Liz Gallagher's MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE on shelves

Our own Liz Gallagher celebrated the release of her second novel Saturday afternoon at Secret Garden Books.

The book, MY NOT-SO-STILL life, is about an artsy teen named Vanessa who dyes her hair to express her individuality (hence Liz's vivid pink wig).

Liz read from her book, which is set in Seattle, served us outrageously good cupcakes from Bake It in a Cake, and held an art contest for her many fans. You can pick up a signed copy of the book at Secret Garden. Sorry, but there are no cupcakes left. Helen Landalf ate like forty of them (kidding, Helen, kidding!)

From left: Kim Baker, Jaime Temairik, Martha Brockenbrough, Helen Landalf,
Megan the baker, and Liz Gallagher. Photo by novelist Heather Davis.

Also from left: pretzels, napkins, lemon bar cupcakes,
nerd-flavored cupcakes (the candy, not the human form), hot chocolate cupcakes,
and Liz's hand holding pink lemonade.

Book Party (With Pink Wigs)

Come celebrate with Liz Gallagher on Saturday, May 14, from 4-6 p.m., at Secret Garden Books in Ballard.

Liz is celebrating the release of her second novel, MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE. Come enjoy some food and cupcakes, try on a pink wig in honor of the book's main character, maybe win a prize, hear a reading from the book, and generally help Liz say "Yay, I wrote two books!"

Everyone's invited to bring friends and family. Kids welcome, even tiny ones. You can find out more information on the Secret Garden event page. You can also find out more about Liz, and her work on her website.

Secret Garden's Teen Book Club

Our TEEN. BOOK. CLUB. has been going strong since summer, under the conversational leadership of teen-lit-world insider and author Liz Gallagher (THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE, and the upcoming MY NOT-SO-STILL LIFE). With free pizza provided by Ballard's own Snoose Junction Pizzeria, and a free book to take home (yet-to-be-released book sets are provided every month by our publisher’s reps), our every last-Wednesday-of-the-month TEEN. BOOK. CLUB. is the place to be in the city if you’re a 13-19 year old reader.

Author Heather Davis will be here to meet the club and discuss her book THE CLEARING at our November meeting, Wednesday, November 17, at 6:30 p.m. (technically the second-Wednesday-of-the-month, this time, due to Thanksgiving). Her previous book is NEVER CRY WEREWOLF.

For more information visit Secret Garden's website. You can check out Heather's website here, and also Liz's website here.

Some links from last night

What a great meeting we had last night featuring Lisa Schroeder and Liz Gallagher talking about the ABCs of crafting a career as a YA author, and Jolie Stekly talking about using music to tune your writer's voice.

As the caffeine hasn't yet made it to my brain, I post this with a warning...I'll probably be updating it later. But here are some links to get you started with your learning today:

Lisa Schroeder Books and her blog

Liz Gallagher's site and her blog--she has a great post up there now about finding your story's emotional arc.

Liz is also the host diva for readergirlz, a teen-reading community that has its roots right here in our region. rgz just won a National Book Award for innovations in reading, and you're all encouraged to join.

Jolie Stekly's CuppaJolie.

And here's the Bridget Zinn auction site. Please bid generously if you can. The user name is bridget and the password is rules.

As the holidays kick into gear, I'll be a little lighter in my posts. Be sure to check out the ever-growing list of links on the left for inspiration, education, and fun.

SCARY-WEEN at Secret Garden Books

It's SCARY-WEEN at Secret Garden!

The Secret Garden Bookshop invites teens and tweens to come, if they dare, to its’ first annual eve of All Hallows Eve party with authors of new books on Paranormal Themes:

Heather Davis: NEVER CRY WEREWOLF (Harper Teen, $16.99)

Kevin Emerson: the OLIVER NOCTURNE series (Scholastic, $5.99)

Liz Gallagher: THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE (Wendy Lamb Books, $6.50)

Amber Kizer: MERIDIAN (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $16.99)

Cherie Priest: BONESHAKER (Tor Books, $15.99)

We shall have Tricks. We shall have Treats. These fine young authors will scare the wits out of you with their stories.

Costume contest with bookie prizes!

Authors will sign books available for sale! Free.


DATE: Friday, 30 October 2007
TIME: 7 PM
LOCATION: Secret Garden, 2214 NW Market St.