School Visits and Book Signings

Just wanted to remind everyone about the book signings this weekend.  The first one will be held on Friday, October 3, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Mountain West Bookstore in Cedar City, Utah.  The address is 111 S. Main in Cedar City.

The second book signing will be on Saturday, October 4, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Deseret Bookstore in St. George, Utah.  The address is 735 South Bluff Street in St. George.

And, on Friday and Monday, I'll be speaking to some English classes at Cedar High School.  I could not be more excited about that!  If anyone from Cedar High is reading this, hello!  I can't wait to visit.  

I am really looking forward to this whole trip.  Southern Utah, here I come!

Recovering Charles

So, I have this friend Jason.  He writes novels that end up on the New York Times Bestseller lists.  How awesome is that?  Awesome, I tell you.  And now he has his latest book out, Recovering Charles.  You can find it on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble's website or at bookstores everywhere.  I was lucky enough to read this book a few months ago and it was wonderful.  I love the ideas of redemption, second chances, and turning things around.  I love the ways those ideas were presented in this very readable and entertaining book about a young man seeking out his father.

Check it out.  You won't be sorry.  

It's Tuesday...

...which means it's the Day that I Remember to Post.  I remembered to post!  I'm so proud.

A few cool things have happened to me this week.  One, I found out that a teacher at a middle school in Texas is using Freshman for President in his classroom.  I was over the moon about that.  I always hoped that someone would someday want to use one of their books in the classroom.  Back when I taught high school in Utah and in New York state, I loved choosing the books that I would get to teach.  Usually, I had to choose from a finite set of books that the school already owned, but there were still so many good books to decide amongst.  I still get nostalgic whenever I see a purple-covered To Kill A Mockingbird sitting on a shelf.  How I loved teaching that book.  Anyway, I know Freshman is no To Kill A Mockingbird, but it made my week to hear that Freshman was being used in a classroom.  

Another cool thing is that I have some television interviews scheduled in October.  Stay tuned for more information.

And one final cool thing.  My baby seems to be sleeping four hours at a stretch at night--a huge improvement!  I hope I didn't just jinx myself by saying that...

Happy Tuesday to all of you!

What to write, and book signings

Sometimes I struggle with what to write on this blog; since it is linked to one specific book, do I only write about topics relating to Freshman for President?  Or should I write more generally about the writing process?  Or should I write about politics?  Ha, ha.  I'm not even going to go there.  

Some news, though.  I found out that I will be doing a couple of signings in the Southern Utah area in October.  Here are the dates and times, in case anyone is interested:

Book Signing

Friday, October 3rd

5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Mountain West Books

111 S. Main Street

Cedar City, Utah

Book Signing at the Deseret Book Ladies' Night Event

Saturday, October 4th

6:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m.

Deseret Book

St. George, Utah

I'll add more events if they come up.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

tour info coming soon

Soon, hopefully, we'll have some tour information scheduled. Originally, Shadow Mountain (my publisher) wanted me to visit about 24 schools (!) but I asked if we could scale it down a little since the baby is so new and it's hard to leave him for more than a few hours.  They were very understanding and agreed that we could cut back a little.  Still, we should be able to announce the modified tour information very soon.  I'm so excited!  I used to teach high school in Utah and New York (as you might know from reading my biography page), so the idea of being able to get back in the classroom is so exciting to me.  I really can't wait.  

I'm also going to try to post more often.  My new goal is to post every Tuesday.  I will do my best but feel free to chastise me if I fail.  I respond well to outside pressure. :)

Thanks for reading!

silent auction

I have never met NieNie in real life, but I have enjoyed lurking on her blog ever since I noticed a link to it on designmom.  NieNie (also known as Stephanie) and her husband have been in an accident and are fighting for their lives.  They have four young children.

Gabrielle from designmom had the idea to host a silent auction on different blogs, offering up fun items for auction.  I think most of the items are tending toward crafty and beautiful and handmade--well, I don't do any of that (how I wish I did!).  But, I do write, so I thought the least I could do was have a silent auction on my blog and contribute one of my books, Freshman for President.  To make it more fun, I'm also adding two other items to the bundle (all brand-new, of course):

*a very fun children's book about a duck who runs for president, titled (appropriately) Duck for President

*a classic political movie, All the President's Men

So, if you would like to bid on this bundle of political-themed joy (all three items are being sold together in a bundle, NOT individually), here's how to do it:

1.  Leave a comment in the comments section with the amount of your bid.  Only even dollar amounts (i.e., $10.00), please.  We don't want to have bidding in penny increments!

2.  Keep an eye on the auction.  Whoever has the highest bid by Saturday night (August 30th) at midnight, MST, will win the auction.

3.  Then, you will donate the amount of your bid to the PayPal account that has been set up in honor of Christian and Stephanie.

4.  And then, you can send me an e-mail at allyATallysoncondieDOTcom and I will send you these three things in the mail right away.

If you would like to learn more about Stephanie and her husband and their recovery, Stephanie's sister keeps a blog with updates on their progress.

Thank you in advance for your generosity, and happy bidding! 

The winner of the Farworld book contest is...

...TEARESE!  

Tearese, will you please e-mail me your address so we can get you your book?  My e-mail address is allyATallysoncondieDOTcom.

Congratulations!  I'm so excited that you won.