What's New

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY

2011-12-01T06:38:00.002-06:00

HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY:

GRAND PRIZE: Five signed copies of various titles of my books.

Five HONORABLE MENTIONS will be randomly selected to win a copy of THE WATER SEEKER.

Want to enter the drawing?

Here's what you need to do:

Click LIKE on the Kimberly Willis Holt Books Facebook Page. Then post a favorite line from one of my books on the page. Please don't forget to mention the title of the book.

Deadline December 9, 2011. Winners announced December 11, 2011. Contest begins now!

Good luck!

GIVEAWAY FOR EDUCATORS

2011-11-14T17:17:00.003-06:00

Educators, would you like to win a classroom set of PIPER REED NAVY BRAT books? Here's what you need to do to have your name in the drawing:

1. Show that you LIKE the PIPER REED Facebook page by clicking the LIKE button.

2. Then send your name and school snail mail address to my email, kwhevents@suddenlink.net.

3. Only one entry per person, but all teachers from one school can apply.

4. Drawing will be held November 21, 2011 and posted on the PIPER REED FACEBOOK PAGE.

FIRST CHAPTER OF PIPER REED RODEO STAR

2011-11-11T07:46:00.005-06:00

Piper Reed, Rodeo Star
1
A PINEY WOODS CHRISTMAS
Mom and Chief were going on a honeymoon to Paris, France. Chief called it a second honeymoon, but Mom said she didn't call driving from Piney Woods, Louisiana, to Waukegan, Illinois, in an old Buick Impala a honeymoon. Mom and Chief lived in Waukegan when Chief received his first assignment at the Great Lakes Naval Station.

"Where will we stay while you're in France?" I asked.

"Piney Woods," said Chief. "You girls can have a nice visit with your grandparents."

Both sets of our grandparents lived in the country. And they both had a few animals--not enough to be a real farm, but it was the closest to a farm that we'd ever seen.

We were sitting on the back porch while Chief barbecued chicken on the grill. Bruna ran around the yard, barking.

Anytime we gathered out in the backyard Bruna got excited, as if the yard belonged to her and we were her guests.

"What about Bruna?" I asked.

Chief snapped the tongs three times before using them to turn the chicken. "She can go, too," he said.

"Although you'll have to keep her on a leash when she's outside. Remember what happened when we took her camping, Piper?"

I didn't need to be reminded. It had been my fault when Bruna wandered off Halloween night and caused us to form a search party.

"How about Peaches the Second?" Sam asked. "Can she go to Piney Woods?"

"Brady's family will watch your goldfish," Mom said. "Piney Woods is too far of a drive for Peaches."

"Peaches the Second," said Sam. "But who will feed her?"

"We've already asked Yolanda. She said Brady would love to take care of your fish."

Sam folded her arms in front of her chest. "Brady is too little."

"What's the big deal?" I asked. "It's just sprinkling fish flakes in the fishbowl."

Tori sighed. "I've always wanted to go to France." My big sister thought she should get to do anything she wanted since she was thirteen years old.

I told her, "Tori, you just think France has a huge all-you-can-eat buffet with french fries." She loved french fries and just about any other thing called food.

"That's not why!" Tori snapped. "I want to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. I want to walk the streets of Montmartre where van Gogh lived."

Sam jumped to her feet. "I know who Vincent van Gogh is." My little sister was thebiggest six-year-old show-off on the planet.

"We all know van Gogh," I said.

Mom was our art teacher at school, but even before that, she made sure we knew every great master. Anytime a museum had a special exhibit, Mom acted as if it was a new roller-coaster ride at Six Flags and took us. I actually liked going to the museum exhibits. But not as much as I wanted to ride a roller coaster.

"Just think of the fun you'll have with all your relatives," Mom said. "And your grandparents are looking forward to spending time with you."

"When are you leaving?" I asked.

"During the holidays," Mom said. "We'll be back in time to ring in the new year."

Sam's eyes bulged. "You won't be with us for Christmas?"

Mom looked at Chief, who cleared his throat and said, "I'm sorry, girls. There was no other way. You get out a few days before Christmas, and I couldn't get off sooner than that."

Mom held the platter for Chief while he removed the chicken from the grill. I loved Chief's barbecued chicken because of the secret ingredient (Louisiana hot sauce!).

"Tori," Chief said, "please set the picnic table."

"It's Piper's turn," Tori snapped.

"Piper?" Chief said.

I saluted him. "Aye, aye, Chief."

I dashed into the house and opened the silverware drawer. I was going to miss Mom and Chief. Last year Chief was on a ship during Christmas, but we'd never spent Christmas without Mom.
When I came back out, I studied all the sadfaces around the table. The USS Reed Family ship was sinking fast.

Somebody had to cheer up the crew. I decided to start with the squirt. "Don't worry, Sam. Santa can figure out where you are."

Little puddles filled Sam's eyes. "Who will read us The Night Before Christmas?"

