A HARRY CHRISTMAS

It's almost Christmas and today J.K. Rowling announced that her 6th book will be released on July 16, 2005. This news is like an early Christmas present. I can't wait!

So far these are some things I'm looking forward to in 2005:

* February 4th -- I'm speaking at a school in Topock, AZ
* February 25th - Attending SCBWI writer's conference at Asilomar
* March - Attending SCBWI conference in Davis, CA
* March - Annual Family Easter Party
* May 7 - My daughter Melissa's wedding day
* May - Family cruise to Mexico
* July 16 - Will begin reading the 6th Harry Potter....
* August - National SCBWI conference in Los Angeles
* Sept. 10 - Speaking in Idaho at SCBWI conference
* Oct - May attend a Nancy Drew conference in Arizona

And somewhere between all those events, I'll continue writing on THE SEER and STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series.

Currently writing: THE SEER #3. WITCH BALL ... Up to Page 84

Happy Holidays!

SHAMROCKED!

Yesterday I had a surprise package from UPS -- two advance copies of the second title my STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series, SHAMROCKED.

The book is a pretty shade of green and I love it! It's my tradition to read a new book right away, pretending like I'm a reader who doesn't know the story. So I read it last night and I think it's better than the first book in the series. The magical world inside Mount Shasta was fun to create.

Now I'm eager for the book to show up in stores -- probably in January. Although last time I had advance copies the actual book showed up in stores just a week or two later.

This means the contest in the back of STRANGE ENCOUNTERS #1. OH, NO! UFO will end January 1st, so anyone who wants to enter needs to do it soon. Ten winners will receive free copies of SHAMROCKED. There's also an ongoing contest on my website and the last winner, Shirley from VA, was given a free copy of DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY.

Happy holidays!

PUBLISHING SECRET REVEALED

I have decided to reveal a deep dark publishing secret.
Unfortunately, because of a secrecy clause I signed when I joined The Royal
Order of Butt in Chair Obsessive Writers, I can't write this secret down.
So I have hidden the secret in one of my books.

Here are the clues to discovering the ONE THING that I do every day that resulted in my selling over 25 books:

* Look inside my purple book with a winged bug cover.
* Flip to Page 24.
* Go to Paragraph 8.
* The third word.

Once you know this secret, you will be a member of the ROBICOW Club.
Go forward and share your words with the world.
Stay tuned for the secret ROBICOW initiation test.

FAN LETTER

You know the only bad part of getting an email fan letter?
When I can't write back because the fan's email address didn't work.

That just happened to me. I had a wonderful fan letter from a reader
who enjoyed THE SEER #1. DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY. I emailed
back a long reply, only the email bounced. So I can't answer this letter.

So I guess I'll answer it here. The reader asked when THE SEER, #2.
LAST DANCE, will be released. It'll be out next June.
The cover of this book and a short excerpt is on my website,
www.LindaJoySingleton.com .

I'm currently writing the 3rd book in THE SEER series. It'll either be
titled PREDICTIONITIS or WITCH BALL.

Which title do you prefer?

Halloween Party

Tonight my family is having our annual Halloween-Birthday party.
I wasn't going to dress up, but found a purple skirt and glittery purple jacket in my closet and have decided to go as a fortune teller. My best friend, Lori, who shares my birthday will be there with her family. I'm eager to see her new granddaughter, Olivia.

I've started to write the third THE SEER book. It'll either be titled WITCH BALL or PREDICTION-ITIS. I'll let my editor decide (since they often change my titles anyway!). It's going to involve a carnival fundraiser, deadly predictions, romantic complications and the continued search for missing charms.

I posted a new picture of myself on my old website www.LJSingleton.com under Linda Facts. It shows a glimpse of my future home during construction. It'll be a two-story home with an office and library on the top floor. The view is fabulous. I hope we can move in by next March.

Halloween has always been a favorite holiday.
When we were young, Lori and I used to love going trick-or-treating. We always made our own wild costumes and carried our candy in pillow cases. A few times, we took our wrapped candy and hid it all around our bedrooms, so that we wouldn't eat it too fast. It was fun to discover a piece of candy in a drawer, pocket or shelf months later. Luckily we didn't have an ant problem in our homes.

Happy Halloween everyone!

OFF IN THE MAIL!

The third book in the STRANGE ENCOUNTERS series, SEA SWITCH, is finished!

I ran off a copy last night after reading and editing the whole book. It came to 140 pages.

