MY TRIP TO CHINA

Ever have one of "those" days? My trip to China post will not come up on my blogroll and I've tried posting it as a new post twice. So I'm hoping this will post on your blogroll. You can find my post on my trip here. Hope you'll stop by and see my pictures.

MY TRIP TO CHINA

Hi Everyone! Today I'm going to share some pictures and a bit about my trip to China in December. For those of you that don't know, my daughter Anna Li is adopted from China. I took her on a heritage tour over the Christmas holidays to see where she's from. This was sponsored Chinese Children Adoption Agency, our fantastic adoption agency and by the China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption, the Chinese government agency that runs the Chinese adoption program. This Chinese agency really wants the adopted kids to come back and see their country and pay for the kids' part of the trip except for the flight there. So Anna Li was able to go for free.

We made a conscious decision not to go back to Hefei, the city she's from. Her orphanage has moved and she really didn't feel a strong desire to go there. It would have really added to the cost of the trip and I was nervous about going there alone with her, so was glad to skip it.

On our way to China, we had a 8 hour layover in Seattle. This was great because Anna Li has a cousin who's her age and was adopted from China the same year as her who lives in the Seattle area. They haven't seen each other since they were 6 (Anna Li is 15 now) so it was great to get to see her and her mom.

I'm not the greatest photographer and I had to pick pictures without kids/people for privacy concerns. But I hope you enjoy these.

Our first stop was Beijing.We of course saw Tian'an Men Square and the Forbidden City.

 

To be honest, this was not my favorite part of the trip, though I'm glad I saw this. It was very cold--18 degrees-and we were outside for over two hours. The buildings in the Forbidden City started to look alike. Luckily, there was a bit of wind so we didn't have all the terrible pollution in the news about a week after we got home.

 

We also took a rickshw ride in the Hutong district of Beijing. This is an older part of the city with small houses with courtyards. Mostly retired people live there and some offer to cook for tours. This was the kitchen area in the house where we went to eat. This was a lot of fun.

Then we went to The Great Wall.

This was amazing. It's hard to believe how it was built without any of the modern technology we rely on. In the summer, you can take a lift to the top, but not in the winter. Like many people, Anna Li and I did not get up too high. Some of the steps were so steep that my knees were up to my chest. We went as far as we could and then visited the tourist shops.

Next we went to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers. Xi'an is the major area for energy production for China and is very polluted. Our guide said that you can never see any stars at night. You can really see it in the picture of me on the Ancient City Wall that rings the city. People ride bikes, walk, and exercise on it.

 

The Terra Cotta Soldiers was another amazing place. It's mind boggling to think how they created the soldiers with the tools they would have had. And there are many pits still there with soldiers to assemble after 20 years of work on this.

Next we went to Chengdu to visit the Panda Reserve. Sorry that the pictures do not include Anna Li, but she had to wear green plastic when she held the baby panda. I don't think she'd speak to me if I showed you that. But I have some cute pictures.

 

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Because it was colder out (20s to 30s), the pandas were out and were pretty active. We also went to a beautiful park to see Chinese life. Even though it's cold to us, the Chinese are used to it and were out walking and playing cards and maj jong at the Tea House. I got a neck and back massage for $6.00. It was great!

 

We also went to an outside market area that sold lots of things for cheap. It was things like that and the park that I actually enjoyed the most.

Then we went to Guilin and left the next morning to take the Li River Cruise to Yangshou. 

 

This was a gorgeous 4 hour trip. You could stay in the cabin at tables or go on deck. The man in the picture on the top is on a 3 log "boat" and he came over to our window while we were in the cabin and sold us clementines and peanuts.

We took a 3 hour bus ride back to Guilin and stopped for a very fun Chinese cooking class. Here's some pictures.

 

The last day in Guilin Anna Li and I were alone and we went to an outside shopping mall.

