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500 FB Likes Giveaway! CONTEST CLOSED

Karma — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:29:11 +0000

~~NOTE: You can’t enter the contest in comments here! You need to use the contest entry form: www.karmawilson.com/contest.php~~

Thank you all so much for liking my professional FB fan page! It’s such a great honor to connect with my readers and I love social media for making that so much easier. We have reached 500 likes which means it is time for a HUGE giveaway that I promised.

To enter go to my contest page and read the rules. http://karmawilson.com/contest.php Then answer this question (information can be found here on my blog and also on my facebook fan page):

What two gorgeous cities did I recently visit during a whirlwind northwest book tour?

Two dozen lucky winners will be chosen via random number generator to receive a signed book. (Sorry, I can’t honor special title requests as I give away what’s on hand). Thank you! Contest open for one week!

Up for grabs:

12 Signed board book editions of Bear Stays Up for Christmas

6 Signed hard cover copies of my poetry book, “What’s the Weather Inside”.

What's the Weather Inside

6 Signed copies of my newest release “Bear’s Loose Tooth”.

Bear's Loose Tooth

Back from my NW book tour!

Karma — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 02:02:51 +0000

Portland and Seattle were amazing! So many wonderful people. I want to thank the booksellers and educators who went out of their way to bring me to the schools. And I would also love to thank the children, who listened with such wide eyes and open ears. Hugs!

Now it is back to writing and reading and getting situated for winter. I want to fill the kitchen with good smells, fill my mind with new ideas, and fill my computer with new stories and poems.

Signing at Powells in Portland!

Signing at Barnes and Noble!

Win cash for your local library!

Karma — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:45:58 +0000

JetBlue Airlines is sponsoring a contest that could land your local library $10,000 in cash for books! You have exactly ONE day left to enter your local library in the JetBlue Soar With Reading contest! Nominating your local library also enters you into a sweepstakes for a family vacation to Atlantis, and who doesn’t want to go there?! I like seeing companies that support literacy and literature. Thanks JetBlue, for supporting libraries and books!

Alliteration: Spices stories subtly!

Karma — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:39:06 +0000

WRITING TIP: Alliteration is the Jalapeno of writing. A little bit can add spice and interest to your story, but too much can overwhelm the reader and give them indigestion. Sprinkle a few sentences of alliteration in, only when it feels natural and doesn’t stop flow. If you find yourself thumbing through the thesaurus looking for a Z word you may be pushing the limits. Example from Bear Snores On, “Mouse squeaks, “Too damp, too dank, too dark!” Also “pitter-pat”, “tip-toe” and “creep-crawl”. Alliteration is a marvelous phonetic addition to your story. So, as aptly as able, alliterate!

Summer!

Karma — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 17:36:47 +0000

I’m back after an embarrassingly long absence. I’m in this difficult adjustment period leading up to “empty nest syndrome”. My oldest is almost 18 and we are helping him prepare for college, navigate high school, etc… Add to all that the fact that I am almost 40. Oy. Can anybody say, “Big life changes”. I have struggled this last year with inspiration (or should I say “lack of inspiration”).

But summer is here now, a sunny respite from the hurry and worry of life. And with the summer months has come a refreshing rush of creativity and renewed sense of purpose. Part of that purpose is staying more connected with my readers and focusing on creating.

Tomorrow I will post some news about my upcoming book “The Cow Loves Cookies” which will be released in early July. I am very excited about this book, and I hope you all enjoy it. It is fast becoming a favorite read aloud during school visits. Kirkus gave it a starred review!

Hey honey! Pumpkin pie!

Karma — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:39:33 +0000

I’m posting my favorite pumpkin pie recipe just in time for Thanksgiving! And it’s fitting because the sweetener used is honey, which of course Bear loves.

I want to start by saying that I *recommend* you use fresh pumpkin. I know, I know… I can hear you now. “My snarky relatives are coming, there are a million things to cook, and who has time to process pumpkin for pie? This this isn’t the Plymouth Plantation ya know!”

If you have no time, then canned pumpkin is fine, but really processing pumpkin is easy. So easy you don’t even need pumpkin! Any hard orange- fleshed squash will do, including the readily available butternut. Jack-O-lantern pumpkins will work, but Sugar pumpkins especially grown for baking are optimal. And get this—no peeling or boiling required.

How to Process Fresh Pumpkin

Stab the pumpkin or squash a few times(pretend it’s your snarkiest relative and relieve some pent up frustration), and throw it on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until a knife inserted goes in easily. Let cool. Cut pumpkin or squash in half, and carefully scoop and discard seeds. Scoop out the flesh away from the skin and pop it in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. You now have the most beautiful, bright orange pumpkin you’ve ever seen in your life.