Every Christmas Eve, Chief read Cajun Night Before Christmas, which is kind of like the regular Night Before Christmas, only it has alligators instead of reindeer and gumbo instead of sugarplums.

No one said anything. Sam stared my way. "Don't look at me!" I snapped.

Except for dog books like Shiloh and Sable, I'd rather go to the mall all day with Tori than read. Even if I didn't have dyslexia, I'd find something else to do.

"I'll read it," Tori said. That figured. She would probably require a costume and make us pay admission to listen to her read.

"Chicken's ready," Chief said. We settled around the picnic table. Smoke from the grill was dying down, and the smell of our chicken mixed with other barbecue smells from our neighbors' backyards in the enlisted housing. That's what was nice about living in Florida. You could barbecue all year long.

Chief passed the bowl of potato salad. "Girls, this was a hard decision for us to make. We hate missing Christmas, but your mom and I haven't had any time by ourselves since before Tori was born. Sometimes parents need a little alone time."

"Why?" I asked. "Aren't we any fun?"

Mom looked at Chief. "Karl, this is starting to feel like a terrible idea. Maybe we could wait until another year."

"When?" Chief asked. "When all the girls are grown?"

"Hey," I said, "great idea!"

Chief frowned at me.

"Bad idea," I mumbled.

Chief shook his head. "Edie, we'll lose the deposit money."

All of a sudden, I felt torn down the middle. I wanted them to stay. I wanted them to go.

Then I heard myself say, "Mom, you and Chief go to Paris. Sometimes kids need a little alone time without parents."

Text copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Willis Holt

Click here to find out more about PIPER REED RODEO STAR and the other PIPER REED Stories.

PIPER REED TOUR, DAYS 5-8, IF IT'S MONDAY IT MUST BE TAMPA

2011-10-17T16:34:00.004-05:00

After a lovely last day in Orlando(Thanks, Zenaida Rollins of Carillon Elementary and Barbara Willow of Wicklow Elementary), I drove over to Tampa. My GPS, Beatrice (Yes, she's Beatrice, not Bertha,) helped me avoid some traffic jams. Her warning: "Heavy traffic ahead, recalculating. Exit at ...."

Now when I first heard Beatrice do this in New Orleans, I ignored her. After all, I was familiar with the Big Easy. I thought there was a hiccup in the system. I can't tell you how many times she wanted me to exit. When I finally decided to amuse myself and follow her suggestion, I was amazed at how smart the little device was. She guided me onto the service road and back to I-10. I must have saved twenty minutes alone. So now I listen. And that's when I named her Beatrice.

My husband joined me in Tampa for a couple of days. After my Barnes and Noble event (Thank you, CRM Beth Gaffney,) Jerry and I drove around Tampa. Tampa is the kind of city that makes you think of summer vacation even in October. Yesterday we went to Ybor City, a community created from the cigar factory business. At the Visitor's Center we learned that the factory workers hired a reader to read to them as they worked. (The picture above shows a reader, sitting above the workers as he reads.) The employees were some of the most educated factory workers because all day they heard newspapers, magazines, and novels. Now that is what I call a job perk!

Today I visited Carrollwood Elementary (Thanks, Kimberly Davis) and St. John Greek Orthodox Day School (Thanks, Cynthia Strickland.) The students were bright and enthusiastic. This morning two boys came up to me after my presentation and asked me a similar question--"How do you get unstuck when you don't know what else to write?" Now I love questions like this! Because of time, I had to give them a short answer, suggesting that they dig into that wonderful imagination and ask themselves "What if?"

How do you get unstuck?

PIPER REED TOUR, DAY FOUR: A FEW THINGS I'VE LEARNED

2011-10-13T18:46:00.005-05:00

A FEW THINGS I'VE LEARNED ABOUT TOURING

1. Don't wear black tights in Orlando, even in October

2. I love Bertha, my GPS

3. Drive the speed limit

4. Even though I've visited schools for fourteen years, I'm meeting readers who have never heard me speak. And that fact makes the presentation new for me, too.

Thanks to Emily Willadsen of Partin Elementary School and Amy Dovydaitis of Highlands Elementary School.

PIPER REED TOUR: Day Three, A Day of Mishaps

2011-10-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

Today was a travel day--Pensacola to Orlando. It was also a day of mishaps. Here's a little list that tells the story:

1. Forgot going-through-airport-security skills: Didn't remove scarf or take out laptop. Stopped by nice, but serious TSA worker. Took off scarf. Took out laptop.

2. Got pulled over for speeding a mile out away from the airport. (Kind police officer let me off with a warning.)

3. So relieved to not get a ticket, celebrated by pulling into a Starbucks drive-thru. Left cappuccino at the drive-thru window.

4. Turned back around and retrieved cappuccino.

5. Decided to start day over!

PIPER REED TOUR: DAY 2, A FEW MORE BOOKS TO SIGN

2011-10-12T17:23:00.003-05:00

Still signing, but not complaining!

