Arrrr! It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day!

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Ahoy, me buckoos, once again it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day! So pull out yer pirate dictionaries and be ready to gab in pirate-speak or walk the plank! Need a little sword tip to move ye forward? Try these pirate puns on fer size:

What did the pirate’s dog say?
Arrrrrf
What did the pirate do when it rained for forty days and forty nights?
He built an arrrrrk.
What’s a pirate’s favorite subject in school?
Arrrrt.
Really, ye seadogs, ye must pull out the Chase Calendar of Events and discover more treasures of fun worth celebrating!

New CYBILS Award Category!

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The CYBILS (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Award) has added a new category to their list of contest genres: Easy Readers. Yea for easys!!! I love seeing easy readers added to the contest. I’ve always said it’s the most overlooked genre in children’s literature and this is another step in recognizing their significance. And guess what? I’m a judge for this year’s contest! Yowza! I’m so looking forward to reviewing the finalists and working with the other judges.

If you want to read more about the CYBILS, click here. Nominations begin Oct. 1, so start thinking about your favorite books of 2008 so you can nominate them.
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Book Trailers, Etc.

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The ladies (that would be Laura Purdie Salas and Fiona Bayrock) over at Bubble Stampede ran a nice post today about children’s book trailers. I absolutely delighted that they mentioned Blackberry Banquet’s trailer, amongst others. And a little bird told me that they’re going to do a follow-up post about creating book trailers too, so be sure to look for that upcoming post.

On the note of making book trailers, if you’re interested in making your own, please feel free to read my previous post on how to create your own book trailer. If you’re just too busy or don’t feel you have the creative knack to undertake such a project, my writing buddy Tina Nichols Coury can help you out. You can check out a sample of her most recent work on her website by clicking here.

Happy trailer-ing!

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MINI-VIEW: DAN HANNA

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MINI-VIEWS:

Pint-sized interviews that leave you smiling.

DAN HANNA lives high in the treetops of the Brazilian Rain Forest where he illustrates (and attempts to write) children’s picture books. He periodically lowers his work to a devoted monkey-like companion who then submits it to various editors throughout the world. His first book, THE POUT-POUT FISH (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) was launched in March 2008.

Mr. Hanna doesn’t have any children of his own but he does have a BOYish grin, he’s YOUNG at heart, has CHILDish tastes and two KIDney stones.

How does it feel to have your first book (and author Deborah Diesen’s first book) be on the NY Times Bestseller’s list for children’s books? Did you ever imagine it would be this successful?

It feels like a hot air balloon ride. But not like one of those rides where the basket catches on fire or the balloon hits a power line or something.

My imagination was all over the place. At the low end, I imagined it showing up in the 99 cent stores. At the high end, I imagined it becoming the basis for a world-wide religion where true believers would genetically alter themselves to resemble characters in the book. So getting on the NY Time’s List was right about in the middle.

I’m just kidding of course. It was like a dream and it never occurred to me as a possibility. I still don’t understand how it could have happened. I think maybe my fairy godmother went around buying tons of books and now she has about a zillion copies in her fairy garage.

You’re a wonderful illustrator with an extensive background in animation; now that you’ve illustrated your first picture book, do you have any advice for aspiring picture book writers? How about aspiring illustrators? (okay, that’s really two questions, but I have to give equal time to each craft 🙂
Buy one thousand parrots and place them in a room with a looped recording saying something like: “Dan Hanna can sure draw fish!” Then release the parrots, using a helicopter, over each of the major publishing houses. When the editors leave for lunch they’ll hear the parrots in the trees screeching “Aaaaccck, Dan Hanna can sure draw fish!” Now I know this scheme seems rather elaborate, but it worked for me.

Deborah and I were very fortunate to be included in Alice Pope’s 2009 edition of CWIM (Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market). In my interview there’s an extensive list of equally dubious “how to get published” advice.

What’s your favorite children’s joke?
My favorite is actually the “Interrupting Cow” joke but somebody [Jay Asher] already – MOO!
Q: Why doesn’t anyone play poker on the Serengeti?
A: Because there’s too many cheetahs.

Very funny! Thanks, Dan!
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It’s Official: Blackberry is Launched!

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I had a nice book launch on Saturday. Not a huge turnout, but lots of fun with the wee folks and their parents who did attend (next time, will someone please remind me when Labor Day is!). The kids (and grown-ups) all seemed to enjoy squeaking, tweeting, slurping, yipping, and chomping along with me as I read the story. Blackberry cookies and candy abound, and there were bear bracelets created and works of art in progress.