As I said, the Chinese have a different idea of heat. Our hotels were heated, but many of the buildings we were in, including restaurants and a theater, barely had heat. One theater was so cold even with our coats on that as soon as the awesome show was over we ran to the bus to get warm. Most people wear their coats all day, even when they're working. So when we went shopping, we found mostly coats for sale. Seriously, there were racks of them and piles of them on tables. But Anna Li found a shirt and a dress and we had pizza for lunch.

For me, the trip brought back many happy memories of my trip to adopt Anna Li and some sad feelings of thinking of Anna Li's birth mother in China wondering about her and me not being able to tell her that Anna Li is doing great.

I also found that I'm not as adventuresome as I used to be. Some of the challenges, like my cell phone not working in China (this was how I planned to communicate with my husband but ended up using a friend's I-Pad and my phone when we had good Wi-Fi to e-mail him) and figuring out how to get to the international terminal from a small, distant terminal in Beijing airport at 1:30 am on our way home with mostly people who did not speak English were pretty stressful. But I figured them all out. I'm just not so anxious to do it alone again. We were both very ready to get home and when we felt the plane leave Beijing and then land in Detroit, we were very happy.

So I hope you enjoyed hearing about this. What interesting trips have you all taken?

Here's what's coming up:

Next Monday I'm interviewing debut author Elsie Chapman about her dystopian novel, DUALED and giving away an ARC of her book. It's about a world where everyone has a genetic alternate that you must battle at some point in your teenage years to the death. It is a fascinating concept.

Next Wednesday I have a fascinating interview with Chuck Sambuchino of Guide to Literary Agents about his new book, CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM: THE KEYS TO BUILDING AN AUDIENCE, SELLING MORE BOOKS, AND FINDING SUCCESS AS AN AUTHOR, with a giveaway of his book. His book really got me thinking about how I can improve my platform and social networking. I'm really excited to share Chuck's advice and his book with you. Chuck's interview is filled with awesome advice whether you're an author or book review blogger. I can't encourage you enough to read his interview.


The following Monday, I have an interview with a high school teen for my ASK THE EXPERT series and will be sharing and giving away THE CADET OF TILDOR, a fantastic debut fantasy, and OBSIDIAN MIRROR, another fantastic fantasy by Catherine Fisher, one of my favorite authors. Even if you're not a fantasy lover, I think you'd enjoy both of these books..

Tuesday that week, Ari Magnusson is going to share an awesome tip and give away a copy of BITOPIA, a fantasy that also deals with bullying issues.

And Wednesday that week, Casey and I have a super awesome 3000 follower mega giveaway. You won't want to miss it. 


And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you on Monday!

HELP THE ELF: I Found Santa’s Missing Nice List!

Hi everyone! As you may remember, a few weeks ago PETE the Elf had a touch too much Eggnog at the Holiday Christmas Party and as he stumbled home, he lost Santa's NICE LIST.



The North Wind scattered the papers to all four corners of the world, and The Bookshelf Muse put out a call to help find them in order to SAVE CHRISTMAS.



Ever since I read about it, I've been on the lookout. And then today, EUREKA!



Yes that's right...I found part of Santa's missing NICE LIST. There it was, fluttering in the wind, half caught under the corner of my welcome mat. And shock of all shocks, I recognized the name, and I bet you will too.



Here it is below:

NAME: Casey McCormick



LOCATION: Literary Rambles



NICE LEVEL: 99%



NAUGHTY LEVEL: 1%



OBSERVATIONS: Casey is the best blog partner and has become a great friend. First, she satisfied my secret wish to be her blog partner. Then she gave me the most detailed instructions ever on how to blog because I had NO clue how to do it. She's always given me great advice as I find my way in blogging and am now starting to search for agents. And over the two years we've been blogging together, I've got to know Casey. She's so knowledgeable, creative, a dedicated mom, and a great friend.

And these agent spotlights she does for us all is such a great service. I so appreciate all the time she spends researching the agents and then updating the spotlights. It's SO much work and so many people benefit from it.

