2016 Writing Life Highlights

It's December 31st again and for the last 8 years I pop over to my blog and sum up my writing life for the past year, month by month. I'm feeling a bit lazy today so I'm going to sum it up in pictures. :-) It's been a great year. My middle grade novel, Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker came out and received rave reviews across the board. I attended conferences, signings, and school visits. And I wrote so, so much this year. My resolution last year was to write more and I sure did. I didn't add up the words but I completed three full books and wrote three partial books. That's pretty awesome for me! I hope you've had a wonderfully productive year as well! Happy New Year!

Until next year...

Online Chat Tomorrow Night! 7pm Central. Join me!

I'll be answering questions and chatting online tomorrow night at Night Owl Reviews.

Location: Online at: https://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Chats

Time: 5pm Pacific / 6pm Mountain / 7pm Central / 8pm Eastern

Duration: About 1 Hour

You can RSVP now at the below link:
https://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Chats#EntryForm

RSVP Benefits:

* The RSVP gives readers entry into the evenings prizes (must be an active chatter at the event)
* A reminder email around 30 minutes before the event starts.

Those who don't RSVP can participate and still sign-up to get prizes. They just won't get the reminder email.

Hope to see you there!

6 Signings This Weekend in Illinois! Come see me!

This weekend, June 10th-June 12th is the first ever B-Fest at Barnes & Nobles across the country! So cool! I'll be chatting and signing (and participating in a panel) at 6 different times/locations. If you're nearby one, please come see me!

Great Review for Cici!

Such a lovely review from Librarian's Quest! Click HERE to read the rest!

Tween You & Me Giveaway

Visit Tween You & Me to enter a giveaway of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker and read our interview!

Cici Reno is Top Pick

Cici Reno ‪#‎MiddleSchoolMatchmaker‬ is a "Top Pick" at Night Owl Reviews!

"Cici is the one with all the answers! When her friends have issues it’s her they go to. So when her friend Aggie comes back from a trip with two new friend’s boys won't leave her alone. So it’s Cici to the rescue. In this short very cute story readers will find that sometimes you fall for the wrong person and well you can't help who you fall for. It’s a very cute story to introduce readers to contemporary writing.

Go Into This One Knowing: This book is cute and contemporary."

Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Online Launch Party!!

Today’s the day! Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker is out in the world and to celebrate I’m giving away awesome prizes ALL DAY on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! You can enter one or all! Keep reading for pictures of the prizes and instructions. 

On Facebook all day (Prize Pack #1):

Prize Pack #1 includes: Lauren Conrad Yoga-themed Wear & Share Necklaces, Hashtag Post-it Note Pad, Yoobi Gel Pens, Yoga Girl Zipper Pull, Luxe Watercolor Temporary Tattoo Sheets, Funky Fingers Nail Polish, and Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Bookmark

Rules: Like, comment, or share (or do all three for three entries!) to enter. Entrants will be assigned a number and winner will be randomly chosen at conclusion of contest. Open to US participants only. Contest concludes at 11pm central, 4/19/16. Winner will be contacted via Facebook 4/20/16. Announced on Facebook after winner response.

On Twitter at 8am (Prize Pack #2):

Prize Pack #2 includes: Lauren Conrad Wear & Share Necklaces, Hashtag Post-it Note Pad, Yoobi Gel Pens, Yoga Girl Zipper Pull, Luxe Metallic Jewelry Temporary Tattoo Sheets, Funky Fingers Nail Polish, and Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Bookmark

On Twitter at noon (Prize Pack #3):

Prize Pack #3 includes: Lauren Conrad Yoga-themed Wear & Share Necklaces, Hashtag Post-it Note Pad, Yoobi Gel Pens, Yoga Girl Zipper Pull, Luxe Watercolor Temporary Tattoo Sheets, Funky Fingers Nail Polish, and Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Bookmark

On Twitter at 4pm (Prize Pack #4):

Prize pack #4 includes: Lauren Conrad Wear & Share Necklaces, Hashtag Post-it Note Pad, Yoobi Gel Pens, Yoga Girl Zipper Pull, On the Verge Temporary Tattoo Sheets, and Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Bookmark

Rules: Retweet to enter. Entrants will be assigned a number and winner will be randomly chosen at conclusion of contest (End times for Prize Pack #2: noon, Prize Pack #3: 4pm, and Prize Pack #4: 8pm central, 4/19/16). Open to US participants only. Winners will be contacted via Twitter on 4/19/16. Announced on Twitter after winners’ responses.

