Peace

Thank you, Kendra, for this bible verse. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

I know that I myself and many friends and family needed to hear this. Remember to pray, remember to ask the Lord for peace, and know that He is what keeps us strong. His will will be done.

Book Signing at St. Elizabeth in Houston

THE IGGY BOOTH!


GETTING READY FOR THE KIDS!


I ACTUALLY GOT TO SIGN A BOOK FOR A BOY NAMED "IGGY"!!!!!!










Thank you to everyone who made this event so exciting! And congratulations to Sabrina, the winner of the Iggy Stuffed Animal Drawing!!!!!

Author Visits!

Thank you to all of the schools this week on the Iggy the Iguana School Book Tour. Here are a few pictures from the Canyon Pointe Elementary website!

Great People doing Amazing Things

You have to check out my friend Chelsea's awesomely new website, Twenty Three Seven Designs, under my favorites. I love seeing people using their creative energies to create unique designs and for a good cause at that. 20% of every purchase goes to Attitudes and Attire, a non-profit in Dallas helping women entering the work force feel confident. You can check out the direct link to Chelsea's website at http://web.mac.com/chelsburleson I can't wait to get a vintage apron. I cook all the time, and have always wondered why I don't have one.

Book Signing this Saturday

I invited everyone to stop by the Iggy Booth this Saturday at the Women's Axillary Craft Fair in Houston, Texas. The brand new Iggy doll will be making his first appearance. We will also have Iggy the Iguana T-Shirts for the kids. I hope you see you there!

Message in a Bottle, I mean in a Dream!

The other day I woke up from a crazy round of dreams, literally repeating a message in my head. You know ... kind of like Dorothy on the Wizard of Oz, "There's no place like home, there's no place like home." For many of you who know me, I am an avid dream analyzer, or so I think. I used to write down pages and pages of my dreams and go back and analysis them to figure out what they meant. Old roommates can vouch for me ... I had plenty of notebooks of my nightly adventures recorded for entertainment purposes. Anyway, back to the other morning. I woke up with this message, repeating like a broken record, "Some things have to come before others, some things have to come before others." Yes, I know this phrase seems rather simple, but it was all so telling to me at the time. As if all the answers to my questions for the week were clear. It was that easy. Done. I can't say it enough, but our intuition is such a powerful thing. I have really been trying to trust it lately, and it seems to have not failed, yet. I don't know if I will ever understand dreams, but I've got to admit, I think they're pretty great. I know my phrase doesn't seem too significant to the outside reader, but on a personal note, it helped me sanely get through the rest of my week. So, happy dreamin everyone!

Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Nominated Titles: 2008

Iggy the Iguana has been nominated for the Cybils Middle Grade Fiction Award! :O) Everyone cross your fingers!

A Lesson on Forgiveness

All of us have been in a situation where we were forced to choose to forgive or not to forgive. Jesus reminds us to forgive others, for the sole reason, God forgives us everyday for being imperfect. As hard as it may seem to forgive someone who has wronged you, it is something we must do. No one has a right to be unforgiving to another person, but that does not mean you must continue to let that person in your life. We do have choices, and we must guard our hearts against what we know is not in His plan.

Crafts and Cards

For those of you who like cute, crafty, and unique cards ... check out my friend, Heather's, store at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5269409. She is a dear friend I went to graduate school with in Dallas, and if you are like me, and always in need of a card for something but hate going to the store to navigate through the same old corny cards ... you will love these! Every card is handmade by Heather and many are embroidered. So cute!

Twitter

Are you on Twitter yet? It is the new up and coming thing.

http://twitter.com/Iggytheiguana

Two Thumbs Up

I have to say that I am thoroughly impressed with the selected speakers at the Writer's League of Texas. Every time I leave one of their seminars, great changes occur. The speakers that they offer to our members are extremely insightful and literally give away secrets that all authors, publishers, and creatives NEED to know to be successful. These wonderful professionals are so generous to hand out advice from their years of experience in the field.

