Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Tag: happy new year

Exciting News About Mommy’s Night Before Christmas

October 2022 Update: If you this poem, check out the newly revised and illustrated picture book MOMMY’S NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS by Katie L. Carroll and illustrated by Phoebe Cho.

Available now from BookshopAmazonBarnes & NobleIndieBoundKobo, and more! Find signed copies on the Purchase Books page.

This is normally the week where I share “Mommy’s Night Before Christmas,” my parody of Clement C. Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Unfortunately I’m not doing that this year because I’ve done a slight revision in anticipation of it becoming a picture book! (Don’t worry, you can still enjoy the old version here.)

I’m currently working with an illustrator for a fall 2022 release. So keep an eye out for more news on this!

In the meantime, I want to wish all of you a peaceful rest of the holiday season. I know there’s a lot that makes this time of year stressful, especially these last couple of years, so it is my wish for you all to find the calm in the storm whenever you can. Health and happiness in the New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Trip to the Mall Santa

The boys have never had much interest in sitting on Santa’s lap. In fact, The Boy had absolutely no desire to meet Santa for the first few years of his life. The Prince has been pretty indifferent to the whole situation. Up until this year!

The other day we were at the mall (really just at Target–which is mostly the only reason we go to the mall–and then we decided to get a hot pretzel). We could see down into the spot where Santa was all set up. The boys were like, “Let’s go see Santa!” There was no one else there, so I was like, “Sure.”

Of course I ended (over)paying for the photo, but I think it came out quite nice…shark hoodie and all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What’s in a Year of Blogging?

fireworks_light_nightHappy New Year! One of my favorite things about a new year on the blog is taking a look back at the old year. There are all kinds of analytics available with stats at the ready, which makes this post really easy to compose. So here are some of my favorite tidbits about the Observation Desk (did you know that was the name of my blog?!) in 2015:

Most Viewed Post – “No Matter How You Do The Math, Death Just Doesn’t Add Up”

This post about my late sister, Kylene, on what would have been her 30th birthday got more hits in a single day than I’ve had in entire months. It was a really special post, and it brings a smile to my face to know that so many people are interested in the beautiful person that was my sister. I wouldn’t have wanted any other post to garner so much attention.

Popular Guest Posts – “Meet Beth Lovell Illustrator for THE GREAT CONNECTICUT CAPER” and “Japanese Wedding Traditions from S.J. Pajonas Author of RELEASED”

The Great CT Caper was a really big part of my 2015 and I hosted many of the authors and illustrators involved in the project, so it’s fitting that one of those guest posts made it to the top. The Japanese Wedding post was actually from 2014, but it proved to stand the test of time with a lot of hits in 2015. I’m cutting back on guest posts for 2016, so it will be interesting to see how this category pans out in the next year. (With that being said, I’m not eliminating guest posts, so if you are interested in posting in 2016 simply contact me!)

Views by Country – By far the most views came from the United States, but Brazil (surprisingly) and Canada put in good showings as well. A few one-offs of interest included Mozambique, Andorra, and Fiji.

Most Fun Search Terms – This is probably my favorite category to look back on. There are always some really wacky search terms that bring people to my website, though a change in how the data is collected definitely limited the specific search terms used (there were over 700 searches listed in the all-encompassing “unknown search terms” category). A couple of my favorite were “good one liners for a girl named katie,” “the way of chatting to a rude boy so that he can get impressed,” and “genie female.”

Turning to 2016, keep an eye out for a continuation of #InkRipples, starting on Monday with the monthly topic of travel. There will, of course, be the usual writing/bookish updates and cutie pictures of the boys. I don’t think I ever did a final look at my attic writing space, which technically isn’t 100% finished (what ever is!), but has turned out quite nice. If I remember, I’ll post about that some time this year.

What else? Who knows! I’m sure there will lots of other things that pop up. Anything particular you’d all like to see on the blog? I’d love for you to share in the comments. And thanks to everyone who takes the time to pop in and read…I wouldn’t be here without you (well, I might still be here, but I’d just be talking to myself!). All the best to you and yours in 2016!

Blog in Review 2013

I hope the New Year is treating everyone well. I’m coming back to the blog feeling energized and excited about 2014. It’s shaping up to be a busy year and I’ll be sharing why at a later date (nothing like starting the year with a teaser 🙂 ). I’m keeping my writing in the bubble for a little while longer (it seems to be working), but I can tell you I’m making progress on several manuscripts. Yay!

You’re probably sick of all the best of 2013 lists and this is what happened in 2013, but I had a great year on the blog and wanted to share a few tidbits with you. As much as I enjoy my space here on the Observation Desk to share my thoughts, it’s even better when you share as well, whether with a guest post, in the comments, or by helping spread the word on social media. So thanks to all of you, my blog readers, for coming by and joining in the shenanigans.

I was tickled to see the most active day on the blog was April 16th, the anniversary of my sister’s death. It’s always a hard day and I find comfort in sharing a little piece of her with as many people as I can. On that day, I posted Thinking of Kylene and it was among the top view getters in 2014.

The announcement of Elixir Bound coming out in paperback received the most views of all the posts. It has been such a joy to have so many supporters share with me in the good news and milestone mark in my writing career. BTW…Elixir Bound is now out in paperback and ready for purchase (gotta plug my own work here) at the MuseItUp bookstore, IndieBoundAmazon, and Barnes & Noble. I’ll hopefully be setting up some local signings in 2014 and will keep you all posted. For you non-locals, I can send personalized bookplates to put in your copies. Just send me a note with the contact me page. 

One of the reasons why this year was so successful was because I was more consistent posting content than in any other year, with two posts most weeks. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without guest bloggers. Thanks to all the wonderful guests who shared their stories and wisdom. Among the most viewed guest posts were Scott R. Caseley’s Twice in A Millennium Inspiration post, Anna Staniszewski’s post on writing middle grade, and an interview of Erin Albert on her debut YA fantasy The Prophecy. I’ve already got some great guest posts lined up for this year and am always open to hosting others (contact me here).

I always get a kick out of seeing some of the stranger things people have searched to come up with my site, so I’ll end with my favorites: “am i crazy or in love? how to stay grounded?”, “sweatpants say i’ve given up on life”, “i’m sorry i kicked you lilo and stitch”, “how dare you bind and gag me?”, and “stardust blowing at you”.

Happy writing and living in 2014!

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