Rachele Alpine's Blog, page 7

Great Gatsby Myrtle Wilson

I honestly don't think I can wait until May 10th.  I might explode from excitement!

Written As A High School Teacher

It hurts my heart that my students now have to learn to practice lockdowns in the way that I once practiced fire drills in school.

My students know exactly what to do in any area of the school if we go into lockdown.  They know the words to distinguish between the real thing and a drill and how to hide.  They know how to make the classroom look completely empty of any student.  They know where to put their bookbags, what to do with their computer monitors, what to do if they are in a hallway or bathroom, and what signal to look for to know that it is all clear.

Two years ago, it would have been next to impossible to get my students to stay quiet during one of these drills and take it seriously.

Now.  

Now they practice the drill in complete silence and ask me if they did it right when it's all over because of the reality of our world today.

Found! The Perfect Christmas Gift!

Christmas is only two weeks away (two weeks...what!?!).  Do you have all your Christmas shopping done?

If not, I'd like to suggest this wonderful book I know called CANARY (and I hear the author is pretty swell too!).

CANARY doesn't come out until August 1, 2013, but you can pre-order it here!  And so you have something to give to the lucky gift giver, I'll send you a pre-order Christmas pack...woo-hoo!

What it includes:

*A CANARY bookmark (one for you and one for the person you're giving it to, because everyone should get a treat at Christmas!)

*A CANARY postcard with the cover on the front and summary on the back

(back of postcard)*A CANARY notecard with a message from me about receiving the book in August

*A set of recycled sweater hand warmers so you have something little to wrap up (they are jasmine scented and you just have to put them in the microwave to heat up and keep your hands warm)



All you need to do is e-mail me (ralpine@aol.com) your pre-order receipt, your address, and the name of the person getting the gift.  I'll send it all out ASAP, so it's ready to give on Christmas.

IMPORTANT: I am only offering this until Monday, December 17th, so I can make sure everything is shipped out in time.

And you can give a little gift to me by clicking the "Like" button on the top of CANARY's Amazon page to let me know you think the book is the bomb diggity!  (you have to be logged in to click "like")

In the Wild

I just found out some ARCs of CANARY have been sent out!  It's in the wild!  



Book bloggers, librarians, and teachers...if you're interested in requesting an ARC for review, please fill out the form at the bottom of the tab at the bottom of the page that says REQUEST A REVIEW COPY.

A Conversation With My Husband

The news just showed a story about a school that is banning THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER b/c of the sexuality and suicide in it.  My conversation with my hubs, Jason, about what the school was doing went as such:

Me:  That is ridiculous!  How much do you want to bet that the kids read ROMEO AND JULIET there in English class?

Jason:  What does that have to do with it?

Me:  In ROMEO AND JULIET the kids get married so they can have sex and then kill themselves right after because they can't be together.  Why don't they ban that?

Jason:  Because no one can understand what the heck is going on in that play.  Shakespeare doesn't make any sense.

Me:  Fair enough.

*Although I still think it's ludicrous that the school is banning books...especially this one.  Ugh!  Censorship sucks!

A Good Day

You know it's a good day when you find a honey bunch this big! Hot diggity dog! Hope your day is starting off as good as mine!

Fall Photo Dump

This little old blog hasn't been to active lately, and I apologize.  Here's what's been keeping me busy:
Celebrating a good friend's wedding with my main squeeze...

Clambakes with my family...

Making sure my super important Ohio vote counts!

Watching sunsets from my writing office...
Hanging with the world's best dog, Radley:


Meeting my new "best friend"...


Writing and sipping...
Decorating my living room (aka...the new reading room!)...
Sneaking into my theater to watch Straight No Chaser rehearse for their holiday tour...
Good reading:


What about you?  What have you been up to?

Happy Birthday!

The life of a writer is far from rich and glamorous! As evidenced by the recent birthday of my 9 1/2 year old car!

Happy birthday, little Civic! I still love you even in your old age!

Snow!!

You guys! It snowed today! At first it was just a little but then it covered the ground. Yay! Bring on the holidays and cozy days inside with snow falling outside!

This means it's time to pull out one of my favorite cold weather staples...tights!

What are your favorite things about the winter?

CANARY On Amazon

A few weeks ago my marketing department told me that CANARY was listed in their spring/summer catalog, and I'd find it listed on the bookseller sites soon.

I proceeded to stalk Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  The stalking was bad.  As in, restraining order bad...I was checking the sites all the time.
Then one day I typed in my name, and my book popped up on Amazon!
Take a look!  If you're as excited about it as I am, can you take a minute to click the "like" button?  It's similar to "liking" something on Facebook, and it would let me know you care!  ; )
There are a lot of steps in this publishing process that are monumental, and this was one of them.  It was incredible to see CANARY listed and ready for pre-order!
It even has a fancy new summary that my marketing department wrote:
In this debut novel, a high school girl faces the pain, shame, and uncertainty that come with sexual abuse. With the passing of her mother, Kate Franklin’s life unravels at the seams as she loses the only emotional mooring in her family. Her dad shuts down completely, and her brother enlists in the army. Things start looking better when her dad is hired to coach at Beacon Prep, home of one of the best basketball teams in the state. In a blog of prose and poetry, Kate chronicles her new world—dating a basketball player, being caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, and discovering the perks the inner circle enjoys. Then Kate’s fragile life shatters once again when one of her boyfriend’s teammates assaults her at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The once welcoming community has betrayed Kate, her family is disintegrating, and she’s on her own to grapple with whether to stay quiet or speak out and expose a town’s hero and destroy her father’s career.
And you can visit my Amazon Author Page too, if you'd like to stick around for awhile longer!