Saturday, November 28, 2009

Interviews, Fan Videos, Reviews, and More

Hi all!

Now that I have digested my Thanksgiving dinner, I am finally able to write a blog post. First off, here's a link to my appearance on Cyrus Webb's radio show Conversations LIVE! Thanks so much to Cyrus for having me!

Also, a faithful fan posted this video on YouTube of her review of The Fire Stone. It's excellent! Thanks so much for that!



Also, check out Chris Brett's blog The Pirate's Bounty. He has posted a review of The Fire Stone and is also doing a giveaway of the book. Thanks so much, Chris!

I did a guest review on Books For Kids Reviews on Going Bovine by Libba Bray. You can read it here.

Monday, 11/30, I leave for Chicago and then go on to Indianapolis to speak to a number of schools in both cities. You can see a complete list of all schools here.

Check back soon for updates on all of the events!

Riley

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Cherry Hills Village Elmentary School Book Fair, Blogs, News, and Appearances

Hi all!

I have a lot to report in this post! Last week, I signed books at the Cherry Hills Village Elementary School book fair. I sold 110 books in four hours! Here's a picture from the event:


Also, I’ve been featured on a few blogs. Here’s an interview I did with Shelli Cornelison at her blog Shelli’s Soliloquy and Tara Michener at her blog Whoaminotwhatiam. I was also featured on Feed Your Good Dog. Thanks to Shelli, Tara, and FYGD for the support!

I was also featured in a brief news story by 9News. You can view it here. I was interviewed yesterday by Fox31 here in Colorado for their Martino Show and I will be interviewed live on Fox31's Everyday Show at 4:00 mountain time on December 17th.

On November 24th, I will be on Cyrus Webb’s Conversations LIVE! Radio at 8:00 eastern time. You can listen to it live here.

And now, the most action-packed part of the post! I will be touring Chicago and Indianapolis for the first two weeks of December to speak to kids at schools. Here’s the schedule:

12/1 – Central Elementary School
Wilmette, IL
12/2 – The Skokie School
Winnetka, IL
12/2 – Lake Forest Country Day School
Lake Forest, IL
12/3 – Wilmette Junior High
Wilmette, IL
12/3 – Attea Middle School
Glenview, IL
12/4 – School of St. Mary
Lake Forest, IL
12/8 – St. Thomas Aquinas School
Indianapolis, IN
12/8 – Westlane Middle School
Indianapolis, IN
12/9 – St. Pius X School
Indianapolis, IN

This evening from 7:00-8:30, I'll be talking to the Teen Creative Writing Group at Koelbel Library in Centennial, Colorado. I'll post about it afterward, so check back soon!

Riley

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Now Available on Kindle

Hello!

The Fire Stone is now available on Amazon Kindle, so all of those with Kindle reading devices, buy it and enjoy! Here's the link.

Riley

Saturday, November 7, 2009

List of Must-Reads!

Hi all!

Just for kicks, I put together my personal partial list of must-reads. Enjoy:

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (of course)
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson
The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Merlin series by T.A. Barron
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Until next time,

Riley

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Cherry Hills Village Elementary School Visit

Hello!

Yesterday, I spoke to classes at Cherry Hills Village Elementary School in Colorado. I spoke to seven different groups, each around twenty-five minutes long - whew! I had a really fun time and the kids were great!

Here are some pictures:


My next appearance is at the Teen Writing Group at Koelbel Library. More information here.

Check back soon!

Riley

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Book Review - The Demon King, and Other News

Hi everybody!

It’s been a while since I last posted, so first I thought I’d list the most memorable events from the past couple of weeks:

1) I'm now on Facebook - become a fan of The Fire Stone here! (and follow me on Twitter)
2) It snowed 18 inches in Denver and melted two days later (typical Denver)
3) I finished the first book of my next series! (it's an urban fantasy trilogy, but that's all I can say about it...!)
4) I also read The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima. Here's the review:

The Demon King is an exciting and highly enjoyable read. In the fantasy world of the Seven Realms, transformed streetlord Han Allister is struggling to feed his mother and sister and stay out of the gang-life he abandoned. When hunting with his friends Dancer, Han comes across a group of wizards and takes a strange amulet away from them. Later, he discovers that it once belonged to the Demon King, the evil wizard who nearly destroyed the world thousands of years ago. With the amulet comes bad luck Han’s life changes from complicated to chaotic.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna is confronting her own set of problems. Her mother, the queen, is being heavily influenced by Gavan Bayar, the High Wizard who advises her. Raisa feels trapped in her own kingdom and begins to notice trouble brewing that no one else seems to notice.

Both Han and Raisa are strong, free-spirited characters. The secondary characters in the book are also engaging and it is easy to sympathize with all of them. The overlap of Han and Raisa’s lives is particularly interesting because the reader witnesses it through two points of view. I really enjoyed reading this book and found that in addition to the connection the reader has with the characters, the plot was intriguing and mysterious. I highly recommend The Demon King.


In other news, I’ll be speaking at Cherry Hills Village Elementary School here in Denver tomorrow morning and I will be signing books at their book fair next week. On November 19th, I will also be at the Koelbel Library Teen Writing group. More information on that here.

Also, my book should be on the Amazon Kindle soon, so watch out for that!

I will post pictures from tomorrow if I can.

Check back in soon!

Riley