December 28, 2008

Not All Angels Look Alike....




On this journey with Tonight You Are My Baby, I have been enormously blessed to encounter angels. They may not look alike or even do the same things, but surely they are angels to me. These are some of the angels that believed in Tonight You Are My Baby: Mary's Christmas Gift. This is, by no means, a complete list. I am blessed with an abundance of angels in my life. Hugs to all my angels who helped Tonight You Are My Baby fly !



* Angel - my husband, Peter, who took over childcare , laundry, cooking and a myriad of other every day household duties. Every successful author/mom needs a partner to cheer her on and pitch in when times are crazy.

* Angels - my children, Shane and Quinn, who helped me design a Powerpoint presentation, asked me about my school visits, helped sell books and understood when I had to miss their special events for December.

* Angel - my editor, Catherine, for taking a chance on a first-time author and lending me support every step of the way.

* Angel - my friend, Annmarie, who sold close to 150 books on her own through literally knocking on doors.

* Angels - the schools who donated the book sale proceeds to At Least Kids. Your generosity is overwhelming and greatly appreciated by the At Least Kids Foundation. 100% of the proceeds go directly to CHOP for pediatric brain tumor research and financial assistance to needy families. Your donation makes a huge difference in the life of a child.

* Angels - the coordinator at each school that worked darn hard to organize the Author Day. Every school, without exception, was gracious, prepared and organized. A true thrill for this author. The coordinators included teachers, principals, librarians, directors and curriculum coordinators.

* Angel - my dad who worked with me at MMR school on his birthday and was so proud that his daughter was following in her mother's footsteps.

* Angel - my sister, Dee, who was the first to go on a selling spree - literally selling books out of her car.

* Angel - my sister, Maliz, who made the long, early morning trip to watch Quinn in the Christmas pageant - to alleviate my mother's guilt for missing it myself.

* Angel - my brother, Bill, a very successful author himself - for his constant, unbridled enthusiasm.

* Angels - to all those friends/family who sent out emails encouraging others to buy the book and spreading the word - literally around the world.

You are all angels to me.

ANNMARIE - Great friend, literary agent and book angel !



My friend, Annmarie, is my book angel ! She hosted a book signing party, coordinated a visit at her church's ladies Christmas gathering, contacted the preschool director, called staff writers of local newspapers to suggest a feature article and visited Barnes and Noble at least once a week to be sure the book was properly placed. All this resulted in close to 150 book sales! YAY Annmarie !!! To all those debut authors out there....I hope you have a friend like her ! Many thanks also to Annmarie's husband, Frank, for patiently adding book orders on Amazon - and then trusting he will be paid! I'm adding an angel to this photo of Annmarie and me....

Thanks to Varner's Christmas Tree Farm


Many thanks to Varner's Christmas Tree Farm, a family-owned farm and forever preserved for agricultural purposes. Varner's is down the road from our house and stocked Tonight You Are My Baby in their lovely gift shop. A great place to visit at Halloween and Christmas. Treat the family to a horse-drawn wagon ride! Thanks to Varner's for supporting a local author.....

Sacred Heart School - Christmas spirit shines !


Wow, wow, wow! Sacred Heart School generously donated $220.00 to At Least Kids from the sale of Tonight You Are My Baby. I am very thankful to this little school with the big heart. Sacred Heart was my last school visit before Christmas and it was a fantastic way to end. Many thanks also for the lovely sign outside school, announcing my visit. I had hoped to take a photo, but on visit day it was sleeting, raining and snowing. A crazy mix of weather that day, and we were fearful that the schools would be postponed/cancelled. The perils of scheduling author visits here in the Northeast. Many thanks also to Terri McKendry, V.P. of the PTO, who organized the event. Fantastic job!

Messiah Community Preschool




Messiah Church/Preschool has been so gracious. I was invited to speak earlier this month at the ladies cookie exchange/afternoon. I also read to the preschool kids - a great group. Messiah Preschool generously donated $75.00 to At Least Kids from the sale of Tonight You Are My Baby. Thanks Messiah for your true Christmas spirit and to Pam Cohan for coordinating the visit!

Fairview Christian Preschool







I was fortunate enough to be part of the annual Christmas sing-a-long at Fairview Christian Preschool. A lovely event for students and parents! The little ones looked adorable in their Nativity costumes. I loved this book-reading angel that the Preschool arranged next to my table for the book signing. Many thanks to Marcia Hartman, Preschool Director, for the lovely morning.

Coventry Christian School







When I arrived at Coventry Christian, the students were practicing for their Christmas concert. Wow! I could feel the energy and the spirit in the room as the teachers led the singing and the kids sang at the top of their voices. There was no doubt that this is a happy, happy school. I presented to grades K-4, a very large group, and those kids were terrific! Everyone was very attentive and asked great questions. I predict several future bestselling authors among the group. My preschool friends came in later for a reading, and they were excellent listeners as well. One interesting note - outside each classroom, each teacher had their photo and fact sheet about themselves. I thought that was a great idea. Many thanks to Mrs. Myers (Gr. 2) for coordinating the event!

