Secret Fates and Celebrities

Happy Wednesday! It's hump day for the week, right? Half-way to the weekend!!! Big news in my neighborhood... David Archuleta is coming to the DCHS football game Friday night. He's going to sing the National Anthem. I know several girls at the school who are all kinds of excited. Why he has chosen to drop by our high school, I haven't the slightest clue, but we'll take it.

This is the second celebrity visit to DCHS in as many months - Barack Obama held a rally at Coffman just after the DNC. Yes, the Rocks rock!

ANYWAY, as promised, today you have two chances to win. It's my turn to post at Kelly Parra's Secret Fates Extravaganza, celebrating the release of her new book, INVISIBLE TOUCH. Leave a comment on that post and you'll be entered to win a copy of DEATH BY LATTE.

To be entered to win the final pair of tabi socks and some Japanese goodies from this blog, leave a comment below telling me about your most recent celebrity sighting. If you've never had one, that's OK. Make one up!

Happy hump day!

And the Winner is...

By random drawing, the winner of Tuesday's freebie is...

Christine

Please shoot me an email with your mailing address at gerb at lindagerber dot com and I'll get your socks and treats sent off to you!

Everyone else, thanks for your comments! Stick around for more winning!

GCC Tour - Stacy DeKeyser

Welcome to day two of win-it week! Today I have a special blog for you - an interview with Stacy DeKeyser, author of JUMP THE CRACKS. Her book has received great reviews and has been nominated for the YALSA 2009 popular paperback award and Texas Lone Star Reading List. Here's the back cover blurb:

When fifteen-year-old Victoria witnesses what she believes to be child neglect on a train to New York, she makes a split-second decision and takes the young boy with her on the next train out in order to protect him. But, in her effort to make sure the child doesn’t slip through the cracks and end up back with the neglectful parents, she’s unwittingly branded a kidnapper and is forced to stay on the run until she can clear her name.

JUMP THE CRACKS is a fast-paced, suspense-driven thriller set in motion when a young girl is forced to confront the fine line between doing the legal thing and doing the right thing. Debut novelist Stacy DeKeyser offers a memorable and honest portrayal of a teen whose efforts to take on a child’s demons leads her to take on her own in the process.

Sounds cool, yes? Be sure to check it out!!! Meanwhile, here's Stacy and the interview questions:

1. What inspired you to write JUMP THE CRACKS?

An early scene of Jump the Cracks (on the train) is a fictionalized version of an experience I had myself. It was very upsetting, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. So I decided to try writing about it. It was very therapeutic.
2. Are any of your characters based on real people that you know?

Miss Theresa has a bit of both my grandmothers in her. That's about it, though.

3. What excites you?

An idea for a new book. Or maybe it's the other way around. When I have an idea that stirs up lots of emotion inside me -- whether it's good emotion or bad -- that's how I know it's something I should write about.

4. What turns you off?

People who treat children and animals badly. Rude people in general.

5. In DEATH BY LATTE, my character Aphra starts her adventure with a lie. What's the biggest lie you ever told, and what happened as a result of the telling?

Hmm. I was a very meek child, so this is hard. Once in 8th grade I told my mom I'd be at a friend's house, but my friend took me walking to see a boy she liked at his house. It was nighttime and I had no idea where we were. It made me very nervous.

6. All stories are built on suspense. What's the most suspenseful thing that's happened to you in real life?

Waiting to hear back from an editor who's interested in my book!
(Note: I can relate to that!!!)

7. If you could invite anyone you wanted - living or dead - to hang out with you at a weekend retreat, who would you invite and why?

Maybe Mark Twain. He'd be fun to talk to, and he could tell me stories.

8. What's one thing most people don't know about you?

My youngest sister was born when I was a sophomore in college. I had fun going around telling my friends, "Guess who's pregnant?"

9. What's your favorite quote?

There's a line in the movie A LEAGUE OF THEIR own that I think applies really well to writing. When Dottie (Geena Davis' character) contemplates quitting the team, she tell Tom Hanks it's because playing baseball isn't easy any more. Tom Hanks tells her, "It's not supposed to be easy. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it." I try to remember that. Oh, and of course, "There's no crying in baseball."

10. Milk Chocolate or Dark?

Is this a trick question? I refuse to have to choose. :)

Today's freebie will be a pair of tabi socks and rice-paper candy. To be entered to win, leave a comment below about Stacy's book or interview.

And the Winner Is...

The winner of Monday's Sumo Keychain and goodies is...

Cheryl S!

You know the drill... please send a note with your mailing address to gerb at lindagerber dot com so I can get it sent off to you.

Everyone else, stay tuned. We still have four more days of freebies this week!