On Instagram all day (Prize Pack #5):

Prize pack #5 includes: Lauren Conrad Wear & Share Necklaces, Hashtag Post-it Note Pad, Yoobi Gel Pens, Yoga Girl Zipper Pull, Luxe Metallic Jewelry Temporary Tattoo Sheets, Glitter Nail Polish, and Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Bookmark

Rules: Like, comment, or share (or do all three for three entries!) to enter. Entrants will be assigned a number and winner will be randomly chosen at conclusion of contest. Open to US participants only. Contest concludes at 11pm central, 4/19/16. Winner will be contacted via direct message on Instagram on 4/20/16. Announced on Instagram after winner response.

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Thanks for helping me celebrate the release of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker! And don’t forget to check out Cici Reno at any of these outlets:

B&N 

Amazon

Indiebound

Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchMaker Blog Tour!

I'm visiting a lot of book blogger web sites for the next few weeks with fun interviews and guest blog posts. Check them out!

4/19- Always in the Middle

4/19-YayOMG

4/20- Tales Between the Pages

4/21- Tween You and Me

4/22- Teach Mentor Texts

4/25- Librarians Quest

4/26- Cassandra M's Place

4/27- Reviews Coming at YA

4/27- The Mixed Up Files of Middle Grade Authors

4/28- Smack Dab in the Middle

4/29- All the Wonders

5/2- Literary Hoots

5/3- Diapers and Daydreams

5/4- Insatiable Readers

5/5- Kid Lit Reviews

5/6- Unleashing Readers

Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker releases today!

“Middle school is a test, but Cici Reno has all the answers. She's the go-to girl for advice. She's cool, she's funny, and she's enlightened (thanks to yoga classes at her mom's studio). So when her pretty BFF, Aggie, is too shy to speak to the boy she's crushing on, Cici goes online and does the talking for her. The only problem is, Cici starts to fall for the guy herself! For the first time in her life. she doesn't have a clue.”

“Interspersed with Twitter feeds and yoga poses, this clever twist on Cyrano de Bergerac will win over the hearts of middle-schoolers, particularly those feeling shy or awkward themselves, as well as reluctant readers.” –Booklist

“A surprisingly successful, suspenseful, and engrossing take on the Cyrano story with a contemporary twist.”—Kirkus

Find Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker at any of these outlets:

B&N

Amazon 

Indiebound

Great Review of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker

Here's a really nice review from Mom Read It:

"Cici Reno is a fun intro to crush and romantic fiction for tweens, and a sneaky/smart way to introduce the classic tale, Cyrano de Bergerac, to middle schoolers. It’s a classic tale of miscommunication that fits perfectly with today’s kids, who largely interact online. I also love the introduction and description to various yoga poses, and the mental/emotional benefits of each, that Cici Tweets out at the beginning of each chapter. Not only does it gives readers a clue as to what’s going to happen in the upcoming chapter, it offers a little bit of yoga instruction that I appreciate and hope tweens will take the bait and discover on their own.

Cici is a likable character. She’s not a mean girl; she’s not vapid; she’s a realistic tween who does a favor for her shy friend, with the best of intentions, and finds herself stuck in a situation she didn’t expect. Aggie is a surprisingly supportive best friend; I normally find myself irritated with the classic “best friend breakdown” formula that many books fall into, but Cici and Aggie avoided all that by simply talking things out. Thank you for that, Ms. Springer! It’s going to be a talking point when I booktalk this one, because I will be adding this to my shelves for summer reading. I think the use of social media and miscommunication will fit nicely with my tweens, and it gives me a great jumping off point for a discussion on how you can pretend to be someone else online – and, in classic devil’s advocate mode, how someone shy and/or introverted can use social media to interact more comfortably than he or she would feel in person."

Online Launch Party TOMORROW!

Cici Reno ‪#‎MiddleSchoolMatchMaker‬ releases TOMORROW! Check back on 4/19 for the all-day online launch party. Cici Reno-themed prizes given out all day on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Cici Reno & My Kids

One of the exciting parts of my new book coming out for me has been my kids (ages 7, 9, 11, & 13) reaction. This is the first of my books where they are actually interested! They were usually too small to care with previous books or the content was too mature for their age level. They've asked me to read  a couple of chapters of Cici Reno to them every night and they get so into it. It's fun to hear where they giggle and what parts make them gasp. And with this book there's a strong yoga angle-- the main character Cici tweets at the beginning of each chapter with a yoga pose and what it benefits. Each time I read that part to the kids they jump up and try out the pose. We've just finished reading the whole book and it's been so much fun!