CASEY IS THE BEST!


RECOMMENDATION:     a) Coal                   b) Gift

~ ~ * ~ ~

Because poor Pete is dashing all over the place trying to hunt down the rest of Santa's missing Nice List, I decided to take care of this one myself. Casey, I feel so blessed to know you! Enjoy the Amazon gift card I sent to your inbox and have a wonderful Christmas!
Photo credit:

assorted gold baubles (christmasstockimages.com) / CC BY 3.0

This is my last post until January 7th. I'll offline as of Saturday when I start my trip to China with my daughter. I hope you all have HAPPY, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Thank you all for being such great blog friends and followers. I SO appreciate you all.

 How about you, Readers? Is there someone you'd like to say Happy Holidays to, or tell them how much they mean to you? JOIN US! There's plenty of days left until Christmas, and sometimes a kind word can lift people up in a way that they really need. It's as easy as sending a free ecard or email note, posting on a Facebook wall or sending out a tweet. So go ahead and spread some kindness and cheer!

Here's what's coming up in January. I have an awesome month planned for you.


On January 7th, I interview debut author Ellen Oh and give away an ARC of PROPHECY, her new fantasy set in a Korean-like world. I so loved this book and am excited to share it right after I return from that part of the world. 

The following Monday I'm interviewing Maya, a 5th grader and our follower Kristin Lenz's daughter, for my ASK THE EXPERT series. I'm also giving away an ARC of SHADES OF EARTH by Beth Revis. This is a fantastic end to the Across the Universe series and my favorite book in the series. It's amazing.

Friday that week I'm doing a Dreaming of Books Book Giveaway Hop. I'll have a fantastic list of popular books for you to choose from.  These book hops are really popular so I'm going to try to do a few more of them next year.

And I also have interviews set with Marie Lu with a giveaway of PRODIGY, the second book in her awesome LEGEND series, Leigh Moore with a giveaway of ROUGE, a historical romance set in New Orleans,  and with Michael Pierce with a giveaway of PROVEX CITY, a urban fantasy with contemporary issues.

And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you on January 7th!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LENNY LEE!

Today, I'm thrilled to help celebrate Lenny Lee's birthday. He turns 13 today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LENNY!

Here's 10 things I love about Lenny:

1. He's a fantastic person who is always positive. Without going into his personal life, I'll share that he's gone through more challenges than most adults have and he's always so optimistic about life. 

2.  He has a great blog, Lenny's World. He doesn't post that often, but when he does, it's always filled with interesting info. I really recommend you follow him.

3.  He has a great voice and humor that you really can see in all his blog posts.

4.  He's a great friend to the writing community. He's always willing to participate in celebrations and giveaways by his author friends.

5.  He gives such great advice, like when I interviewed him a few months ago for my ASK THE EXPERT series here. 

6.  He's hard working. You can see that from all his blog posts. He must do tons of research for them.

7.  He shouts out about books he likes written by his author friends.

8.  He's into animal rights and the ecology.

9.  He loves swimming like my daughter.

10.  He writes and blogs. He's been doing this for a few years and he's only 13. How amazing is that?

Happy Birthday Lenny! I'm so glad to be your friend. I hope you have a fantastic 13th birthday!   

PAY IT FORWARD BLOGFEST

Today I’m participating in the PAY IT FORWARD BLOGFEST, organized by one of our followers, Matthew MacNish, at The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment and Alex Cavanaugh They both have awesome blogs I recommend you follow. The point of the blogfest is to spotlight three blogs that you might not know about.

Here’s the blogs I love that you may not know about:

1. The Other Side of the Story. This is a fabulous blog about the craft of writing. Janice Hardy is the author of THE SHIFTER, BLUE FIRE, and DARKFALL. I just interviewed her on Monday and there’s a link at the top of the blog to read the interview and enter my contest to win an ARC of DARKFALL.

