Gators and Swamp and Danger, Oh, My!

Okay, I just gotta post this picture. What a gal! Amazing. This dude could have swallowed her whole three times over!



Scary!!! I can't even imagine hauling him over the side of the boat.

Here's part of the story

I've been watching this fascinating series called Swamp People about men in the Louisiana bayous and swamps catching up to 200  gators during the one month of alligator season.

It's on the History Channel. I love the stories and family of Troy. He's my favorite. And he reminds me of Livie's daddy from The Healing Spell even though Livie's daddy doesn't go gator hunting.

And in OTHER NEWS!!!

My book trailer just made the first cut for the School Library Journal Book Trailer Contest!!! Fingers crossed I make the final 4 in my category!!!

Mother/Daughter Book Clubs!

Mother/Daughter Book Clubs are the new, best thing about reading! Have you been in one? Are you currently in one? Do you want to start one?

This is THE WEBSITE (MDBC) you must go to if you want to start your own club with your friends or to find some great book lists and suggestions. The books on the MDBC website have been reviewed and vetted as some of the best for your club. Mother & Daughter themes and strong girl themes. Check it out!


I think Mother/Daughter Book Clubs are a very cool idea -  and what a GREAT way to bond with your daughter and discuss fun and important and interesting issues in your lives and the world. Books - one of the bestest ever inventions! As Richard Peck once said, "Books are BETTER than real life."

And don't think that it has to be Mothers and Daughters doing a club. It could also be Grandmothers and Daughters and Granddaughters and Sisters and Step-moms, etc. What a great way to spur conversation and discussion about so many topics with the girls and women in your life.

On the MDBC Website, you can also find Book Club Guides, like the very cool one my sister wrote for my book THE HEALING SPELL.

The Healing Spell is the featured book in the Mother/Daughter Book Club September Newsletter! I'm very honored! 

Mother Daughter Book Clubs have been greatly inspired by Heather Vogel Frederick's adorable series: The Mother Daughter Book Club published by Aladdin.

Book Four, PIES AND PREJUDICE, was released just last week! Cute title, huh?
Think about the friends in your own life and your daughter and her friends and try having a book club meeting this fall. If you do, please let us know how it goes and share your experiences and thoughts! 

TODAY!!!

TODAY, September 17th at 5:30 I'll be at Alamosa Books in Albuquerque for a Bayou Gumbo Book Party! Come eat gumbo, Cajun cakes and eclairs and take a ride in a pirogue! Book talk and signing, too. And alligator door prizes!!! Come have a good time!

Friday and the Gift of Reading!

I'm headed out the door soon for a quick trip out of state (tons of driving, unfortunately, but I get to see one of my very cute sons for his birthday tomorrow. Yep, he's a 9/11 baby) so saying goodbye until Tuesday. Taking my laptop with me becaues I am STILL working on this maddening second draft due Monday to my editor at Scholastic. I have this irrational/rational (?)  fear that I'm making the manuscript worse . . .



Here's a quick round-up of book signing events the next couple of weeks:

Wednesday, September 15th: Speaking and signing at the Albuquerque Retired Officer's Women's Club Luncheon at the Cooperage Restaurant. Very excited to meet them all! One of my brand new friends, Glenda, arranged this. She's not a writer, but a retired Stanford professor and SO supportive of my new book, The Healing Spell. (Click the link for some new wonderful reviews on Goodreads - I am SO thrilled!)

Friday, September 17th at 5:30 I'll be at Alamosa Books in Albuquerque for a Bayou Gumbo Book Party! Come eat gumbo, Cajun cakes and eclairs and take a ride in a pirogue! Book talk and signing, too.


Saturday, September 25th 3-5 p.m. I'll be back at Alamosa Books for a very special TWELVE AUTHOR kick-off to The Gift of Reading, a fund-raiser for high-risk kids with parents in the prison programs. Book donations will be collected at the store until December 5th and distributed to these kids for Christmas. Please click the links, this is a really super book fund-raising drive to help the cause of literacy.



Saturday, October 2, from 6-8 p.m. I'll be signing and partying at Deseret Bookstore in Albuquerque, NM. Girls Night Out evening!



Peeps - you really need to come to Albuquerque - so much to see and do! Balloon Fiesta is the first two weekends in October, too, and we're having gorgeous weather!

Something AMAZING!!!

I AM SO DANG THRILLED!!!

