Want to win HAUNTED and the Sunday seven

Various contests up and about with HAUNTED giveaways, thanks to bloggers, author/bloggers and other kind souls.

Want to win a copy of HAUNTED?

Author Janet Fox (Faithful and the Forthcoming Forgiven) has an interview with me and a contest!
http://kidswriterjfox.blogspot.com/2011/02/voices-you-should-hear-joy-preble.html

And Blogger Book Whisperer does, too!

http://book-whisperer.blogspot.com/2011/02/book-tour-haunted-by-joy-preble-and.html

Very cool!

Now for the Sunday seven:

1. tomorrow's blog post will be about matryoshka dolls, which play a huge role in the Dreaming Anastasia series. (Yes this will be my Valentine's post. Yes, there's a reason!)
And later this week, Crystal Allen!

2. Finally watched EasyA last night. Very very funny. Even a tad poignant.

3. Can't decide if I want to watch Waiting for Superman when it comes out next week. I'm not a fan of those who claim that they have THE ANSWER to our educational woes. Cause you know what? They don't. It's never that simple. Okay, actually it is. You want to know the secret to good schools? Here it is: a.Highly educated teachers who are masters of their subject matter. (ie - Don't hire an English teacher who hasn't read Shakespeare and who couldn't step in and competently teach any grade level. Or a math teacher who can't teach more than algebra. Just don't do it.) B. Parents who care and who take the time to follow their kids' progress. Really follow it. Who know what they're learning. Who value learning. And who make it a priority to pass that value on to their kids. Those two would be a good start. Want to sort the good teachers from the weaker ones? Stick your candidates in a room with just a student textbook (no internet or teacher's guide) and paper and pen. Tell them okay - you're going to be teaching a unit on short stories next week. Create it and the activities and assessments that go with it. If they can't do it, don't hire them. End. Of. Story.

4. Bethenney Frankel has a new series coming up. Bethenney - you are like crack to me. I even watched you on Skating with the Stars. I will be there, girlfriend!

5. Brooding Aiden's bitey, bloody, obsessive love affair with the new vamp on Being Human - gross but addictively watchable.

6. Does anyone else notice that Vampire Diaries sometimes recycles Buffy plots? Like next week's ep where Stefan relives his past victims. Didn't Angel do this in Season 3 on the Buffy Christmas episode? Plus others?

7. It is clear that for a woman who teaches six classes, is writing a book that's due in July and attempting to promote the new one PLUS prepare for her son's wedding (got a dress!!! I found a dress!!), that I watch entirely too much tv.

til next time...

Coming Soon: Witches and Mermaids and Guys Who Just Can't be Killed

Vasilisa the Brave peeks at Baba Yaga's chicken leg hut

Excited about some upcoming posts: so excited that I'm doing this little teaser!

I love, love, love the Russian folklore that I use in the Dreaming Anastasisa series. So for the next couple of weeks, I'll be doing posts about the various fairy tales, folklore, and folk art that play such important roles in DA and HAUNTED. Going to be doing at least one contest while I'm at it.

So buckle up! We're going to dive into the world of Baba Yaga and her magic forest and her hut that stands on chicken legs, of rusalkas and matroyshka dolls and lacquer boxes, Vasilisa the Brave and Koschei the Deathless!

HAUNTED Launch Party - post 2

So everyone's been sending HAUNTED launch pictures: Sandy, Ed, Vonna - enough for me to post some more. Anther shot of the sign, some more of the crowd, a closer up of the really cool t shirts that Kelli Webb - who used to be our attendance secretary - created for me. As you can see, it was a great mixed crowd - friends and family and SCBWIers and students, both current and former, plus readers and bloggers, too! If you came up and introduced yourself, I thank you so much for saying hi! And that woman in pink? That's Crystal Allen. I'll be posting an interiew with her any day now. She's not only one of my besties, she's also the author of How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba Sized Trophy, which releases from Harper Collins on 2/22 and has been getting highly desered buzz just about everywhere there's buzz.

See that woman with the camera? That's Vonna Carter, who took a lot of these pictures, although not this one. One of Houston SCBWI's very best.

In Which I Very Much Enjoyed the Haunted Launch Party

Going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Posters, books, t shirt, lovely people. HAUNTED!! Welcome to the world. May readers find you on many shelves, real and virtual. Hugs to you, little book. And look! There was even cake....

