Nancy J. Cavanaugh's Blog, page 3
October 8, 2013
My Lucky 13s Promotion Partner – Jennifer Mann
I’ve said many times before that one of the best benefits of being an author is making new author friends. When I found out THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET would be debuting in 2013, I joined a group called the Lucky 13s. The group is comprised of debut authors of picture books, middle grade books, and young adult books. Our common interest is children’s books. One of our common goals is promoting our own and each other’s debuts.
The Lucky 13s as a group has over one hundred authors in it. As a way to help each other more effectively, the middle grade authors have banded together, and one of the things we decided to do is have Promo Partners. That means the middle grade Luckys paired up in an effort to make a one-on-one connection with another author in the group to focus on promotion. I feel super lucky because my Promo Partner is Jennifer Mann whose book SUNNY SWEET IS SO NOT SORRY debuted just last week. It’s a fabulously fun story of sibling rivalry, and MG readers are sure to fall in love with Jen’s characters and their humorous capers. One of the best parts about it is that it’s only the beginning because SUNNY SWEET is a series, and Jen’s second book will be coming out in the spring.
Since Jen lives in Boston, and I live in Florida, and we are not able to meet face to face, we have enjoyed many LONG phone conversations getting to know one another, sharing advice and encouragement with each other, and celebrating the success and fun of having our first books come out. I think we both feel VERY lucky to be Lucky 13s. 
Happy Reading,
September 5, 2013
Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky: A Dream within a Dream
Last week I had the exciting, and overwhelming, opportunity to visit the Sourcebooks Sales Meeting. I was invited by my editor, Aubrey Poole, to spend a few minutes presenting my new middle grade novel, Always, Abigail, due out in October 2014. I prepared and practiced a short PowerPoint to present to about 50 Sourcebooks folks: the editorial staff, the design team, the sales/marketing people, etc. Basically all the people who were responsible for making This Journal Belongs to Ratchet into the beautiful book that it is. Even Dominique Raccah, the publisher herself, was there. Nervous doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt standing in front of all those people. I had worked on my writing for eighteen years, dreaming of one day having a children’s book, and there I stood in front of all the people who had not only believed in my story about Ratchet, but they had taken that story, turned it into a beautiful book, and then sent it out into the world with great enthusiasm. As if that wasn’t enough, they now wanted to take another one of my stories and turn it into a second book.
ALWAYS, ABIGAIL is told in lists, letters, and writing assignments, in which a girl named Abigail uses her language arts class’s Friendly Letter Project to cope with the worst school year ever – and in the process turns it into the best year ever.
That’s why this post is called “A Dream within a Dream.” In 2013, I am living out my dream of becoming a children’s book author, but I can’t help but feel that as I live out that dream, I’m living out even more dreams. For me, being published by Sourcebooks is that kind of dream. As nervous as I was standing in front of all those wonderful Sourcebooks folks, they couldn’t have been more warm and friendly, not to mention more enthusiastic about Ratchet and Abigail. I feel so thankful and happy to be part of such a fantastic group of people!
As a small token of thanks, I passed out treat bags tied with pom poms to all the Sourcebooks folks at the meeting.
Another dream for me was finally getting to meet my editor, Aubrey Poole, in person. Aubrey and I have worked together for about eighteen months now, and I have enjoyed her patience, kindness, and thoughtfulness, not to mention her wonderful insight and exceptional talent. Finally getting to meet her in person after all of our hard work was such a treat! Another dream within the dream.
The fabulous Aubrey Poole and Me.
Stayed tuned for more “Dreams within a Dream.” My lucky year of 2013 isn’t over yet.
Happy Reading,
August 28, 2013
Back to the Books
My summer was filled with lots of lazy days and a “to do” list that didn’t really get done, but even though this year I’m not heading back to school, I’ve still got that fall feeling. That feeling that says it’s time to get myself organized with fun new pencils, notebooks, and lots of loose leaf paper. School supply shopping is my favorite part about fall, and with all that new stuff, I’ll write a new-and-improved “to do” list and also come up with a plan for getting it done.
