Books Make Great Holiday Gifts!!

It's true, books do make great holiday gifts! Even better gifts are books signed and personalized for a specific friend or family member on your list!

So if you buy yourself a copy of The Transformation of Things between now and December 1st, I will send you another free signed and personalized copy for you to give as a gift to a family member or friend of your choice. All you need to do is:

1.) Purchase the book. (Find it easily on Amazon or in person in Barnes & Noble, Borders, or nearly any bookstore!)

2.) E-mail me at jill(at)jilliancantor.com with the specific information about where and when you purchased the book.

3.) Let me know how you want your free holiday gift book signed and where you want it sent.

Could I make your holiday shopping any easier?!

Morning Person

I know my blogging had been a little spotty for the past week, and as I blogged about once before I have been undecided about whether or not to keep at this now that The Transformation of Things is out. My original plan was to set a deadline for myself back in August, 90 days of being positive until the book's release, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am feeling a bit reluctant to give this blog up now. It has been a challenge on some days, but also, really fun to blog about positive things and hear all the positive responses I've been getting in return. So I guess the conclusion I came to is I'm still going to try to update this blog, as often as I can. With positive things, of course!

I wanted to write about something that's been happening to me for the past week. I've been waking up early. Really, really early. Like 5 AM early. And I find myself wide awake. If you knew me a few years ago, or maybe even a few months ago, you would know how strange this is. I have always been a night person, the kind of person who would stay up way past when the kids went to bed to work on my writing, and then who would have to be literally dragged out of bed after hitting sleep on the alarm 20 or so times! I began waking up slightly earlier after younger child began waking up early over the summer, but I was always up reluctantly. This waking up early, on my own, is a new thing to me.

I know part of it is probably due to stress and excitement from the book launch, and the feeling of having so much to do in the day. But I've noticed something at 5 AM. It's dark. Very dark. And also quiet. Very, very quiet. I've found myself lying in bed, trying not to disturb any of this. (The children have super ears, and I'm sure if I were to get up, they'd be up within seconds). So I've just been lying in bed trying to think about the day, what I have to do, what I want to do, and also think positive thoughts about what I want to happen and what I want to accomplish.

And do you know what I've realized: I actually love these moments. I feel so much better during the day having had these dark quiet moments to reflect, than the way I used to feel having to drag myself out of bed. Does this mean I've become a morning person now? I'm not sure -- but I do know my college self is off somewhere rolling her eyes at this post :)

Are you a morning person or a night person? Have you ever found yourself waking up at crazy hours when everyone else is still sleeping? Do you enjoy this time or wish you could fall back to sleep?

A contest to end the week!

I'm getting to this post a little late today, but I wanted to end this week with a contest! If you're out over the weekend and you see The Transformation of Things in the wild, take a picture and send it to me at jill(at)jilliancantor.com.

I'll randomly pick one picture-sender to win a signed copy of the book next week, and I'll post the pictures here (with your permission).

Have a great weekend!

A link

If you haven't already read this, check out this post by Barbara O'Neal over at Writer Unboxed. She talks about practical magic for writers, and about how thinking positively and visualizing what we want is necessary to succeed as a writer. This is exactly some of the stuff I've been wondering about/trying these past few months on this blog, and reading her post only inspired me to keep at it!

Being Thankful

Writing this blog over the past few months, I've come to appreciate more all the things I'm thankful for. So when Chick Lit Central asked me to blog about this for their site, I was happy to put it all in writing! You can read my list over at Chick Lit Central today and also enter to win a signed copy of The Transformation of Things!

And something I am also thankful for -- all my cyber friends who blogged, tweeted, and Facebook-ed about The Transformation of Things release yesterday!! It was a great day, made even better by all the virtual love and support I felt! I stopped in Barnes & Noble and was thrilled to find the book on The New and Noteworthy Paperbacks table! And though my stop at Borders was a little less exciting (When I couldn't find the book, the manager finally located it in an unpacked pallet of books in the back), my sister found it nicely displayed at her Borders in Florida, and even sent me a picture.

It's a little hard to tell here because the picture is small, but notice she is standing right in front of the book, The Good Sister! (My dad pointed this out right away!) In case you were wondering she bought this copy, and also one at Barnes & Noble, so she is a good sister :)

I ended the day with a great celebratory dinner out with my family and cheesecake. What could be better?

Release Day Contest!

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS is out today!!!

