Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 84

I'll be on Champagne Sundays Radio today at 3pm EST

I'll be on Champagne Sundays Radio today at 3pm EST (or shortly after) with Nancy Reid and Lisa Smith of Big Blend Mag talking about HUNTED. I hope you'll tune in if you have a chance. And you can call in to speak to me or the host: (347) 637-2641. If you don't get a chance to listen and are still interested, the recording should go up in a few days.

You can also tune in to hear:

Sage Michael – Author 'How to Become a SuperHero: The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate You!'- 10:55am PT

Ray Brown – Wildlife Artist – 11:35am PT – 11:35am PT

Lisa Grey – Author 'Pink Kitchen' Recipe Book Series – 3:25pm ET

Chris Perrin 'The Party Food Dude' – Editor BlogWellDone.com – 2:50pm CT

Norm & Maralyn Hill 'The Tandem Travelers' travel writers – 2:25pm MT

Perfect ebook reader cover – The Neverending Story

I LOVE The Neverending Story–the book by Michael Ende AND the movie. I love Bastian running into a bookshop when bullies are after him. I love him reading The Neverending Story and falling into its world, and having the book and story and characters make such a huge positive difference for him. And I love that Bastian's relationship with his father gets repaired because of his adventures. It's a feel-good book.

So I was delighted when GalleyCat found a leather Neverending Story cover for ebook readers and iPads on Etsy. It looks just the way it should!

And it seems very fitting, when ebook readers can hold SO many books. I have hundreds and hundreds on my Kindle….

What do you think? Does this appeal to you?

It sure appeals to me.

Bully-ish move on Amazon's part

I love Amazon. I especially love how they have SO many books, how I can get books cheaply, and how I can *instantly* get so many books on my Kindle. Oh, yes, and I love my Kindle.

But Amazon has just made a real bully-ish move, an underhanded, cruddy move, attacking local and indie bookstores. Amazon is giving people $5 to go to a store, find and scan a book, and then walk out and buy the same book on Amazon. Really, Amazon?? In what universe do you think it's okay to stomp on indie bookstores and smaller businesses? Come on; I know you can do better.

People–please do NOT do this! We NEED our indie bookstores. It would become a pretty scary place if there was only ONE major bookstore. Besides that, local bookstores offer so much. Besides being able to walk in, page through a book, read passages from any page until you know whether you want it or not, you also have the specialty advice and experience from your local bookseller, books offered to you that you might not otherwise see or pick up, and enthusiastic book lovers who want to help you find the next book you love.

I buy from Amazon–but I also buy from my local indie bookstores, and indie online bookstores. I hope you do, too.

Free Speech Matters; Books Are Powerful!

I LOVE this video by so many YA authors who I love and respect, letting us know that free speech matters, books matter–and that banning and censoring books isn't right. You might be surprised at how many of your favorite YA authors have had books banned or challenged. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out.

Interviews about me as an author

There's been a number of recent interviews with me. If you'd like to know more about why I write or me as a writer, check them out.

I Am a Reader Not a Writer Interview and Book Giveaway. My most rewarding experiences as a writer, advice to aspiring writers, what book do I wish I'd written, and more.

Bibrary Book Lust Interview. Did I deliberately choose this genre, does my past influence my writing and if so, am I conscious of it, what's a favorite scene from my own books, what authors or books influenced my own writing.

Keen Readers Interview. What made me a keen reader, when did I decide to write books, what's my best advice to encourage teens to read.

Alexa Loves Books Interview. What inspires me to write, what are some of my favorite books, what am I thankful for.

Thanks so very much to all the interviewers who asked amazing questions and took the time to talk with me.

Book Lover Holiday Giveaway Hop AND Celebration of HUNTED coming out

I'm so excited–HUNTED (my teen Paranormal Fantasy/Dystopian) is coming out soon–on Dec 19th! And to celebrate that, I'm taking part in this holiday giveaway hop. (If you love contests, keep an eye on my blog around Dec 19th, when I'll be hosting an *even bigger contest.*)

This contest, I'm giving away:

*15 signed short story postcards with a story that ties into HUNTED on one side, and SCARS on the other (who knows, these might become collector's items someday)

*4 signed copies of HUNTED (these will ship when I get them, so after Dec 19th)

*3 signed copies of SCARS

*2 $5 Amazon gift cards

And **everyone can download my free short story ebook PinPoint (tie-in to HUNTED).** Go to SmashWords if you need it for Kindle, B&N if you need it for Nook, Reader Store if you need it for Sony, or the SmashWords link for all those formats and more.