Sunday Seven

Do I even have seven? Let's see:

1. Launch party was so much fun yesterday. About 90+ I think... and I know it would have been more if not for the weird weather week, rescheduled sports events, etc. February is s fickle little month, esp if your book launches on the day of the great Chicago blizzard. But so good to meet you all/see you all/give away Haunted t shirts, eat cake... If you took pics, post them/send them/let me see them! I got only a few on my camera... too busy saying hi!

2. Have updated my HAUNTED tour schedule on the website news page. (http://www.joypreble.com)

3. Definitely had a sniffly moment yesterday when I said, "you know, last year at this time...." and talked briefly about last year's thyroid cancer journey. Signed book contract/got diagnosis all in same week. But look at the happy happy ending. Yay for health!

4. Need to write 2k today. Let's see if I do it.

5. Thanks to Roecker Sisters for turning me to GOOP. That's all I'm saying. Oh the humor.

6. Hooked on Being Human on SyFy. Vamp, werewolf, ghost - sharing a house. Loving this show.

7. Vampire Diaires continue to get better and better. Oh Damon. How I love you. I haven't enjoyed an hour of tv this much since the BTVS days.

til next time...
and ONE DAY left (through 2/7) to get your free Dreaming Anastasia download on the ereader of your choice. Just like you always do, only it's free!

THANK YOU one and all for supporting me and HAUNTED. I seriously love my middle book. Hope you do, too!

Ice Day:In Which I Did not meet Lauren Oliver

So the snow didn't happen. But the ice did.

Here are the things I did not get to do today: I did not get to meet one of my writing idols, Lauren Oliver, because she did not make it to Houston yesterday for Blue Willow and The Woodlands B&N today. (She was slated to visit the school where I teach, which was totally wonderful) Lauren - Before I Fall is one of my favorite books of 2010. I've started Delirium and it's equally as fabulous.

I did not have to go teach. (okay, I'm not mourning that one)

Here's what I'm worried about: That the damn ice melts so that everyone can make it to The Woodlands B&N tomorrow at 2 for the HAUNTED launch party. (cake! t shirts! Me!)

That the apocalyptic weather conditions do not muck up book sales - for the lovely Lauren whom I have yet to meet, and for me!

That the husband - trapped at my side right now because the toll road is closed - does not decide to do a noisy, banging man cave project while I'm writing.

Here's what I'm going to do: Write, write, write. Drink coffee. Take pictures of the icicles. Keep an eye out for the elusive snow. (better chance of that eye being poked out by a falling icicle.) Ponder whether the Packers are responsible by bringing their frozen tundra weather to Texas with them.

So hi Lauren Oliver! It would have been lovely to meet you. My signing poster at B&N shares a stand with yours. Hope you come back in the spring!

And the rest of you! Get your butts to The Woodlands Mall B&N tomorrow from 2-4. I'm thrilled to meet you! Or hug you if I already know you! Buy a copy of HAUNTED. Buy a copy of Lauren Oliver's Delirium while you're at it.

Til next time...

(and don't forget - Sourcebooks - my poor little team still stuck in a drift in Chicago - is still offering free downloads of Dreaming Anastasia on the ereader of your choice til 2/7, in honor of Haunted's release. Just do what you'd normally do to buy an e book. Except it will be free!)

Happy Birthday HAUNTED 2/1/11

Happy Birthday, Haunted!

It was a tough, winding road getting you here. But today’s your day. May your life be long and full. A week on that NYTimes list wouldn’t hurt, either, but no pressure. I will always think you’re special.

You survived a crazy teaching and promotion schedule, an editor change, a cancer diagnosis and surgery, and numerous other upheavals. But there you were anyway – the story I wanted.

You’re the middle child. Dreaming Anastasia will always be older. And there’s a third book coming next year. I don’t know what this means, but that’s okay. We’ll both figure it out together.

So go on, little book. I’m kicking you out into the world. (actually, you’ve been sneaking onto shelves for a couple of weeks now. You’re an independent little cuss and I already love that about you) Go. Grab readers by the scruff of their necks. Do your thing.

Xoxo,
Joy

PS – and if anyone needs to catch up on Dreaming Anastasia, Sourcebooks – wonderful folks that they are – is offering free downloads on all e reader devices for one week starting today!! Check it out now!!