PIPER REED TOUR: DAY ONE

2011-10-11T06:32:00.003-05:00

The Blue Angels Elementary School in Pensacola, Florida kicked the tour off with a GET-OFF-THE-BUS attitude! It was only natural for the tour to begin there. After all, that's where Piper goes to school. Media Specialist, Angela Kriner, is also a talented artist. She made a life-size cut-out form of Piper. And a lovely student and her mom made a welcoming Piper poster.

In the afternoon I drove over to Pace and presented at Dixon Primary where the students Booed and Hissed at Rose Rogers in THE ADVENTURES OF GRANNY CLEARWATER AND LITTLE CRITTER.

Then it was on to Military Family Night at Barnes and Noble where I met readers who shared their stories about being apart from their dads or moving to Pensacola and finding the sites in the Piper books.

My day didn't end when I returned to the hotel. The Blue Angels Elementary School bought books for all their third through fifth graders(thank you, principal Karen Montgomery) so I signed until I started writing GET OFF THE BASE (instead of BUS). I called for early wake-up. Then signed away. I started the morning with a couple of chuckles. I'm posting the reason here to share with you.

I'm off to Berryhill and Rhodes today!

PIPER REED TOUR!

2011-10-03T17:28:00.004-05:00

It's countdown time for the Piper Reed Tour. I'll be leaving October 9 for the first of my stops--Pensacola. The other areas I'm traveling to are Orlando, Tampa, Virginia Beach, Camp Lejeune, and Norfolk.

I'll be visiting a lot of schools in those areas however I do have some public events. Please check them out on my schedule page. And if you live in any of those areas, I hope you'll consider attending. I love meeting my readers!

KEEPER OF THE NIGHT EXCERPT

2011-09-20T07:11:00.004-05:00

KEEPER OF THE NIGHT is now available in paperback and as an e-book. To celebrate these editions, the cover received a makeover. I hope you like the new look as much as I do.

To give you a taste of the story, I'm posting an excerpt from the beginning of the book. Enjoy!

A Dutiful Daughter

My mother died praying on her knees. Her rosary beads were still in her hands when we found her. She left no note, said no good-byes, gave no last hugs or kisses. Only the empty bottle of sleeping pills that had rolled under her bed proved that she'd meant to leave.

I found her first. But I didn't know she was dead. I thought she was praying.
That morning, I eased her door shut, tied on her apron, and made breakfast for my little brother and sister. I felt proud to scramble their eggs and butter their toast.

Later I tied blue ribbons in Olivia's hair and dipped the comb into a glass of water before parting Frank's. I had no idea it was the first of many mornings I'd be doing that.

Tamuning

After my mother died, my father couldn't bear to look at the front door of our home. I overheard Tata tell my mother's older sister, Auntie Bernadette, that he saw my mother's ghost standing by the door. That's why we're staying with Tata's sister, Auntie Minerva, in Tamuning.

"Just for a little while, Isabel," Tata told me the day we moved here, but it's been five long months. I asked Tata why we couldn't stay with Auntie Bernadette in Malesso. She lives a few houses away from us. But Tata said, "Bernadette is . . . was your mother's sister. Not mine."

Tamuning is north of Malesso. Stores and restaurants line the streets. All night long, I lie in bed and smell spicy scents from the Thai restaurant across the road. I hear cars pass on the highway. Sometimes a siren whines, reminding me of the morning the ambulance carried my mother away.

We're stupid staying in Tamuning while our lives take place in Malesso. Everyone we know lives there--Auntie Bernadette and Uncle Fernando, my friends, our dogs. Our store is there, Frank's school, and my father's boat. We're like clubs trying to be hearts in a stack of cards.

To Purchase or for more information on this book, click here.

SAY IT ISN'T SO

2011-09-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

When I started to write my first novel, My Louisiana Sky, I had no idea if I was writing a book for children or adults. My daughter was barely out of picture books and I hadn't read a novel for kids since I was a preteen. Maybe I was writing an adult book with a narrator reflecting back on her childhood. I didn't know.

I decided to peruse the youth department at the Amarillo Public Library. There, the youth librarian pulled middle grade books off the shelf until I had a nice tidy pile. I checked out every one of them. The first one I read was Prairie Songs by Pam Conrad. I quickly fell in love with her writing, especially her use of similes.

Read the first two sentences and I think you'll agree. "The prairie was like a giant plate, stretching all the way to the sky at the edges. And we were like two tiny peas left over from dinner, Lester and me."

Not only did Conrad write with a lyrical style that sang to me, but she also made a strong case about writing for the young. Her book explores a girl's longing for something more than what she has, but it also shows the same character witnessing a woman going mad. Conrad proved to me that when you write for children there are no limits. Young people go through many of the same things adults do. They just see the experiences from a different perspective. Theirs.

Prairie Songs was the book that convinced me writing for young people could be exciting and was a worthwhile journey to take. I owe a lot to that book and its author. That's why it saddens me to learn the book appears to be out of print.I hope I'm wrong. In this climate of uncertainty in children's publishing, I want to know there are books I can still recommend to young people and that they will be able to find them. I want to believe that good books, no...great books don't have to meet the bottom-line to stay in print. That they can endure through seasons of the latest bestsellers and hot topics because they are stories worth reading, no matter how few.

