A Very Monkey Christmas THE CONTEST!

When PBS contacted me to see if I would have a Curious George party to announce the release of the FIRST CURIOUS GEORGE CHRISTMAS MOVIE, I agreed. I love kids. It would be fun!

The preview of the movie is on PBS today! To learn more about what's going on with that rascaly monkey...CHECK HIM OUT HERE!

Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, finds George and The Man with the Yellow Hat having a very merry time counting down the days until Christmas. There’s only one puzzle: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present. The Man is having trouble reading George’s wish list and George doesn’t have a clue about what to get for The Man who has everything. Maybe you can help!

We had a blast at our party! My favorite part was the contagious giggling from the other room when George would get himself in those typical Monkey predicaments.

The movie held their attention (until the last short bit) which is AMAZING for a room full of kiddos 5 and under! WOW!

We are headed out of town and taking MY COPY with us in the car to ring in the Holidays as we go...over the hill and through the woods to Grandmother's house!

Post a picture of your cutest Curious George fan on your blog and leave me a link and I will have my impartial judges pick the most creative photo to win the DVD, not yet released. The 2n drunner up will receive the Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas soundtrack!

POST THOSE PICTURES NOW!!

Athol Dickson LOST MISSION review

I am not much for historical fiction, I am a children's writer. So, when I got my hands on LOST MISSION by Athol Dickson I wasn't sure I would enjoy it, but I had offered to review it for LitFuse Agency so I dove right in.

I was taken aback by the gorgeous illustrative prose. Instantly I could SEE the Southern California landscape. This story of faithfulness and God's calling to be just that had me captivated. This book made me think! THIS I liked...historical fiction drew me in and I liked it.

Four characters who strive to do something great for God learn big lesson in what God truly wants of His followers.

A story set almost 200 years ago focuses on the trials and tribulations of Lupe de la Garza, a shopkeeper in a mountain village in Mexico, and her fellow characters. These trials are nothing history hasn't seen before; as they say, history repeats itself.

Moral mistakes, forbidden desire and lost faith in Dickson's LOST MISSION will keep you captivated with the premise that our seemingly unavoidable mistakes as a human race may not be truly be unavoidable. Maybe this cycle can be broken.

I am giving THIS book as a gift this holiday season! Go out and grab yours...even if you think you don't love historical fiction...I'm its latest convert!

Peace.

My Favorite Thanksgiving Message...

For: You

From: Me

...because I DON'T EAT TURKEY ON THANKSGIVING!

Peace (to the turkeys!).

GlassesUSA hooked me up!

UPDATED SALE INFORMATION!! Friday GlassesUSA is having an AMAZING Black Friday sale - 25% off ANY order. It's a one-day only sale followed by an almost as good sale on Cyber Monday (17% off any order).

I remember being a teenager and thinking it was so cool when I got my first prescription for glasses! Wearing eyeglasses was going to be SO cool! A couple years later my frames were huge compared the the latest styles and I never had time to go get new frames...picking them out took a lot of time and I just didn't have that kind of time. I stopped wearing them.

As a mom, I NEED my prescription glasses! The print on medicine bottles gets smaller each time I fill a prescription! So, I take the kids and go browse through the thousands of choices and can NEVER pick what I like. Distractions or no distractions, it's tricky!

I didn't think I would be able to choose eyeglass frames online. I figured I would need to see them on my face to know what I liked. But at GlassesUSA.com I found a lovely pair that I HOPED and PRAYED would look good! I had just had my eyes examined so I have my new prescription (which is Greek to me).

At GlassesUSA.com, your order is processed quickly, using YOUR prescription, and your glasses arrive in no time packed in their own sturdy case! And then prices...HOLY GOODNESS, they are so economical! This was a SUPERB experience!

Thanks GlassesUSA! They are awesome! I feel like a HOT MAMA in my new specs! ;) Whadda ya think?

Peace.

I love tiny*prints!

I now know where I will be shopping for my HOLIDAY GREETINGS!

Here are a couple samples from the tiny*prints website!

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF THEIR HOLIDAY SALE! GO! GO! GO!

I just got my Tiny*Prints order and LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This website is so EASY to navigate and personalize...I'm not always a "quick learner" when it comes to new sites and ordering and personalizing but this site was a breeze.

Their products are so gorgeous, I found myself looking through other styles and cards for events and holidays I wasn't buying for but I just kept wanting to see more!

tiny*prints is FIRST CLASS! This company is definitely worth a bookmark in your FAVORITES file!

Check out their deals for the Holidays! This is ONE STOP SHOPPING at its BEST!

HOLIDAY CARDS

CHRISTMAS CARDS

HANUKKAH CARDS

HOLIDAY PHOTO CARDS

HOLIDAY PARTY INVITATIONS

HOLIDAY RETURN ADDRESS LABELS

HOLIDAY GIFT TAGS

HOLIDAY MINT TINS

HOLIDAY THANK YOU CARDS

NEW YEAR'S CARDS

NEW YEAR'S EVE PARTY INVITATIONS

They are bangin' down my door!

Hey all!

I know it's been awhile, I apologize! I've been feverishly working on a couple books and preparing for a speaking engagement - yeah, ME, SPEAKING! Like a bumbling idiot, probably! I may grace a post with some video of it after it's over - heck, if I can figure it out, maybe I will SKYPE it - we will see!

I love y'all for subscribing and it will pay off in the VERY near future. Listen why.

My inbox has been INUNDATED with companies asking me to review products and some are offering extra items for giveaways! JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

PBS, TinyPrints, VTech Toys, Simon&Schuster and MORE!!

Can you say FREE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING? Enter a contest and win a toy or discount that will help to complete your holiday shopping list!

SO...if you haven't already...SUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIBE!

Peace.

At my art table...

Well, here I am back at my art table (WITH caffeine in my favorite cup - it's my own design!)...ready to dedicate the entire day (well, at least until the pre-school bus comes) to my latest project...

A BOOK DUMMY FOR SIMON & SCHUSTER

I want to thank all of you for supporting me through this publishing journey. So many of you contact me and ask WHERE you can buy my books. I don't have any published but I have many written and even more partially written. I have notebooks FILLED with simple ideas that would make a one-of-a-kind, quirky story! I will never live long enough to write every one of them!

This current project is a first for me. I am submitting as an AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR! Yep, I am taking your advice! I have been thinking all along that I wanted to just concentrate on ONE or the OTHER....writing OR illustrating. Come to find out, it make my writing SO much better when I can use MY OWN illustrations to SHOW the story. It's cleaner. Clearer. It feels like I have found my niche.

I recently had a review with an art rep from NYC who selected a few illustrations in my portfolio and said it was such a unique style that I needed to "run with it!" You can read more about that meeting HERE at my children's book blog.

OK! Back to work (and my coffee!) before I get sucked in chatting with you!

(Not that that's a bad thing!)

Peace.