 Welcome! If you are participating in BOWS (Book Owl Word Search), you've landed on the right page for the Purple Team! Not sure how to play? Read here first. Hi, I'm author Amy Bearce and my book, Shortcuts, recently re-released from Snowy Wings Publishing. Book 2, Detours, is out this August.  Everyone, meet PARKER. She wanted to greet you herself and share a bit. Hey y'all, thanks for stopping by! Just so you know, you're in good hands because I know a lot about having fun and taking care of people. I'm not only the winner of the Miss Divine Pecan Pageant (twice) and head of the 8th grade dance committee, but I'm also a secret psychic empath (and the word psychic seems pretty important, all bolded and purple like that on the page.) Being a psychic empath means I like to keep people around me feeling good, so I can, too. Sometimes my closest friends ask me what it's like to feel other people's emotions. They can't do that-- but they've got other awesome gifts. Deshawn can listen in from a distance to what people say. A psychic eavesdropper, if you will. Super handy when you need to know the real scoop. Ethan (my forever crush but DO NOT TELL him!) can move things with his minds. Not big things, mind you-- but enough to get us in trouble if someone ever saw his pencil leap back into his fingers from the floor. He's not exactly as careful as he could be. (But you should see him play the drums...*swoon*). And my very best-bestie has visions sometimes. Yeah, like, of the future. They aren't the clearest or anything, but when Avery speaks, we listen. The thing is, Avery warned us that the new girl Mia is going to get us caught by some mega-bad guys if we don't help the poor thing to feel better fast. Since happiness is kinda my gig, I'm up to bat. One happy Mia coming up...but it's tricky. See, not only does she randomly blare pain at me like a semi-truck passing by, the rest of the time, she's got some sort of natural wall that keeps me from reading what's in her heart. I'm going to have to pull out all the stops to help her. That's okay. I like a challenge. And I always win. Umm, okay, thank you, Parker! How about a glimpse into what her gift is like to experience, since she didn't really get around to it here. She's a little distractible sometimes, but we love her just the way she is. I couldn’t sense everyone’s feelings all the time, thank goodness, but sudden or powerful emotions often slipped past other people’s natural walls to ambush me. Some flares of emotion were like fireworks: sudden and bright, then gone in a heartbeat. More powerful feelings slid slowly from my senses, stubborn ghosts that would rather haunt than disappear. Full of psychic powers, secrets, crushes, and fun friendships, SHORTCUTS is upper middle grade, perfect for ages 10-14, but also enjoyable for older readers who are young at heart! Detours is the next book in the series and is also told from Parker's point of view, showing what happens when two psychic divas clash. If you'd like to win an e-ARC of the book 2, Detours, for early review, just leave a comment in the blog! Up to ten winners will be selected! Winners will be notified in a reply comment here on May 24th. About SHORTCUTS: If you could change people’s hearts, would you? As a psychic empath, Parker Mills can sense strong emotions in others, and the new girl, Mia, is so sad it’s like a punch in the gut. It hurts Parker to be around the hurting, and she prefers parties over pain any day. That’s why she’s developed a toolkit of tutoring, coaching, and match-making to keep everyone around her as happy as possible. But Mia isn’t interested in any of Parker’s tips and tricks. This is more than just annoying (which it totally is.) Parker is one of four secret psychics in their small town, and her precog bestie has a vision that Mia’s pain will lead to the psychics’ discovery by some very dangerous people looking for human lab rats. It’ll all go down at the middle school Halloween dance if they can’t help Mia first. But when Parker’s gift goes haywire, keeping everyone safe suddenly gets a whole lot harder, and with the dance looming, she’s running out of time to stop the coming destruction. Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to write down the secret word for your search and leave a comment if you'd like to be entered to win an e-ARC of Detours. I think Parker spilled the beans, but in case you missed it, my secret word is PSYCHIC. For your next stop for Purple Team BOWS, you'll get to learn more about fantasy author Jeffrey L. Kohanek and his books! Hop on over to his website now: https://jeffreylkohanek.com (It's on the main page...scroll down a bit if you don't see it.) Finished with Purple Team's posts? Pick a new team and start all over! https://www.snowywingspublishing.com/book-owl-word-search/bows-teams/ 
4 Comments
This fall: Saturday Oct. 5-- Boerne Book and Arts Fest, between 10-4:30. Exact time TBA. I'll be on the panel, "The Magic of Children's Books"along with Mari Mancusi and Cori Putman-Oaks. The whole day will be full of speakers, panels, books, and art! Wednesday, Oct. 7, 10-11am. Banned Book Week expo at Northeast Lakeview College. The awesome library team has been working with the art and history departments to put on an amazing exhibition including student work and an "Ask the Artist" table and an "Ask the Author/Librarian" table-- that's where I'll be. Come ask your questions on censorship, publication, or writing. All are welcome to this free event! I will update here as needed. I hope your summer is relaxing and fun!
There were so many sessions I wanted to attend, but several of them were in conflict with each other or with events I was participating in. I was fortunate to be included in the Texas Authors Speed Dating event, in which authors rotated among tables of librarians to share about books. I loved my table mates, two incredible picture book authors, and I met a room full of fabulous librarians. The next day, I was on a panel with Texas middle grade and YA authors--and the room was bigger than I expected! It was my first panel and I was nervous, but everyone was such fun that the time flew by. Before I knew it, I was running to my book signing! We gave away one hundred signed copies of SHORTCUTS in thirty minutes to librarians and teachers! YAY!! It was such a dreamy moment-- I had walked by those author signing events at the last TLA I went to, when I was in library school, wishing so much that one day I'd be there as an author. And this week, I was! Thank you SO MUCH for being a part of that! Here are a few images from the week. If you've never been to a big conference like TLA or ALA, they are hard to describe, but this year, I noticed that being involved in my writing community made a big difference. The last time I went, I saw only a couple of people I knew, briefly. It was great, but a little lonely. This time, I visited with many people I knew from online and real life, and got to meet new friends through those connections, too. Get involved, and you'll find your writing journey a lot more fun! Friday March 29-- Mountains and Plains conference in New Braunfels Breakfast with the Authors, from 8:45-10:15 Texas Library Association Annual Conference, in Austin April 15-18th I'll be participating in some specific events at TLA as well: Tuesday April 16
Wednesday April 17
|
Amy BearceTo young readers, I hope I can offer a smidgen of help & encouragement as you traverse the waters of school, friendships, and life. Archives
October 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed