2010 Year in Review

What a great year this has been!

It started with a *BANG* with the sale of my third book to FSG, JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS. JYAP comes out in the fall of 2011 so watch for it!

In mid-January I did an event at The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL, with Julie Halpern and Beverley Patt. It was one of my favorite signings with such a fun group and at a lovely store! I'll be back there again on January 29th at 2pm with Elizabeth Eulberg (The Lonely Hearts Club) and Kristin Walker (A Match Made in high School) which I think will be an absolute blast!

February was packed with first the launch party of my friend Kristin Walker's funny book.

And of course the super fun Valentine's Day signing I did with Kristin and Kimberley Pauley.

Then a visit from two of my fave critique partners (Deena from NY and Em from IN) and the annual Anderson's Children's Literature Breakfast.

In March I did a fun visit with the Westmont Junior High Writer's Club, attended the Joliet Library Author Fair, met fellow Deb Carrie Ryan at her Anderson's Bookstore signing (yep, with Kristin Walker again. If you can't tell yet we hang out a lot!),

and I was debut author of the month on Alice Pope's blog!

April consisted of more fun author events like the Fountaindale Library Authors Festival (I'm going back again this April!) in Bolingbrook, IL, and a Reader Meet Author chat at the Borders in Bolingbrook (my fave Borders).

In May I did my first ever Skype school visit (loooove the skype visit! Happy to do them free for schools-- e-mail me for info) and visited with a Young Writers Studio group. And I was revising like crazy (and I do mean crazy. Me and revision-- not so cool. It's probably the hardest part of the whole writing process for me).

June was a blur of end of year school stuff with my kids, swim lessons, and baseball games. And I swore off checking my Amazon rank.

In July I had one long anxiety attack as I realized my book, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, was coming out in August and I needed to order promo, plan a launch book signing, and fill out about a million interviews and guest blog posts. And I launched my new super cute Web site!

In August, I celebrated my new book release!

Early September was the launch book signing.

And two more author fairs in Aurora and Homer Glen.

In October I worked hard at copyedits for JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS, attended the ISLMA Author Showcase, got older (birthday month!), and I about died when my author idol Meg Cabot mentioned me on her blog.

And in November? Things got EVEN BETTER when Meg Cabot wrote a blurb for my book!! I still get giddy even thinking about it! I also had a seriously amazing time on vacation with my family and friends. Looooooove Disney!

And of course this month: a big whirl of fun holiday celebrations with family and friends, the Young Chicago Authors Holiday Book Bash, and my new book trailer celebrating The Espressologist releasing in paperback next week.

Other cool things in the past month or so: The Espressologist was named a 2010 honor book by the Society of School Librarians, Scholastic Book Fairs bought My Fake Boyfriend is Better Then Yours (I can't tell you how much I LOVE the school book fairs and how I can't wait to see my book there!!!) and I also saw the Japanese and Russian versions of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST release (German released in '09). And I sold My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours to Germany too! Foreign sales are the coolest, I'm telling ya.

And moving into 2011 I have one book I'm writing now, one I'm revising, and three more that I've started and need to get back to. Which sometimes feels overwhelming to me but then I remind myself that it's a good place to be: busy!

Happy New Year! I hope your 2011 is amazing!

The Espressologist Paperback

THE ESPRESSOLOGIST comes out in paperback on Tuesday, January 4th! Here's the super cute trailer for the book.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays to you! I hope you're all having a lovely Christmas Eve! So far mine has been great. Started with some major cooking at my mom's with the ladies in the family. Lots of fun and I finally learned how to make Pierogi and Bohemian Braid Bread. And I'm so looking forward to tonight when everyone comes over for pizza and Christmas movies. And of course the big day tomorrow! I wish Christmas could last for weeks!

Egg Nog Lattes

I love this time of year! All of the decorating, shopping, cookie making, AND yummy coffee drinks! I’m going to share a fave around my house: Egg Nog Lattes!

Kristina’s YUMMY Egg Nog Latte

1) Combine ½ cup of egg nog with ¼ cup of milk in a steaming pitcher.

2) Pour the steamed egg nog/milk into a mug.

3) Make two shots of espresso.

4) Pour the shots of espresso into the mug of milk.

5) Stir.

6) Garnish drink with a pinch of nutmeg.

It’s soooooo good! Here’s a picture of one I made my hubby.

You’ve gotta try it!

Girlfriends' Cyber Circuit: Caridad Ferrer

Girlfriend Caridad Ferrer is here with her newest book: WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE.

About the Book:

A dancer driven to succeed.

A musical prodigy attempting to escape his past.

The summer they share.

And the moment it all goes wrong.

Dance is Soledad Reyes’s life. About to graduate from Miami’s Biscayne High School for the Performing Arts, she plans on spending her last summer at home teaching in a dance studio, saving money, and eventually auditioning for dance companies. That is, until fate intervenes in the form of fellow student Jonathan Crandall who has what sounds like an outrageous proposition: Forget teaching. Why not spend the summer performing in the intense environment of the competitive drum and bugle corps? The corps is going to be performing Carmen, and the opportunity to portray the character of the sultry gypsy proves too tempting for Soledad to pass up, as well as the opportunity to spend more time with Jonathan, who intrigues her in a way no boy ever has before.

