Angeline is Excited for Halloween!

Guess what she wants?

Angeline Will Be Traveling and more updates

Angeline will be making an appearance at the Orange County Children's Book Festival on October 4, 2009. I wish I could go with her! I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to send a copy of Angeline Jellybean and some promotional materials to the festival through the website AuthorsDen.

Recently, I've been writing for a brand new online magazine called Robin Falls Magazine. It is run by April Robins, leader of the Red River Writers group on Facebook. The magazine contains two sections. Red River Writers is where writers share tips, short stories, and book reviews. Robin Falls Kids for children, parents and teachers contains activities, poems, short stories, and reading advice. I have written two book reviews and an article about online promotion for writers, which will appear in the first issue this winter!

All this, and I'm gearing up for NaNoWriMo and the Muse Online Writer's Conference, too!

Book Trailer for Angeline Jellybean!

After months of procrastinating, I have finally made a book trailer for Angeline Jellybean. The process wasn't as hard as I thought, and in fact was lots of fun! I made the video using Windows Movie Maker, a free, easy to use program that came with my computer. You can now view the video on YouTube! I hope you enjoy.

A New Tour of VBT: Writers on the Move Starts Sept. 1st!

VBT: Writers on the Move starts their next round of promotion on September 1st! Each month, a group of talented, award-winning writers set aside their blogs on the 1st and the 3rd to promote each other's latest books and projects. This month, we start the VBT: Writers on the Move Mystery Site Give-away. Each month, the winner will have the choice of receiving the Mystery Site Host's book or a guest spot on VBT Writers on the Move blog. So, go visit all our blogs and see what we've been up to, and you could also be a winner!

VBT Writers on the Move September Schedule

Dianne Sagan hosts Crystalee Calderwood- That's me!

Harry Gilleland hosts Steve Tremp (Author of Breakthrough)

'Karen Cioffi hosts Vivian Zabel (Author or Case of the Missing Coach, Midnight Hours, and many more, and publisher at 4rv Publishing)

Kathy Stemke hosts Heather Paye (15 year old author of A Gift from Above)

Lea Schizas hosts Nancy Famalari (author of Summer's Story)

Nancy Famalari hosts Carolyn Howard-Johnson (Author of The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Book Promoter)

Vivian Zabel hosts Kathy Stemke (Author of Moving Through all Seven Days)

Margaret Fieland hosts Dianne Sagan (Author of Rebekah Redeemed)

Crystalee Calderwood -that's me! hosts Deborah Weed (Author of The Luckiest Penny)

Katie Hines hosts Marvin Wilson (Author of I Romanced the Stone, Between the Storm and the Rainbow, and more.)

Helena Harper hosts Mayra Calvani (Author of Crash!)

Dorothy Massey hosts Harry Gilleland (Author of numerous books of poetry)

Liana Metal hosts Lea Schizas (Author of Bubba and Giganto- Odds Against Us and founder of the Muse Online Writer's Conference)

Carolyn Howard-Johnson hosts Gayle Trent (mystery author)

Gayle Trent hosts Karen Cioffi (Author of Day's End Lullaby)

Mayra Calvani hosts Katie Hines (Author of upcoming book Guardian)

Marvin Wilson hosts Liana Metal (Author of Storytime)

Anita Yasuda hosts Dorothy Massey (her work appears in the Mini Mysteries and Spooky Stories anthology for kids)

Linda Asato hosts Helena Harper (Author of It's a Teacher's Life!: A Collection of Poems Set in a Girl's Private School)


Heather Paye hosts Anita Yasuda (Author of numerous books for both adults and children)

Steve Tremp hosts Margaret Fieland (Author of Moving Through All Seven Days)

Deboran Weed hosts Linda Asato (Author of the 4RV book Spider in Our Mailbox)

Come Visit my Amazon.com Store!

This month on my Amazon.com store, I'm featuring Angeline Jellybean, as well as a number of back to school books for young readers. I hope you'll check it out and purchase books for your children as they head back to school!

As Promised: Winner of the Angeline Jellybean Prize!

Sorry for posting this late. As promised, here is the announcement about the winner of the special Angeline Jellybean prize from jellybelly.com!

The winner is Beth Bence Reinke. Congratulations, Beth!

If you could please e-mail me your address (crystaleecalderwood@gmail.com) your prize will be in the mail shortly!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Unfortunately, the contest didn't generate as much activity as expected, but look out for more contests and special events soon.

Angeline Goes to the Zoo!

