Greetings from Australia, where my new book, JINX, is also on sale now! (Well, I am not actually in Australia at the moment…but my book is.)
You didn’t know JINX was going on sale down under so soon? Well, it sort of slipped my mind, too. But here’s the Aussie cover to prove it!
Mmmm, sparkly! And in stores everywhere in the US, Canada, and down in Oz right now (according to my UK publisher).
So, enjoy, those of you who live in the home of the koala and, of course, Miss Olivia Newton-John.
My mom would like to put in her two cents about all this witch talk, and point out that while all the witchiness in my family runs on my dad’s side, the actual title of my new book, JINX, is her nickname, and she’s a little miffed that I have neglected so far to point this out. My bad!
The REAL Jinx (Meg’s mom) and Meg
Yes, it’s true, my mom was born on Friday the 13th (of this month, actually), and so everyone in her family called her Jinx from birth on. She is the REAL Jinx.
But she does not have any actual magical powers, nor has she ever had a run of bad luck quite like my heroine’s. In fact, I would say Mom’s luck has always been mostly the opposite. For instance, she won the Seventeen Magazine fiction writing contest, when she was nineteen, a contest I entered every year, but never won. Never once! What kind of a jinx is THAT?
In other witchy news, Janey (this site’s administrator) reminded me of a book we both read as kids and loved, but that I had totally forgotten about…remember this one?
Oh, my God, this was the BEST book! Katy and Louise are told not to mess with Katy’s aunt’s stuff, but one rainy day, they can’t resist…and find a cloak of invisibility, seven league boots, and more….CLASSIC!
I think I had every witch book in the Ruth Chew oeuvre (Ms. Chew is sadly out of print now. My copies of her books were purchased via the Scholastic Book Club, along with my copy of Dynamite Magazine, but you can still find them for sale at online book retailers). Hers were witch books for middle grade readers, so maybe not to the taste of today’s teen, but I remember reading them over and over.
Lastly, how sad is that bridge collapse in Minnesota? Although I must say, if I had to be in a disaster like that, I’d want to be in Minnesota when it happened. As I watched the newscasts about it, the one thing I kept hearing from the survivors was how quickly help arrived…not from emergency service workers, but just random Minnesotans who got out of their cars and rushed over to help other people who’d been in the accident.
I’ve always noticed when I’ve been in Minnesota for book signings how incredibly nice everyone there is (to the point where sometimes I’d start wondering if I was being Punk’d). Seriously, Minnesotans are the best! It makes me so sad to see something like this happen to them…but I know they’ll pull through, because they’re all going to be there to help each other.
If the sad news about what’s going on in Minnesota gets to be too much for you, just click here and select from the handwritten menu on the side different things to cook in the microwave. Might I suggest you start with something innocuous, such as cake or deodorant, then move on to more challenging delights, like Christmas lights? I’d recommend eggs as your grand finale. You won’t be sorry.
This site, like a good book, will leave you feeling better about things, I promise. And remember—never try this at home!
Have a good weekend!
More later.
Much love,
Meg