Check out the Release Day contest over at my author blog. If you are one of the first ten people to purchase the book today, and leave me a comment over there, Avon will send you another one of their Avon A titles for free! And I'll throw in a signed bookmark.

It's Here! It's Here!

The title of this post is, of course, referring to fact that THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS is out this week!!!! Tomorrow, to be exact :-) So, all this week I'll be pointing you towards places/ways to win free books! And if you happen to pick up a copy of the book, let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Today I'm having a contest over at my Facebook author page. Click here to head over there. Or, if we're already Facebook friends, you can find it there as well. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. One grand prize winner will win a signed copy of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS and a signed copy of the fabulous Melissa Senate's new release THE LOVE GODDESS' COOKING SCHOOL. Two other winners will each win one of the two books. The contest ends at midnight tonight, just in time for me to start my amazing release day contest tomorrow over at my author blog. (Check back tomorrow for details!).

The Good Witch!

As an adult, I've never been a huge fan of Halloween. I loved it as a child: dressing up, trick or treating, pumpkins, candy, all of it. But since I've had kids of my own, it has become one of those holidays that I almost dread. I feel kind of grinch-y even admitting this here, but it's the truth.

Of course, I love seeing my kids in their costumes, and I love watching how excited they get over the whole thing. But I hate all the candy, and even more I hate dressing up myself. A few years ago my husband and oldest son talked me into doing a Scooby Doo themed Halloween. I had to dress up as Velma -- I'm still a little traumatized!

But, I am a more positive person this year, so decided that maybe I should learn to enjoy this holiday again. Yesterday, I bought myself a sparkly witches' hat yesterday and promised oldest son I'd come help out at his school costume party dressed up myself. Then my kids spent most of the night last night debating whether I would be a good witch or an evil witch (They settled on a good witch!)

As they debated the merits of good vs. bad witches, I saw the world, and Halloween, for a few moments through their eyes. Halloween is all about dressing up, become something that you're not, just for a night, transforming yourself. I guess as an adult I do this sort of thing all the time as a writer -- and also admittedly, I enjoy doing it more in my head in my introverted writerly way than outwardly in costume.

But this weekend, I won't be writing. I'll be a good witch!

How do you feel about Halloween? Do you plan on dressing up?

The Power of Positive Envisioning: Part II

Exciting news, you can now "Browse Inside" The Transformation of Things on the HarperCollins' site! Click here if you want to check out the beginning of the book. (I also put it up on the sidebar if you want to click from there.)

Also some time today you should be able to read my bucket list over at Chick Lit is Not Dead (and enter to win one of five giveaway copies of the book!)

So, remember when I blogged about the power of positive envisioning back in August? Well, one thing that I actually envisioned happening for a few weeks in a row in August/September has begun to happen. I can't tell you what it is yet (and also, remember I'm superstitious, so I wouldn't want to jinx it anyway). But, I did tell a close friend of mine, and her first question was, "Do you think this was the result of all your positive thinking?"

I was stumped for a minute. Did I? Really? I'm not sure. If I think about it logically, it probably would've happened regardless of what I did or didn't do. But. I'd been envisioning this thing, and then it happened. That had to mean something, right?

I'm a person who likes control, and I guess by envisioning these things that I want to happen to me, as if they've already happened, by creating a clear and vivid picture of them in my mind at night before I go to bed, I feel it gives me some element of control. Is it an illusion? Maybe. Probably. Certainly, what I've been doing doesn't hurt. (And this is what I finally told my friend).

And now that it's worked once, I'm convinced it could work again. This week I started envisioning something new. Will it work again? Yes, because I'm being positive here, I'm going to believe it will.

For those of you a few months ago who told me you also envisioned, has it actually worked for you? And for the rest of you, have I convinced you to start doing this now?!

Of Morning Walks and Creepy Animals

Yesterday morning as my friend and I were taking a walk, we noticed something staring at us from a distance: a coyote. It wasn't super close, maybe about 50 feet away, just standing in the middle of a wash, but as we walked by it was staring at us, really, really intensely. Once we walked by it, we decided it was time to turn around and go home, and as we walked by it again, we picked up our pace (I guess that's the positive note here. My fear of the coyote probably caused me to burn more calories!)