Here they are in Warrior Pose.

Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker #bookquotes #twitter

One Week Until Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchMaker Releases!

ONE WEEK until Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchMaker releases! Check back on 4/19 for the all-day online launch party. Cici Reno-themed prizes given out all day on Facebook, Twitter , and Instagram . Or check back HERE on the blog!

2 Weeks Until Release!

LRC Discoveries #2

Another day volunteering at my kid's jr. high library!! And this time I didn't just shelve books I got to cover new ones too. SO MUCH FUN. I really need to get a part-time library job don't I? Anyway, here are this week's gems I found while shelving to add to my TBR pile.

First up, The Boy Problem by Kami Kinard (Scholastic Press/April 2014). I'm a sucker for a good title and a cute cover and this one had both. Then I saw the description:

"Tabitha 'Tabbi' Reddy believes in signs. Like fortune cookies. Magic 8-Balls. Shooting stars. And this year, she hopes, looking for the right signs will lead her to the right boy Inspired by her BFF, Kara (star of THE BOY PROJECT), Tabbi starts her own 'project' in the hopes of finding a cute crush. With the help of a math lesson on probability, Tabbi tries to predict who the right boy for her might be Where is she most likely to meet him? What is he most likely to look like? Full of fun illustrations, hilarious equations, and lessons in cupcake-baking, life, love, and friendship, this book has a 100% probability of awesomeness. A perfect 'next step' for fans of DORK DIARIES."

Predicting the right boy for her? I love it!

Next up:

Lily B. on the Brink of Love by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (Harper Collins/December 2006). It's an oldie but it looks so good! This is why I love shelving at the junior high LRC! At the book club I visited with last one of the 5th graders asked me, "Do you notice you write about falling in love a lot?" I hadn't really thought about it but yep, I'm a sucker for love stories. Anyway, check out Lily B.:

"Aspiring author and eighth-grader Lily Blennerhassett hones her writing skills as her school newspaper's advice columnist while also trying to get her first crush, The Boy, to notice her."

Sounds super cute! The last pick this week is:

Unfriended by Rachel Vail (Viking Children's/September 2014). I haven't read this yet but seeing it reminded me that it has to move up on the list. I'm dying to see how all the social media stuff plays out in the book.

"In middle school, nothing is more important than friendship. 

When Truly is invited to sit at the Popular Table with the group she has dreamed of joining, she can hardly believe her luck. Everyone seems so nice, so kind to one another. But all is not as it seems with her new friends, and soon she's caught in a maelstrom of lies, misunderstandings, accusations and counter-accusations, all happening very publicly in the relentless, hyperconnected social media world from which there is no escape.

Six eighth-graders, four girls and two boys, struggle to understand and process their fractured glimples into one another's lives as they find new ways to disconnect, but also to connect, in Rachel Vail's richest and most searching book."

Sounds good right? My days need to be longer so I can read ALL the books!

Two Months Until Cici Reno Releases! Plus Booklist Review!

Two months from today Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker releases! Plus, another great review is in. This one from Booklist!

Valentine Reads

Looking for a good book this Valentine's Day?

Start with this one, GIRL ONLINE by Zoe Sugg.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of this one and you guys, it's so, SO good. I picked it up randomly. I hadn't heard anything about it or seen any mention of it (maybe because it's a UK author and just didn't get as much promo here?) but it's legit amazing. Zoe is a celebrity blogger in the UK and this is her first novel. The love story that develops between Noah and Penny is one of the best I've ever heard in YA. Like, take a seat John Green and let Zoe up front kind of stuff. And there is the most epic telling-off-a-mean-girl scene I've ever seen in it. You have to get it for that alone! I loved the audiobook and the woman who read it was fantastic. And while I did check out a copy of the audiobook from the library it's legit good enough that I just ordered a copy of the book online so I can read it again. Love, love, love it!

Here are two more books that I didn't have a chance to read yet but just entered my TBR pile.

One or Two Things I learned about Love by Dylan Sheldon.

