SHAWN OR SHANE & a WHALE of a good time at ORCA BOOKS, Olympia - Saturday 11/5 at 4 PM

Trying to put some finishing touches on a new manuscript BUT I'm having trouble with the name of the love interest character. For ages he was Seth but I've recently read TWO novels containing Seths, each so interesting and quirky that I cannot get them out of my head. However, for a variety of word-crafty reasons, I want to keep a one-syllable name beginning with S. (Truth: I have over time developed weird formulaic restrictions about character names--how many can be mono-syllabic versus multi-syllabic, end in IE or Y, start with a hard consonant... Yup, just another freak-fact about me!) So, what do we think:

SHAWN or SHANE?

Leave a comment below or, if you live near Olympia, WA, come tell me in person this Saturday at

ORCA BOOKS

509 E. 4th Ave.

Olympia, WA 98502

Meet the authors of the books shown below.

Win signed books, posters, literary swag & more!

Plus a surprise performance event!

BOOKANISTA THURSDAY & Signing at Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA 11/4 at 4 PM

No review this Thursday since I'm on the road with Stages on Pages but there's plenty of Bookanista goodness to be found...

Elana Johnson is crazy about Crossed and Shatter Me
LiLa Roecker swoons for Sirenz
Christine Fonseca interviews Kids Inventing! author Susan Casey
Shelli Johannes-Wells dishes on Become (Desolation Book #1)
Beth Revis celebrates books for which she’s grateful – with gigantic signed book giveaway
Jessi Kirby applauds Virtuosity
Megan Miranda marvels at How to Save a Life
Rosemary Clement Moore  is wild for The Iron Witch
Veronica Rossi is amazed by Shatter Me

And, if you're in the Seattle area, swing by Third Place Books on Friday 11/4 at 4 PM. Besides the awesomeness of spending some time with fellow authors

JESSICA MARTINEZ, CONRAD WESSELHOEFT, ROSANNE PARRY & LOUISE SPIEGLER 

there's the YUM of Honey Bear Bakery jam thumbprint cookies and this window!

Bring your family for book talk then dinner (or, in my case, straight to the bakery treats!).  Fun for readers of all ages and a perfect Friday night!

I'll be dancing & signing at SECRET GARDEN BOOKS, Seattle 11/3 at 7 PM

Come join me and friends Jessica Martinez (Virtuosity), Rosanne Parry (Second Fiddle), Louise Spiegler (The Jewel & the Key), Conrad Wesslehoeft (Adios, Nirvana) and student actors from Seattle Childrens Theater as we bring our novels to life and admit the many reasons we are both writer and theater geeks!

Audition Blog Tour Winners & Something Special!

Wow, thanks to everyone who entered the AUDITION BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY.  We had 181 individual entries, so I've added two more signed poster prizes to the winner list below (I'll email you all, too):

Ballerina Swag Packs (3):
Sonia; Rose C; Michelle Santiago

Signed Audition Posters (5):
Vivien; RivkaBelle; Kristi-The Book Faery: Jennifer-YA Booknerd; Myra C

Signed copy of AUDITION:
Lisa McGeen


These are some old
ones of mine--prize
shoes will be new
(and clean!)



BUT THERE'S MORE!  I'm so grateful for your awesome support that I want to do something extra special.  So, I owe you guys one more prize and it's gonna be a doozy.  Everyone who entered this giveaway (even if you've already won something) will have their names dropped back in the hat for A PAIR OF POINTE SHOES SIGNED BY MANY OF YOUR FAVORITE YA AUTHORS (including me) through the month of November.  Plus you can enter again up to once a day through November 30 (contest closes that day at 9 PM Pacific time).  AND, I'll be tweeting and facebooking every time I get a new signature on the shoes!