My plans for fall include working on a new novel, revising Always, Abigail (my second middle grade novel coming from Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky in fall 2014), visiting lots of schools to talk about This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, and eagerly waiting for the Scholastic paperback edition of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet coming in November 2013. So many exciting things on the agenda it will be easy to get back to the books!
Happy Reading!
July 3, 2013
THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET at ALA 2013
On Monday, July 1 I headed to downtown Chicago for ALA 2013.
Sourcebooks had a full schedule.
Hanging out with the Sourcebooks Gang is always fun.
Signing books for readers is one of the best parts of being an author!
I had a great time talking to the librarians and teachers who visited the booth.
I can’t wait ’til next year!
Happy Reading,
July 2, 2013
Guest Post on the Nerdy Book Club
So happy to have a guest post on The Nerdy Book Club. Hope you’ll check it out at http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/
Happy Reading,
June 24, 2013
My Book Signing at Anderson’s in Naperville – Part 2
So I couldn’t fit all the FUN in one blog post, so here are more photos of the Anderson’s Book Shop Event.
Such a dream come true to see my own book displayed at the author signing table!
Friends and family gathered at Lou Malnatis next door for pizza before the signing,
but some young readers preferred books before pizza.
My IL critique group came to celebrate!
A couple of my very first SCBWI writing friends joined in the fun too!
A former student from Timothy Christian School where I taught for 15 years.
She was in my very first third grade class, and she came with two of her own very new readers.
Besides being a mom, she’s a teacher now too!
And as a thank you – a lovely new Anderson’s Book Shop book bag
with a brand new book of my choice in it!
I can’t wait to read THE KEY AND THE FLAME by Claire Caterer!
Thank you again to everyone who came out to Anderson’s to celebrate THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET with me!
Happy Reading,
June 22, 2013
My Book Signing at Anderson’s Book Shop in Naperville
Along with my dream to write a children’s book, I have always dreamed of having a book signing at Anderson’s Book Shop.
Well, since 2013 is my lucky year, that dream finally came true!
Anderson’s really knows how to welcome an author.
Some readers couldn’t wait to read RATCHET!
Other new readers were eager to get their hands on their very own copy!
Still others helped me feel like a real celebrity!
Some had a smile that says it all!
And one or two had to be sure I signed their book just the right way.
It was such a BIG night and SO much fun, I’ll be doing another blog post in a day or so:
MY BOOK SIGNING AT ANDERSON’S Part 2.
Thanks to all my friends and family who came out and celebrated my dream with me!
And thank you to Anderson’s Book Shop for hosting a wonderful event!
Happy Reading,
June 10, 2013
Printer’s Row Book Festival in Chicago/Debut Author Panel
In my debut year, I have had many firsts - yesterday I had yet another one – my first author panel at the Printer’s Row Book Festival in Chicago.
Children’s author, Kate Hannigan, did a wonderful job moderating the panel. Tom Watson shared his story of an amazingly quick road to publication for STICK DOG. I shared my long-nineteen-year journey to the publication of THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET. Demitria Lunetta shared her path to her YA book IN THE AFTER due out at the end of this month. Eileen Meyer shared about her experiences on the way to her first picture book WHO’S FASTER? ANIMALS ON THE MOVE.
Though we are all children’s authors, we each had quite different stories to tell about the way we finally achieved our dream of having our own children’s book. Check out our websites to find out more about each author and his or her books.
Happy Reading,
May 30, 2013
Two Great Book Blogs
As a new blogger myself, I’m amazed at how many wonderful blogs there are out there. This week I am lucky enough to be a guest on two wonderful book blogs. Check out my guest posts: one by author Aime Borst on the blog she contributes to called From the Mixed Up Files and the other by author Kate Hannigan on her blog called Author Of . . .
Aime writes middle grade and YA, and Kate’s debut will be published next spring. Check out their websites to find out more about their writing lives and their books.
Happy Reading,
May 21, 2013
GUEST POST ON TEACHINGAUTHOURS.COM
Thanks to my friend (author and writing coach) Esther Hershenhorn, there is a wonderful post about THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET on the Teaching Authors website. This site is a fabulous place to learn about writing and to find out about brand new books. Enjoy!
Happy Reading,
