Augusta Scattergood's Blog, page 68

Launch Party Recap: It was fun!

 Sharing GLORY BE's big day, in pictures.




 My day started off in the best way. Doorbell rings.
Truly beautiful flowers from my amazing agent,
Linda Pratt, wishing me well and wishing she were here.


(Note: autographing pen at the ready)








We drove to the adorable, fabulous INKWOOD BOOKS in Tampa. Lots of unloading to do.





And there she is! Right in the front of the store!




Inkwood Books sold almost all of their books. I signed the leftover ones.

(I'm sure if you'd love your own autographed copy, you can call them and they'll ship.  ☺)














The table: What's a party without food? Nothing!
Red velvet cupcakes, pimento cheese, drinks.
And note the bookmarks in their Elvis mug.


 


Closeup of the Red Velvet Cupcakes. Remarkably, they survived the drive intact.

(the napkins- HIP HIP Hooray, not just HIP. Though we are certainly that...)

We schmoozed a bit. Celebrated with a toast. Then my writer friend Sue Laneve introduced me. She said a lot of very nice things. Thanks, Sue!

As you can see, the room is quite tiny. Seating for 25. Extras sat on the floor, stood in the back, and one special guest sat at the table, offering moral support, guarding the books and the food. (Thanks, Evie!)


I read a bit, talked maybe too much, answered questions. I think I may have said something funny...







That's my writer friend Greg Neri holding up my book.  And new Scholastic friend Ed Masessa. Ed is a really funny guy. Also very nice. We're just going to have to do something about his basketball preference. (Duke? Really, Ed?)

Thanks to everyone who came and those of you who were with us in spirit. A truly great beginning for GLORY BE.

More Sightings-- This girl gets around!

On GLORY BE's official launch date, folks have emailed photos from everywhere. What fun!
Don't mean to go all Flat Stanley on you. But I can't resist sharing more Glory Sightings.Thanks, people!



Hanging out with the Original Shelf Elf (b. 1950),
currently residing in Lutherville, MD.









                                With her own bookmark, on Christmas Eve. 
                                Somewhere near Atlanta:


Enjoying the beautiful view, while her owners ski in Colorado:

 


In sunny Florida, relaxing by the pool!

Thanks, Fellow Bloggers

Two truly appreciated blog posts about GLORY BE. Click on these links and check them out.

An interview on  
Caroline Starr Rose's CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS  blog.
Especially for teachers, this is a recurring series Caroline does and I was delighted she invited me along.

Then there's this review by a FIVE MINUTES FOR BOOKS   blogger is pretty much what I hoped for when I wrote the book. Actually, it's exactly what I hoped for.

Thanks, everybody. What an exciting week this is!

And don't forget the giveaway on Carol Baldwin's post from yesterday. You have all week to enter, but hurry on over and comment.

Happy Launch Day!

Or launch week. Or Official Launch Month, or whatever we are calling this exciting time.

To kick things off with a bang, fellow blogger Carol Baldwin is giving away an autographed copy of GLORY BE!

Click on over there. Contest ends January 7th.

RIGHT HERE! THIS IS THE LINK.

Follow the instructions at the bottom of my interview and you, too, could be the proud owner of a hot-off-the-press, autographed copy of GLORY BE.

Thanks, Carol!

Happy 2012! No Resolutions!

 Taking down decorations and thinking of all the exciting things to come in 2012!
Today marks the beginning of a new year, and I'm inspired by writer friends, Kimberley Griffiths Little and Caroline Starr Rose --and probably a ton more of you who make these lists--  to start keeping track of what I'm reading. Their lists are impressive. But I'd have to dig deep to recall The Books I Read in 2011. So from now on, I resolve (whoops, I used the R word!) to keep better track of what I read.
                                                        
What I'm Reading Now: 1. Review copy, via Kindle, of Elizabeth George's forthcoming mystery: BELIEVING THE LIE
2. A Teen/ YA novel I can't put down, a page-turner,  that is nothing like anything I normally read:UNLEASHED by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie
3. Rereading The Liberation of Gabriel King and also When You Reach Me. Because I love the voices so much.

(These notes will be at the bottom of some blog posts. Feel free to ignore. If I keep up with this task, I will be able to remember what I read come next December. Or at least, that's my goal. And everybody knows goals are way better than resolutions, right?)

Revision Techniques, anyone?

Now this is interesting. In a scary kind of way.
Via Cheryl Klein's very thorough book: SECOND SIGHT.
(p. 295, if you're looking it up)

http://writewords.org.uk/phrase_count.asp

Paste your entire manuscript into this word counter and see how often you've used a word. Cheryl recommends it as potentially revealing a hidden theme or image to expand on during revision.



I, of course, used it to show how many times I've OVER-used a word.

The Phrase Counter tab was particularly revealing...

74 uses of THE FRONT

60 of NEXT TO

I've got a lot of fronts going on. Steps, porches, sidewalks.
And those were just 2-word phrases.
When I changed it to 3?
I mean, really? Sixteen IN FRONT OFs?

Yikes. Off to revise. Thanks, Cheryl...


Possibly related posts:   Still Revising With Help From a Pro

Launch Party: A friendly reminder

                                             

                             One week from tomorrow
                             Thursday, January 5, 6:00.                            INKWOOD BOOKS, Tampa                                  Hope to see you there!

The Chick Palace Has Arrived!

For all you Nook people. And for those of you with iPad Nook apps, too.
I am about to offer you the best present you will receive during the holidays. Well, certainly the best book present.


Go immediately to the Barnes and Noble store and  
download THE CHICK PALACE.



You will love it as much as I do.
Terrific story.
Great characters.
Writing that will make you go Oh Wow.
Over and over again.

A Very Merry Christmas

Just when I thought there were no surprises under the tree, for reasons unbeknownst to me, Amazon decided to ship GLORY BE  before Christmas. A week EARLY!


What a joy to hear from friends, family and even strangers, near and far.
Merry Christmas, everybody!


GLORY BE- From your UPS delivery trucks, all the way to...



Atlanta, sipping a glass of chardonnay with Christopher.
















Being watched over by a very busy Shelf Elf.


In a stocking- or two!





Under the Tree in New Jersey!








And being "re-read" by some Very Important People...

Glory Be is out there!

Look what turned up early this morning.

Besides saying really nice things that will be forever engraved on the back of my book, now I get front and center on Barbara O'Connor's blog. 

Since she writes some of the most amazing books, well-loved by kids, this is high praise:

Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood is Southern through and through.   But so much more:
an important story about race, friendships, small town life, and sisterly love.

Plus a great big picture of the book for all her loyal followers to see. Eternal gratitude!