A DOZEN YEARS OR MAYBE MORE

2011-07-18T11:47:00.008-05:00

WHEN ZACHARY BEAVER CAME TO TOWN recently got a makeover--a new cover and a new available format as an e-book. A lot happens in a dozen years. When the book came out in 1999 I didn't realize I'd written a story that would take me on such a wonderful journey. I've visited schools and stood at the podium at conferences all over this country and beyond the United States. To think, it began with a moment in my childhood.

At thirteen, I visited the Louisiana State Fair and paid two dollars extra to see a sideshow boy. The young man was billed as "The Fattest Teenage Boy in the World." I was fascinated by the experience, but I didn't know twenty-five years later I'd write a story inspired by that moment. In a strange way, the book began there--a thirteen-year-old girl visiting a sideshow. Today I share that story with kids, telling them how powerful their lives are. They might see something today that they write about tomorrow or in a few decades.

I'm thankful for that moment and I'm thankful for a book that has opened doors for me all over this planet. Hopefully that story will continue to stir imaginations. Maybe some kid is downloading that book right now and meeting Zachary Beaver for the very first time. Or maybe he's turning to the last page. Either way, I'm grateful.

If you would like to read an excerpt from the first chapter, click on the KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT BOOKS Facebook page.

While there, I hope you will consider clicking LIKE. It's a quick way to stay updated on my book news and, this week, in celebration of the new cover, I'll be giving away some books to a few members of that page.

UPDATE ON SCHOOL VISITS

2011-06-08T12:51:00.006-05:00

Schools are having a tough go of it with all the cutbacks in education so I'm honored that I continue to receive invitations. It's a privilege to speak to your students and share my process. I especially enjoy writing workshops and I'm amazed at the quality of work students demonstrate when they write from their heart.

Although I have a few openings for conferences, my school visit schedule is currently booked until Fall 2012. If you are considering booking me in the future, I'm currently scheduling for that semester and beyond. Also I'm still available for SKYPE interviews which allows me to "visit" your school for a small honorarium.

For those of you that have invited me to your schools the past thirteen years, thank you. Meeting your students has given my writing more meaning. You've made me realize that although I may say goodbye to my character when I'm finished with a book, there are readers who are just now saying hello. I hope I'm still doing school visits thirty years from now.

To book me for a future school visit or SKYPE visit, please contact me at kwhevents@suddenlink.net.

WRITING RETREAT

2011-05-31T17:21:00.003-05:00

Over the years, I've told a lot of you about the writing retreat I attend each year with Kathi Appelt, Jeanette Ingold, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and Lola Schaefer.

Cynthia Leitich Smith was kind enough to interview us about that ritual. Now you can read all about it at this link.

NEW LOOK AND NEW BOOK

2011-03-27T16:37:00.001-05:00

AND THE WINNER IS....

2011-03-15T19:18:00.005-05:00

The winner of the 2011/2012 Mitchell-Willis Scholarship is Paramount Terrace Elementary School of Amarillo, Texas! The prize? They will receive a free school visit from me next year.

Congratulations Paramount Terrace! You put a lot of thought and creativity in your plan to prepare for our day together. I'm looking forward to visiting your campus next fall.

If you're a Texas Panhandle School and would like to be considered for the 2012/2013scholarship, contact me at kwhevents@suddenlink.net. If you applied this year and didn't win, please try again next year.

I'M GOING TO JACKSONVILLE!

2011-03-09T07:47:00.004-06:00

I'll be heading to Jacksonville, Florida's Children's Chapter soon. So if you live in the area, please join me Saturday, March 19th. I'd love to meet you.

For more information click here.

A SALUTE TO THE ARTS

2011-03-02T17:30:00.004-06:00

I'll be heading to Killeen, Texas this weekend for Take 190 West Festival, a Salute to the Arts.

For more information click here!

Do You Want To Write For Children?

2011-02-15T05:59:00.003-06:00

If you write for kids or want to, attend the Austin SCBWI Regional Conference, Boots, Books and Buckskin, this Friday and Saturday, February 18 & 19. I'll be speaking there along with other writers, editors, and agents. My topic will be Breaking Writers Block and Returning to the Creative Life.

For more information click here.

HEY, TEXAS PANHANDLE SCHOOLS

2011-02-11T11:30:00.006-06:00

The deadline to apply for the Mitchell-Willis Scholarship is March 15th. To be considered for a free school visit in the 2011/2012 school year your application must be received by that date.

Here is what one of the previous winners said about the scholarship day:

Our elementary students were so enriched by Kimberly Willis Holt’s visit! She shared some great stories, helpful writing tips, and encouragement for our students to write. Because we prepared our students ahead of time for our author visit – each class read and discussed one of Kimberly Willis Holt’s stories, classroom doors were decorated with themes from the stories, and books were sold to be autographed on the day of the visit – our students were so excited to meet the author. We deeply appreciate Kimberly Willis Holt offering this scholarship opportunity – without it, our students would not have had the chance to meet an author and learn how they too can share their own experiences through the writing process.

