Haiku Contest Winners
06/16/2010 02:00 PM
I know everyone has been eagerly anticipating the results of the Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto Haiku Contest. It has been a really tough process to determine our winners as the judges were split in a few different directions. However, using highly complicated mathematical formulae, a protractor, and several Slap Chops I have determined our esteemed winners.
So, without further ado... WAIT... okay, with a little ado (doo dee doo dee doo!), here are our winners and their most awesome haikus.
The randomly selected haiku winner and the winner of either a signed hardcover or CD audio book of Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto is Cassidy:
Applebee's is hell.
My dad's got a new mistress
and I am solo.
The award for the most profound haiku and the winner of 1) an iTunes gift card and 2) choice of signed hardcover, CD audiobook or Playaway version of Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto is Erin Dealey:
Applebee's break-up
She needs time. I need ketchup.
Both permanent stains...
The award for the funniest haiku and the winner of 1) an iPod Shuffle and 2) choice of signed hardcover, CD audiobook or Playaway version of Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto is Lindsay Eland!!
Applebee's, aw snap
What's up with all that crap...eh?
Manifesto to the o ...yo
I am not sure what that last one had to do with my book, but the judges have spoken!
Thank you to all of you who played! Rock on! I'll try to contact you all via my blog!
St. Anne Institute Book Drive
06/16/2010 10:45 AM
For those of you who do not know, I've been holding a book drive for the St. Anne Institute, a not-for-profit residential and therapeutic facility for at-risk girls ages 12 to 18 located here in Albany. Last week marked the first gifting of books to the St. Anne Institute.
I was amazed and touched by the outpouring of support. I was able to collect nearly 700 books for these girls whose lives will only improve with these library additions. I don't have many photos as I was busy presenting to an auditorium filled with students, teachers and distinguished guests, but let me just say that the event was a great one.
The awesome part is that we had a huge stack of Advance Reading Copies of books to hand out. Every girl who attended left with a book of her very own.
Here are but some of the donated books:
If you are interested in making a donation to St. Anne's, contact me via my website or feel free to call the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza to order a book off the girls' wishlist!!
Book Launch!
06/14/2010 11:08 AM
I had a great signing on Saturday afternoon with friend and author, Coleen Paratore. Coleen is just releasing her fourteenth novel, Wish I Might, another great addition to the Wedding Planner's Daughter series. I saw early versions of this book and it's really good. Coleen is one of those gifted writers who can pack a book so full of heart that it's about to burst, and if all the rabid fans she had show up is any indication, she has a monster following. Go Coleen!
As for me, I had every intention of taking all sorts of photos at this event, but I was so busy signing that my camera did not get a lot of action. Five o'clock rolled around and I was still going strong! This, I suppose, is a good problem to have.
However, as a really cool surprise, we had a celebrity visit by another author. Jennifer Roy stopped by to say hello! Jennifer is the award-wining author of an awesome books called Yellow Star. I have heard that her forthcoming novel, Mindblind, rocks too.
Thank you to all of you who made this signing a success. And if you missed the event because of unforseen circumstances, I left behind signed copies of all my books at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. Or just get your tail to one of my coming events:
Saturday, June 19th, 2-4pm: The Town Book Shop (Westfield, NJ)
Saturday, June 26th, 11-1: Happy Jack's (Bolton Landing, NY)
Thursday, July 8th, 7pm: Barnes & Noble (Colonie Center, Colonie, NY)
An Award and Another Winner!
06/11/2010 10:56 AM
To say that this week has been a whirlwind is an understatement. Not only did I launch a book, but I won an award for another!
A few weeks ago, I discovered I had been nominated for an Adirondack Literary Award by the Adirondack Center for Writing for my last novel, Bug Boy. My assumption was that it would go to someone else as it was my first time up for this award (and any award, for that matter) but I went to the ceremony anyway as it's an honor just to be considered. It was up in Blue Mountain Lake deep in the heart of the Adirondacks. That means two hours north of Albany and even an hour north of my place in Lake George!
As I said: deep in the heart...
When I got there, I discovered the Blue Mountain Lake Center was a quaint, old manor on a hill that slopes to the shore of the lake. What a cute spot. I also discovered that this center focuses on artistic events. Immediately, I wanted to move in. So awesome. It was cold and rainy so I did not get any outside photos, but inside was nice and toasty. They had a fire crackling and possibly the best oatmeal raisin cookies I've ever tasted.
Here are the books that were nominated for Best Book of Children Literature:
And here I am with two other nominees, Gary VanRipen and his son Justin, authors of the wildly popular Adirondack Kids series:
The children's literature award was the first one to be announced and to my surprise I was the recipient! Thank you so much to the judges and to the ACW for such an honor. Here I am receiving the award. Please note the awesome fireplace and how cute the podium is, which will draw your eye away from my wrinkly pants!
And for you award junkies out there, here is what it looks like:
It's handmade from wood and looks like an Adirondack chair! Awesome.
Now for our Wednesday and Thursday winners for either a signed hardcover or CD audiobook of Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto: @jemacleod and @jotreggiari ! Congratulations to both of you.
And the rest of you, there is still time to enter the contest! Just write a haiku on my blog OR tweet/blog/Facebook about the contest! Check out the specific details here. The contest runs through midnight TONIGHT!! So hurry!
Today's Winner and a Really Cool Photo
06/09/2010 07:29 AM
Today's winner for a choice of a signed hardcover or CD Audiobook of SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO is @Joyce_Lansky. Congratulations, Joyce!
If you are still interested in entering the contest to win an iPod, iTunes gift cards or signed hardcovers, CD Audiobooks or Playaway versions of my book, go on over to the post and enter. Remember, you don't need to be a good poet to enter. Give it a shot. There are several categories including a RANDOM one, so get haiku-ing! Or just repost about the contest and you're entered!
Now for something I consider to be really special. When I was recently in New Orleans (wow, that is an awesome city) I stumbled into a really incredible antique shop called M.S. Rau Antiques. It was more like a museum, actually, and the woman there, Susan, gave me a tour of the place. I can't begin to describe this collection. Okay, I'm a writer. I will. They had VanGogh paintings, a camel saddle from when Napoleon invaded Africa, a ten-foot clock that took ten years to build (how did they know if they didn't have a clock?), a skeleton of a prehistoric cave bear, George Washington's shoe buckle. The list goes on. Vastly incredible stuff. If you're curious to see more, check out the website I've linked. And if you find yourself in New Orleans, hunt this place down!
Anyhow, a week or so after leaving the store, Susan sent me the following photo:
It is an image of SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO sitting right next to a first-edition copy of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica. If you don't know what this is, it's one of the most important books in history, and arguably THE most important book in the history of science. It's the book in which Newton describes gravitation, lays out his three laws of motion, and dispels the doubts about heliocentrism. It's really an amazing book and I'm stunned that my own book is sitting right there next to it! Thanks Susan.
Love, I suppose, is another law of the universe... one that Newton neglected to describe. That is a matter best left to Seth.
So cool.
Oh, and as a reminder: this is book release week for SETH BAUMGARTNER'S LOVE MANIFESTO so if you've been thinking of getting a copy, it's available NOW!!!!