My coffee cup runneth over

I live a charmed life. There is no doubt.

In the last 48 hours, friends of mine in the publishing world, in education, fellow writers, relatives, high school buddies, readers, and students getting by on ramen noodles have contributed a total of $1,100 to our race effort!!! That means we are already more than 20% of the way to our goal of $5,000!

I am stunned and humbled.

I got a little teary-eyed yesterday as I read through emails from people who have lost dearly loved parents, siblings, and children to cancer. It feels like everyone is touched by this and reminded me again why our effort is important.

Thank you all very, very much. If you haven’t donated yet, please go to the Laurie Halse Anderson Team Website and contribute. If you want to support the guy-side of this effort, go to my husband’s site and give money there. The totally awesome Nancy Werlin donated to Scot, so if you give on his side of the ledger, you’ll be in extremely good company.

If you can’t afford to donate (I totally understand – been there and have the tee-shirt), please help out by blogging about our cause and bugging your friends who have so much money they can afford to blow three dollars on a cup of coffee. You know who I’m talking about.

(For the record, we ran at the gym yesterday. BH ran 5 miles. I only ran 3 because my knee was a little squeaky.)

Along with the fundraising email, yesterday marked the official beginning to The Busy Season. This Spring I am traveling to Chattanooga, TN (they’re reading SPEAK for One City/One Book), Springfield, IL (Illinois Reading Council), Nashua, NH (SCBWI New England), and San Jose, CA for writing workshops.

In addition, I have a new picture book coming out in June that has such a gorgeous cover I can’t wait any longer to show you.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

What do you think? (I’ll be giving more info about the content of the book and some sneak pictures of the inside soon.) I’ve been working on this project for a veeeeeeeeery long time. It’s hard to believe it’s actually coming out.

Dang!! I was jumping up and down so hard I spilled the coffee again.

I have miles to go before I sleep tonight: chapters to revise, a gazillion emails, and new material I have to generate for the website. Thanks again for a great kick-off to the race in June. Please wish me luck with the Revision Race of February.

edited to add Today is Langston Hughes’ birthday, one of my favorite poets and guiding lights.

Lake Placid Half-Marathon countdown: 136 days

19 Replies to “My coffee cup runneth over”

  1. I’m a former TNT racer and a big fan of yours!! Good luck with your half-marathon!

    (I gave to your husband’s side just to help even it up!)

  2. if i had some extra money i would definately donate money for both yours and your husbands’ teams. it is for an incredible cause and i admire you for doing it.
    i can’t wait to see the cover of your picture book and read the picture book 🙂

  3. The book looks great–I can’t wait to buy it for my daughter!! She is already showing signs of being quite the independent dame herself. :o)

    Heading over to donate.

  4. I posted your sites up on my facebook account, and hope to donate from my next paycheck. How long will you be accepting donations?

    Also, the book looks great!

  5. You’re coming to Chattanooga?! When? Please keep me posted. That’s relatively close to where my parents live. Also, let me know if you’re going to be in SC anytime soon. I would LOVE to meet you!!

  6. About the new book, I think “SQUEE!” Because it looks awesome. And I’m very much looking forward to reading it. And I’m glad you were paired with Matt Faulkner again – you know I love Sarah Hale.

  7. No plans yet for SC, but I think I’m going on book tour in the fall, so keep your fingers crossed.

    On Tues. March 4th (in the evening), I’ll be speaking at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I’ll also be visiting a couple of area schools that week. More details as soon as they are available.

  8. I absolutely loved your book about Sarah Hale, so I’m VERY eagerly awaiting this book so that I can read it to my six-month-old daughter who I hope one day with be an Independent Dame, too. :o)

  9. (Sorry this comment is so long)

    I wanted to belatedly say congratulations on your decision to run the half-marathon!!! That is so exciting, and I look forward to reading about your adventures in training for, and running, the race. It’s really awesome that you joined Team in Training … and what a great cause. I donated some money today. I am training for a run this spring too; maybe reading about how dedicated you are will keep me going!

    On another note, I finally got Twisted from the library this week, and finished it the other day … WOW, what an amazing book. I was reading it on the bus on the way to the gym, and when I got to the gym I had to sit on a bench and finish it before going inside – I couldn’t run without knowing what had happened to Tyler. I really empathized and identified with his character, and the story has stayed with me all weekend. Thank you for writing yet another wonderful novel.

    Have a good rest of your weekend!
    🙂 Sarah

  10. Re: (Sorry this comment is so long)

    I am drinking my first cup of coffee and preparing to dive into today’s chapter and I just read your comment. Thank you so much for the kind words!!! They have revved up my writing engine.

    Ran 5 miles yesterday, am planning on 4 more today.

  11. Question

    Is that the same illustrator as Thanking Sarah? Kindddaa looks familiar. 🙂

    April Lynn & Kegan

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