Happy St. Valentine's Day!!!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!
My celebration of the day went pretty well!  Yesterday Steve and I ate breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants: Cracker Barrel.  Then we stopped at the Watermark Book Store & Cafe and author Jessica Day George was doing a book signing.  Then for the evening we went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens at a local theatre.

Jessica Day George

If you have young readers or teens you might be familiar with the American author Jessica Day George.  She has written several series for various age groups: the Princess series, the Dragon Slippers trilogy, and Tuesdays at the Castle with it's remaining days of the week books.  She also has 2 stand-alone books: Silver in the Blood and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow.  An interesting tidbit:  the word "dragon"  appears in someway in each of her books.   Here is her website:  http://www.jessicadaygeorge.com/ 

I purchased the 2 stand-alone books and I am currently reading Silver in the Blood.  So far it's not bad.  It involves 2 American teen girl cousins who travel to Romania to meet the ancestral family of their mothers (who are sisters). Somehow their family is connected to the descendants of Count Dracula, Vlad the Impaler. There is danger, mystery, magic, and a little romance.  Since I'm only about half way through the book, I can't really say anymore!
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is a retelling of the story, East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

The Watermark Book Store and Cafe in Wichita, KS, is an independent book vendor that carries a wide assortment of books. They feature about 4 author signings a month, plus story time and other book related activities.  I really like this place!

Jessica Day George gave this advice for a person who wants to be an author:

1. READ.  Read everything.  Experience different types of writing: poetry, nonfiction, fiction, different authors.
2. WRITE.  Write every day, even if it's a list of names, things or short paragraphs.
3. KEEP.  Keep everything you write.  Put it away and bring it out for ideas or to continue.  

Finally, we went to see the latest Star Wars movie.  I was both happy and sad.  I was also somewhat disappointed.  But more on this in another blog.



I hope your February 14th is/was a great day.

Until next time.......