Wonder Light Is on the Loose!

My hardcover debut, Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist, has officially released!
I had my launch party last week at the Garfield Book Company at PLU, and I felt so loved by friends and family. We packed the house and sold lots of books. My judo teammates brought friends and neighbors. So did friends from church.

My brother, Steven and my sister-in-law, Jen flew up from California just for the event. They brought me a fluffy unicorn because, "After everyone reads Wonder Light, there won't be any more fluffy unicorns."

My friend Karyn baked 75 gourmet cupcakes, 50 cookies, and a beautiful cake topped with a white chocolate unicorn. They were all promptly devoured! Late-comers got a few bits of garnish and a handful of chocolate rocks!

    

Kyla Paterno and her staff at the bookstore did a fabulous job helping the event run smoothly. My husband worked through the night before the party so he could be there to help. My parents and friends helped me get everything ready, and acted as bouncers at the cupcake table. (Those cupcakes were seriously delicious!)
I got to stand up in front of all those people and share my story and tell them how much they mean to me.

I got to meet some young readers and see them smile when I handed their signed copies of Wonder Light back to them, and that ranked right up there next to Karyn's coconut cupcakes!


If you missed the party, you can still order a personalized, signed copy from the Garfield Book Company. I'll sign it, and they'll ship it to you if you don't live in the area. Or, if you're in the Seattle area, I'm doing a reading and signing at the Northgate Barnes and Noble on May 16.
More info about Wonder Light and where you can buy it is here.

Unicorns Versus Darth Vader! Wonder Light Book Release Madness!

I'm just two weeks away from the May 7 release of my middle grade novel, Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist, and all kinds of fun stuff is happening. I've been doing school and Skype visits and signing pretty bookmarks . . .

and next week I get to sign the real thing. I'm having an early birthday party for Wonder Light at the Garfield Book Company at PLU near Tacoma, Washington. My friend, judo teammate, and pro baker, Karyn is working on some yummy unicorn treats for the party. She brought some samples and mess-ups to judo practice:

Yes, that is a white chocolate unicorn resting among white chocolate Darth Vader heads. I was sure there was some important symbolism here, but Karyn insisted she "just had a whole lot of leftover white chocolate." What better way to use leftover white chocolate? Now I have an inspiring image of my unicorns charging through the Death Star, horns clashing with the light sabers of the Dark Side!

If you're too far away to make the party, you can console yourself by entering to win a copy of Wonder Light. Five hardcovers are up for grabs at Goodreads! May the force be with you!

Deep in the heart of a mist-shrouded island, an impossible secret is about to be discovered.

Twig is used to feeling unwanted. Sent to live on a pony ranch for troubled girls on a misty, haunted island, Twig is about to discover the impossible—someone who needs her.

Jolted awake from a bad dream, Twig follows the desperate whinny of a terrified horse out to the stables. There in the straw is a bleating little scrap of moonbeam. A silver-white filly with cloven hooves and a tiny, spiraling horn.

A baby unicorn.

Now Twig knows what secret is hiding in the island's mist: the last free unicorn herd. And a mysterious boy named Ben who insists that this impossible creature is now Twig's to care for. That she needs Twig's love and protection. Because there's something out there in the deep, dense shadows that's hunting for them...

Piñatas and Other Rejection Fun

Well, it looks like I wasn’t so mysterious with the lie in my "Three Truths and a Lie" Mystery Blogger post:

Mystery Blogger gathered all her old-school paper rejections and papier-mâchéed them into a piñata. She filled it with chocolate and took a bat to it when she signed her first book deal.

Just about everybody guessed that one was made up. It must be because it sounded too good to be true. I did just get my first contract (with Sourcebooks) last spring, but the reality is that as long as we’re writing and pursuing publication, the rejections never end. Still, I’m seriously considering that piñata to honor all those years of no. Or, as I suggested to my fellow Operation Awesome bloggers, I could wallpaper my office with my rejections—except that I don’t have an office.

Other options:

• Decoupage them onto a life-size unicorn sculpture in celebration of my debut, Wonder Light: Unicorns of the Mist

• Interpretive dance—Picture me in a black leotard, waving torn paper and doing a dance of despair.

• Set them to music:

To the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat":
Try, try, try again, query someone else . . .
To Beethoven’s Fifth:
Not right for me.
Not at this time.
Your manuscript makes me wish that I had more wine.

Rejections are part of the game, and most of mine were polite. Some were even kind and thoughtful. But as they piled up over the years, I did my share of fantasizing about how to display or destroy them once I finally got a yes. And now I think, why not open up that file and do something with them?

Any ideas for me? What do you do with your rejections?