My recent reading of Little Leona at the Wellness House made the paper! You can find it in the My Time section of today's Annapolis Sunday Capital. It was wonderful to read to the kids. After the reading, we went outside to talk to the firemen. Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes, they got called away on an emergency, but we were able to wave goodbye and I'm sure the kids got a thrill out of watching the lights and hearing the sirens.
The weather outside is frightful, but inside Greetings and Readings today (from 3:30-5), it's delightful! Okay, okay. I'm playing with words way too much. Still, if you need another Christmas present for a child, come to my book signing this afternoon. See, even Santa thinks this is a good idea!
I've included a new link to the video below. Fox45 will undoubtedly take their link down at some point, so I've put the interview on Vimeo so it will always be available.
Fox45 Baltimore TV Interview with Patrice Sanders and Jae Sherwood
Thank you Patrice (of Fox45) for being so nice and welcoming. Thank you Cherrie, for landing me this interview and being my constant cheerleader. Thank you to all my family and friends who told me to "break a leg". Thank you, Bobby, for providing me with attention grabbing illustrations. And thank you Jeff, for all your love and support and for taking my hand when sheer terror overcame me. Here's a link to the interview. Enjoy.
http://foxbaltimore.com/morning/childrens-book-on-fire-safety
Heather Walsh, of Cool Progeny (www.coolprogeny.com) now has my book signing (Greetings and Readings, Saturday, December 17 from 3:30-5) in her calendar of events. Cool Progeny is "a resource for maryland parents raising fun, fashionable, active little thinkers -- and mechanism for connecting them with local family-friendly businesses and services." Thanks Heather!
How exciting! I'll be on this Friday, December 16 at 8:15 am, give or take a minute or two. The channel is Fox 45, WBFF, Baltimore. Hope you can tune in to see me talk about Little Leona and fire safety. It's a live interview, so please wish me luck.
Little Leona of Monsters and Fire is now being sold at Greetings and Readings at the Hunt Valley Mall. I'll be doing a book signing there Saturday, December 17 from 3:30-5:00. I've included their event page below if you want to preorder a book for me to sign on Saturday. Think holiday gifts and fire safety. So many fires are started this time of the year. It's so unfortunate, but we must do everything possible to keep people safe, especially the children!
Thank you to all the kids that showed up to listen to me read Little Leona. We had fun especially when the fire department showed up and then left with lights on and sirens blaring. How exciting!
I'll be reading Little Leona at the Eastport Library (near West Marine) this Saturday. Just got over a case of laryngitis, so I'm good to go!
I know, I know. I'm not exactly like Leona. The blonde wig I bought was quite long so I had to cut off most of the hair. And I didn't have a blue dress, so I borrowed my husband's blue shirt as well as his tie. And though you can't see it under all of that hair, I am wearing mismatched earrings!
What a wonderful time I had reading to the kids at the Wellness House on Saturday. We had a great time talking about fire safety which ended with the Anne Arundel Fire Department showing up in their hook and ladder truck. Then, just at the end of their talk, they got a call and were gone in an instant with lights flashing and sirens screaming. How exciting for everyone. As they left we all shouted, "Be safe!"
I am so pleased to be reading at the Wellness House in October. The fire department will also be on hand, which should be very exciting. I can't wait to see the kids' faces when the firemen show up.
Meet Cherrie Woods of eclecticPR. It's been hard to market Leona and still have time to write new things (and keep up with my blogging). So I've hired Cherrie as my PR agent. She's already looking for bookstores to stock my book, setting up book signings and helping me to increase my exposure. Cherrie is great to work with. I feel at ease with her knowledge and "can do" attitude. I'm particularly excited that the holiday season is just a few short months away. With Cherrie's help, I'm hoping to sell lots of books in the coming months.
The BFF was amazing. The weather was perfect and my table was within easy sight of the harbor. All day long I watched cruise ships load and unload passengers and the when the pirate ship came by, the kids aimed their water hoses toward shore. There was a gentle breeze that kept us all cool and lots and lots of people. This is a picture of my display. I'm doing my best Vanna White imitation. I got particularly inspired with my plastic fire--I threaded a string of LED lights to make it glow. Above my head I strung orange (always in the fire theme!) Halloween lights. I was determined to make my booth stand out. I sold several books and made contact with a literacy group in Baltimore. Hopefully more on that later... Just sorry I couldn't explore more of the festival. It stretched all along the waterfront. Thousands of people came.
I'm launching a new website for my Little Leona series. I'm hoping to publish my second Little Leona book in the next six months. The previous website, www.oflyricandline.com , is still up and it will be my author website for other poems and essays. You can get to the new website with this link, www.little-leona-books.com. Please let me know if any part of the website is problematic. I've checked it and double checked it, but something always slips through the cracks. On the contact page you can write your comments. You can also subscribe here by giving me your email address. I will send news right to your email of any publicity, readings or events I'm attending. For now, please remember that I'll be at the Baltimore Book Festival tomorrow, Saturday, September 24 from 11-7. You can find me near the visitor's center. I have two other readings coming up, but more about those later... Hope you enjoy the new website.