And of course, the highlight was the actual “launching” of a stuffed bear into the crowd (didn’t want to take any eyes out with a real book), with the catcher of the bear receiving a free book in addition to getting to keep the bear. (thank you, Dan Hanna, for the launching inspiration).

And then, to keep the magic of my launch weekend going, this morning I opened my email to find that Blackberry Banquet received a lovely review on Stories for Children Magazine. If you haven’t seen it before, please check it out! It’s a great online magazine for kids that has editors with impeccable taste in books ;-).

Thanks again to those who could attend the launch and a HUGE BEAR HUG to those who contributed to the Women’s Center book donation drive. I think there will be a few berry happy kids thanks to the generosity of others.

BOOK LAUNCH!

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I hope you’ll “bear” with me, as I send out one last reminder about my book launch for Blackberry Banquet, this Saturday at 11:00 AM at Red Rock Books in Ridgecrest. I hope to see many of my friends and professional colleagues there! We’ll have refreshments, activities for the kids, I’ll chat a bit and do a reading (not to worry about time–the book is under 500 words!).

If you can’t make it, please remember that you can still purchase a book to be donated to the High Desert Women’s Center, where the books will be given to children who come into the center with their mothers as they embark upon on a new start in life. That’s like getting a bear hug with pages!

All you have to do is call Red Rock Books at (760) 375-3454 and request to buy a $10.00 gift certificate for the Terry Pierce signing for The Women’s Center. This will allow children at the center to get their own autographed copy of the book. It’s as easy as pie (blackberry pie, of course! ;-).

If you have any questions, you can email me but all donation orders must go through the bookstore.

Here are the bear necessities:

What: Blackberry Banquet Book Launch
Where: Red Rock Books, 206 W. Ridgecrest Blvd., Ridgecrest, CA 93555
When: Saturday, Aug. 30 at 11:00 AM.

I hope to see you there!
Terry

Sylvan Dell Publishing’s "Book Beat"

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Sylvan Dell Publishing (publisher of Blackberry Banquet) puts out a bi-monthly newsletter called Book Beat that’s filled with all kinds of interesting things about reading, their company, books, authors and illustrators. This month I’m proud to say that they have included the winning recipe of my recent contest, “On Top of the Stove Blackberry Cobbler.” You can see the current issue of Book Beat by clicking here.

This was such a great and easy recipe that I wanted to share a little bit more about the recipe and the winner, Jean Ann Williams. The recipe has been passed down for three generations. At age twelve, she began making “On-Top-of-the-Stove Blackberry Cobbler” from berries her siblings picked by the pond, enjoying the dish hot or cold at every meal. She now serves the dessert with vanilla ice cream to her family. Jean Ann has published many healthy eating articles for the teen audience and has a blog at http://www.jeanannwilliams.blogspot.com/.

And guess what? I’ve been experimenting, and you can make it with other fruit as well. Yummmmy!

Blackberry Banquet to Help Women/Children Charity

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One of the things I love about being a writer is seeing my books used for good causes, and I recently read about an idea that just about knocked my socks off because I loved it so much (thank you, Mary Hershey!). Mary had the terrific idea to use her latest book launch as a means to donate books to Girls, Inc., a local girls’ organization in Santa Barbara, CA.

When I read about this, I called my local bookseller and shared Mary’s idea. She loved the idea too, so together Red Rock Books (in Ridgecrest, CA) and I are going to be donating books to The High Desert Women’s Center, as part of my book launch. The Women’s Center is a non-profit organization that helps women and their children who have left abusive home environments, and helps them get started on a fresh, new life. Because that kind of a situation can be so uncertain and a bit scary for young children, we thought that having each child receive a new book of their own would perhaps offer them a little comfort (and on a separate note, a quilting local club donates homemade quilts, so this way each child will receive a new quilt and a new book).

Red Rock Books is making available to the public a chance to purchase a gift certificate in the amount of $10.00. The certificate will be designated to buy one copy of Blackberry Banquet and that copy will be donated to the Women’s Center. You can call Red Rock Books at (760) 375-3454 and request to buy a $10.00 gift certificate for the Terry Pierce signing for The Women’s Center. This will allow children at the center to get their own autographed copy of the book. How easy is that?

And of course, if anyone wants to join in the festivities of the launch, the date is Saturday, Aug. 30 at 11:00 AM. I’d love to see you there (and of course, if anyone wants to buy copies for themselves, that’s okay too :-).

Cheers,
Terry