Today, July 25th, Angeline will be appearing at Oklahoma Zoo's 2nd Annual Author Expo! Vivian Zabel from 4RV Publishing will be there with a number of books, including my very own Angeline Jellybean! Angeline is very excited for the cotton candy Viv has promised her. ;-)

You can read all about 4RV's involvement in the festival of Viv's blog.

An Interview with Deb Hockenberry

Check out Deb Hockenberry's blog today for a brand new interview with me about Angeline Jellyean! It was great to be interviewed by a children's writer from my hometown, Altoona, PA. I wish the best of luck to Deb in her pusuit of getting published!

Angeline Jellybean reviewed at Stories for Children Magazine!

You can now view Wayne S. Walker's review of Angeline Jellybean on the Stories for Children Magazine website!

Contest: Help Angeline Taste the World!

Angeline came to me with a problem today. She is tired of living on the farm and wants to see the world! I’m afraid her sweet tooth is back. She told me she’s heard that Ocean City has some great salt water taffy, Hershey, Pennsylvania has the best chocolate, and she can’t wait to get her hands on some Turkish delight!

I promised Angeline I’d help her try as many sweet treats as possible. To achieve her goal, she must visit as many of you as possible! Here’s how you can help:

1) If you’ve already purchased a copy of Angeline Jellybean, let me know what city or state you live in, and what candies Angeline has tried there, in a comment below.
2) If you haven’t purchased Angeline Jellybean yet, what are you waiting for? Angeline is hungry for new types of candy. There are several ways you can buy the book:
*Order it on Amazon.com
*Order it from the publisher, 4RV Publishing
*Go to your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy for you

Once you order Angeline Jellybean, leave a comment below listing your city or state and what candy you’re going to give Angeline. Post your message by August 13th, 2009 and you could win a prize!

Now, here’s the fun part! On or after August 15th 2009, I will choose one person at random to receive a very special prize of jellybeans from JellyBelly.com, courtesy of me!

Good luck! (And let’s hope that Angeline doesn’t get sick from eating all this candy!)

Angeline Jellybean Book Review on Suite 101 by Mayra Calvani

Mayra Calvania, author of the picture book Crash! has posted a review of Angeline Jellybean on Suite 101. You can see her review here.

PLUS Stay tuned to this blog tomorrow, where Angeline and I will be making an announcement about a very special contest!

Appearing on Robin Falls Kids Story Time!

On August 5th at 10AM Central, I will be appearing on Robin Falls Kids Story Time on Blog Talk Radio! You can listen in to the program on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RobinFalls to hear me talk about the inspirations behind my picture book Angeline Jellybean. It should be a fun and exciting time for all writers involved!

Also, why don't you take some time to support me in the Take Steps for Crohn's Disease and Colitis Walk? You can find out more about Crohn's and Colitis as well as donate at http://tinyurl.com/qy9jlg

Angeline Jellybean, reviewed by Wayne S. Walker at Stories for Children Magazine

BOOK REVIEW
STORIES FOR CHILDREN
BOOK: Angeline Jellybean
AUTHOR: Crystalee Calderwood
ILLUSTRATOR: Stephen Macquignon
PUBLISHER: 4RV Publishing LLC (2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9797513-8-7
ISBN-10: 0-9797513-8-1
READING LEVEL: beginner through 2nd grade
RATING: 5 stars
REVIEWED BY: Wayne S. Walker, reviewer with Stories for Children Magazine

What do you think might happen to a girl who liked and ate nothing but jellybeans? At Easter, Angeline wants only green jellybeans instead of spinach. For an after school snack, she takes orange jellybeans rather than a tangerine. At Halloween, she hopes for yellow jellybeans, not yellow string beans. For Christmas, she asks Santa for red jellybeans and does not appreciate the eighteen apples that he brings. However, for her birthday she receives a huge bag of jellybeans. But when she eats the whole bag, something strange happens. How will she feel? And will she ever come to enjoy any other foods?

What a unique way to help children learn that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing! Crystalee Calderwood's poetic, rhymning text is perfect for beginning readers. They will not only enjoy the fun story but also be able to catch the important message imbedded within it. Illustrator Stephen Macquignon is a frequent contributor to Stories for Children Magazine. Angeline Jellybean combines readable text with attractive illustrations that youngsters will find both captivating and enlightening. And parents will appreciate it too.

Happy Easter!

Don't forget:

Books have less fat than candy, aren't sugary like jellybeans, won't make you sick (don't belive the CPSIA!) and don't have any carbs.

