FREE!

I have exciting news!! :) As a thank you to my SCREWBALL readers and in honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, you can now download the entire CHANGE UP (SCREWBALL 2) novel for free here.

Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!! :)

Pufferfish and Pure Cybil Shock

Today, I was going to blog about this little creature Kaci and I spotted during our Monday bay stroll...

My daughter was so excited to check out an actual pufferfish because she's Nemo obsessed and swore the little creature was this guy, Bloat from the Tank Gang...

But, then I was scrolling through the Cybil nominees and I spotted my little sporty book, CHANGE UP. I rubbed my eyes and it was still there. I pinched myself and it was still there. CHANGE UP is nominated for a 2009 CYBIL!! A CYBIL!!

Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank you!! :) :) :)

Happy Wednesday!

Yay for YA Summer Giveaway Winner!!!

Wow!!! Thanks for all the amazing entries! I have more than enough songs to get my fingers hopping across the keys. :)

The winner of five books, including a signed ARC of CHANGE UP is.....

EMILY MABBIT!!!!

My daughter picked Emily out of her lego container and was super excited because Emily is the name of her babysitter. :) Back to my computer switcheroo.. I'm seriously hugging my brand new MAC right now as I type. Who knew a computer could be so stunning. :)

Happy July, everyone!

First Review and a Shark.. :)

I was thrilled to open up my inbox on Friday and find a link to this review of CHANGE UP.. 

The second book by Keri Mikulski is a strong, fun and real good new YA novel. In a sea of dark Ya novels that seems to be the trend now, Keri Mikulski has launched a fresh read, that is, in my opinion, THE book pick of this summer. It is really good. Screwball, the first book, was great. And with Change Up, Keri Mikulski has reached a new book peak. Even if you are not that into sports, you will love this new sunny novel. And for the second time, Keri Mikulski's book is rated 5 stars! Make sure you got this book in your beach bag!

Thanks, Marjolein!! :) 

Right now, I'm in between college teaching assignments, CHANGE UP promotion, finishing up revisions on a new sporty novel and spending some much needed down time with the family. 

Here's what we've been doing during our down time.. 

1. Quiet time on the beach before the vacationers roll down 

2. Walking and riding bikes on the semi-deserted boardwalk

3. Playing tons of basketball and soccer at the local field

4. Hanging out with visiting family and friends - love summer!

5. Looking up stuff that washed up on the bay - like this shark and the biggest sea turtle ever (didn't have my camera)..

What do you like to do during your down time? 

Cute Kaci Moment: Kaci just ran into my office jumping up and down, smiling, and screaming.. "Mommy, ice comes from water. Ice comes from water. I love ice and I love water." :) Gotta love three.  

Happy a fabulous day! :) 

First CHANGE UP Reader Reaction and Revision Lessons

I'm in the middle of watching some exciting World Series softball right now on ESPN2. Wow, Florida just hit a walk off grand slam to send the Gators to their first final. Great stuff. 

The fabulous Lauren, a fan of the SCREWBALL series and local high school and ASA softball player, contacted me via MySpace a few months ago to tell me how much she loved SCREWBALL. I love, love, love hearing from readers and Lauren absolutely made my day. A few honest teens help me to authenticate plot, character, and dialogue and Lauren recently volunteered to be part of the crew. After I received my ARCs last Friday, I immediately sent a copy of CHANGE UP Lauren's way to thank her for her help with SCREWBALL 3 and the prequel. 

Here's what she said: 

I got CHANGE UP in the mail today! I got home at like 1 and could not stop reading it! I didn't put it down until I finished five minutes ago. I haven't read a book this great in so long. Ashley never failed to surprise me! (I can't post the rest because it's full of spoilers. :))

Thanks, Lauren!!!!

Recent Revision Lessons: 

1. Grab is my fave word. Recently, I used the word 'grab' 127 times in a 300 page manuscript. That's almost once every two pages. Yikes. Nevertheless, if anyone needs help with using another word besides grab, feel free to email me, since I spent last weekend coming up with one hundred ways to describe scenes without using the word, grab. :)

 

2. I also tend to overuse the word 'seriously'. This particular word I only used 54 times, but sometimes, I used it twice on one page. Then, I realized I overuse this word in real life too. Seriously. :) 

What words do you tend to overuse?? 

Just for Fun: My bud, Justin the Teen Librarian, blogged about this the other day. How many days old are you? Find out here.  

Happy Monday! 

If You Let Me Play

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Hope you had a great day. Kaci surprised me with a giant heart necklace and a matching pink heart balloon she picked out all by herself. :) I'm loving three. 

Speaking of moms, did anyone participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure? My mom and I decided, after watching the event on television yesterday, we are definitely participating next year. Did I ever mention how amazing and strong my mother is? Her strength this past year was unbelievable and super inspiring. Happy Mothers Day, Mom.

Work is picking up and exciting. I should have my first ARC of CHANGE UP in my hand by the end of the month. This morning I finished up a proposal and sent it to my agent for another sporty series I'm working on with a brand. :) Right now, I'm brainstorming the SCREWBALL prequel, along with writing SCREWBALL 3 (untitled).  