You can also download all the free HUNTED goodies I've created, including the short story ebook, the postcard short story, the comic strip, the "newspaper article", the teacher's guide, and more.

Open to US & Canada, runs Dec 2-6th.

To enter this contest, you can have 4 total entries:

*1 entry by leaving a comment on this post

*1 entry for watching my book trailer for HUNTED (please be honest; I want to help get the word out about HUNTED)

*1 entry for tweeting or blogging about this contest or my book trailer

*1 entry for tweeting or blogging about HUNTED, my book trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uEvx0jdTdOw, or any of the HUNTED Goodies

HUNTED book trailer (1 entry to watch, up to 2 extra entries to tweet or post about it):

Want more chances to win a copy of HUNTED? You can enter to win 1 of 5 copies of HUNTED on a separate contest I'm running on GoodReads.

I will be leaving for Philadelphia on the 7th, where I'll be presenting about my books, so winners will likely be notified on the 9th when I get back (though I may try to notify everyone on the 7th).

Check out and enter in all the other contests in the Book Lovers Holiday Giveaway Hop.

Laurie Halse Anderson given award by NCAC for defending free speech

I LOVE this! Laurie Halse Anderson (SPEAK, WinterGirls) got an award from the NCAC, honoring her as a Defender of Free Speech. And it was handed to her by Judy Blume, no less! This is so fitting, since SPEAK is often challenged. I'm glad this happened. Laurie is one of those authors I really look up to.

YA Kindle freebie alert

YA novel Indigo Blues by Danielle Joseph (Flux) is free right now on Amazon as an ebook.

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Christmas Tree Made Out of Picture Books

I love this video, where David Maybury made a Christmas tree out of picture books. It feels like a celebration of picture books! I also think picture books make fantastic holiday gifts–for young readers and for old. I personally give a lot of picture books–my favorites.

Picturebook Christmas Tree from David Maybury on Vimeo.

I made book ornaments for my own books

So, last night after the great #engchat on Twitter (thank you to everyone who participated and asked me questions!) I was talking about how I'm trying to make Christmas a nicer time for myself–by incorporating some book and writing ornaments for my tree. I've got a Paddington Bear ornament (I love Paddington!), a Grinch, a Green Eggs and Ham, and a pile of mini books with a mug and a plate of cookies ornament.

And then @gripemaster asked if anyone makes book ornaments with our favorite books on them. I couldn't find anyone (though I did find some neat handmade book ornaments on Etsy), but it got me thinking. I still thrill in the fact that I'm published and that my books are reaching people. It's my dream! And so I thought…wouldn't it be cool if I had a mini book ornament for some of my own books? A kind of celebration of my accomplishments–especially since I can't always hold on to positives.

So I set about creating my own book ornaments today for SCARS and HUNTED. And after some trial and error, here's what I came up with:

I put the title of the books and my author name along the spine.

They're not perfect, but I think they're cute, and they work for me. Since I made them just for myself, and I'm not selling them, and I wrote the books, I think it's likely okay that I made them.

Do you want to create book ornaments for your own books? Or for a favorite book of yours? Here's how I did it:




Materials needed:

-post-it notes, 1 3/8″ x 1 7/8″

-glue stick

-digital image of cover

-scissors or paper cutter or both

-silver or decorative thread

-freeware program Ifranview and plugins (if using Windows)

-color printer

First, I got out my pads of sticky notes (of which I have a lot) and chose the right size for me: 1 3/8″ x 1 7/8″

Next, I had to resize my cover images so that they would print properly–along with finding a program that would print my images the exact size that I resized them (Windows doesn't allow you to do that). After researching it, I downloaded the free IfranView and the plugins, and everything went smoothly.

Program downloaded: IfranView and plugins

Cover image resized to: 1.5″ x 2″ with 400 dpi with a 1 margin along the left and the top.

Printed copies: 3

Next, I cut out the printed images (I used my paper cutter, then scissors to do final trimming).

I put glue on the backs of the covers using a glue stick so that it wouldn't dimple or wrinkle, and then applied 1 cover image to the front of the post-it note pad, and 1 cover to the back. I then cut out a strip from the third cover, then the title of my book and my name, and applied them along the spine (the strip went behind so that the yellow of the pad didn't show up along the spine).

I did not put anything along the top, bottom, or right-hand side of the post-it pad, so that it would be like a book, able to open.

I cut a strand of fine silver thread, and gently parted the pad about halfway, and pulled the thread into it gently, stopping when I got to the sticky area. I tied the thread together at the top to create a loop.

All done!