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of exercising outside, whenever I get the chance to. When I can't, I'll get on the elliptical, but it's always with a bit more reluctance. I love fresh air, sunshine, the feeling that I'm actually going somewhere of some substantial distance, rather than moving in place. I like walking with a friend, the conversation that propels us to go faster and walk further, better than the reality TV I usually end up trying to pass the time with on the elliptical. One of the things I love about living in the desert is that the majority of fall/winter/spring it's perfect exercising outdoors weather.

But, one thing I'm not a fan of are those desert creatures we occasionally walk by. Last week we found a rattlesnake skin (Thank goodness it was the only the skin, or I may have never walked outside again), and once my husband and I walked by a mountain lion in a parking lot (This still gives me nightmares). Don't even get me started on the story I read last year about a man who was attacked by a rabid javelina while taking a morning stroll.

Do the positives of exercising outside here outweigh my fear of desert creatures? Probably. And yes, I'm going to keep on doing it. Besides, if I keep seeing creepy creatures, I may even become a good distance runner!

What would you rather do, exercise inside or outside? And how do you feel when your path crosses with a wild animal?

One Week Until. . .

Something happened to me yesterday morning. Barack Obama called my house. Well, not really him, but a recorded message from him telling me to vote. . . I'm not really sure for what, because as soon as I realized it was one of those countless recorded election calls, I hung up.

And today it's Tuesday, so you know what that means . . . one week until Election Day! No, actually, what I was really thinking was one week until THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS is out. Somewhere in my brain I know that this whole election thing is on a much bigger scale than the release of my novel -- after all, I'm not calling Barack Obama at 8 AM telling him to buy my book, am I?

As I was trying to work on some guest blog posts for the upcoming release yesterday, my husband interrupted to try and share a political article he was reading. I kind of had the same reaction I get to those recorded calls, and I might have glared at him, just a little bit. But after the fact, I did actually feel bad about it.

Because the truth of the matter is, I do think the election is important. I promise you no matter how excited I am next Tuesday, or how many bookstores I feel the need to stop into to visit my lovely book on the shelves, I will vote. Voting is part of being positive, yes? It's part of having a voice and making a difference and trying to make the things we want to change change. I think it's easy to feel that we're only one person and that our vote doesn't matter, but I really firmly believe that it's important to feel like our vote is, well, important.

But, I can't say I'll be quite as excited about voting as I will be about THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS being out :)

What about you? Do you plan on voting? Does voting make you feel positive?

Where is Spiderman's Head?

The winner of last week's contest is Tiffany! Tiffany, you get my absolute last ARC of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS -- send me your address to jill (at) jilliancantor.com and let me know if/how you'd like it signed.

Starting later this week, there will be some contests to win THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS (gorgeous, final copies!) on some other blogs. I'll keep you posted about that here, and for my weekly contest here, I'm supposed to get a shipment of some very pretty bookmarks this afternoon, so to anyone who leaves a comment this week, I'm more than happy to send you one. All you need to do is e-mail me to let me know where you want it sent!

So as I'm sitting here writing this, this is the conversation going on in my house right now. My husband, who just walked into the room, picked up youngest son's Spiderman figurine and said, "Where's Spiderman's head?" (I just looked up to him clutching a headless Spiderman.)

Youngest son didn't even flinch before saying, nonchalantly, "It's right here, in Batman's car." He opened Batman's car and ripped the head out of the driver's seat.

I just chimed in with. "You know you're not supposed to take Spiderman's head off!" (We had a little incident last week where Spiderman's head was missing for a few hours to youngest son's great dismay.)

Anyway, after I said this, I started laughing, and I pointed out to my husband how ridiculous our conversation sounded. Even more ridiculous, we've had similar conversations already about ten times today.

But that's part of the amazing thing about having little kids isn't it, the importance (or lack there of) of Spiderman's head. Sometimes as adults we get so wrapped up in adult problems and adult conversations, that it feels refreshing to have a conversation like this, a dilemma so (literally) small, and a dialogue so inane. Sometimes, it's refreshing to laugh about these things.

What kinds of ridiculous conversations do you have in your house or with your kids? And honestly -- why would the Spiderman manufacturer think it's a good idea for the head to pop on and off?!!

Rain, Rain, Glad to See Ya!

Don't forget to leave a comment today (or on any post from this week) and I'll enter you to win my very last ARC of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS. I'll announce the winner on Monday!

Yesterday morning it was raining and cold -- well relatively cold for Arizona. When I grew up in Pennsylvania, I used to hate the rain, and I hated it even more in college when I had to walk every where and it rained what felt like every day.

