Ellen Jensen Abbott's Blog, page 5

Check out this interview at Manga Maniac Cafe!

This was a fun interview to do because it's about vacation! As the end of summer approaches, it was great to think back on great…and not so great…vacations.

http://www.mangamaniaccafe.com/?p=5443

More on the PAYA festival–and link to a blog post on fantasy

Check out my post on writing fantasy: "Female Dwarves and Dumb Minotaurs: Making Fantasy Your Own" on http://bringya2pa.wordpress.com/

I'll be at this festival on August 27 and will part of a writing workshop there in the morning. This was a great event last year. Tons of YA authors who are really anxious to talk to readers about their own writing and about what they're reading. If you're any where near West Chester, PA  on the 27th, you should really come!

I've been posting teaser sentences from The Centaur's Dau...

I've been posting teaser sentences from The Centaur's Daughter on my facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ellen-Jensen-Abbott/59212357496

Become a fan!! Leave a comment!

Get the first chapter of THE CENTAUR'S DAUGHTER!!

Look under pages to the right and you will find the link to Chapter 1 of The Centaur's Daughter! Included is the title page, Cast of Characters, and Prologue! A sneek peek before the September 1 launch!

Blog under construction (sort of)

Please excuse the changes that I'll be experimenting with in the next few weeks as I try to make this blog fit my readers' needs–and since I don't post all that often. I'm fiddling with settings and arrangement of pages. It's all still here, but might change now and then!

More upcoming events/signings/appearances

Meet and Greet, May 21, 2011, 1-2 PM

Water Street Bookstore

125 Water Street

Exeter, NH 03833

(603) 778-9731

www.waterstreetbooks.com

My high school English teacher, Mrs. Liz Whaley, works at this bookstore! I can't wait to go there and see her and meet folks at this excellent independent! It's my first signing in New England. Come and visit!

Books NJ: A celebration of books and the readers who love them

June 12, 2011 1-5 PM

Rain or shine!

Paramus Public Library

116 East Century Road

Paramus, NJ 07652

http://booksnj.org

Lots and lots of authors at this celebration! Check out their website to see who else will be there. There's a good crew from the KidLit Authors' Club, my great buddies! Stop by!

Upcoming Events!

Saturday, April 2, 2011, 10-12 AM

Signing: Art Haven Art Studio

13 East High Street, Studio N

Glassboro, NJ

 Six young adult and middle grade authors will participate in the first Author's Event at downtown Glassboro's Art Haven studio on Saturday, April 2 at 10:00 a.m. The free event is open to children ages eight and older and their families, and will include book signings and discussions. Guest authors include Nancy Viau (Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head), Toni De Palma (Jeremy Owl), Cyn Balog (Fairy Tale), Ellen Jensen Abbott (Watersmeet), Keri Mikulski (Head Games) and Ellen Parry Lewis (Future Vision). "This event is an effort to connect the arts and literacy into the Art Haven's offerings. I want to merge the two different medias," said Art Haven owner Monique Howard, herself and author and illustrator. 

Saturday, April 9, 2011, 11-12 AM

Mt. Airy Literary Festival

Big Blue Marble Bookstore

551 Carpenter Lane

Philadelphia, PA 19119

11:00am – Group reading with Jennifer Hubbard (The Secret Year), Amy Holder (The Lipstick Laws), Ellen Jensen Abbot (Watersmeet) and Cynthia Chapman Willis (Dog Gone and Buck Fever). These talented YA authors will talk about what's hot in literature today and what inspired them to write such imaginative and intriguing works of fiction. A lively Q&A session will follow.

Please come!! These events are with the Kid Lit Authors' Club, a group I'm part of. Gift bags, parties, crafts and fun! Check us out on the web: www.kidlitauthorsclub.com

Local Signing Coming Up!

Borders Express in the Exton Square Mall (crossroads of Rt. 100 and Rt. 30 in Exton, PA) is hosting a signing for the KidLit Authors' Group I'm part of on Sunday, December 12, from 1-3. There are eight of us–yes, eight!–signing our books. We are picture book authors up to YA. Here's the list:

Ellen Jensen Abbott, Watersmeet (duh!)

Cyn Balog, Fairy Tale, Sleepless

Jenn Hubbard, The Secret Year

Ann Bonwill, Pocket's Christmas Wish, Bug and Bear

Irene Breznack, Sneezy Louise

Jeannine Norris, Tonight You Are my Baby

Cynthia Chapman Willis, Dog Gone, Buck Fever

Nancy Viau, Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in her Head

A great group–and we're doing drawings for gift bags, too! Stop by and get some Christmas shopping done!

Check out this interview!

Michelle Knudsen (The Dragon of Trelian and LOTS more) is writing posts about sequel-writing on the blog Through the Tollbooth. In her posts, she interviews me (yay!) as well as three other cool authors. Check it out! Here's the link: http://throughthetollbooth.com/?p=1738

THE sequel!

Just had to show-off the draft I wrote! See pictures below (or above?–the technology of all this is beyond me.)

There is no purer pleasure (in  my opinion) than sending off the first draft. It's finished and no one has had a chance to tell you what's wrong yet! Sure, you have your sneaking suspicions, but for the moment, it just is. You did it. The marketing, the reviews, the editing and revising–all that is a long way off. For a little while you can revel. You wrote a book. Ahhhhh.