Janice blogs about the craft of writing. She analyzes every issue you could imagine about the craft and gives you detailed examples of pitfalls and how to fix them. I read her blog almost daily. Anyone I know who reads it loves it.

2. The O.W.L. Jill at The O.W.L. is one of our followers and is a 7th grade English teacher. She spotlights books for 9-12 year olds mainly through book reviews and author interviews. Sometimes these include giveaways. While she talks about some YA books, I love that she focuses on middle grade and she gets input from her students about which are good ones. I follow her blog regularly.

3. Book Dreaming. Shannon O’Donnell is a high school English teacher and middle grade author. On Mondays she talks about a middle grade book for the Marvelous Middle Grade series. Other days she’ll share an inspiring quote to keep us motivated, talk about books, or share about the craft of writing. Shannon is such a sweet person. I love her blog.

I could go on and on but will stop here. So I hope you’ll check out these blogs and please let us know in the comments about your own blog or someone else’s you really enjoy.

On Monday I’m interviewing another teenager who’s also an aspiring author for for my ASK THE EXPERT series and giving away an ARC I know you’ll want. And on October 24th, I’ll be interviewing debut author Stasia Ward Kehoe and giving away a copy of AUDITION. Then on October 31st, I’m interviewing another debut author Anna Staniszewski and giving away a copy of MY VERY UN FAIRY TAIL LIFE.

Here's the link to everyone else participating in the blogfest. I hope you'll visit some of them.



Hope to see you on Monday! Have a great weekend.

Pot-O-Gold Award

I'm usually quite terrible about passing on blog awards but I wanted to make sure I did this one since it's new! Christie Wright Wild created the award and here's the idea behind it:

"The Pot-O-Gold Blogger Award is awarded monthly, by me, to one blogger who I feel has a flair for interesting and helpful content, as well as visually appealing and easy-to-navigate design. In other words, it's like discovering a pot of gold! It's a site you will visit frequently and enjoy swimming around in for a while."

Thank you, Christie!!

Here are the rules:

If you receive the Pot-O-Gold Blogger Award:

1. Say thank you to the person who gave it to you.
2. Write a post and include the image of the award, a link to the person's blog who gave it to you, and a link to my blog, WRITE WILD. (Copy and paste the rules in your post.)
3. Award four bloggers this award and tell why each is a Pot-O-Gold! (If you receive this award more than once, you only have to forward it the first time.)
4. Share four simple things about yourself: 1-a time you had to exercise FAITH, 2-something you HOPE for, 3-something (or someone) you LOVE, and 4-a time when you felt LUCK.

FAITH: I continue to have faith in choosing the road less traveled by.
HOPE: I hope for more but appreciate less.
LOVE: I love my life, family and friends.
LUCK: I feel lucky because I live by chance decisions.

I had a really hard time choosing winners (which is sort of why I don't relish these posts!) but chose:

Kate Hart: For her blog design that I adore, the charts she makes, and her general off-the-chart (ha!) levels of awesome.

Ingrid's Notes: For her super-duper in-depth conference notes and fantastic posts on writing and technique.

Middle Grade Ninja: For his fun 7-question agent and author interviews and his very in-depth MG reviews.

Carol's Prints: For her very sincere, fantastic YA reviews (that make me salivate for new books) and her recurring mega-awesome book giveaways.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

LIKE MANDARIN Non-Blogfest

Lisa and Laura Roecker and Elana Johnson are doing an awesome LIKE MANDARIN non-blogfest on Wednesday, March 16th for Kirsten Hubbard's debut novel. Hop on over to Elana's blog for details if you'd like to join in. The idea is to post about the person you would have given anything to be like as a teen.

Natalie and I wanted to participate but we have Tip Tuesday tomorrow and a fantastic guest post on Wednesday, so we're bending the rules and putting ours up early. In an interesting twist of fate, our Mandarin stories are sort of similar. Feel free, however, to shield your eyes and come back Wednesday when all the fun is going down.