SEA SWITCH will feature a villain named Sebastian Mooncraft. He's a rival of Cassie's father, and he has a sleezy cable show called MOONCRAFT'S MIRACLES. This is how I describe Mooncraft: He was way tall, over six-five, and wore a formal black suit and yellow tie. He had heavy eyebrows, a shaved head and a gold hoop in one ear. Sort of a cross between a basketball star and a pirate.

I had lots of fun writing about mermaids, mer-guys and other strange creatures under the sea.

Here are some of the chapter titles for SEA SWITCH:

A Glimmer of Magic
Giggling Eels
Magic Alive!
A Brave New Vision
Politeness Counts
Prehistoric Poop
Switcheroo #2

Now I'm off to the post office to mail SEA SWITCH to my editor.

ALIEN PARTY

Around 30 kids showed up last night for my "Alien Party" at the Galt Library -- including Emily and Brittany from the reading club I had at my house. They're in 8th grade now and very pretty, mature girls. And they were REALLY helpful when I needed assistants for the activities at the library. While I showed little kids how to bend pipe cleaners into alien antennas, they helped older kids fill out a fun "Create Your Own Planet" worksheet.

This event went really well! I raffled off three free books and the young boy who won a copy of OH, NO! UFO was so excited he jumped up and hugged the book. Wish I'd had a picture of that!

Another cool thing -- a newspaper reporter showed up at the library. She took pictures and plans on doing an article in the Galt Herald.

Well I better go write on SEA SWITCH. Over 100 pages now.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY IN 1984 & 1994

Currently Reading: ABARAT by Clive Barker

Last night I watched the latest episode of Survivor and Apprentice.
I also made up a "Create Your Own Alien World" worksheet to
hand out to kids at a library talk I'm doing in Galt on Tuesday.

Not much going on today. So checking my journals, here's what
happened to me on this date 10 and 20 years ago.

Sept. 24, 1984 - Monday (Weather: 80's)
I hope the weather stays this way.
All the sudden, today, Melissa is close to being potty trained.
She even pooped in the potty. She has made a game of going
pee all day. I have only used a diaper once, and that was
during her nap.

Sept. 24, 1994 - Saturday (at Series Book Conference)
5:30PM - In Beuna Park Hotel, Los Angeles, getting ready
for informal banquet. Kids are swimming. Hoping to get
David a ticket into the banquet.
6:00PM - David got into nice buffet banquet ($25 ticket).
I couldn't talk much (sore throat), but still did. They had
an auction of books, signed author letters and pictures.
Hope my signed letters and unpublished stories or
manuscripts are of interest to collectors someday.

Life sure changes in ten years!
Wonder what today will bring.

P.S. The answer to the Tri-Bond question
in my last post is:
Radio station
Gas station
Station wagon

TRI-BOND ?

Have you ever played that game Tri-Bond? Where you take three words and guess what they all have in common.

My favorite Tri-Bond question is: Superman, Moses and Cabbage Patch Dolls.
Can you guess what they have in common?

Anyway, I was driving today and thought of some words with something in common, so I made up a new Tri-Bond question.

Gas
Radio
Wagon

Did you guess yet?

Well the answer to the Superman -Moses-Cabbage Patch Tri-Bond is: They're all adopted.

And I'll share the answer to the gas-radio-wagon one in my next entry. Hint: each one goes together with the same word.

And aside from play word games today, I did write. I added two more pages of SEA SWITCH.

BOOK BABY IS BORN!

For the last few days I've been waiting for my copies of THE SEER #1. DON'T DIE, DRAGONFLY. I knew it was coming by UPS. But days passed without a delivery.

Yesterday I had to leave for my mom's house in Sacramento, but told my son to call if the books arrived. He called at 5PM. I was going to see a sister-in-law at 6:30 at a bunko game in Sacramento, so my son drove to her house FAST to give her my books, which she delivered to me.And while everyone else at bunko oohed and ahhed over Mandy's newborn baby (Elsie is very cute), I admired my new book.

I knew what the cover of DON'T DIE, DRAGONFLY looked like, but I hadn't seen the spine or back. It's shiny and pretty and I love it.

I have a reading ritual with my books. Usually it's so long since I last read them, I can read them anew when they come out. So after bunko (I came in 4th place), I stayed up till almost midnight reading my book; pretending I'm a fresh reader, trying to imagine how others will see it, and what sort of things readers/reviewers will like or dislike (I found a few typos the copywriters missed). The pacing is really fast with lots of conflicts and paranormal elements. I'm proud of my new baby and hope readers treat her well. She can be seen on my website with her future sister (#2. LAST DANCE) at www.LindaJoySingleton.com under books link.

