Sliding toward December means launching the new tale for tweens I’m cowriting with Rosie Russell is just a few weeks away. We started collaborating on Just Between Sam and Me in February 2018, and we're over the moon to share our book with you at last. Read on to...

• Catch book buzz about Just Between Sam and Me already arriving from Midwestern Book Review
• Watch the video book trailer
• Take a photo walk of this writing journey

​
Stay tuned for our Dec. 2 launch, with links to your fave print and digital booksellers posting here on Cat’s Corner and across social media.

Early Buzz about the Book
​

Rosie Russell and I
are over the moon
about the fab feedback from Midwest Book Review (MBR).  

Our full review
will be featured in MBR’s December issue.

But you can have a preview of Diane Donovan's review now!

Book Trailer
​

Discover more about the book!

Click on the
90-second ​book trailer
to preview Just Between Sam and Me.

Kid-sized and Customized

​​Rosie and I want Just Sam and Me to engage kids
and help them understand
how they can help prevent bullying.

We didn’t want to overwhelm them
with an intense, text-heavy book, either.  

North Carolina artist Irene A. Jahns
sketched charming pen-and-ink scenes
​ to bring our small-town America setting to life.
​
Her art also gives kids a sophisticated respite
​from absorbing text on every page.
​

​Skipping Star
​

Feline over Equine
​

​Journaling to a Cat
​

Sam evolves into
Olivia’s confident and comfort 
​as she pours out her heart to him
​ in her journal.
​

​​
These 13 journal entries to Sam were super-fun to write.

The journal also allows us
to insert  age-appropriate
punchy visuals and language,

so kids

have fun

​reading!

 
​Rosie and I are beyond grateful for your company
over these past months
as we’ve worked to bring Sam and Olivia to you.
​
If you enjoy our book trailer
and learning more about our writing journey,
please
share this post with your friends. 
​Thanks!
​

​
​Y'all come back on 2 Dec 
when Just Between Sam and Me debuts.

Available in print and digital
Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble and Kobo.

Details posting here
and on all our social media sites.

See you soon! ​

​What do these
adult and children’s book titles
have in common?

The Girl Who Drank the Moon 
Serafina and the Black Cloak
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Giver of Stars
The Martian
Where the Crawdads Sing
How the Light Gets In
Little Fires Everywhere
Something in the Water
The Language of Flowers
​

​They all have a rich sense of time and place. From the Quebec village of Three Pines to Mars and North Carolina’s Biltmore Estate, the authors’ stories have you feeling as if you could jump into the pages of their book.

As a reader, I’ve always been drawn to books with strong settings. As a writer, I want to give my stories a vivid backdrop, too.
 
My last book for early readers, Sweet T and the Turtle Team, has a beachy, summertime vibe on the North Carolina shore near my home. My newest book for tweens co-written with Rosie Russell, Just Between Sam and Me, shifts to small-town America in Rosie’s home state of Missouri.

​I have memories of this part of the world – attended college outside Kansas City; spent my first years teaching nearby – until I moved south for warmer winters.
 
Join me in a 6-minute, deep dive video behind the setting of Just Between Sam and Me. I'll show you how Rosie and I bring the sights and sounds, tastes and textures, of our setting alive for young readers.

​
​Then meet my cowriter, Rosie Russell, in her Missouri home, as she reads aloud a chapter from Just Between Sam and Me.
​

 Your Turn

Thanks for visiting Spring Hope with Rosie, Sam, and me. What books with strong settings do you love to read? Please share in the comment section.