December 27, 2008

Providence Christian Preschool


Thanks to my friends at Providence Christian Preschool - a fantastic school! The little ones sat in their circle and listened very closely. My pre-K friends asked terrific questions and were very excited about chatting with an author. This is a fun preschool - on visit day, there was a moon bounce in the auditorium !

St.Mary's School















Loved visiting St. Mary's School ! The school is very warm and inviting. Many thanks to Mrs. LaGuardia for the lovely arrangement of coffee, muffins and bottled water for this author. Very thoughtful and very much appreciated ! Gestures such as these make a big difference in an author's day! I signed 40 books and loved meeting all the terrific kids! Thanks also to Mrs. Sozda for emailing me these photos...

The most wonderful time of the year !

December was crazy, hectic and wonderful ! Just checking in now with blogs as I was out every day with a school visit. Every school was gracious, well-organized and enthusiastic. More to follow about each school...

Gwynedd-Mercy Academy

Great day at Gwynedd-Mercy Academy ! The students asked fantastic questions and welcomed me most warmly. Many of the kids wrote in my website guestbook, which really made me excited to visit. The teachers did a terrific job introducing the kids to the book - resulting in 90 books signed that day. Many thanks to Jessica Cressman and Karen Czarny for for all their hard work and coordination.

December 3, 2008

St. Teresa of Avila

Thanks to St. Teresa of Avila for hosting my author visit yesterday. Gosh, those kids were good listeners and asked terrific questions too! St. Teresa is a small school with big school spirit. Many thanks for the order of 46 books ! Lovely school staff and students....

Mary, Mother of the Redeemer

Many thanks to MMR for hosting a book signing at their Home and School meeting. MMR graciously donated their portion of the book sales to At Least Kids - raising $175.00 ! A great Christmas present for the foundation and very much appreciated - particularly in these economic times. Special thanks to the following: Librarian Joanne Greco who worked darn hard to promote the book and helped with the many sales. Joanne declined the donation to the library, and chose At Least Kids instead. A heart with true Christmas spirit! My dad, who worked hard in carrying books and even gave up his birthday dinner to count books ! Happy birthday to my dear dad! And finally thanks to Monsignor Ricci, pastor of MMR, who upon receiving a copy of the book, asked the school to have a signing. Monsignor holds a special place in our heart, as he drove into the city and came to CHOP to bless Quinn and our family the day of her surgery. We needed the prayers that day, and he was truly doing God's work. Miracles all around.....

Great display at Barnes and Noble


I think every new author dreams of seeing their book on the front table at Barnes and Noble. We made a special trip right before Thanksgiving - and there it was! I'm am so honored and excited! I'm sure no one could tell I'm a debut author as we snapped photo after photo! Shane and Quinn were good sports about getting in the photo... Thanks to friends and family who have called from all over the country to say they saw in it their local Barnes and Noble and Borders. And to those who have moved the book to a better spot :)

Clinton Books, NJ - signing











A GREAT bookstore in a lovely village. Clinton hosts Dickens Days the weekend after Thanksgiving. Rob and Harvey invited me to join their fabulous selection of authors/illustrators that are always visiting the shop. Great shopping district, carriage rides, Dickens carolers - the real deal! Shane and Quinn lucky enough to have their photo taken with the real Santa - starting off the Christmas season on a festive note!

Sunrose Books - Ocean City


Thanks to Rosalind and Nancy at Sunrose for hosting a book signing on Black Friday. It's always fun to be in Ocean City for Thanksgiving, and the weather this year was beautiful. Here is a photo of my dad, usually the shutterbug, but this time willling to take a photo with his lucky daughter.

ANNMARIE - LITERARY AGENT EXTRORDINAIRE !

A blue ribbon to my friend Annmarie, who went above and beyond to promote Tonight You Are My Baby. Annmarie hosted a book signing party, called everyone she knew, went door-to-door in her neighborhood and took a copy of the book with her everywhere. She sold 127 copies! Did you ever hear of that kind of success? I'm still in shock. I met the nicest group of ladies at the book signing party and had the chance to visit with most of them. Annmarie has also arranged for me to speak at her church's ladies Christmas luncheon and I am doing an author visit at the church preschool. Big thanks also to Annmarie's husband, Frank, for the endless ordering on Amazon in preparation for the party (and for his willingness to put it on the credit card!). And to their children - Daniel, Anya and Jamie for cleaning the house and putting up with their mother's ever-expanding "book order goals". Good sports they all are - and I nominate Annmarie for literary agent! A photo to come after the ladies luncheon next weekend....

St. Mary's Church

A huge thank you to the parishioners of St. Mary's - my fellow parishioners. Everyone was so supportive of the book and bought 65 copies! Lots of community spirit at our parish, and we have made many friends....