Traci Bennett
Librarian
Pleasant Valley Elementary

Like to know more about the scholarship? Click here.

THE BACK STORY

2011-02-07T09:24:00.011-06:00

Have you wondered about the story behind a story? Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast wonders about that, too. She asked the folks(illustrator Laura Huliska-Beith, editor Christy Ottaviano, Art Designer April Ward and me) behind The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Clearwater and today you can read all about it on her wonderful blog.

A few years ago, I stopped by Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. You can read that interview here.

Jules' beautiful blog is an act of love. I'm amazed at the amount of time she must invest to create such a delightful platform dedicated to children's literature. To learn more about this generous soul, click here: Jules

OKAY SNOWBIRDS

2011-02-02T19:15:00.005-06:00

Try not to hate me. Here's where I'll be this weekend. But you can be there to. (If it makes you feel better, I will be wearing a jacket.)

Books Alive

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Free Author Presentations, Book Sales

9 AM - 4 PM

Gulf Coast Community College

Student Union, 2nd floor, Conference Center

Panama City, Florida

MY FIRST TWO BOOKS

2011-01-31T11:41:00.006-06:00

Today a piece I wrote about My Louisiana Sky appears in the MacKids Blog. You can read it here.

And Linda Williams Jackson wrote a nice review about Mister and Me on the Memphis Writes Blog. Thank you, Linda! You can read the review here.

NEW COVERS, NEW TITLES, NEW YEAR!

2011-01-05T08:39:00.003-06:00

Anyone who follows the life of a favorite book is bound to witness cover changes over the years. This year several of my books will go through that transformation.

Want a peek? Let's start with my first one, My Louisiana Sky. The book with the new cover will be available in February.

March will see the relaunch of some of the Piper Reed covers and a couple of title changes, too. More on that to come.

THE ADVENTURES OF GRANNY CLEARWATER AND LITTLE CRITTER BOOK TRAILER

2010-12-21T20:54:00.003-06:00

Thanks, Laura Huliska-Beith for sharing this!

I HEART NEW YORK!

2010-12-03T10:40:00.008-06:00

The New York Public Library's list for Children's Books 2010: 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing came out this week. The Water Seeker is included among many fine books. Thank you, New York Public Library!

THANK YOU, TOO!

2010-11-23T08:39:00.004-06:00

Oh joy! This fall has been a fun whirlwind of school visits and events. I'm grateful to all the good folks who booked me. I enjoyed each and every one of them.

The school year started off in my backyard with the Mitchell-Willis Scholarship winner, Tradewinds Elementary in Amarillo, Texas. The teachers had used my books in the classroom and some of them even did skits of the books.

When I first became published I'd hoped Panhandle librarians would think of me as their local author. And Patti Garner did just that. I've visited her schools several times over the last dozen years and this year she invited me to her new school, City View Elementary (a stone's throw away from my home).

The American School of Paris was a delight to visit. They're located a few miles away from the village where I lived as a child. International schools are fascinating because the student body is represented by children from around the world. Talk about the stories those young children already have.

In November I went on my third tour to help raise money for the Louisiana Library Association's Disaster Relief Fund. This fund aids libraries that were destroyed during hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Instead of paying me, the participating schools pay my honorarium to the fund. They're helping libraries in their home state and I get the added perk of squeezing in time with my grandfather and other relatives. Thank you Herndon Magnet School, Southfield School, West Feliciana Middle School, Lakewood Elementary School, Belle Chasse Academy!

The Brookstone School in Columbus, Georgia was one of the kindest schools that I've ever visited. It went beyond southern charm. I'm grateful to the genuine kindness shown to me and to each other. And thanks to host extraordinaire Jeanne Hasty who took me to visit Carson McCuller's childhood home. Anyone who has heard my school presentations knows how much The Heart is a Lonely Hunter means to me.

Brookwood Elementary of Leawood, Kansas, I am in awe of your awesome preparation. All day I kept discovering projects that you did on my books. Granny Clearwater's 17-stocking lasso circled the library entrance, character studies on my books papered the walls, and I'm still smiling over the musical performance of Skinny Brown Dog . Another nice surprise was learning that the fifth graders had read my new novel, The Water Seeker. This was the first school I visited that read the book in class and it was so much fun to answer their smart questions.

Another fun event in the Kansas City area was masterminded by the talented illustrator Laura Huliska-Beith and Pete Cowdin of The Reading Reptile where a puppet show of The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter was preformed. Laura's puppets were amazing! And her husband was hilarious as Rose Rogers! Okay, are you starting to see why I had such a fun autumn?

Thanks, too, to the Kansas City Public Library on the Plaza, and Barnes and Noble in Shreveport and the Miami Book Fair.