"If this first love is true love, why can’t Hildy hang out with her friends without feeling guilty? Dyan Sheldon takes on the possessive side of summer romance with humor and insight. Hildy has only had two-and-a-half dates in her whole life, and she isn’t counting the half. It’s starting to look as if she’s never going to have a third date, or be kissed, or know a boy who is more than just a friend. Then, on an ordinary day, she meets Connor of the melt-that-ice-cap smile — and a summer that was going to be ordinary as toast turns into Hildy’s summer of love. But love for Hildy is a little more complicated than the songs and movies have led her to believe. It’s not so much girl-meets-boy-and-loses-her-heart as boy-meets-girl-and-loses-his-mind. Part cautionary tale and part romantic comedy, Dyan Sheldon’s wry, diary-style novel weighs in on all ends of the relationship scale in a story of first love."

And the Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance.

"Twelve-year-old Quentin never asked to be the Heartbreak Messenger. It just kind of happened, and he can't let a golden opportunity pass him by. The valuable communication service he offers is simple: He delivers breakup messages. For a small fee, he will deliver that message to your soon-to-be ex. If you order the deluxe package, he'll even throw in some flowers and a box of chocolates. You know . . . to soften the blow.

At first, Quentin's entrepreneurial brainchild is surprisingly successful, which is great, because he suspects his mom, who works as a car mechanic, is worried about money. But as he interacts with clients, message recipients, and his best friend, Abigail, it doesn't take long for him to wonder if his own heart will remain intact. In The Heartbreak Messenger by Alexander Vance, Quentin discovers that the game of love and the emotions that go with it are as complicated as they come—even for an almost-innocent bystander."

Hope one of these strikes your fancy! Happy Valentine's Day Reading!

LRC Discoveries #1

I may have mentioned before on my blog that I love to volunteer at my kids' schools. One of my fave volunteer gigs is working in the junior high LRC. While shelving books I find GEMS that I must add to my TBR pile. Here are two of this week's LRC Discoveries:

First up, The League of Unexceptional Children by Gitty Daneshvari (Little Brown/October 2015). The title grabbed me right away. What? Ordinary kids? No super powers, shape-shifting, head cheerleader, or varsity football players? Then I opened the flap and saw: 

"When people say that 'the children are the future,' they aren't talking about me."

- Jonathan Murray, 12 

Evanston, Virginia

Omg, you won me over. How flippin' funny is this? Then I read the description:

"Are you average? Normal? Forgettable? If so, the League of Unexceptional Children is for you! This first book in a hilarious new adventure series is for anyone who's struggled to be noticed in a sea of above-average overachievers.

What is the League of Unexceptional Children? I'm glad you asked. You didn't ask? Well, you would have eventually and I hate to waste time. The League of Unexceptional Children is a covert network that uses the nation's most average, normal, and utterly unexceptional children as spies. Why the average kids? Why not the brainiacs? Or the beauty queens? Or the jocks? It's simple: People remember them. But not the unexceptionals. They are the forgotten ones. Until now!"

I have to read this! Next up?

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly (Roaring Brook/Jan 2011). How did I miss this one? This is why I love shelving at the junior high LRC. I missed this when it came out five years ago but it sounds so darn cute and I must read it now. Check it out:

"When two self-professed middle school drama geeks––Isabelle and Annie (a.k.a. Cisco and The Bean)––fail at their attempts in romance, they start Flirt Club, an after school support group for similarly afflicted friends who decide to take decisive and strategic action with hilarious and touching results."

Adorable! And it's told through notes and journal entries so I must check it out!

Head to #Goodreads to Win one of 10 ARCs of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker!

Head over to Goodreads for a chance to win one of 10 advanced copies of Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker!

Three Months Until Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchmaker Release!

In just three short months the first Cici Reno book will be out! The first review from Kirkus came in and it's awesome! They said,

"Told with a female protagonist, Springer’s shrewd update of the Cyrano de Bergerac story uses it as the perfect prism for middle school girls, demonstrating how hitting puberty at different times can affect social status, love relationships, and friendship."

"For a light, rather humorous novel, it’s a surprisingly potent theme, and it also brings up an interesting point: how these bodily changes are hard on the girls who develop early as well as on the ones who develop later."

"A surprisingly successful, suspenseful, and engrossing take on the Cyrano story with a contemporary twist."

Cici Reno also made her debut at ALA Midwinter in Boston this past weekend. The book was mentioned at the #ReadNRave and here in the Midwinter Read 'n Rave Report.

And Sterling gave away so many advanced copies at their booth! Too cool!

Remember, you can pre-order Cici Reno #MiddleSchoolMatchMaker anytime before the release date (April 19th) and I'll send you free gift!