ALA, and I really enjoyed it. And I want to give some lucky reader a chance to enjoy it too.

Yes, this is the highly anticipated LEISL AND PO, written by NYT bestselling author Lauren Oliver. Lauren, like me, writes YA and MG, and she does both with incredible talent. Wow.

I loved this book. Loved with a capital L. It's really like nothing I've ever read before. Here's the description from Goodreads:

Leisl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice -- until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Leisl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Leisl and Po, it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

So what do you have to do to enter to win? 

For one entry - just comment here.

For another entry, I'd love it if you'd help spread the word about Sprinkles and Secrets somehow. I don't care how, you can tweet about this contest, post the cover of my book on your facebook or blog, share one of my "Fun with Cupcakes" videos somewhere. It's up to you! Just help spread the word, and you are entered again. And this contest is open INTERNATIONALLY!!!!

In the comments, just let me know what you did, and that's it! (Make sure you let me know how to contact you, too, if you don't have contact info. on your blog).

GOOD LUCK!!! I'll pick a winner Wednesday, September 21st, 9:00 pm EST.

The Friday Five

1. Let's start with this, shall we? Oh Vampire Diaries, you did NOT disappoint. I laughed when Damon got out of the bubble bath and walked through the house. Yeah, the director knows how to give the viewers what they want. That scene at the end, where Stefan calls Elana? *Sob* Overall, what a fantastic episode - so much going on!

2. I said on twitter one day this week, when lots of people seemed to be talking about new shows this season, that I am glad I'm not alone in my love for good TV. For me, it can be really hard to turn the writerly brain off. And a good TV show helps me do that. I also think studying story, in whatever means, is never a bad thing.

3. My teens seem to be adjusting to the school year okay. Partly because I am the sleep nazi, and make them go to bed between 9 and 9:30. My older one reads for a while, which is fine, I just want to make sure they get 8-9 hours of sleep on school nights. They need it! And the bus comes at 7:10, which is early. An interesting side note, this summer, when they could sleep in, they would sleep 10-12 hours a night. The 16 YO grew 2 inches over the summer, the 14 YO 3 inches!! Wow.

4. Some exciting nomination news - The Day Before is on the consideration lists for YALSA's Quick Picks AND Best Fiction for Young Adults. Yay!!! And I'm thrilled Chasing Brooklyn is a Missouri Gateway Preliminary Nominee. My agent has 3 clients on that list, which I think is awesome.

5. Sorry the blog has pretty much been all Sprinkles all the time! I'm sure regular readers are tired of it, but for people who happen to stop by after reading It's Raining Cupcakes, I wanted to make sure the information about Sprinkles and Secrets was front and center. I have a couple of more things planned next week, and then no more book releases for a long time. Kind of sad. But you know what I'll be doing - writing new books!!! Oh, and revising the ones I sold this year I suppose. :)