Kylie Jean is a Football Queen!

For many, fall means football. While personally, I am not a really a fan of the sport, Kylie Jean certainly is! In one of her new adventures, she is on a quest to prove that she is THE #1 fan. We love Kylie Jean because she is so positive and never gives up. I think young readers will love her too. The next four books in the Kylie Jean series will be out this winter. Go Team!

Field Trips! Mysteries! Prizes!

Wasn't the best day at school whatever day had a field trip scheduled? Yes. It was. And wouldn't the best field trip have been one wherein you and your gang of scrappy best friends solved a mystery? Wouldn't it???

I remember my field trips mostly for the bus rides. When I first started concepting the Field Trip Mysteries series a couple of years ago, I asked a friend who's a middle-school English teacher if I could go on one of her school's field trips. We saw an IMAX movie on the ocean, and I remember the 3-D made someone feel sick. But mostly I remember that the bus smelled exactly like I remember field trips smelling back in the last century when I was a girl.

Did you know that October is Field Trip Month? And it's also Mystery Month? Isn't that perfect for October? It does feel like field trips and mysteries.

Tell me something about how you're spending your October by next Friday (the 15th) and I'll pick a winner at random to receive a copy of the Field Trip Mysteries special limited edition (four stories in one gorgeous book!), On the Bus, On the Case.

Happy October!
Beth

On libraries

Happy Friday, blog-readers!

Many of you probably already know that this is Library Card Sign-up Month. Many of you probably already have a library card, work at a library, or frequent a library.

Big confession time.

I've had a library card for most of my life. As a kid, I spent a ton of time in the library, both at school and at the public library. But around the time I got an income of my own, I stopped going to the library. It didn't seem convenient when I could just pop into a bookstore or order something online. The ease of buying cheap used books online made my habit even worse. I'd still buy the expensive hardcover when it was one of my favorite authors, but I never went to the library.

My husband and I have over a thousand books, which makes sense since he's a writer and I'm an editor. But we also live in a house that's less than a thousand square feet. You do the math. We have boxes and boxes and boxes of books stacked in the basement. We have books stuffed on top of books on the shelves upstairs. Our bedroom's bookshelf has books stacked three books deep. And our 2-year-old son seems to have inherited our problem--his books don't fit on his dedicated shelves.

Enter the library. We have a great library in our neighborhood of St. Paul. They have a children's storytime, lots of computers, friendly staff. I've had a library card here since we bought our house, but I hardly ever use it. Besides, though the library is great, the collection is fairly small. Easier to just order it online, right? Then I realized that I'd been missing the point. In the amount of time it takes to find a cheap used book online and buy it, I can request the same book at the library, have it delivered from another branch (if necessary), and walk through my cute neighborhood to pick it up. I was definitely patting myself on the back for that display of genius until I realized that everyone else already knew to do that.

So here's to library cards. For letting me try new authors and old favorites without committing to an investment of space and money. Let's face it--I'm still going to buy books. Obviously I'm going to continue to buy books. I work in publishing. I love books. But now I'll be able to justify my purchases even more and seek out even more new authors. Yay for library cards! I'm just sorry I'm so late to the party. Apparently I should behave more like my ten-year-old self more often.

Have a happy holiday weekend, and bring on autumn--I've got a ton of books waiting to be read.

more soon!
-Beth

Back to school

Summer is over. As if on cue, the leaves in my St. Paul neighborhood have begun changing; the sun is setting sooner, rising later; there's a crispness in the air in the morning. Schoolbuses roam the streets, and as I drive to work each morning, kids wait on corners for their buses. On my way home, football teams practice, and groups of girls, backpacks slung over their shoulders, walk down the sidewalks.

I know I'm not the only person who gets excited when September rolls around. Someone said on Twitter the other day that September is a better time than January to make resolutions. Maybe it's not the beginning of the calendar year, and unlike the transition to spring, it's not full of renewed hope and warmth--no, actually, I take that back. It is. The promise of snuggling under blankets, reading a book; of curling up with hot chocolate; of time spent learning on purpose.

Welcome back to school, kids, parents, teachers, librarians, administrators--from me, and from everyone else here at Stone Arch and Picture Window. This year, let's all make it our new-school-year resolution to learn on purpose.

More soon!
Beth