Win-it Week!

I'm baaaack!

My apologies to the 'regulars' who may have come to the blog looking Freebie Friday last week. My Internet connection was a bit spotty, and I was literally bouncing from one event to the other all weekend. To make it up to you, I'm making this whole week a freebie week! Up for grabs: more Japanese goodies, a couple of sumo keychains, and an incense set. You'll want to drop by often!

Thanks for the emails asking about the trip, and for the well-wishes. For all of you who expressed interest in all things Japanese, you should check out Annie Chikamatsu's photo-journal blog about daily life in Japan. She's an American writer whom I know from SCBWIjp, married into a Japanese family, so she has some great insights and observations from both perspectives.

Meanwhile, a quick report for all of you who asked: what a whirlwind weekend!! Thursday and Friday I visited the American School in Japan (ASIJ) where my kids attended when we lived in Tokyo. I have to tell you, the librarians at ASIJ are the best! They really know how to host an author visit. I gave my presentation "Forensics in Fiction" to the 9th and 10th graders on Thursday and visited four English classes. We had an author lunch that day with book club members - smart students who asked great questions. That evening, I got to go out to dinner with the librarians, Marty Swist, Linda Hayakawa and Kirby Yoshii - such intelligent, fun people! Friday I spent with the Middle School, presenting to each grade separately and then enjoying another awesome author lunch. All of the participants had read at least one of my books so we had a fantastic discussion going the entire lunch and I was very sorry that it passed so quickly. After school the HS library hosted an author party, where I got to hang out with more students. What an awesome experience!

Saturday was my presentation on suspense writing at the SCBWI Tokyo Writers' Day. I have such a soft spot for the SCBWIjp. Way back when we first moved to Japan, I had the opportunity to help establish SCBWI in Tokyo and served as the first Regional Advisor, so it was a treat to see old friends again. I also got to meet agent extraordinaire and very nice person Laura Rennert from the Andrea Brown literary agency, who presented after me. Laura represents some of my favorite authors including Ellen Hopkins, and debut novelist Jay Asher (one third of the Disco Mermaids...) who wrote THIRTEEN REASONS WHY. And she happens to be married to one of my favorite thriller authors, Barry Eisler, who writes the John Rain series (set right there in Tokyo.) Another absolutely terrific day.

AND NOW... here's what we'll have going this week (with prizes given away each day...):

Today: Japan report and intro to the week
Tuesday: GCC Tour interview with Stacy DeKeyser
Wednesday: 2 chances to win... on this blog and on the DEATH BY LATTE post over on Kelly Parra's SECRET FATES EXTRAVAGANZA
Thursday: GCC Tour interview with Kelly Parra
Friday: Freebie Friday "Missing SIWC"

For today's freebie, I'm giving away a sumo keychain and assorted Japanese goodies. To be entered to win, leave a comment below telling me why I should draw your name! : )

Here's to a freakishly fantastic week!!!

Winner!

Konnichiwa! It's been a fast, fabulous week so far, meeting up with old friends and buzzing around Tokyo, but tomorrow it's time to get to work. I will spend the next two days at the American School in Japan and then present a workshop at the Tokyo Writers' Day on Saturday. Busy, busy! But I love it!!

Without further ado, the winner of this week's drawing is:

Bri

Please send me your mailing address to gerb at lindagerber dot com and I'll send your package off as soon as I get back to the States.

Everyone else, check back on Friday for your chance to win more fun Japanese stuff!

Pictures: "Nashi" - sooo good, like a cross between an apple and a pear; my dear friends Kiyomi and Mai; Hachiko statue in Shibuya, Hakkejima Beach Paradise

FREEBIE FRIDAY from Tokyo

Ohayo gozaimasu from Tokyo!!

Look - it's still Friday! Well, not here... it's about 6 a.m. Saturday, but my body clock hasn't clued in to that yet.

It feels like I'm home... I can't believe it's been nearly a year and a half since we left Japan. I didn't realize how much I missed it here until we touched down in Narita. It's so wonderful to be back - if only for a short time.

Can I just tell you what a bad traveler I am, though? I mean, I love to travel, but it seems I always forget something. This time, it was my brushes. Yup. I'm going to be standing up in front of people at school visits and workshops... and I left my hairbrushes at home. Guess what's first on my list of things to do today? At least it isn't as bad as when we went to France, though... My Dear Husband loaded the van for our drive to the airport, and he accidentally left my suitcase sitting on the driveway! We had to call a neighbor to retrieve it so it wouldn't get stolen, but with the post-9-11 security restrictions, they couldn't send it to the airport so it could come to Paris on a later flight, so my first trip to the City of Lights was sans luggage. I had to buy everything new there (which sounds much more exciting than it was... budget limitations meant I was shopping at Carrefour and H&M instead of at some high-fashion Paris boutique.) Oh! And the book tie-in for this post... Aphra will be going to Paris in DEATH BY DENIM!