The last seminar I attended was by Nettie Hartsock. She is an expert in the field of PR and connections through internet profiling. I had no idea that there was an active web world out there that all public people should know to be apart of. As a self-published author and business owner, I have to be my own promoter. This job can be complicated and exhausting, but the online support is actually remarkable and so beneficial. There are literally hundreds of ways to activate yourself and become alive on line. I would be happy to share these secrets with any of my business owning friends. So thumbs up to the WLT and the speakers they choose. I was so impressed and felt extremely lucky to have met Nettie at the beginning stages of my publication.

Thank You's

I wanted to take the time to thank Garfield Elementary and The School at St. George's Place for having me share the Iggy the Iguana story last week on the school book tour. Also, thank you to all the wonderful people at St. Michael's Catholic School for a great night at the Book Fair!

Melissa

Great Work Kyle!

I just wanted to congratulate a very good friend of mine on an awesome Half Iron man yesterday, here in Austin, Texas. For those of you who don't know, the Texas LongHorn Half Iron Man is a triathlon in which in athletes swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then complete a half marathon, which is 13.1 miles of running. This takes so much training, dedication, and enduring strength. Kyle, you looked awesome out there ... made it look too easy! What's Next?

MudCakes!

I realized that I have not taken the opportunity to introduce one of my best friend's and favorite people in the world's new Party Planning Business in Houston, Texas .... drumroll .... A Mudcake Soiree by Stephanie! You can check out her adorable website at www.amudcakesoiree.com. Steph plans all kinds of parties for kids, and of course, I can't wait for her to set up a lizard party for her son's next birthday! The website is so easy to use, so pass it along to your friends with little ones! Her last party was beach ball themed, and the cake was so awesome!!!!

The Iggy Doll-Coming Soon!

The Fall Line Up

So, Iggy's about to become one busy lizard! In addition to receiving the Iggy doll in the mail and getting T-shirts designed, the Iggy the Iguana School Book Tour has rocketed at lightning speed thanks to all of the wonderful recommendations. Word of mouth and internet connection has been my saving grace. So thank you. I will literally be giving over fifty presentations in the next three months, so please pray that my immune system will serve me well.

BOOK TOUR LINE UP:

9/25 Condit Elementary-Houston
10/3 Davis Springs Play Group-Austin
10/9 Garfield Elementary-Pasadena
10/9 St. Michael's Book Fair-Houston
10/10 School at St. George's Place-Houston
10/17 Piney Point Elementary-Houston
10/20 Olle Middle School-Houston
10/20 St. George's Place-Houston
10/21 JFK Elementary-Houston
10/21 Roderick Paige Elementary-Houston
10/22 Browning Elementary-Houston
10/23 Shearn Elementary-Houston
10/23 Richey Elementary-Pasadena
10/24 Canyon Pointe Elementary-Houston
10/24 Birkes Elementary-Houston
10/25 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Craft Show-Houston
10/27 Waltrip High School-Houston
10/31 Gidden's Elementary-Leander
11/7 Memorial Elementary-Dallas
11/8 Barnes and Noble Signing-Austin
11/10 Briscoe Elementary-Houston
11/19 West University Book Fair at Holcombe Barnes and Noble-Houston
11/20 Jim Plain Elementary Literary Night-Austin
11/21 Cooper Elementary-Georgetown
12/1 Coop Elementary-Houston
12/5 Garcia Elementary-Houston
12/5 Roderick Paige Elementary-Houston
12/8 Alief Learning Center-Houston
12/9 South Houston Elementary- Houston
12/9 Berry Elementary
12/10 Cornelius Science and Engineering Academy
12/10 Truitt Middle School
12/11 Scroggins Elementary-Houston
12/11 J.D. Parks Elementary-Houston
12/12 Bruce Elementary-Houston
12/16 Armstrong Elementary-Dallas

Spots still open. December availabilities.