If you used regular Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins you may want to put the pumpkin in a fine strainer set in a bowl for a few hours. Jack pumpkins have high water content. Squash or baking pumpkins don’t usually require this step. You are now ready to bake a pie. If you skipped this step and opened a can of Libby’s I won’t be mad, but I will insist you are missing out on a real treat. Fresh pumpkin is better than canned. Trust me.

Honey Pumpkin Pie

I don’t bake too often with honey. The added liquid content can throw off a recipe. The flavor isn’t compatible with everything (though it’ works for quick breads absolutely marvelously). But honey and pumpkin are literally made for each other. The first time I made honey pumpkin pie I swore I would never go back and I haven’t. My whole family raves. So does anybody else who tastes it.

This Honey Pumpkin Pie recipe makes two large pies.

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (or spice to taste)
• 1.5 cups honey
• 2 deep dish pie shells
• 3.5 cups pumpkin or 1 29 oz. can of pumpkin puree.

Preparation
In large bowl mix all ingredients except pie shells until smooth. Pour into shells. Bake at 400F for 15 mins. Turn oven to 350 and bake for about 30 more minutes until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Be sure to cover with tinfoil tent if pie browns too quickly.

Serve with Honey Whipped Cream, if desired. (To make honey whipped cream just whip up heavy cream and carefully fold in a few tablespoons room temp honey and a small splash of vanilla or almond extract—I prefer the latter).

I leave you with a picture. I don’t have a picture of pie, but I do have a cute picture with a pumpkin in it. Two if you count the adorable child.

Giving Thanks…

Karma — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:39:16 +0000

Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday of the year. People expect less of me than they do on Christmas. Cooking is one of my hobbies. I adore Turkey. And I have a lot to be thankful for.

We tend to list the big things we are thankful for each year. But it goes without saying that I am grateful for my family, friends, career, house, pets…etc…etc…

What are some of the small things you feel thankful for? I’ll go first.

Farm fresh brown eggs.

Coffee in the morning.

Slip on shoes.

A child’s sense of humor.

That my favorite authors existed.

The hutch my husband built me.

Making apple butter.

The smell of my favorite spices.

Family jokes.

There’s just a few. It’s fun to sit down and take a moment to think of the small things we so easily overlook that have contributed to our joy and content.

Happy thanksgiving.

Vote for Bear’s New Friend!

Karma — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:31:31 +0000

Cheerios Spoonful of Stories literacy project is holding a vote for books that will appear inside of boxes of Cheerios, and BEAR NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Vote for Bear!

To recap, Spoonful of Stories is a great project designed to get free books into the hands of young kids. Millions of quality children’s books are printed in itty-bitty kid-sized copies and put in specially marked Cheerios boxes! Talk about the best cereal prize ever!Books to read!

Bear’s New Friend is behind and Bear needs your help. VOTE. And you can vote daily too.
Here’s How To Vote

1. Click on this link.

2. Click on the “MORE BOOKS” link at the bottom of the page.

3. Vote for Bear’s New Friend.

4. Remember to visit the site daily to vote again!

I thank you all for your support! And I apologize for the shameful begging.

Hey Baby, it’s an Easter Giveaway!

Karma — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:29:39 +0000

Easter day is a week away and I’m up for a great, big GIVEAWAY! Two lucky people will win a collection of three of my board books for babies and toddlers signed by me. The selections will be assorted, but all will include one copy of my touch-n-feel board book for babies, Beautiful Babies, illustrated by YOURS TRULY.

How do you enter? Visit my contest page and fill it out and answer the question, “What animal wears loafers in Karma’s crazy world?” The answer is somewhere in my book page about my new poetry book What’s the Weather Inside.

On Easter day I use a random number generator to pick two lucky winners.

Thanks for joining! Be sure to blog or tweet about this contest to spread the word!

Karma

Twittericks!

Karma — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:46:50 +0000

It’s poetry Friday and for fun I’m going to be posting some “Twittericks” on my Twitter account. What’s a Twitterick, you ask? It’s a word I made up for a cute little poem small and silly enough to qualify for a Twitter entry (140 characters max). Mine will all rhyme and will be about anything I happen to be thinking about. I’ll do a couple today. After all, it is National Poetry Month! Join me, and be sure to post a comment with your Twitter tag if you participate in Twittericks!

My Twitter Page

For those who have no patience for Twitter (non-twits) here is a list:

#1 If you’d like for me to do a task, don’t beg or plead or rant. Just look me squarly in the eye and tell me once, “You can’t.”

#2 Just when I thought I had no time to fritter, behold I discover TWITTER!

Karma