Anyway, for today's Freebie Friday, I'm giving away a pair of these way fun tabi socks, along with assorted Japanese treats (no dried squid, I promise.) All you have to do to be entered to win is to leave a comment, telling me about something really important you forgot. What happened because your lapse of memory?

Mata ne!

Book and Chocolate Winner!

Hi, guys! It's a wet Wednesday here in Dublin. I'm behind - I intended to draw the winner yesterday. But I have a valid excuse - I'm leaving for Tokyo in the morning and I'm rushing to get things ready before I go. I didn't even watch the debate last night. Although I did find time to watch (again) the SNL take on the Palin/Biden debate last week. Tina Fey is fabulous!



This has nothing to do with the debates or the freebie or anything, but I saw an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune (thanks Ypulse) that talked about how high schoolers aren't necessarily taking dates to dances anymore. I know several people here - guys and girls - who didn't do the date thing for homecoming a couple of weeks ago. Is this a trend? What's it like where you are? Just curious.

Meanwhile, the winner of this week's Freebie Friday drawing is:

Kim

Please send me a note at gerb at lindagerber dot com and let me know your mailing address and which book you would prefer. Note - since I'm leaving in the morning, if I see your address, I'll get this out today, but if not, please be patient and I'll get it sent out as soon as I get back.

One last note: I am finally all caught up on sending everything out. If you have won something in the past couple of weeks and it hasn't arrived, please let me know asap. We did have a couple of post office problems this last month. One of them was my fault for addressing the package wrong (duh!) but the other two bounced for reasons unknown. I just want to make sure everyone gets what they were supposed to!

FREEBIE FRIDAY Ramblings

Happy Friday!

News today... Who watched the VP debate last night? I watched through Current TV's Hack the Debate (well, kind of watched. I was doing other things, too. I'm too easily distracted from and annoyed by politics to have paid complete attention.) Hack the Debate was a more interesting format than straight TV, though (viewers' live comments via Twitter appeared on the screen throughout the debate.)

In more entertaining news, Stephenie Meyer posted the first song from the TWILIGHT soundtrack on her blog yesterday. Anyone else planning a November 21 movie party?

And speaking of movies, Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist opens today. Anyone planning on seeing it? I've been looking forward to it, but disappointed to see some not-so-great reviews. Don't know about you, but (although I love them) I only have so much time/money to spend on movies. Is this one worth making a theater trip, or will it be better to catch on DVD in a few months? If you go see it, let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, it's cold, gray and blah in Ohio today. I have errands to run but no motivation to venture outside. I think I would rather curl up in my overstuffed chair with a book and a cup of hot chocolate.

In fact... for today's Freebie Friday, I think I'll offer that combination. To be entered to win a packet of gourmet hot chocolate mix and your choice of Sarah Dessen's KEEPING THE MOON or Lisa McMann's WAKE (both good curling-up-on-a-cold-day books) leave a comment below telling me what you're going to do with your first October weekend.

Have a good one!!!

Winners! October is for Reading!

Happy October! Book things to celebrate this month:

This week is Banned Books Week. Celebrate your freedom to read and take a stand against book banning!

Teen Read Week is also coming up in a couple of weeks! (October is a great month for reading!!!) A great way to celebrate:

Check out Kelly Parra's Secret Fates Extravaganza! A whole month of authors and giveaways to celebrate the release of INVISIBLE TOUCH! (And I'll be joining the party to give away books!)

If you love thrillers, you won't want to miss Karen Dionne's launch party for her new book, FREEZING POINT. (Not YA, but I am a huge thriller fan, plus I had a chance to read an ARC over the summer and I can tell you, FREEZING POINT = awesomeness.)

Watch for Melissa Walker's ongoing Cover Stories posts on her blog each Monday. (The story behind the DEATH BY series covers is up this week!)

Don't forget for your chance to win books and prizes all month right here on the blog!*

Speaking of... I need to announce last week's winners!!!

MS. ZEPHYR'S NOTEBOOK winner: Julian from Whytecliff

Starbucks Chocolate winner: Susan Adrian

Congrats! Please send me your mailing address at gerb at lindagerber dot com.

Have a great month of reading, everyone!!!

* Thanks to those of you who have pointed out that my RSS feed reader isn't working. I am trying to resolve the issue. Seems I get it ironed out and then it's not working again. I appreciate your patience!!!