But now that I've lived in the desert for ten years, I've become one of those strange desert people who actually like the rain, you know, the people I used to roll my eyes at when I first moved here. I like the way the rain sounds on my back patio, soothing somehow, and the way the air feels damp and crisp at the same time, and takes on a certain rainy smell in the desert that it doesn't other places I've lived. This morning, I opened the back door, had an extra cup of coffee, and felt strangely calmed and happy, even despite being cold and soaked from taking older son to school.

I thought about the fact that once something becomes a rarity, the way rain is for me now, we begin to appreciate it more. I'm also pretty sure that I now take sunshine, warm weather, and shorts for granted, but that if I moved somewhere like say, Alaska, I would grow to appreciate them again.

How do you feel about rain? What weather do you hate or love? Do you change your mind about these things depending on where you live?

Baseball

I'm not a big fan of baseball (or any team sport, for that matter). But now that the Phillies are playing in the post-season games, my husband has suddenly become invested in them, and thus, I've been forced to watch the past two weeks. Even older child has decided he enjoys the games. (Younger child seems, like me, completely bored and would rather destroy the house with his train set than actually sit quietly and watch).

Anyway, my problem with baseball is that it's so slow and boring, and I have trouble really caring about balls, bats, and bases. But as I was watching last night, it occurred to me that baseball fans are actually optimists. Everyone who watches those first eight innings is really just sitting there thinking that something amazing/interesting/exciting might happen in the ninth inning. (At least, this is what I tell myself as I sit here writing this in the top of the fifth inning. Something good is bound to happen in the end, right? There must be some payoff?)

The other positive, I guess, is that we're all hanging out together as a family watching something in common, rooting for something together. And in my attempt to find something interesting, I engaged my husband in a 20 minute debate over Brian Wilson's bizarrely un-matching beard last night-- when do we ever get to talk about things like this :)

But even though I'm pretty bored by baseball, I have to admit, I do understand my husband's urge to watch. There's something positive about rooting for a team, wanting them to win something big, something that feels important.

How do you feel about baseball? Have you been a reluctant watcher this week like me, or do you enjoy it or just ignore it?

Positivity and Colds

Yesterday my mom sent me a link to this article called "Colds Hate Positive People." Basically it talks about a study that concluded that our emotions can be tied to our immunity. Not only do positive people get sick less often, the article says, but also, when they do get colds, the colds tend to be less severe.

This is interesting because since I've made an effort to be more positive, I have also felt physically better. I've had more energy, and though I did have that one cold a few weeks ago, it only lasted for a few days, and so far, I've only had one this fall (not bad considering oldest child is in kindergarten and seems to bring home every germ in the world!).

But do I really believe the two things are linked? I'm not sure. I've also been making an effort lately to exercise every day, and I'm obsessive about eating fruits and vegetables, so I don't know if it's positivity alone that's keeping me healthy. But I do think a positive attitude might have something to do with it.

What do you think? Do you think a positive outlook can really keep you from getting sick?

Books!!

Yesterday, a surprise package landed on my doorstep that contained two finished copies of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS! First, I have to say the book is even more gorgeous in person than it appears from the gorgeous cover you (and I) have been looking at online. I found myself dropping my writing for a little while and just holding the book in my hand, staring at it, flipping through it, admiring the front and back covers.

And I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed. It's one thing to sit in my office and type and imagine my way into a fictional world, to think about plot lines in the shower, or to dream about my characters when I'm sleeping at night. But it's quite another thing all together to hold all of that in your hand, something tangible: a book wrapped inside a stunning cover. A book that, two weeks from today, will sit on book store shelves waiting for readers.

It occurred to me that this was a moment where something I'd dreamed about and hoped for and wished for was actually happening, and I was holding that in my hand. It was kind of the way I felt after each one of my kids were born -- where even though I knew for nine very long months that there was this person living inside of me -- I didn't actually really, truly believe it, or understand it, until I held a baby in my arms.

Have you ever had a moment where you got to hold a physical representation of something you dreamed about in your hands?

Play-Doh

Check out this week's contest on the right sidebar -- leave a comment this week to enter to win my very last ARC of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS! (And, if you're interested, there's also a Goodreads giveaway going on for the book. Click here to enter that.)