But in an uncanny echo of the story they perform every evening, an unexpected competitor for Soledad's affections appears: Taz, a member of an all-star Spanish soccer team. One explosive encounter later Soledad finds not only her relationship with Jonathan threatened, but her entire future as a professional dancer.

Our Interview:

KRISTINA: In my book, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, Jane, a coffee barista, matchmakes people based on their favorite coffee drinks. What’s your favorite coffee drink? (If you don’t like coffee, tell me what your favorite drink in general is. But I am sorry, you’ll never find love. Kidding!)

CARIDAD: I'm fairly boring in that I like my coffee strong, with a bit of cream and sugar. My favorite beans are Sumatra or Kona-- anything really rich and powerful. My other favorite that I don't have all that often anymore is the traditional Cuban cafe con leche. It's a shot or two of sweet Cuban coffee (AKA Cuban jet fuel) mixed into steaming hot milk. Forget your lattes and espressos-- that mixture will keep you running fast than the Energizer Bunny!

KRISTINA: What is the title of the first book you ever wrote?

CARIDAD: The first book I ever wrote was a romance called LATE FOR YOUR LIFE. I made tons of newbie mistakes, starting with it was way, WAY too long, but I recently pulled it out from under the metaphorical bed and took a look at it and two things really struck me: one was that as a story, it's really pretty darned good. Good arc, despite its length, the pace is pretty good, and no loose ends were left unanswered. The second thing that struck me was there was a sort of ease in the writing-- I just sat and wrote that thing with no concept of "rules" or whether or not it would work for publication. I just wrote the story because it demanded to be written and I simply sat and wrote. I think I need to try to recapture some of that same freedom-- it's really a joyful feeling.

KRISTINA: What three things must you have while you’re writing?

CARIDAD: Diet Coke or coffee, music, and a notebook nearby for jotting down notes.

KRISTINA: What are you reading right now?

CARIDAD: Armistead Maupin's MARYANN IN AUTUMN, his new Tales of the City novel, and my reward for completing my release week promo duties is going to be Victoria Dahl's new novella, MIDNIGHT ASSIGNMENT.

KRISTINA: Are you on twitter? Where can we follow you?

CARIDAD: I'm @BarbFerrer and I'd love for people to follow. I do tweet frequently, so I'm always chattering away.

About the Author:

Caridad Ferrer is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, whose young adult debut, Adiós to My Old Life won the Romance Writers of America’s 2007 RITA® for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance as well as being named to the 2009 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults list, awarded by the ALA. Her second novel, It’s Not About the Accent was released in 2007 with Publisher’s Weekly stating, “…this twisting book amply rewards readers.”

She has also contributed to the anthology, Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceañera Stories. Her newest young adult novel, When the Stars Go Blue, is a contemporary retelling of Bizet’s Carmen, and will be released by Thomas Dunne Books in November 2010. Booklist calls it, “Beautifully written, with contemporary characters and an engaging story line.”

Thanks Caridad! Good luck with your new book!

Thankful Thursday

**cross posted from Author2Author.***

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope you're planning on having a fun relaxing day today! I heard somewhere this week that 66% of all families have a fight on Thanksgiving day. I'm determined to not be in that 66%! I'm already thinking about the day after. Not the Black Friday shopping (I'm swearing off that this year too) but getting ready for Christmas. I want to get our tree and start the marathon of Hallmark and Family Channel cheesy Christmas movies!

But first, things I'm thankful for right this very second:

My sweet family! Everyone is happy and healthy and silly as ever!

Warm home, food, and income! The economy is seriously depressing and I hate that so many people are struggling. We are donating to as many food drives, toy drives, coat drives etc. as we can.

Writing Goodness: Meg Cabot blurbed my book, I sold German rights to My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, theJapanese version of The Espressologist just came out, and I started writing a new book!

And finally, our big Disney trip last week went wonderfully! We survived the 20 hour drive there and back and had so so so much fun at all the theme parks. In fact, we are suffering from serious Disney withdrawal and want to go back as soon as possible. Here's just a few shots:

(The castle lit up for Christmas. Isn't it SO pretty? It changed colors too-- blue, pink, green etc. LOVED it!)

(The Osbourne light show at Hollywood Studios. This was AMAZING! Loved the "snow" falling too.)









("Germany" at Epcot. The kids loved all the different countries!)

(The tree of life at Animal Kingdom. So cool and huge!)

What are you all thankful for?

Have a wonderful holiday!!

Super Cool News Friday!

I'm having a really great day. A REAAAAAAAALLY great day. Reason #1:

You know my young adult literary idol MEG CABOT? She had posted on her blog that she liked my book, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS. Well, she wrote me a blurb!!! I'm so so so excited! Here it is:

"Irresistible as a fluffy kitten. I laughed out loud and so will you!"

Meg Cabot, author of the Airhead and Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series

Isn't that awesome?! And Reason #2:

We just sold My Fake Boyfriend to Germany! Yay, that's my first foreign sale for this book!

I'm off to celebrate! Have a great weekend!