You can read the first chapter of LIKE MANDARIN here, which OMG, the writing! You know how I get about gorgeous writing. Definitely read that chapter. And in the meantime, here's the Goodreads description:

It's hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it's not her mother's pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin. When they're united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town's animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town. Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin's unique beauty hides a girl who's troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.

And here's our post!

Natalie:

I’m so excited to be a small part of the writer community supporting Kirsten Hubbard’s debut LIKE MANDARIN. My Mandarin? It wasn’t a person. It was a group. You know, THE GIRLS. The Popular Clique. They were everything I wasn’t—beautiful and thin. And they had lots of friends and all the cute guys were their boyfriends.

I remember watching them in the hallways during middle school and high school wishing I could be part of their group. But I wasn’t. I was overweight and terribly shy. I didn’t have many friends back then. I could count them on one hand. I have to say my high school years were some of the most miserable times of my life. In part, but not all, because of the group I couldn’t be a part of.

Thankfully though, I survived. And as soon as I moved away to college, I made friends and lost weight. I learned to be happy with myself as me and stopped wishing I was someone else. And you know one of the things that got me through my Mandarin times? Books. Just like they get me through some of the hard times now.

Casey:

I was really awkward in junior high. Like, extremely. I wore my curly hair plastered to my head, hung out with kids who collected Pokémon cards, and handled my burgeoning attraction toward the opposite sex by collecting (stolen) pictures and discarded homework of the one I “loved” (and yeah, OK, I may have been called “stalker” by the popular kids).

By the time I started high school, I had learned to be subtle. About everything. If I was going to survive in a school with even more kids than junior high, invisibility was my best bet. But I didn’t plan on meeting Kimberly*, a girl who had a large birth mark on her neck resembling a burn scar and yet who stormed the halls with confidence, beauty, hilarity, and boys. My Mandarin. I would have given anything to be like her.

And here's the twist. I got my wish. Like Mandarin.

Kimberly took me under her wing and taught me how to fit in, to be confident, to wear my hair down and date boys. She also taught me how to ditch my best friends, get busted for truancy, and hate my parents. And what I learned on my own? She was a carefully presented version of that old, awkward me—insecure, jealous, desperate to be accepted—and I was better off being me. The one that surfaced during that friendship, better for it despite its toxicity, and would become the beautiful person I am today.

*name changed for privacy

I Have A Blog Partner!

Hi everyone! I have an exciting announcement today. Natalie Aquirre, who you're sure to have seen in the comments of this blog and others, is joining Literary Rambles as my new blog partner! Natalie has been a long-time supporter and I'm thrilled she'll finally have a place in the blogosphere for people to visit and hear what she has to say. Natalie has some AWESOME stuff lined up for you guys, and I think this is a complete #win for everyone.

Natalie wrote up a quick intro just for the occasion. Here she is!

Hi everyone. I’m so happy to be joining Casey! Almost as excited as if I’d just gotten an agent. Seriously, I’ve had a big grin on my face the whole month of February just thinking about it.

I’m a middle grade and YA fantasy writer. I’ll be blogging on Mondays starting March 21^st and will tell you more about myself and what I plan to blog about then. Hint: there will book giveaways.

I have a special interview coming up this Friday, March 11^th. I’m interviewing Cheryl Klein, a senior editor at the Arthur A. Levine imprint of Scholastic. We’ll be discussing her new book, Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising, and Publishing Books for Children or Young Adults. And I’ll be giving away a copy of her book. Hope to see you then. And thanks Casey for letting me join as your blog partner.

Yay, Natalie! Everyone, please join me in welcoming Natalie to Lit Rambles and make sure you come back Friday for her interview with Cheryl Klein. I've had a sneak peak and it's fabulous!

The League of Extraordinary Writers

An awesome new blog debuted today! The League of Extraordinary Writers is open for your viewing and following pleasure, featuring five 2011 debut authors who write sci-fi and dystopian fiction.

