July is National Hot Dog Month, today is the Fourth of July (arguably the most hot-dog-centric day of the year), and my novel BIG MOUTH is chock full of hot dogs. Sounds to me like a great time for a closer look at this fine American cuisine… HOT DOGS, TUBE MEAT, WEINIES, FRANKS. Whatever you […]
Grab a Book, San Diego!
Books and shuttle buses were the big deal for the day last year when I and my husband took our then 3-year-old triplets to the first San Diego Children’s Book Festival and had a knock-it-out-of-the-park good time. I’ll miss this year’s festival thanks to this year-long adventure of ours in Lowestoft, England, but YOU don’t […]
Who, me? RUN?
My friend, a fellow triplet mom, is training for a marathon. I think she’s crazy, but not for the obvious reason, that being running for 26 miles. I think she’s crazy for letting the world watch her train to run 26 miles, which she’s doing through her blog as she raises money for cancer research. […]
New Gig: “Live with Lisa” Radio Show
I know, you can’t get enough of me on this blog, right? Well then, hear me live on the radio this weekend! I’ll be calling in from England to the “Live with Lisa on The Daily Flow” radio show on Mile High Sports Radio AM 1510 this Saturday, November 29, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. MST […]
Horn Book Guide Gives BIG MOUTH a Thumbs Up!
Please forgive me for tootin’ my own “horn”, but I’m thrilled to report that the new issue of The Horn Book Guide gives BIG MOUTH a cool thumbs up! The Horn Book Guide reviews over 2,000 titles in each semiannual issue , virtually every children’s and young adult book published in the United States in […]
Me and My Big Mouth: Does This Book Cover Make You Hungry?
It’s probably the hot dog that makes me hungry when I see the cover of BIG MOUTH. Then again, maybe it’s the tomatoes, or the bowl of mustard, or the onions, or the long squishy line of mustard, all items that turn a plain old frank into a full-fledged meal. Or maybe, quite simply, it’s […]
‘Where in the World…?’ Update: BIG MOUTH in Italy
I “lost” a copy of BIG MOUTH in the Los Angeles International Airport the day my family boarded our flight to London. Not only was that book found, it has been taken on holiday to Italy by a reader named Cristina. (Read Cristina’s email to me on my “Where in the World . . . […]
Where in the World? update: Kelsey ‘Finds’ BIG MOUTH at Comic-Con
16-year-old Kelsey got a little more than she bargained for at San Diego’s Comic-Con last week: She found one of the four copies of BIG MOUTH that were “lost” at the convention. If you want to see where Kelsey plans to “lose” the book when she’s done reading it, go to the “Where in the […]
My Interview in Today’s North County Times!
My mom was skimming her Sunday paper in Escondido today and spotted a feature about me and BIG MOUTH: “County Author Inspired by Coney Island Tradition.” What a surprise for her! I’d deliberately kept my interview with the North County Times reporter last week a secret from her and Dad, hoping that this would happen. […]
Shout-Out to Monica of North Carolina
It’s gotta be weird to pop into a bookstore during your vacation and walk smack into a table of books with grinning hot dog faces on them, and then see some lady grinning at you from between the stacks with an equally goofy grin. But 14-year-old Monica of North Carolina went with the moment last […]
Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Champ 2008
Once again, hot dogs steal the headlines of America’s newspapers–no, make that the WORLD’s newpapers: Joey Chestnut retained the Mustard Yellow Belt, eating 59 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, plus another 5 more in a sudden death tie-breaker against his nemesis, Takeru “Tsunami” Kobayashi. In the end, Chestnut beat Tsunami by a single […]
Me and My Big Mouth: The World’s Biggest Food Fight
There’s a Mustard Rebellion in my new novel BIG MOUTH: The students of Del Heiny Junior High #13 tag their school with mustard to rebel against the school’s tomato-obsessed sponsor, Del Heiny Ketchup Company. (Hey, if your mascot were changed from the Mighty Marauders to the Proud Plum Tomatoes, you’d have angst, too. At least […]
Me and My Big Mouth: A Word from Our Sponsor
With my novel BIG MOUTH debuting in stores, the time has come to launch the “Me and My Big Mouth” behind-the-book blog series. And I figured the most appropriate way to launch this sneak-peek series would be to interrupt it with a commercial break before it even gets started. After all, BIG MOUTH is full […]
Shout-Out to Temecula Middle School
Hey Bobcats! Thanks for a great visit in Mrs. Prato’s class. Even with the end of the year closing in, you were all ears and questions and great ideas. I had a great time. As promised, here are the links to
Viva Las Vegas
It’s true that writers must suffer for their art. Take me, for instance. Since I’ve become a writer, I’ve had to see how many hot dogs I could eat in an hour and then write about how I felt (nauseous), eat as much of the world’s biggest Cold Stone hot fudge sundae as I could […]
