When I was five, I was invited to a princess party for my friend Emily P.’s birthday.   Even though I was then, as I am now, not a huge princess person, I waited for the party with bated breath.  Seriously, bated.  And then, one day, as I was expressing this anticipation to my mother for the zillionth time, she said, “Wait!  The party’s right now!”

This wasn’t just a cruel joke.  She had FORGOTTEN about the party and by the time we got there, it was over.  Oh, the humanity!  Emily P. opened my present even though the other guests had left.  I hesitate to go into details, lest my mother read this and have one of those “I’m-a terrible-mother” moments mothers are prone to, but let’s just say it was somewhat of a let down.

But all is not lost!   Because on Saturday afternoon, nearly twenty five years after the fact, the universe corrected itself and I was able to attend the best princess party ever.

Imagine me living vicariously through one of these  happy kiddos, enjoying candy necklaces, tiaras, and other goodie bag shwag at the amazing Lindsey Leavitt’s PRINCESS FOR HIRE  book launch at fave indie bookstore the King’s English.  Her book is fresh, funny, and the first in a series.  What more could you want?

Lindsey and I have been tight since we bonded over a quick lunch together one of the last times she was in the SLC, and kept it up in LA at the SCBWI conference where we cried like babies over Richard Peck and strutted our stuff at the Blue Moon Ball .  Our next plan is to rock the Vegas at Barrypalooza ’10.  But back to Lindsey’s special day.

Here we are holding uber-princessy copies of PRINCESS FOR HIRE.  I’m holding two, because I bought one copy for me and another as a prize for my terrif  WIFYR contest!

I’m holding the contest to get the word out about the fabulous Writing for Young Readers Conference this summer at its new venue in Sandy, Utah.  You can sign up for it or just help spread the word and win free books!  But you must hurry, because this contest ENDS!

Yep, people have asked if there’s an actual end to this contest.  I was like, “why bother?” but then I realized it had to end sometime, or else no one could win.   So the LAST day to enter is THIS FRIDAY March 26.  And although I should be using all my typing-time this week to finish the edits on my forthcoming novel (!) I will be rockin’ the time management skills and blogging, too!  To remind the world of this contest, and to share some hilarious stories that have made March a Month to Remember.

As if the princess party wasn’t enough.

I am a bad, bad, person and didn’t post last week.  That’s right. Lately my goal has been a mere ONE POST PER WEEK.  And I couldn’t even swing that. I hate myself sometimes. Especially times like this, when I had something really, really important to blog about. I’ll be teaching a beginning novel workshop [...]

Those of you who know me, or are regular readers of this blog, know I love me a good Game Night.  And my game of choice? Ticket to Ride, or “Train” as it is affectionately known by the Friday-night Train group consisting of me, Daniel, my sister Juliana and bro-in-law Reo. The best part of [...]

I found this photo a long time ago and loved it…but it is only now that I have summoned the savvy to share it. What do you think?  Will this image hold true much longer?

Happy Post-Valentine’s Day Post!  I hope everyone is feeling adequately loved, or at least adequately comforted by chocolate.  These cupcakes were made by my oh-so-talented sister Juliana and they rest upon an old-school Strawberry Shortcake paper plate.   Remember old-school Strawberry Shortcake? I so don’t get why they made Strawberry Shortcake look all different now.  She [...]