In their words:

"We'll be exploring books, movies, and television; interviewing authors; reviewing dystopian works; and introducing you to our own new works. With a new blog post by a different author every weekday, you're sure to find something you enjoy!"

Sounds great, huh? They're also having a Prize Pack giveaway with signed goodies! Check it out.

WINTERGIRLS Winner!

Monday rocked, did it not?!  Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and Spread the Awesome.  I hope you won, bought, and discovered some awesome new books. 

To pick the winner of the signed copy of WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson, I listed everyone out and assigned numbers.  If you spread the word you got an extra entry.  If you were an international commenter I put you down as a chance for my local high school to win.  I checked the list twice!  There were 89 entries with the extras. 

Then... I used the Random.org to generate a number between 1 and 89

                              

 

Commenter number 40!!!!!!!  I checked the list.  And the winner of this fabulousness is.....

 

Taffy  

 

Congratulations Taffy!!!  I'll be e-mailing you shortly. 

If you didn't win PLEASE support Laurie and buy a copy.  If you're interested in purchasing a signed copy Indiebound, feel free to e-mail at caseymccormickya(at)gmail(dot)com for deets. 

A quick WELCOME to my new followers.  Feel free to speak up in the comments and tell me about yourself and your blog.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Join the Fun!

Just a quick reminder that W.I.B.I.J. is going on RIGHT NOW.  Get in there and try to win some prizes!  If you can't make it right now, you have 24 hours to fight for the Best Comment award and prize.

Have fun! 

Spreading the Awesome + Signed Book Giveaway!

 

Elana has done it again.  She's organized something way too cool, a sort of "National Hug an Author Day" that we're calling "Spreading the Awesome."  The idea is to promote an author and book you feel deserves 10+ stars.  You know, that book.  The one that's the awesomest of the awesome.  The one you drool over love for its every word. 

I don't think I've made it a secret that I worship WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson.  If I have, feel free to kick me in the comment box because this book is A-MAZING.  I think I did a little jump-squeal when I saw the paperback in Costco yesterday.  COSTCO!  Go, Laurie!

Why is this my 10-star book?

WINTERGIRLS is a literary work of art, an amazing young adult novel that deals with the hard issues of eating disorders and death in a haunting, poetic way.  I feel that Laurie really embraced her talent and took it to the next level in this powerful story. I couldn't be more impressed. 

I've read a lot of young adult novels but I hadn't seen the potential of the written word in YA fiction until I read WINTERGIRLS.  Laurie is a master at "showing" rather than telling and brings a lyrical quality to her fiction that I'd never experienced before.  This book really raises the bar for YA writers everywhere, and it's been a large influence in the way I look at writing.  I recommend it to everyone studying craft and/or craving a mind-blowing read. 

Here's the awesome blurb.

"Dead girl walking," the boys say in the halls.
"Tell us your secret," the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend's restless spirit.

In her most emotionally wrenching, lyrically written book since the multiple-award-winning Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia's descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery.

Holy moly, right?  Yeah.  BUY this book.  Or, perhaps you'll be the winner of the SIGNED hardcover copy I'm giving away to one lucky commenter.  All I ask is that you leave a comment to enter yourself.  I'll give an extra entry if you spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, blog, etc.  Just make sure to tell me in the comments if you do and leave a link if possible. 

The giveaway will be open until Thursday at 12 PM EST so everyone has a chance to enter.   I'll announce the winner on Friday.  I'm afraid I can't afford to ship internationally, so only enter if you have a US shipping address.

On your way out, definitely stop by Caroline Starr Rose's blog for a chance to win a signed ARC of Jame Richards's THREE RIVERS RISING, and the master-list-of-awesome (lots of books being plugged and given away!).

If you have the time, please tell me about a book that totally blew your mind.  I'm always looking for recommendations!  Thanks for reading and good luck to all who enter!