Category: Holidays (Page 9 of 13)

If You’re Going to Shop This Week, at Least Buy a Book

November 27, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m not a big shopper. It might be because my oldest sister would occasionally drag me along to clothes shop with her (I guess when no one cool could come along…they probably all knew better).

The day would usually go like something like this. Twenty minutes in, I’d be bored, but she would still be looking, her pile of clothes to try on getting ever larger. Finally after an eternity, she would be ready to try on the pile, and I would get all excited because I’d be thinking we were almost done. Nope. Because she would have to show me every single thing, and for some reason (which I still don’t understand) it would take her ten minutes to try on each piece.

Mind you, this was before cell phones, so it wasn’t like I could just plop myself down in the dressing room and play on my phone while I waited. (These days, I try to avoid clothes shopping with this particular sister.)

So I’ve only been out on Black Friday once. And that was because I had a very particular item I wanted, and I didn’t get up at some crazy early time to get it. I don’t plan on going out this year or any year in the near future. But I know a lot of people do go out, so I’m asking that if you do, consider buying a book while you’re shopping.

Need some recommendations? Check out my Goodreads “read” page. I don’t write reviews for all the books I read, but I do give them star ratings. Basically anything that’s a 4 or 5 is one I’d recommend. Don’t care what I read…okay, how about this list from Publisher’s Weekly or this children’s list (novels) from Publisher’s Weekly or the picture book list from Publisher’s Weekly? There’s also the 2013 National Book Award winners and finalists list. That’s not even mentioning lists from previous years.

So what books are you looking to buy or receive this holiday season? Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Feeling in the Christmas Spirit

November 19, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Some years all the early Christmas hoopla gets on my nerves. The commercials starting just after Halloween, hearing Christmas music on the radio before Thanksgiving, and seeing Santa at the mall in early November can really get the blood bubbling.

But this year, I kind of don’t mind. If I allow myself to look past the commercialism of the holiday, all that often annoying stuff can be sweet. Those sappy commercials, well, some of them are kind of heart-warming. The music is nostalgic and wonderful. The lights and trees are beautiful.

Maybe this change of heart is because The Boy is old enough to really enjoy unwrapping presents, decorating cookies, and reading Christmas stories. Maybe it’s because I might actually have a little bit of time to enjoy the Christmas wrapping and baking that comes with the season.

You know what, I don’t even care why. I’m not going to ruin this Christmas spirit I’m feeling with over analyzing it. So bring on the music, the lights, and the cheer! I’m into it this year, and I’m going to live it up while it lasts!

“The Rewrite Before Christmas” by Beth Overmyer Author of In a Pickle

July 12, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Today (ahem, on my birthday…and, yes, I’ve stopped counting how many I’ve celebrated) I have a unique poem from Beth Overmyer, author of the middle grade novella In a Pickle. Be prepared to laugh as Beth takes over the blog!

Just in time for Christmas in July…I present:

The Rewrite Before Christmas

(Parody of Clement C. Moore’s The Night Before Christmas)

‘Twas the first draft of my novel and all through the book

There were typos and blunders, not even a hook;

The scenes were all tied together by a hair,

All hoping the editors soon would repair;

The characters were voiceless, all bland and cardboard,

They talked and they rambled, no sense in their words;

And my alphas and my betas put on thinking caps,

“How do I keep reading? I want a long nap!”

And out of my prose there arose such a clutter

Of dialogue tags such as “murmured” and “muttered;”

“Away,” “through” and “of” all ended each sentence;

I misspelled all words without a hint of repentance;

All adverbs were abused shamelessly;

The luster and shine was very much lacking.

When pressing my brain on to make this thing better,

There appeared on my desk an over-sized shredder.

With a clunky old hard drive, so ancient and sick,

I rigged up old Bob with the help of a fork lift.

More vapid than prairies my stories I shredded,

Lit them with a match, doused with unleaded,

“Now burn, you! Now, die, you!

Now shred, burn and fry, you!

No ands ifs or buts:

I’ll burn short stories too!

To the top of the shredder, to the top of the wall!

No dashes, m-dashes, n-dashes; away, all!”

As dry as leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

I watched the smoke drifting up, up to the sky;

So shiny and lovely, the ashes, they flew,

With smell of burnt plastic and toxic waste too.

And then I’d an inkling, a nudge in my head,

The itching and clawing, as that of the undead.

And I drew in my head an outline so sound

For a shiny new novel, and then went to town!

So, hear me exclaim as I drop out of sight:

“A novel isn’t written; thou must rewrite!”

In a Pickle blurb:

Charlie Pickle can’t stay put in the year 1920, due to an annoying habit of time-traveling. On a trip back to 1910, he meets a man with a secret. Murder makes the headlines that day, and Charlie’s new friend knows who the guilty party is. Now, not only does Charlie have bullies and murderers to contend with, he’s got some history to fix.

Find In a Pickle at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, and other ebook retailers.

About the Author: CC Pic Beth Overmyer: writer of kidlit, penner of prose, petter of cats.

Author links:

Blog: http://bethovermyer.blogspot.com

Website: http://bethovermyer.com

First Kisses (or Kissees)

February 14, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m generally not an outwardly sentimental person, but I recently came across a blog post about first loves and it reminded me of my first kiss. And well, it seemed an appropriate topic for today.

I was in second grade and had a crush on a boy. I was pretty sure he liked me. Ever the bold girl, I wrote him a note (back when you still passed notes in class, not text messages). The note read, “Will you kissee me?” And there was a yes option and no option, each with a box for him to check. (I think I still have that note stashed away in a shoebox somewhere.)

He checked yes! The kiss happened during recess, I think in the middle of a game of tag. A brief touching of lips, only a peck really, that lasted maybe a few seconds. But everyone saw it. The first of *ahem* many memorable kisses I’ve experienced. I wonder who else remembers that kiss…

Another first kiss, quite a bit more steamy than my second-grade peck, is one I wrote between Katora and Hirsten in Elixir Bound. I just happen to have an excerpt of it on an old post over at the Muse blog. What are some of your memorable kissees?

The Christmas Tradition of Decorating Cookies

December 29, 2012 / Katie L. Carroll

Fortunately there was no licking of the ladies or men this year at the annual Christmas cookie decorating extravaganza. Looking back at that old post from 2008, I realize I’ve been making cookies with my twin-not-twin sister’s kids for many years, since the lady-licking nephew was two and a half years old (the same age The Boy will be next year at Christmastime).

Well, now that I’m feeling old (are traditions supposed to make you feel old?), here’s the cookies from this year’s efforts.