On Saturday my kids had some friends over to play Play Doh in the backyard. The weather was gorgeous, and the kids were thrilled. A picnic table, a few tubs of Play Doh, some molds and spaghetti makers and all of them sat there quietly playing, engrossed in their creations. Maybe it's because my kids (and their friends) hardly ever get to play with Play Doh, but it's one of those things the kids are always thrilled about doing.

And I have to admit -- I enjoyed playing with it, too. Creating things that weren't real out of nothing -- dinosaurs and ice cream cones, play spaghetti and ducks. Mixing colors and cutting out shapes. It was messy. And it was fun!

I remembered how fun it was to be a kid, to make messes, and how easy it was to feel creative in those messes. Sometimes, as an adult, it's easy to lose track of this, so I enjoyed playing like a kid, on Saturday, at least for a little while (until all the kids went home, and I was scraping Play Doh off the back patio with a knife. . . but, we won't talk about that!)

What's a childhood toy (or mess) do you still enjoy playing with or making?

I like This Moment

Last night my husband and I had the rare date out of the house, alone. We went out to dinner, and while we were eating we overheard the couple next to us telling the waitress that they had just gotten engaged ten minutes earlier. We were sitting in this strange booth that had a privacy curtain, that my husband and I agreed felt more creepy than romantic, but anyway, we couldn't see what the couple looked like until we got up to left. We heard them talking, though, relaying the story of how they met and their dating history to the waitress and then after the waitress left, making phone calls to various friends and family members to relay the happy news.

It was kind of sweet to listen to them, and I guess I should mention that one of the occupational hazards for me of being a writer is that I'm fascinated in these situations where I get to eavesdrop on strangers and observe these kinds of things. But my point in all this, is this. Do you ever have a moment where you hear someone else's good news and you wish you could go back to that point in your life again? Engagements, weddings, pregnancy announcements. I've had that feeling before -- a feeling of missing something or longing for something I once had. But last night I didn't have that feeling.

Last night I thought about how happy I was in this moment in my life. Right now. How much I loved being with my husband ten years into our marriage, how much I loved our happy little family of two kids and four cats. I thought about the fact that I was pretty young, still in college, when I got engaged, and how uncertain my life was then. And I felt absolutely and truly happy to be in the moment of my life that I'm in now.

How do you feel about the current moment of your life? Do you ever hear other people's good news and picture yourself in that situation?

Now I Remember

I've been in a little bit of a reading slump lately. I blogged a few weeks back that I was planning on getting back to reading again, and I asked for some book suggestions. I picked up a few books from my night table, started a few, but then got too busy and distracted to actually finish anything.

But since I'm taking a break this week, I picked up my Kindle yesterday and started looking through the bunches of books I've downloaded and never actually followed through with reading or finishing. I had Every Last One by Anna Quindlen on there, and it was a book I downloaded before a trip last spring but never actually got a chance to even start. In fact, I'd forgotten it was there.

Anna Quindlen is one of my all time favorite authors. When I read Black and Blue years ago, it was the kind of book that reaffirmed my desire to be a writer. In my opinion it has one of the best first chapters of any book I've ever read.

I spent most of the day yesterday engrossed in her latest. I stayed up past midnight, reading until my eyes were tired and bleary. Then I was so involved with the main character and her ensemble of friends and family that I woke up this morning mulling them over as if they were actual people in my life. When I hit the point of the book where tragedy struck, I felt it deeply, as if it were real. I am almost finished with the book and I almost don't want it to end.

This is a feeling that I used to feel quite often when I read a book. This is why I love to read. So thank you, Anna Quindlen, for bringing me out of my reading slump!

What books have brought you out of a reading slump or reminded you why you love to read?

Of Family Days and Butterflies

Yesterday, we took a family trip to the butterfly house, a huge greenhouse filled with tropical butterflies. I've always loved butterflies, and this is one of my favorite places to see them up close. There's something about butterflies that always reminds me of serenity, beauty, and new life. Check out these twin butterflies -- the orange ones were younger son's favorite!

This one below was my favorite kind because these were the ones that kept landing on our fingers!

My husband took this shot of the butterfly landing on my finger! She hung out there for awhile, though, promptly flew away when I tried to transfer her to younger son's finger. (Smart butterfly!)

And because, of course, even though I'm taking a break this week, I can't really forget about THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS (out in THREE WEEKS!) Note the similarity to the above picture -- something which my husband pointed out as soon as he snapped the photo.

Where is your favorite serene place to visit?