With the release of CHANGE UP days away, I've been thinking about why I write sporty. Besides the fact that I love sports and yearned to read a book with a sporty protagonist when I was a tween, I think one of my favorite NIKE commercials of all time sums it up. :) 

Looking for a good sporty read? Check out my Blogderby for a list of current sporty reads for teens and tweens. 

Pretty Tough Tuesday: Get caught up with the week in softball - Fastpitch 411. 

Happy Monday, everyone!! 

YAY FOR YA SUMMER GIVEAWAY

I love summer. In fact, it's my absolute favorite season. Our barren, ghost resort town wakes up, the rides light up, the boardwalk fills with tourists, and the beaches are beautified. But, best of all, my extended family visits to vacation and we spend tons of fun summer time together. :) Love it. 

I also love a good beach read. So this time, I'm giving away five fun, summer novels (including mine) to kick back, relax, and enjoy - fellow Jersey girl Megan McCafferty's PERFECT FIFTHS, Terri Clark's SLEEPLESS, Haily Abbott's SUMMER BOYS, Aimee Friedman's SOUTH BEACH and a super new, signed ARC of CHANGE UP.

To enter to win these five super fabulous books, I need help with a novel I'm working on. What's your fave break up song? For some reason, most of my break ups happened during the summer. Hmm... :) I'm in desperate need of some fresh new songs and ideas. Not my usual, overplayed on my IPod nineties tunes. :) If you don't have a favorite break up song, what are your summer plans? 

One break up song that sticks out in my head (I'm going to date myself here, so don't laugh) is Aerosmith's WHAT IT TAKES. This song is wrapped around a summer break up memory of me hanging out the door of friend's parked car, a soccer field, a new boy, and this song blasting on the radio. :) 

I'm super psyched about my summer plans because I'm traveling to softball tournaments and NPF games to promote CHANGE UP, teaching a Teen Writer's Workshop, working on some exciting projects, and hanging out at the beach with Kaci and my hubby as much as I can. :) Yay, Summer! :) 
Here are the contest rules: 

1. To enter to win the above mentioned books, leave a comment mentioning your fave breakup song or summer events you're looking forward to. 

2. The contest ends on midnight, June 30th, 2009. The winner will be posted on July 1st, 2009. A family member or friend will pick the winner (including my dog at times). 

3. The contest is open to EVERYONE. Don't be shy my writing friends. 

4. If you post the contest on your blog, FACEBOOK, MySpace, or anywhere else, you automatically receive two entries. Last month's winner was a poster. 

Good luck, everyone!!  

Readers Rule! And so does Easter candy.. :)

CHANGE UP is ready to go. I read over the last proof this weekend. Yay!  

Although my professional life is a dream come true, I've found myself in a personal life slump recently. Without boring anyone with the mundane yucky details, lets just say over the past year, I swear a witch cast a spell on my family. In fact, I even asked someone recently who knows a real witch if she could check with her to see if I'm on some witch list or something. Seriously, it's been that bad. 

Besides an enormous amount of chocolate, hearing from SCREWBALL series readers completely brightens my day and makes me realize how lucky I am to do what I do. Last week, a reader sent me an amazing message. She won a writing contest and she wrote about me. :) And another reader sent me an email a couple of days ago. She read SCREWBALL nine times while she was recovering from surgery and can't wait to read CHANGE UP because she has another surgery scheduled in two weeks. Then, she even detailed every scene she loved. Words cannot express how much these notes mean to me and I'm sooo grateful to do what I do everyday. :) Thanks bunches!! 

When I find myself in a slump, I go back to my playing days and switch things up. I switched the furniture in my house. That didn't work. I cut my hair. Still more bad news. I even switched my handbags. Another funeral. But, it's been a quiet week and so far, so good. Without jinxing myself, I think this time my switch worked. And I'm still eating a ton of chocolate. Thank you, Cadbury Creme Egg inventor. Yummy. 

What do you do when you're in the midst of a personal or professional slump? Or what's your fave Easter candy? 

Pretty Tough Tuesday: Basketball is winding down and softball is gearing up. Don't miss the Fastpitch Weekly Round Up. Check it out here. 

Have a fabulous day, everyone! 

Career Addiction

I have a confession. It's kind of embarrassing. In fact, my family and friends bust on me constantly about this confession. 

I've kind of had a lot of careers...

1. Registered Nurse

2. Teacher 

3. Personal Trainer

4. Insurance rep

5. Lifeguard

6. Coach (this one stuck)

And the list goes on and on and on... 

But, I've finally stopped the madness since I started writing. In fact, I've had the same career for three years now. I think it's because I can live through my characters. :) 

I'm blogging about my fave and least fave jobs over at fabulous Tera Lynn Child's blog. Check it out here. And congrats to TLC for her not one, but TWO 2009 RITA nominations!! Yay!! :) 

What is or was your fave job? Your least fave job? 

Have a great day, everyone! :)