Steampunk . . . Fairytale?

Hop on over to knowonder! and read and rate my story, WARTY'S WISH! It's a steam punk nod to the Princess and the Frog and Wind in the Willows. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Tell me: do you have any unfulfilled wishes? I want to visit the UK, take up Irish step dancing again, and learn to play the piano better. My biggest longing is to take art lessons again. What about you?

SPEAKING OF WINNERS...

I'm on newborn schedule, therefore, I'm a day late announcing the winners (yes, winners!) of the JACOB WONDERBAR giveaway. Mirka and Ruth, please email me your addresses (mlbrown90 at att dot net) and I will send you a copy of Nathan's book! Thanks for entering!

AND... my story, HADDIE AND THE HOPPERS is up on the brand new shiny version of knowonder! today. Check out the new site and download the app! If you would, please read, rate and vote for my story. There's a monthly $ prize for the winner!

Thank you and happy weekend!

I'M BACK . . . WITH GOOD NEWS AND A GIVEAWAY!

I've had an amazingly busy couple of months and have been sitting on some happy news which I'm now at liberty to share.

First of all, my picture book, FLIP AND THE FLAPJACK, is being published by FLYING BOOKS APPS for iPad! Artist extraordinaire, Toni Pawlowsky, is bringing this Western retelling of the runaway pancake folktale to life. I AM SO THRILLED! I'll be sure to let you know when it launches!

AND... sweet little Sophia was added to our family! We are both well, with the usual inversion of days and nights.

To celebrate, I'm giving away Nathan Bransford's newest middle-grade novel, JACOB WONDERBAR FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSE. I learned a lot from Nathan's blog, and he's one funny guy. Thanks, Nathan!

Just say hello, tell me what you're reading or give me a great parenting tidbit (hey, I need all the help I can get!) in the comments below and you're entered! I'll announce a winner June 1st.

Ah, the Madness!

This is one of my favorite times of year. I'm not a big sports fan in general, but I do love the NCAA tourney. I've been known to stay up late into the night, watching teams that I've never heard of before because I've followed their stories from the beginning. And that's the key for me; I love an underdog with a good story to go with them (unless of course they're playing KU, then all bets are off!) Can you believe the upsets in this tournement already? I'm loving it!

And that's what's so fun about writing sports stories. I love the fast action, and using wonderful words like "spanked" and "flushed." What are your favorite sports books and writers? I REALLY love fellow Kansan, Lisa Harkrader's, AIRBALL, MY LIFE IN BRIEFS, and anything by Rich Wallace is bound to be good. So what bracket bustin' books do you recommend?

WORLD READ ALOUD DAY!

It's WORLD READ ALOUD DAY! Something wonderful just happened to me, (which I'm not at liberty to disclose . . . yet ;) but it is definitely related to reading aloud. Stay tuned!

In the meanwhile, I'd like to dedicate this day to my wonderful parents, who read to me from the time I was born (and probably before) and never tired of "one more time." I'm also sending a shout out to all of you read aloud parents and teachers. Thank you, Mrs. Clarke, for reading Harriet the Spy to our fifth grade class. If you would like the book back, email me your address (I borrowed it over the summer...)

So who read to you and who are you reading to???

Happy reading!

AND THE WINNER IS...

The random number generator (my 11 yo son ;) picked the #3 as the lucky winner of BEANBOY and AIRBALL! Leslie, that's you! Email your mailing address at mlbrown90 @ att dot net and I'll get them off to you!

Congratulations! Thanks for playing, friends. Hope you have a super-powered week. I'm a day late posting due to the flu. Blech.

THE MAN BEHIND MY MADNESS

Actually, he's the one who keeps me sane. But if you ever wonder where I get some of my zany ideas, well... you're lookin' at him!

You can read all about my man-muse (can men be muses?) on a guest blog I did for author Kai Strand.

And if you haven't entered to win signed copies of BEANBOY and AIRBALL, there's still time!

Now tell me who inspires and fires your writing!