Not to mention giving a kid a book helps him develop phoentic awareness and other skills he needs to succeed in school. A good book will be picked up again and again by an eager child and will never go out of style. When a child's toys are being tossed aside and his clothes are outgrown, a book will still sit on a shelf, be re-read and re-loved.

Give the gift of a book this Easter, because it will last longer than anything else you can pack into an Easter basket.

5 Reasons Why Angeline Jellybean is the Perfect Easter Gift

Don't forget that April 12th is Easter! In honor of Easter, I bring to you the 5 Reasons Why Angeline Jellybean is the Perfect Easter Gift:

1. Books last longer than candy.
2. Slipping Angeline Jellybean into your child's Easter basket might act as a gentle warning before they tear open and devour all of their jellybeans and chocolate.
3. The vivid illustrations by Stephen Macquignon conjur up thoughts of spring.
4. Easter morning can become a time for learning about all holidays throughout the year as your kids read about Angeline.
5. At $9, it's more for your buck than fake Easter grass and dyed wicker baskets.

You can find Angeline Jellybean on Amazon.com and at the 4RV Store.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Last day of Angeline Jellybean blog tour :-(

Today I would like to say thank you to all my friends and colleagues who took time out of their busy lives to host the blog tour for my book Angeline Jellybean! From favorite jellybean flavors to how the book got written, we sure covered a lot of material this week! I’ve received a lot of great reviews and feedback on my book. I’ve even met a few new authors. Can you believe that I actually came in contact with a children’s writer from my hometown of Altoona?

One of the things I love so much about blogging is that I get to interact with other writers all over the world. I network without boundaries, and I make some good friends in the process. To me, being an author isn’t about solitary confinement; it’s about having the entire world at your fingertips.

I’ve learned so much from all of you, and I hope you’ve learned from me as well. I look forward to continuing relationships with my fellow writers.

The History of Jellybeans

In honor of the Angeline Jellybean blog tour--which kicks off tomorrow-- here is a brief article on the history of the sugar-filled, egg-shaped concoctions, by CandyFavorites.com:

http://www.candyfavorites.com/shop/jelly-bean-history.php

Angeline Jellybean can now be purchased at Amazon.com and the 4RV Publishing Store.



The Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour:

Ransom Noble at http://ransomnoble.wordpress.com/ -December 28th
Vivian Zabel at http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com -December 29th
Laura Peters at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/blog/ -December 30th
Elysabeth Eldering http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/ -December 31st
Susan Thompson at http://www.susansmiththompson.com/ -January 1st
Sarah Adkins at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com/ -January 2nd
Lea Schizas at http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ -January 3rd
Crystalee Calderwood at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com -January 4th

New Website, and Updating Old One

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to get kids more interested in reading and writing. I am working on a new website where I can take questions from kids about the writing process, post writing exercises, and share some of their work. I'm excited about starting it up, and I hope that I can keep up with it on a regular basis.

I'm also giving my regular site at http://crystaleecalderwood.bravehost.com a makeover. You can't see it yet, but it's getting a fresh, simple new look that I hope will be easy on the eyes.

It's been a busy week for me planning promotional stuff for Angeline as well. Look for updates about that soon.

Join us on the Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour!

Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour Schedule

Ransom Noble at http://ransomnoble.wordpress.com/ -December 28th
Vivian Zabel at http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com -December 29th
Laura Peters at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/blog/ -December 30th
Elysabeth Eldering http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/ -December 31st
Susan Thompson at http://www.susansmiththompson.com/ -January 1st
Sarah Adkins at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com/ -January 2nd
Lea Schizas at http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ -January 3rd
Crystalee Calderwood at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com -January 4th

Join my fellow writers for interviews with myself and the illustrator Stephen Macquignon, book reviews, and other fun things, next week!

Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour!

Angeline Jellybean and I will be going on a blog tour the last week in December! Please drop by these awesome blogs to learn more about me, the illustrator Stephen Macquignon, and Angeline Jellybean herself!

Ransom Noble at http://ransomnoble.wordpress.com/ -December 28th
Vivian Zabel at http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com -December 29th
Laura Peters at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/blog/ December 30th
Elysabeth Eldering http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/ -December 31st
Susan Thompson at http://www.susansmiththompson.com/ - January 1st
Sarah Adkins at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com/ -January 2nd
Lea Schizas at http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ -January 3rd
Crystalee Calderwood at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com/ -January 4th