new books on the horizon!

Pigs are flying and lightning is striking twice I got to share some fun news this week. 

I'm writing a series! 

Here's the announcement from Publishers Weekly: 

I'm excited, overjoyed and filled up with gratitude. The fact that I get to keep living out this dream come true - that I get to keep writing books for kids (?!?!) - makes me want to flop down in the floor and cry a little. I've done that, actually. Many times. 

I consider myself the luckiest author in the world to be part of the family at two amazing publishers. I'm actually working on copyedits for my next Scholastic novel right now. 

(Not like *RIGHT* now ... because I'm typing this post. But most other waking minutes when I'm not taking snack breaks or typing blog posts, savvy?)  

And for this new series, I get to work with Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins. The Katherine Tegen imprint is incredible, and they publish stories I've adored. I'm so excited to work with the team there, especially my editor Maria Barbo. 

I'm also excited about following a wily bunch of characters through a few books instead of hugging them goodbye after one. I love writing stand alone novels, because I like the feeling of discovery. The newness of it all. But I do have a hard time turning characters loose. Students nearly always ask if I'll ever write a series when I do school visits; and I always say maybe-hopefully-someday. I totally get the series-love. I liked getting to know characters, too (and still do!). I loved knowing another book was in the works. It's a fun process, and a big new challenge, but I'm excited for it! I can't wait for you to meet the Problim family. :) 

So just to clarify, here's what's on the horizon: 

- My next novel is called THE KEY TO EXTRAORDINARY. It will be out from my beloved Scholastic wizards in March 2016. This one is a middle grade, stand alone novel about a brave girl, a quiet boy, a singing ghost, buried treasure & hot chocolate. I'm working through copyedits for that one this week (which is surreal!). So you'll get to meet these characters in less than a year! And pretty soon, I'll be able to start sharing fun stuff like a cover (it's fabulous) and a summary. 

- THE PROBLIM CHILDREN series is scheduled to begin in Fall 2017. Those are the books I mentioned yesterday, that are being published by the swanksters at HarperCollins.

So that's a few years of books coming up, which is hard to believe. :) 

Sharing the stories I've written is a dream, and it's a responsibility I take so seriously. I know there are billions of books out there you could read. I still can't believe it when someone tells me they took the time to read my book, and they want to read another one. Thank you for the time and heart you've invested in what I write. Thank you for bringing your heart to the pages. I'm so grateful for you, and so excited for the adventures ahead.

diggity-diggity-debut!

A SNICKER OF MAGIC is one of the nominees in the debut author category in the Children's Choice Book Awards. I was surprised and excited and HOORAY!!

I'm grateful to the committee who thought the story deserved a spot alongside all those amazing stories. As the name suggests, young readers get to vote. (I think young-at-heart readers can vote, too.) If you, or your students, want to get involved follow this link:

http://ccbookawards.com/index.php

And please note: I'll still think you're the raddest no matter who you vote for. (Cece Bell has my vote.)

Once you get there, click on the funky doors and you can easily check your favorite book in each category. You don't have to enter any personal information, and there's an easy to way for teachers and librarians to enter group ballots as well. So it's all fun and sure to stir up fun conversation about stories. Voting is open for a couple more weeks, I think. Thank you, CBC wizards for including Snicker!

YAY, BOOKS!!!