New Endeavors (and free ebook!)

Episode 1 of Cassandra Jones has launched! And just for you, just through Friday, the book is free! This is one of my favorite projects yet. Meet Cassandra. This fifth grader is as typical, kind, selfish, and loveable as any other ten-year-old can be. Written for kids ages 8+, Cassandra Jones would love to become a member of your family! Check out the link below for more information!

What's special about Cassandra? Absolutely nothing. She's as ordinary as any other fifth grader. And yet her ordinary life is riddled with hilarious and sometimes heart-breaking mishaps as she guides herself through the world of pre-teens on the brink of adulthood.  Cassandra Jones is the new girl at school. She's been uprooted from her beloved state of Texas and relocated to the hillbilly Ozarks of Springdale, Arkansas. She wonders if she will like her teacher or if she will have any friends. She can only hope school won't be harder than it was back home.  She doesn't expect to have two close friends, and even worse, two friends that don't like each other. As she tries to make a spot for herself, will she keep her friendships intact?  Click here to see the book on Amazon! Into the Kitchen: A Food blog As I'm searching for the right company to publish the cookbook I'm working on, someone in the publishing agency suggested I start a food blog to help me gain credibility as a food writer. It's not like I really have time for that, but it sounded like a good idea. So I started one! And since I really do experiment in the kitchen on an almost daily basis, it's not that much more work than I already do. The hardest part is remembering to take pictures along every step of the way! If you need dinner ideas or just like to see what creativity I'm cooking up in the kitchen, come and visit my food blog! Click here!

And finally, I have two more book signings this month. Friday, May 15, I'll be at the Springdale Harps on Sunset from about 4:30-6:30pm and Saturday, May 16 from about 1-3pm. A week later, on the anniversary of the Joplin tornado, I'll be in Joplin raising money through book sales. ALL PROCEEDS FROM BOOKS BOUGHT AT THE JOPLIN SIGNING WILL BE DONATED TO JOPLIN. I'll be there Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23, around the same times. In addition, proceeds from all books purchased through my website on May 22 will be donated to Joplin. Thank you for your support!

Cassandra Jones is live!

The Extraordinarily Ordinary Life of Cassandra Jones 1:1

Episode 1 of Cassandra Jones is now available on Kindle! Click the link if you (like me) just must see the book live and "in shelves"!

Food Blog Coming Up!

I got another encouraging response from an agent today in regards to my cookbook. He said it is a good idea but that I have no credibility as a food writer. (I guess all my reviews on tripadvisor don't count ha ha.)

Since I have no intentions of joining a restaurant or imploring the Food Network to sign me up, I asked him what I could do to change that. He very kindly and enthusiastically suggested I start a food blog. His idea was a Brazilian food blog, since the cookbook is Brazilian, but I thought, I can do better than that.

If you're on this blog, you know I'm a writer. Everyone knows I'm a writer. But what you may not know is that I am an avid cook. I'm very particular as a cook; I very rarely make the same thing twice because I find something so incredibly exciting and fulfilling in making new things.

And making a food blog would be rather easy for me. Every Sunday I prepare my exciting weekly menu, and I take pictures of my food (failures included) almost every day.

The hard part, as the kind agent reminded me, will be getting followers. He didn't give me an exact number, but I'm betting I'd need at least a thousand before anyone would notice me or consider me an authority on food.

So watch for it. Soon I will have a new blog up to go along with this one. It's going to need a name. Any suggestions? If I pick your suggestion, I'll send you an free ecopy of The Extraordinarily Ordinary Life of Cassandra Jones Episode 1, releasing on May 17!

pictured: Blood-orange tart