LAST DANCE

Today I got the cover for THE SEER #2. LAST DANCE in the mail. It's done in the same style as DON'T DIE, DRAGONFLY, but with a gold wedding ring instead of a dragonfly.

I was surprised my publisher decided to use the wedding ring for the cover as that's a very small scene in the book. But when I think about the plot, that ring led to a girl's death and a ghostly haunting which psychic Sabine Rose investigates.

I'm going bowling tonight and am at my daughter's place right now. There are peacocks strutting outside, four dogs and a barn with around 40 pigs. Our own future home is in the early construction stage and just a short walk up a nearby hill. When our house is finished next year I'll have a 2nd story office with a view of a distant lake, hundreds of oak trees and my favorite towing pine tree I named Big Red.

I'll be posting the new cover to my website. Let me know if you like it.

Best Friend & Baby

My best friend Lori became a grandmother today. Little Olivia Ann Craine was born 10:37am, weighing 6 lbs 8 ozs. Lori and I used to do things together when we were kids, but she beat me on this one. My daughter is engaged, but doesn't plan to get married till next May and then wait a few years to have kids.

Yesterday my daughter and I had a good time seeing PRINCESS DIARIES #2. It was fluffy and fun. Then we celebrated her birthday more that evening with dinner out. We started our bowling league in Stockton. My average is only 130, but I had one game of 180. I've still NEVER gotten a 200 game.

I was asked for an interview by kidmagwriters.com . I agreed and will answer the questions soon.

I'm reading a REALLY good book called PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. It answers the question: How did Peter Pan meet Captain Hook? And so far it's fast-paced, creative, exciting and FUN.

Birthday Girl

Happy birthday to my daughter, Melissa.

To celebrate, I'm taking her to see the movie, Princess Diaries #2. When I was at Book Expo in June, I got to meet Meg Cabot and have her sign the latest Princess Diaries book. She wore a sparkling pink gown and glittering tiara.

Tonight we're all going out to dinner for Melissa's birthday. So I'm not writing much today.

Good and Bad List for Today

Good things that happened today:

* I wrote a new chapter on SEA SWITCH
* My writer friend Verla is visiting
* I'm reading a fun book, HATCHING MAGIC
* I got flyers for MISTLETOE MADNESS by Miriam Hees
in the mail -- I have a story called
STALKING SNOWMAN in this anthology.
More on this as: www.bloomingtreepress.com

Bad things that happened today:

* I ate too much chocolate
* I lost at Up & Down card Game ...
not that I care, but I needed
something else for this list.
* It was very hot -- almost 100 degrees...
which would have been good news if
I'd been near a lake or pool.
But I wasn't.

Good things that I'm looking forward to:

* I'll write more and finish SEA SWITCH.
* My best frriend's daughter Nicole is
going to have a baby girl anyday now.
* I can't wait to get copies of my next
book, DON'T DIE, DRAGONFLY in the mail.
* Getting fan letters for my two new series.

PROCRASTINATION

I've been up for two hours already and haven't written yet. Instead I've been procrastinating.

My hands-down obsessively favorite procrastination is...EMAIL! And I get a lot of email since I belong to a bunch of writing listservs. And I also post a lot on Verla Kay's bulletin board and hang out in her chatroom with other writers.

Procrastination should be a FOUR-LETTER word...instead it has so many letters than I can procrastinate just by writing "procrastinate" -- playing with the letters to make words like satin, stain and opera. Ah--a
new form of procrastination! Wonder how many words I can make....

Hey, I did do something constructive this morning. I mentally worked on my book while in the shower. I came up with an idea for a buck-tooth mermaid who has a pet sea dragon. I get lots of ideas while in the shower.

Well I should be writing on #3 STRANGE ENCOUNTERS, SEA SWITCH right now...got to stop procrastinating and write....

Mermaid's Spell

I've been writing on the third STRANGE ENCOUNTERS book, tenatively titled SEA SWITCH. I've learned to discipline myself and write almost every weekday. A few pages add up to a few chapters, which eventually adds up to a finished book. It takes me 3-6 months to complete a book.

