on my desk monday & Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Paperback Celebration!

On my desk are paperback editions of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon!

Yes, I'm thrilled to announce that the paperback edition of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is NOW available. The interior illustrations are still printed in full color and there is extra-special back matter that show photos from my inspiration trip to China. If the hardcover was just a little too pricey, the paperback is now here!

AND to celebrate the paperback edition of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, I’m giving away a FREE PRINT OF YOUR CHOICE from my etsy shop to 8 random people. To enter, just email* gracelin.manager@gmail.com with the title of your favorite print!

Winners announced next Wednesday on April 27th (so you have more than 2 weeks to enter).

*please note that if you enter you will most likely end up receiving my monthly e-newsletter in the future but it is very easy to opt out of, if you wish (a click at the bottom of the newsletter)

In Stock!!

For the past couple of weeks, people have been telling me that they have not been able to get Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Right after the Newbery, it sold out and the publisher has been working overtime to reprint--it took a little longer than desired (it does have color illustrations after all) but I am happy to announce Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is NOW BACK IN STOCK.

That means you should be able to get it from any bookstore, libraries should be able to get it in, and Amazon.com no longer says "ships in 11 days." So, spread the word, tell your friends, librarian and local bookseller that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is available again! And, what's even better, all the new books have the brand new shiny, silver Newbery Honor sticker!

But don't worry, those of you who don't have a stickered book! To celebrate the book's IN STOCK status, I'll give you a silver sticker for your own copy!

Simply send your name & address to gracelin.manager@gmail.com and I will send you a Newbery Honor sticker to put on your copy!*

So, now everyone can have a pretty, pretty copy of my book! Yay!



*Only while supplies last, supply is limited so send your info ASAP!

here's the clip!

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me on tv!

considering the build up, this was quite a fast four minutes!

Chat with me!

I'm offering Skype talks! It is September which means school is in, so I thought as part of my book's birthday (it's three months old! I remember when it was just a small ARC. sigh!) that (as well as the download-able activity book and veent kit) I would offer free, virtual visits!

If your group ends up collectively purchasing 10 or more copies of WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, I would be happy to schedule a free 15 minute question and answer Skype call with your readers. Perfect for after school book groups and mother-daughter book clubs! I'm not sure if I will offer this indefinitely, so schedule this as soon as you can. Simply email me and we can set up a time and a list of questions. I hope to talk to you soon! Contact: gracelin.manager@gmail.com

Hear me Roar, I mean, Read!

TeachingBooks.net has added me onto their illustrious list of authors' audio clips. Not only can you learn how to pronounce my name correctly (not that it is tricky), you can listen to me introduce and read a short part of WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON.

If you liked that, you can hear a longer excerpt reading, which I offered at my booklaunch.

Maybe next time, I'll let you hear me sing.

an author event without the author

Since my book has released in July, I have not done a lot of in-person appearances which is a big bad in terms of book promotion. I'm going to try to schedule some for the fall, but in meantime I am offering what I like to call the authorless author event.

What is this? Well, are you arranging your group's Moon Festival event? Want to have a memorable library event? In charge of the next Mother-Daughter Book Club? Or looking for something unique for your child's birthday party? Well, what I have is an event kit that allows you to have a fun event with my book without me being there! This event can be used with kids who have not read the book as well as those who have.



Thanks to the brilliant minds at Curious City, this kit provides a download-able invite, posters and instructions for the journey-like game all based on WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON. Participants get to play the role of Minli, mirroring her quest to find the Old Man of the Moon. They are given a bag of tools and as they journey through the room are given 10 age-appropriate puzzles to solve. They solve the puzzles by using items in their tool bag or things they pick up along the way. In the end, kids are rewarded at the end with a mysterious gift. The meaning of that gift can only be revealed by reading the book!


This event kit was recently tested with a Families with Children from China group in Maine with an extremely enthusiastic response. The girls declared it, "Cool, very cool!" and "Really fun, really intriguing, I can't wait to read it now!" This was quite encouraging and hope it piques your interest in having a similar event!

You can download the event kit HERE!

Chinasprout Promotion

Did you miss the free bookplate offer from my online booklaunch? Don't worry! You can still get an autographed book!


Chinasprout is offering 10% off copies of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which will include this special bookplate that I made & autographed for them:



So get a book while supplies last. And don't forget to take a photo with it! Remember:
Go and post your photos!

blog tour!

My lovely publicist at L,B set up a blog tour for me and it starts TODAY. I guess that means Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is going to finally be out (please come to the online launch on July 1st)!

The first stop is at Little Willow and goes onto July 3rd:

Wednesday, June 24th: Bildungsroman
Thursday, June 25th: Shelf Elf
Friday, June 26th: Paper Tigers
Saturday, June 27th: MotherReader
Sunday, June 28th: Charlotte's Library
Monday, June 29th: Write for a Reader
Tuesday, June 30th: The Mommy Files (with a book giveaway!)
Wednesday, July 1st: Thrifty Minnesota Mama (with a book giveaway!)
Thursday, July 2nd: Creative Madness
Friday, July 3rd: Abby the Librarian


And as a bonus, I just saw (because I love her blog so) Jama Rattigan wrote a wonderful post about The Ugly Vegetables too!

the wheels never stop turning

Recently, I was so touched by the story of Bridget Zinn, a young author battling cancer that I felt I HAD to win something during a recent auction for her benefit. And I did! What did I win?

I won a consultation with author and virtual marketing wiz Mitali Perkins! Not only is she a superb writer, I am in awe of her ability to bend the internet to her promotional will. (Here is a little secret--I am only two steps above a luddite. I have mastered blogger and that is it. If it were not for my sister my web presence would be only this blog.) Mitali is the perfect person to help make my online book launch match my ambitions!

So, we met last week and I feel as if my head is still spinning! With her guidance, I now have:

-a facebook fan page: this will be one of the locations for the online book party as well as the best way for fans to get in touch with me (please join!)

-have an alternative location for my online booklaunch (for those who are not on facebook) at: www.wherethemountainmeetsthemoon.com

-a twitter account: Yes, I've signed up! I'm going to try tweeting for the summer and see if I like it. Please follow me!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon TRAILER!

Here is the extended trailer I promised after last month's teaser. It's a sneak peak of some of the color illustrations inside (even though WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON is a novel-grades 3 to 6- it will have full color illustrations, like the classic fairytale books).

If your band width allows, please view it in High Quality (hit the HQ button at the bottom)--it makes a big difference!

(PS--if you are a teacher and cannot access youtube, I also have the trailer available here on teachertube.com: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Book Trailer on Teacher Tube)

on my desk monday

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon posters!


Did I mention, my publisher made these beautiful posters for my new book! I'm going to give these away at my book launch, both in person or virtual!

teaser URLs

I forgot that some readers can't see the embedded youtube clips, so here are the teasers' urls:

Teaser I

Teaser II

As I mentioned before, these are just fast little clips to introduce the book-- a more extended trailer (with sneak peaks) will be posted in a couple of weeks!

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Teaser II

This is the 2nd teaser (see the first one is on the right there) for my upcoming trailer and book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon out in June! The border on the cover of the book holds elements of the story--the teasers we've made are just to call attention (and hopefully pique interest) on what is to come!

Next month, I'll post a more extended trailer and then after that the ACTUAL BOOK will be released! I am so excited!