The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

This short film just won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.  Not only is it beautifully-made but it is a lovely ode to books.  Get out your hankies!  I loved it.

Many congrats to the writer/illustrator William Joyce and co-director Brandon Oldenburg.

SHIFT in ABNA!

I'm kind of a little thrilled to say my novel SHIFT, a paranormal story about a girl who can shapeshift (but nothing to do with werewolves!), has advanced to the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.  There were 5,000 entries in the YA category and 1,000 advanced.  This means that our pitches were successful enough to get past a couple of Amazon editors who were judging.

Next step: excerpt reading by the panel.  Only 250 will move on from there to the Quarterfinal Round.  What, me nervous?  Nah!

Congrats to the other 999 writers too!