Today I'm making up a spell for the wicked mermaid to say when she transforms my character Cassie into a mermaid. This is what I have so far, but it will probably change in the final rewrite:

Mystic spirits of the deep,
bound forever secrets keep.
Burning fire under sea,
summon magick destiny.
Stormy tides of moon and night,
bid my call, let dark ignite
Powers old, from depths that dwell,
let souls exchange -- cast sea switch spell.

My picture book author friend, Verla Kay, helped me with the last lines.

I still may need to rewrite...but then I totally believe the famous saying about good books not being written, but REwritten. (Sigh...I do a lot of rewriting.)

Back to work...

AUTHOR QUOTES

Just back from a conference with over 1,000 childrens' writers. It was amazing and we even had celebrity author Henry Winkler (The Fonz) at our BIG booksigning.

Here are some quotes from some of the wonderful authors I heard speak in Los Angeles:

* "God made man because he loves stories." KAREN CUSHMAN (author of Midwive's Apprentice)
* "Follow the feeling." LIBBA BRAY (author of GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY)
* "We are in an age where teen lit is being embraced." DAVID LEVITHAN (author of BOY MEETS BOY)
* "I am not in the mob." GORDON KORMAN (author of SON OF THE MOB)
* "Take someone you like and get them in trouble." Fantasy-author BRUCE COVILLE's recipe for a great story.
* "Let the crud come together." Stinky Cheese Man Author Jon Scheszka on thinking up stories.
* "Reading is eavesdropping on more interesting lives." RICHARD PECK (Newbery winning author)

CLONE ZONE

While on the plane to Los Angeles to attend the 33rd SCBWI (Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators) Conference, I read a really fascinating YA novel that involved cloning. It's called TAYLOR FIVE.

I researched cloning when I wrote five YA mysteries for my REGENERATION series. So the topic is one I continue to find fascinating. And TAYLOR FIVE handled it in a very different way; a girl discovering herself while surviving war with the help of a gorilla. When I reached the end, I literally had goosebumps ... it was THAT good.

So here's a list of three favorite, fantastic, suspenseful cloning novels:
1. TAYLOR FIVE by Ann Halam
2. DOUBLE HELIX by Nancy Werlin
3. THE HOUSE OF SCORPIO by Nancy Farmer

CONFERENCE BOUND

Yoo hoo! I'm packed and almost ready to Los Angeles for the SCBWI National Conference.

Last Day Schedule:
7-9AM - Work on SEA SWITCH my new book. I'm up to page 36 and Cassie has just met a mermaid.
9AM - Exercise at Curves
9:45 - Get fingernails done, pedicure and eyebrows waxed (the whole works!)
Noon - Drive to my parents' house in Sacramento
2PM - Mom and I will turn in some books for credit at Bookworm .
Evening -- Stay night so my parents can drop me off at the Sacramento Airport early Thursday.
8AM -- In the air and on the way to LA!

Now to go write on my WIP (work in progress)....

Good Fortune in the Mail

One of the cool things about being an author is getting to know other authors. And today I received a signed book in the mail from my friend, Dotti Enderle, author of THE FORTUNE TELLER'S CLUB mysteries. Her new book, MIRROR MIRROR, looks great! Dotti and I have the same publisher, but we haven't met in person yet since she lives in Texas and I'm in CA.

Countdown: Two days till I leave for on a trip to Los Angeles to attend the Society of Children's Writers & Illustrators National conference. SCBWI is a great group for anyone interesting in writing for kids www.scbwi.org/ and usually about a thousand writers attend this conference. One of my roommates will be Verla Kay, who writes really fun historial rhyming picture books.

I have to finish packing....

Welcome to Linda Joy Singleton's Blog!

This is my first time to do a blog and I'm not really sure what to say. I used to keep diaries as a kid, which I still have, and back then they were pretty boring. Here's a sample from November 1971: Went to school. Did tumbling and beam. Played with Lori. Watched TV. Not too exciting, huh? Lori is still my best friend, by the way.

I think I'll start off this by talking about books since I love reading, writing and collecting them.

I just finished reading a really great kid's book by Cornelia Funke called DRAGON RIDER. I've already read her THIEF LORD and INKHEART, so knew I'd love this book, too. I liked that it ended with a hint of more adventure to come, so I bet there's a sequel.

I love series and sequels because when you read about characters you enjoy it's fun to see what happens next. That's why I write series books, too. I just got a great evaluation today from a 15 year old reviewer who said the first book in my THE SEER series was exciting and a page-turner. I sure hope other readers feel that way, too.

Well that's all for today. It's late and I have to decide what book to read next.....