The "Bad" Picture Book Blog Hop

Today I am taking part in Dani Duck's "Bad" Picture Book Blog Hop where authors are posting pics of their early attempts at writing children's books. Here are links to the previous posts:

Feb. 9: Dani Duck, PEWE'S WONDERFUL ADVENTURE
Feb. 10: Becky Fyfe
Feb. 11: Marcie Colleen, RAINBOW HUNT
Feb. 12: Mandy Yates, A WORLD WITHOUT COLOR
Feb. 13: Sylvia Liu, MY EARLY WRITING AND DRAWINGS

Now it's my turn to share my "bad" first attempt at writing a picture book. I was in grade two and seven years old when I wrote this masterpiece. I couldn't tell you now what inspired the story, but I had decided I wanted to write a book, so I sat down with a cracker box, some paper, and tape and made myself a book. Then, once my book was assembled, I set to work on the story. This is not the best way to write a book as you'll see why later.

The Rabbit Ate My Flip-Flops Sneak Peek!

I'm very excited to share the first chapter of Book Two of the Rabbit Ate My Series (coming in 2015)!

Chapter One

Time to Go

 

I stare at my computer screen and sigh. On the screen, a picture of a super-cool looking space station hovers in front of a swirling alien planet and a vast starry background. Above it, in large glowing green letters it reads, "Galaxy Guilds: Connect. Construct. Conquer." Beneath it, a countdown timer ticks down the minutes. 20:42:16. Less than a day until the coolest game of the year--the game my best friend Quentin and I have been waiting ages to play--finally releases, and am I going to be around to play it? Nope.

 

I'm going to be stuck in a camper with my annoying little sister, Libby, and my grandparents in a campground in the middle of nowhere. Why? Because Mom has to go to a conference in Hawaii for her job at the insurance company and Dad is going, too. So that means nobody will be here to take care of me and Libby. And since Nana and Papa are going camping this week, they thought we should come with them. Oh, and did I mention this camping trip is an annual thing Nana and Papa do every year with a bunch of other old people they've known since Dad was a kid?

 

I sigh again.

 

Just then a Skype message chirps. It's Quentin.

New Release! How to Knit a Tangled Mess (DIY Dating Book Two)

Sadie, Fen, and April are back in the second installment of the DIY Dating series.

No thanks to her best friend Sadie Dawson, April Schultz gets roped into a Knit-a-Thon to impress Owen Godfrey, the guy she's been crushing on for months. Sadie had to open her big mouth and tell him April's an absolute knitting pro and now she's been pledged to knit more items for charity than anyone else. Trouble is, April has never knitted a day in her life. And she's got less than 24 hours to learn. If she doesn't master the basics soon, she risks losing Owen to the girl he's sponsoring, Dana Van Stanten--and she already knows how to knit.

How to Knit A Tangled Mess is a breezy chick lit novelette of about 12,000 words which should also appeal to romantic comedy fans.

Goodreads Book Giveaway for The Rabbit Ate My Homework!

Win a signed copy of The Rabbit Ate My Homework! 5 copies are up for grabs on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Rabbit Ate My Homework

by Rachel Elizabeth Cole

Giveaway ends October 21, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

First copy of The Rabbit Ate My Homework!

Look what came in the mail this week!

Pre-order sale!

Now available for pre-order for a limited time sale price of $0.99!



Eleven-year-old Drew Montgomery has not, does not, and will not ever want a stupid old rabbit. All they do is sit in their cages, eat carrots, and poop. Then his annoying little sister blackmails him into hiding a bunny in his closet. She knows what really happened to his "stolen" bike and she's threatening to tell. Now Drew's in a real jam. If his "No pets!" parents find the rabbit or, worse, his sister blabs the truth, he'll be grounded till grade seven for sure.

And if that's not enough trouble, two girls at school drag him into a prank war that goes from bad to worse (all the rabbit's fault). Plus, the weirdest girl in his class wants to be his science partner. If she tells him she wants to be his girlfriend, he just knows he's gonna die.

Drew must find a way to outwit the mean girls, wiggle out of the blackmail deal, and get rid of the rabbit before it destroys his bedroom and his life.

Official release date: September 2, 2014

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MUE1C6A

Exciting news!

I've got some exciting news!

First, How to Cook Up a Disaster will be released in print on May 15th!

The book is currently in formatting, but the cover design is complete. Here's a sneak peek:

 

 

Can't wait to hold a copy of my very first book in my hands!

 

Second, I just found out this week that it's been nominated for Best Short Story at the eFestival of Words!

The list of finalists will be announced June 1st! Keep your fingers crossed for me!