Have I mentioned lately how much I love HarperCollins, especially their YA division, HarperTeen? Well, I do. I heart them big time. HarperTeen features fabulous books, authors, contests, quizzes, etc. - just so much fun. All throughout the month of February, they're running a contest called 28 Days of Winter Escapes: A Book A Day Giveaway. You'll definitely want to check it out.



Today's featured author is the fabulous (I think fabulous is going to be my official word for February) Melissa Kantor, author of The Amanda Project: Invisible i as well as several other YA books. The following is a little Q & A HarperTeen put together:

1. Callie, Nia and Hal were from different social circles before they found their one commonality. When you were in high school what were your friends like, and did you ever venture outside of that group?

I had a lot of friends from different groups when I was in high school. I was in the plays, so that made it easy for me to meet people in different grades, which was cool. I was very conscious of being popular, of who was and who wasn’t and whether I was or I wasn’t. Pretty embarrassing to admit now, but sadly true.

2. Amanda is very mysterious—did you base any aspects of her character on anyone you know?

I WISH I knew someone as awesome as Amanda. She’s like a best friend, a sister, and a protector rolled into one. She’s got all the most fabulous traits you can imagine someone having, but she is not based on one specific person.

3. Amanda leaves her friends clues because she can’t communicate with them directly. Have you ever put together or participated in a scavenger hunt for fun?

I am the absolute WORST at scavenger hunts. You could give me a clue that said, basically, “look in the kitchen” and I’d be all, “Do you think we should look in the kitchen?” Let’s just say Amanda is lucky she’s not relying on me to figure out how to find or help her. . .

4. In which spot would you be more likely to curl up with a book: by a roaring fire or in a cozy bubble bath?

DEFINITELY a roaring fire. I’m way too impatient to sit in the bathtub for a long time.

5. If he/she needed you, who’s one person you would drop everything for?

The truth is, I’m someone who drops things for people. According to the “What’s Your Animal Totem” quiz at theamandaproject.com, I’m a total deer. It means I might not be all dangerous and adventurous (oh, to be a tigress!) but I’m super loyal.

6. If you could disappear, where would you go to get away from it all?

Not the bathtub, that’s for sure. . .

For more Melissa Kantor fun, check out the interview I did with her last month, as well as my reviews of Invisible i (here) and If I Have A Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? (here), and Confessions Of A Not It Girl (here).

So much is going on in the next 28 days that I don't know whether to celebrate or jump under my covers and hide. It's going to be a busy month, both in my personal life and here on BBB. Family-wise, we've got some big events coming up - our baby's adoption will be finalized (after a year of waiting), we'll finally be able to have her sealed to us, and our 8-year-old is being baptized. For those of you who aren't LDS, the last two things probably don't mean much - those of you who are, know what a big deal these two religious ceremonies are. After those joyous occasions, I get to go through a not-so-happy one. At the end of the month, I'll be having a total thyroidectomy to remove what my doctors suspect is a cancerous cyst. Yippee for me. I don't know what the recovery process will be like, so if BBB's a little neglected then, you'll understand why. Don't abandon me, though - I've got some fun stuff coming up. Read on for all the details:

• Right now, I'm running a contest for some Angela Morrison goodness. I have 3 books to give away - 1 signed, hardcover copy of Sing Me to Sleep (which I reviewed here) and 2 hardcover copies of Taken By Storm (read my review here) as well as signed bookmarks. Click here to read all about the contest.


• I'm working hard to clean up my sidebars and make BBB more user-friendly. I've added a few things, deleted others. Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be debuting some new features. The very talented Jerilyn is working on some buttons for me. When she's done, I will unveil all the fun new stuff. Stay tuned! In the meantime, check out her website. She's fabulous.


• I've talked a little about my blogg-y plans for Black History Month. My intention was to review a book every day that met the following criteria: (a) It's written by a person who is Black or bi-racial; (b) It's illustrated by a person who is Black or bi-racial; (c) Its main character is Black or bi-racial; or (d) It deals with Black culture/history/heritage in some way. Then, The Big C came along and rocked my world a little. So, while I'll still be posting lots of reviews of books that fit the above criteria, I won't be doing it every day.


• However, I'm going to unveil a little somethin'-somethin' I've been thinking about for awhile. It's called Baby Steps to Understanding: Celebrating Black Culture One Book At A Time. This feature was inspired by my beautiful daughter, who's bi-racial (her birth father is Black, her birth mother is white). It wasn't until I adopted her that I realized how vastly underrepresented Black/bi-racial people are in modern literature. I want my baby to grow up loving books, I want her to find characters with whom she can identify, I want her to see girls who look like her on book covers. To that end, I've created this feature. Every time I review a book that meets the criteria I listed above, you will see this button:

The drawing is based on this scrumptious child:


I mean, really, don't you want to just eat her up?

I'm working on creating a list of the "Baby Steps" books I've already reviewed. Eventually, the button on the right sidebar will link to it.

• I'm working on similar lists featuring LDS Authors, Arizona Authors and "Stories for a Sunday." More on that later ...
• My reading year is off to a pretty good start. I read 14 books in January. How'd you do? Oh, and I reached 100 followers this month. Thanks, everybody, that's an exciting milestone for me!

Phew! Okay, I think that's it. Just typing all this is making me tired. It's going to be a busy February - you won't want to miss a minute!