Thank you one and all!!!

ESCAPE THE COLD

2010-11-18T07:14:00.002-06:00

Go to the Miami Book Fair!

I'll be speaking there this Saturday, November 20 at 11:00 am. I have the honor of sharing the podium with Jennifer L. Holm and Laurie Halse Anderson.

THANK YOU, KIRKUS!

2010-11-16T17:13:00.004-06:00

Thanks, Kirkus Reviews for including The Water Seeker on your Best of 2010 list.

Here's the list.

KANSAS CITY EVENTS!

2010-11-10T06:50:00.003-06:00

If you live in the Kansas City area, come out and see Laura and me. We'd love to meet you!

Here's where we'll be:

Thursday, November 11
7:00 PM An Evening with the Author and Illustrator of The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter
The Truman Forum, Plaza Library

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, November 12
5:00 PM Puppet Show and Signing with illustrator Laura HuLiska-Beith
Reading Reptile
328 W. 63rd Street

HELLO, SHREVEPORT!

2010-10-30T20:53:00.003-05:00

When I started out in this book world, Shreveport, Louisiana was one of the first communities that I visited. They made me feel so welcome that I keep returning. If you are in the area, please come by and meet me at Barnes and Noble. I'll be reading and discussing my new books, The Water Seeker and The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter. A Q&A and signing will follow.

Here's the scoop:

Monday, November 1, 2010

4:00 pm

Barnes and Noble

6646 Youree Drive

Shreveport, Louisiana

SAVE THE DATE, KANSAS!

2010-09-29T15:35:00.002-05:00

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

2010-09-16T12:33:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to the following people who won a copy of one of my 2010 books. Thank you to everyone who entered. And thanks for the nice comments, too. You make me feel like what I do matters. Most days I can't believe I get to make up stories everyday. You make that possible.

THE WATER SEEKER winners

Arlene S. from Rockwell, TX

Amy S. from Fort Worth, TX

Lynn P. from Nesconset, NY

PIPER REED CAMPFIRE GIRL winners

Liz N. from Shreveport, LA

Linda H. from Doha, Qatar

Kalea O. from Decorah, Iowa

THE ADVENTURES OF GRANNY CLEARWATER AND LITTLE CRITTER

Patty D. from West Des Moines, Iowa

Lynn P. from Nesconset, NY

Anna H. from Amarillo, TX

PIPER REED CAMPFIRE GIRL AVAILABLE TODAY!

2010-09-14T07:43:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow the winners for the 3 Trips will be announced. Stay tuned!

WIN A FREE BOOK

2010-09-01T09:49:00.006-05:00

This has been a very busy publishing year for me. I'd like to celebrate by offering you a chance to win one of the three books that are debuting this year: The Water Seeker, Piper Reed Campfire Girl, and The Adventures of Granny Clearwater and Little Critter (Illustrated by the talented Laura HuLiska-Beith.)

To Enter: Send an email to kwhevents@suddenlink.net with the title that you hope to win in the subject line. Then in the text write your name.

Can't make up your mind?

You may enter all three, but please use three separate email.

I'll be giving away three signed copies of each.

Enter now! The deadline is September 15th, 2010 Noon, Central Time.

Good luck to you!

PIPER REED CLUB

2010-09-01T09:28:00.004-05:00

Join the Piper Reed Club and your class or bookclub will receive newsletters from Piper, activites for the books, and a chance for your class or club to win a free SKYPE interview with me. Details about the SKYPE interview giveaway coming soon.

UPDATES ON SCHOOL VISITS AND SKYPE

2010-08-24T12:36:00.004-05:00

School doors are starting to swing open everywhere and I thought the time was right for an update on school visits. Fall 2010 is completely booked, but I have a week or two open in Spring 2011. If you are a Dallas/Fort Worth area school I have a couple of days opened in February. I'm also already booking for the 2011/2012 school year.

If your school would like for me to visit, but can't afford my honorarium, you have another option. I'm now available for SKYPE visits. The cost for a 45 minute visit is 250 dollars.

To book a school or SKYPE visit, contact me at kwhevents@suddenlink.net.

RAIN...AT LAST!

2010-08-17T07:44:00.001-05:00

PIPER REED GETS A JOB

2010-06-22T12:47:00.002-05:00

Building a series readership is new to me. One of things that I'm told helps is to make it affordable for more readers. So I'm happy to announce that as of today, Piper Reed Gets a Job is now in paperback! That makes three Piper books in paperback--Get off the bus!!!

GET OFF THE BUS! THE FLORIDA SUNSHINE LIST!

2010-05-17T19:10:00.002-05:00

Because of my family's Louisiana roots and since Texas has been my home for the last twenty-seven years, most folks don't know that I was born in Florida. That's the reason I chose NAS Pensacola for the setting of Piper Reed Navy Brat. And that's why I'm very excited and honored that the Florida Association for Media in Education selected Piper Reed Navy Brat as a finalist for the 2010-2011 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Master List.