In an unprecedented move, Scholastic has negotiated with Nua Music to offer the full original music written and performed for the book trailer for my novel, THE HEALING SPELL as a FREE DOWNLOAD on their site! Yes, you can get the full 4 minute song, written and sung by Bet Fonua as an MP3 for your computer, I-Pod, MP3 player, Blackberry, etc! Wowza!

Here is the link to my page at Scholastic where you can listen to it right from the page and also get the correct links for download for a PC or a Mac.
"TREATER WOMAN" by Bet Fonua - original song for The Healing Spell novel ("Treater" is the English word for Traiteur which is French for people like Miz Mirage Allemond, the Cajun folk healer from my book who lives in the swamp.) 

The Healing Spell at Amazon
The Healing Spell at Barnes & Noble

The Healing Spell on Goodreads

The Healing Spell Book Trailer
Kimberley’s Website with a Southern Flair, plus Teacher's Guide and Mother/Daughter Book Club Guide

When you feel like immersing yourself in the Deep South, put on your headphones and enjoy!
Please feel free to Share, FB or Tweet! It's free to anyone for the next year!

A million thanks to Bet Fonua and Cindy-Rae Jones at Nua Music for your generosity and love!!!

Tuesday and holidays!

I am honored to be a guest blogger at THE COZY READER.  I wrote about the making of my book trailer.  Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the process as well as the fabulously talented people at Nua Music for their original music, sound design, voice-over actress and production work - AND the adorable and talented Shayne Leighton who helped me find many of the images.




Jessica, who runs The Cozy Reader, blogs about books and is a real sweetheart. Thank you, Jessica!

My family and I also finally got to spend some time together yesterday.

The Albuquerque Zoo is an awesome zoo!
And we went to the Biological Park Gardens and Butterfly Pavilion.



Flamingos!



Making the flamingos feel loved.



Playful kitties



Inside a waterfall!








Wish it was my own personal garden! But I can pretend - I'm a writer. :-)

Then we went and saw the Sorceror's Apprentice, a very fun movie. The place was packed. Tickets were only 75 cents apiece! I kid you not!  

So what did you do over the weekend???

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Special Announcement! You're Invited!!!        Friday, September 17th, 2010      5:30 PM      Alamosa Books      8810 Holly Ave. NE      NW corner of Ventura and Paseo Del Norte      Across from Trader Joe's      Albuquerque, NM  87122       You are invited to New Mexico's Award-Winning Author Kimberley Griffiths Little's "Bayou Book Party", at Alamosa Books in Albuquerque.  There will be gumbo, Cajun cakes, music, door prizes and a book talk, PLUS Kimberley will be autographing copies of The Healing Spell, published by Scholastic Press.     Everyone is invited!  Tell the teachers and librarians in your life, as well as your kids!     This highly praised novel follows Livie, an almost 12-year-old girl as she deals  with the tragedy that has left her mother in a coma as well as her own guilt as she tries to save her mamma before it's too late. Set in the rich Cajun bayou culture, Kimberley has woven a tale of magic, faith, and  the healing that comes from finding oneself.   ISBN: 978-0-545-16559-4 Amazon Barnes and Noble   Here's what the critics have to say about The Healing Spell:   "A special offering for readers seeking a challenge of the heart as well as the mind." - Booklist   "An interesting story with likable characters and a lot of heart" - Kirkus   "The fully realized sense of place adds dimensionality and atmosphere . . . intriguing." - Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books   "An incantational tale of Cajun magic" - Richard Peck, Newbery Medalist     Please visit Kimberley's updated website   Free Teacher's Guide   Free Mother/Daughter Book Club Guide   View the video Trailer for the book here!   And watch for our regular issues of Spellbinders starting in October! Join Our Mailing List! Mass Email Services Provided By Peifer Computing Solutions

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While reading your critiques and trying not to get depressed. . .

You whip out the credit card and jump up and down excitedly for a fabulous new book by one of your favorite authors - Barbara O'Connor, who hails from the South and writes the best MG novels ever.

Here is her newest book, launched just yesterday!

COVER LOVE! So perfect for Middle-Grade Readers!

My copy is on its way to me. TWO copies actually. One to keep and one to give away! And I may be buying more since I have nephews who love to read!
 
All you gotta do to win my extra copy of THE FANTASTIC SECRET OF OWEN JESTER is to tell me one of your favorite scenes from THE HEALING SPELL. 

Or tell me that you're going to give a child or teacher or friend or librarian THE HEALING SPELL for Christmas. Or just because! Because we love books - just because they're so fabulous!

Thanks for entering! Have a wonderful, book-alicious day!