Genre Favorites Blogfest, Author Virginia Wright, Giveaway

It's a busy place at my pad, today! First, we have the Genre Favorites Blogfest, hosted by none other than Ninja Captain, Alex Cavanaugh. Then we'll have an interview with children's author, Virginia Wright, and then if you'd like, you can be part of Virginia's book giveaway.

So let's get started! For this blog hop, I'm supposed to tell you my favorite genre of music, movies, and books, and then add a little guilty pleasure to the mix.

Favorite Music: Classical! I am a professional musician, so this kind of music is my life. I prefer music from the romantic period (Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky), but on piano, I love playing the music of Debussy, which is from the impressionistic period.

Favorite Movies: Chick flicks. Wat can I say? I'm a female and I love sappy love stories that make me cry.

Favorite Books: Middle grade fantasy. I'm a big kid who never grew up. I love reading this stuff, and I love writing it. Books like Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, or Harry Potter, or some of Kate DiCamillo's books are right down my alley.

Guilty Pleasure: I'd have to say sitting down with a box of dark chocolates, watching a romantic chick flick would be it. Good thing I don't have much time to do it, or I'd weigh like two tons.

What about you? What are your favorites?

On to the interview with Virginia Wright. (This is a repost from yesterday, so if you've already read it, you can skip to the end. The giveaway goes until September 19th.)

I am very excited to introduce you to Virginia Wright, children's author, and one super-nice lady!

About Virginia:

Born and raised in Belfast, ME, children's author Virginia Wright began her writing career at an early age in a diary with lock and key given as a gift by her mother.After graduation from high school in 1976, she took coursework in journalism and writing. Later, as a mother and homemaker, her writings were published in local publications and newspapers, as well as online. A military family, the Wrights have lived in countries all over the world and in seven different states. Her five grandchildren and being a preschool teacher in Mississippi gave her inspiration to write children’s book.

Books to check out:

•BuzzzzzzzzWhat Honeybees Do (2010)

•CryingBear (2011)

•ThePrince and the Dragon (2010)

•ThePrincess and the Castle (2010)

I asked Virginia some questions about her writing career. Here's what she had to say:

1.Tell us a little bit about your background and how you became a children’s book author.

Ever since I was a young girl― I put words to paper. I can remember sitting on the veranda of my parent’s house writing, first it was a little diary with a lock and key, later, as I started growing up it was a pen and pad in hand—back then, I wrote mostly Poetry and Haiku’s. My excitement for writing was realized in 1981, when I sold my first writing to a regional publication Washington County Magazine, but the excitement for writing didn’t stop there, it continued to grow!

That is so cool that you started writing when you were a kid, and that you're still doing it and love it!

2. What do you like most about writing for children?

While I consider myself a mixed genre writer, children’s writing has definitely taken front and center the last couple of years. What I like most about children’s writing the reactions from children when they listen to my stories and turn the pages of my books. If I see their smiling faces, it was all worthwhile to me.

Aren't kids the best? I love that, too!

3. Tell us about Crying Bear Yes Bears Cry Sometimes Too. What inspired you to write it?

Crying Bear was the name of a stuffed bear that I had when I was a little girl, and she became the inspiration for the title of my latest children’s book. Crying Bear was a furry red, chubby bellied, stuffed bear. It had tears that were manufactured on the face that ran down onto the cheek. A very special little toy of mine for certain.

Description: Join this very adventurous little bear cub, as she wanders too far from the den in the snow covered mountains of Maine.

I've read Crying Bear. It's a sweet book! It's nice to know about the inspiration for it.

4. The world of children's book publishing is extremely competitive with many authors hesitating between trying their luck with a traditional publisher or self-publishing. What advice would you offer writers who are oscillating between these two publishing venues?

My personal best advice to authors trying to decide between traditional publishers or self-publishing is to― just write! Then for inspiration, Google John Locke, Amanda Hocking, and Colleen Hoover. John Locke is the eighth author in the world, and the first self-published author in history―to have sold 1 million eBooks on Kindle! All three of Amanda Hockings books in her Trylle Trilogy-Switched, Torn, and Ascend-were originally self-published, but were later re-released with St.

Martin’s and Pan Macmillan Internationally. Her trilogy also made the USA Today Bestseller list, the New York Times Bestseller list and was recently optioned for a film. Colleen Hoover self-published her book, Slammed and in just a few short months signed a contract with Simon & Schuster.

Self-publishing was taboo just a few years ago and self-published authors were shunned by traditionally published authors. Now, many self-published authors are widely accepted in the writing community and publishing world.

With that said, self-publishing is definitely worth a try, especially putting words into digital format (e-Book), because who knows…one day a traditional publisher may come along and offer you a seven-digit book deal that is too good to pass up. I’m still waiting on mine, and I never give up hope. **Smiles**

I'm still waiting for that seven-digit book deal!

5. Do you have any other works in progress?Can you share a little about them?

I’m looking forward to the release of my next children’s book, The Christmas Secret, in late fall 2012.It feels like it is working into a Christmas classic to me—it is about two little boys, Mikey and Charlie, who learn the real meaning of giving through one boy’s selfless act.

I’m not sure where my writing will take me after that, I have given some thought to write a Young-Adult (YA) fiction; perhaps, a cookbook, or maybe a romance novel is in the works too. Stay tuned…

I can't wait to see your new book. Good luck with your other writing endeavors!

To one commenter I will be giving away an autographed paperback copy of Crying Bear! To another, I will give away a copy of my non-fiction, Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, in eBook version.

Thank you for having me as guest author this week.

-Virginia Wright

You're welcome. It was fun having you here!

There you have it.  If you are interested in receiving one of Virginia's books, please say so in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by!