Thank you, FAME!

THE WATER SEEKER BOOK SIGNINGS

2010-05-10T10:00:00.003-05:00

This weekend, I'll be signing copies of The Water Seeker at two local bookstores. If you live in the Texas Panhandle, please drop by and say hello. I love to meet my readers. Here's the scoop:

Saturday, May 15, 2010

1:00 PM (short talk and signing)

Barnes and Noble
Amarillo, TX

Sunday, May 16, 2010

1:00

Hastings (Georgia Street location)
Amarillo, TX

ANOTHER STARRED REVIEW!

2010-04-27T15:35:00.002-05:00

This time from Publishers Weekly! I'm feeling very grateful these days.

The Water Seeker Kimberly Willis Holt. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8020-9

Holt (When Zachary Beaver Came to Town) serves up an absorbing, atmospheric epic of intertwined lives on America’s western frontier. Dowser Jake Kincaid discards his gift—the ability to find water—to become a trapper in 1833. Returning home one year later to find he now has a motherless child, Jake leaves baby Amos to be raised by relatives. It’s a hard life in what is now Nebraska, but Amos is with friends and family who understand what it takes to survive, take joy in the good times, and keep moving forward when life turns ugly. Jake returns each summer, and in 1841 he does so with his new Shoshone wife, taking Amos back to Missouri. Amos’s transformative journey to adulthood truly begins when he is 13 and the family joins a wagon train headed west on the Oregon Trail. The extreme hardships and developing relationships deeply affect everyone whose life touches Amos, but Holt focuses on Amos and his growth. There’s no central villain or crisis that needs to be resolved. Instead, Holt makes it clear that it’s all about the journey. Ages 10–14. (May)

THANK YOU, KIRKUS REVIEWS!

2010-04-26T04:40:00.003-05:00

Early praise for The Water Seeker

"Holt infuses the American pioneer landscape with a hint of magical realism in this intimate and epic coming-of-age tale. In 1848 Missouri, Amos Kincaid is born to Jake, a talkative trapper, and Delilah, a headstrong redhead who dies in childbirth. Delilah's spirit follows Amos, seen by others but not by him. Passed from family to family while Jake traps, Amos leads a lonely childhood. He inherits Jake's mystical talent for dowsing, but, like his father, he rejects it. When Amos is 13, he and Jake join an Oregon-bound wagon train. En route he experiences tragedy and romance, suffering a broken heart. It is only when faced with a critical decision that Amos claims the family he was afraid to love and accepts his dowsing fate. Drawing on such diverse themes as Manifest Destiny, personal identity and cross-cultural relationships, the author has crafted a satisfying all-ages story that hosts a dazzling array of richly realized secondary characters (including Jake's scene-stealing second wife, Blue Owl) and flows as effortlessly as the Platte River."

Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

UPCOMING EVENT: TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

2010-04-07T17:36:00.004-05:00

Are you going to the Texas Library Association Conference in San Antonio next week?

I'll be speaking there at the TASL business meeting.

Here's the scoop:

Thursday, April 15

TASL Business Meeting

2:00-3:50

Book signing

4:00-5:00

CONGRATULATIONS TRADEWIND ELEMENTARY

2010-03-16T17:44:00.005-05:00

You are the winner of the 2010 Mitchell-Willis Scholarship!

I look forward to visiting your school next fall.

Thanks to everyone who applied. I wish I could visit all your schools.

If you work at a Texas Panhandle School who hasn't had an author/illustrator visit in four years or more, you are eligible to apply for the 2011 scholarship. The winning school will receive a free school visit from me.

For more information, contact me at kwhevents@suddenlink.net.

DRUMROLL PLEASE

2010-02-22T12:12:00.003-06:00

Thank you for the wonderful response to this drawing. I appreciate the kind words many of you included in your entries. I wish...oh, how I wish I could give each of you a copy.

Announcing the winners of an advance copy of The Water Seeker:

Judy Sarosik from Marquette, MI

Liz Garton Scanlon from Austin, TX

Georgette Naqui from Raleigh, NC

Kelly G. Hobbs from Chesapeake, VA

Louann Mason from Boothwyn, PA

Congratulations to each of you!

WIN AN ADVANCE COPY OF THE WATER SEEKER

2010-02-16T14:31:00.006-06:00

All you have to do is e-mail me at kwhevents@suddenlink.net with your snail mail address and in the subject line say Oregon or Bust!

Your name will be entered in a drawing and five winners will be randomly selected.

The contest starts Tuesday, February 16, 2010 and ends at noon central time on February 22, 2010.

Good luck!

The Water Seeker (PUB DATE MAY 2010)

UPCOMING EVENT

2009-11-30T16:34:00.025-06:00

Hello, Arkansas! I'm excited to be a part of a new readers theater group, Voices from Down Yonder. Thanks to Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas for allowing us to debut our group on their stage. Also another special thank you to our talented script writer and director, Cynthia Seel.

Below is some information about our group.

Voices from Down Yonder

Readers Theater

December 5, 2009

Harding University

Searcy, Arkansas

Voices from Down Yonder is a collection of writers with roots in the South who portray the richness of Southern lives and traditions in their work.

Kerry Madden, Kathi Appelt, A. LaFaye, Barbara O'Connor, and Kimberly Willis Holt will be sharing selections from old and new favorites. Come join us as these wonderful writers perform scenes from each others' work in a Readers Theater event that is sure to please an audience of all ages.

Authors below (in order)Barbara O'Connor, Kerry Madden, A. Lafaye, Kathi Appelt, me

If you would like to attend (and I hope you do), here's the link to find out all the scoop:

Voices from Down Yonder flyer

THANK YOU!

2009-11-25T16:59:00.004-06:00

This is a tough year economically for a lot of folks. Schools have also been hit hard with cutbacks. So I wanted to thank the schools who invited me to visit this fall. I know that budgeting for an author visit during this time can be difficult. It was privilege to meet you and to speak with your students.

San Benito ISD, San Benito, Texas

River Oaks Academy, Houston, Texas

Dueschne Academy, Houston, Texas

St. John's School, Houston, Texas

Happy ISD, Happy, Texas

Seymour ISD, Seymour, Texas

Southern Hills Elementary, Wichita Falls, Texas

West Foundation Elementary, Wichita Falls, Texas

Barwise Junior High School, Wichita Falls, Texas

Fain Elementary, Wichita Falls, Texas

Crocket Elementary, Wichita Falls, Texas

Ben Milam Elementary, Wichita Falls, Texas

Also a special thank you to Pleasant Valley Elementary (Mitchell-Willis Scholarship winner), Willoughby Elementary (Norfolk, Virginia) Sewells Point Elementary (Norfolk, Virginia), and Larrymore Elementary (Norfolk, Virginia), Canyon ISD, Northwest ISD, Region 8 and Texas A&M Texarkana. It was a wonderful fall!

UPCOMING EVENT IN TEXARKANA

2009-10-26T18:45:00.003-05:00

I'll soon be in East Texas. If you live in or near Texarkana, I hope you'll attend my talk.

Here's where I'll be:

TEXAS A&M
Texarkana, TX

Quad 129

Friday, November 6
7:00 PM

IT'S OFFICIAL!

2009-10-16T15:56:00.003-05:00

Some of you may have heard me call my historical novel by a different title. But the above image shows the official title and cover.

The Water Seeker comes out May 2010.

THE HORN BOOK MAGAZINE REVIEW

2009-10-10T12:34:00.005-05:00

"Piper may no longer be the newest kid on the naval base in Pensacola, Florida, but she's still the one with the most ideas. In this third book (Piper Reed: Navy Brat, rev. 9/07; Piper Reed: THe Great Gypsy, rev. 9/08) the three Reed girls are each eager to raise money. Younger sister Sam wants a tropical fish aquarium, older sister Tori is hoping to go to England with the poetry club, and Piper wants a clubhouse for her Gypsy Club meetings. But Piper bites off a bit more than she can chew when she hires herself out as an illustrator (for prodigy Sam's children's book Princess Samantha: Ruler of the Fair Land of NAS Pensacola), birthday party planner (for the almost-three Brady next door), and substitute babysitter (for the hellion Milton triplets)-- all at the same time. Oh, and she also has a big biography project due--dead last on dyslexic, reluctant-student Piper's list. In the end, the disaster that ensues could have been worse: Piper learns a few interesting things about Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper; and, with a little outside-the-box thinking, she solves the Gypsy Club's housing problem. As Piper herself would say, that's the Gypsy spirit!" m.v.p

Click here for more reviews and info on Piper Reed Gets a Job.

DO YOU LIVE IN THE HOUSTON AREA?

2009-10-04T09:38:00.005-05:00

If so, I'd love to meet you. Please drop by one of the following events this week:

Educators Night

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

7:00 PM

Blue Willow Bookshop

14532 Memorial Drive

Houston, TX 77079

(281) 497-8675 phone

and

Family Night

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Barnes and Noble

3003 West Holcombe
Houston, TX 77025

(713)349-0050

Hope to see you!

NOW IN PAPERBACK!

2009-09-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

Part of Me, Stories of a Louisiana Family is now available in paperback!

UPCOMING EVENT

2009-09-27T16:13:00.003-05:00

AN EVENING WITH THE AUTHORS
UNDER THE SEA
San Benito CISD Annual Literary Conference

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
6:00-8:00 PM
Knights of Columbus
826 E Stenger Street
San Benito, TX 78586

Hope to see you there!

JOIN THE PIPER REED CLUB

2009-09-21T14:52:00.003-05:00

GET OFF THE BUS!

The Piper Reed Club is now accepting new members!!!

Join at:

Piper Reed Club

BOOK OF THE MONTH

2009-09-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

Piper Reed Gets a Job has been
selected as Book of the Month for September 2009 by the Rutgers
University Project on Economics and Children.

Get off the bus!