I’ve got some fabulous Bay Area events lined up to celebrate the release of The Littlest Elf. Here they are:

Sunday, November 4 at 11am: Storytime and crafts at The Reading Bug in San Carlos. Here is a link to the event.

Saturday, December 1 at 1pm: Reading, signing, and craft time atBarnes and Noble in San Bruno. Here is a link to the B&N page.

Sunday, December 2 at 2pm: Reading and signing at Green Apple Books in San Francisco. Here is a link to the event.

Wednesday, December 5 at 11am: Reading and signing at Barnes and Noble in Corte Madeira. Here is a link to the event.

Hope to see you there!

I can’t believe it’s almost time for the debut of The Littlest Elf. I’m so excited to see the finished product and the best part is that this Littlest book includes stickers! Sweet. And just look at this adorable cover.

I’m so happy to announce that I have a new Littlest book coming out in 2012. The Littlest Elf will debut in bookstores on September 1, 2012. Oliver is the smallest elf in the North Pole and he’s searching for his special job in Santa’s workshops.

I can’t wait to be able to show the cover art for The Littlest Elf. The best part is that it is illustrated by Kirsten Richards who did such a fantastically sweet job on The Littlest Pilgrim. I’m so excited to be working with her again. So, stay tuned for more Oliver-related news in 2012!

In preparation for the launch of Miss Fortune I thought it would be fun to post instructions for creating your own fortune teller (or cootie catcher as some people call them). So, here you go (complete with exciting pics from my desk)!

1. First you need a square piece of paper. Just grab a regular piece of 8-1/2” x 11”paper and fold the corner over to the opposite edge. Trim off the extra few inches and, viola – a square! 2. Next, press down the diagonal fold that you already made so it makes a crease. Then unfold it and do the same in the opposite direction so you have another crease. Unfold your square and you’ll see an “X” from the creases. 3. Keep your paper unfolded and now fold each corner in to the center. 4. Now flip your paper over (with the four corners folded in) and fold this side’s four corners into the center. 5. Now write a number on each triangle (1-8 is easiest but use whatever numbers you want!). 6. Then lift up each of the numbered flaps one at a time and write a fortune on the inside triangle. Here are some examples: You will travel to Italy. You will be a famous rock star. If you see a black cat on Tuesday, your wish will come true. You will find something exciting tomorrow. Your luck is about to change. Beware of boys in blue hoodies today. You will be asked to keep an important secret. 7. Now, flip the fortune teller over and choose one color for each of the four flaps – write the color on each flap. Now you’re ready to play! 1. First your friend chooses a color. You spell out the letters of the color she chose as you open and close the fortune teller one time for each letter. 2. Next your friend chooses a number from inside. Now you count out that number as you open and close the fortune teller again. 3. When you stop your friend chooses another number that is now visible. You count that number as you open and close. 4. Now your friend chooses one last number and you lift that flap to reveal her fortune!

I am thrilled to announce the book launch party for Miss Fortune on Saturday, August 14th at 4pm at Books Inc. Opera Plaza in San Francisco! There will be snacks, drinks, fun goodies, me with a bright red face, and perhaps a special surprise, so you don’t want to miss it!

Here’s the link to the events page on the Books Inc. website.

Hope to see you there!

It was so fun to see the pre-order page for The Littlest Christmas Star appear on Amazon this weekend!

Here’s the story summary from Amazon:

Max wants to be the star in his class’s Christmas play. And he is the star . . . of Bethlehem. Upset with his small part, Max tries to help by painting scenery or singing with the chorus, but those are not his jobs. The day of the play finally arrives, and when the light shines on Max–and Max alone–he realizes just how big his part is!

The illustrations are going to be so sweet and adorable. I’ll share the cover here as soon as I can. The Littlest Christmas Star debuts in bookstores on September 1!

I’m so excited about the launch of Poison Apple! Poison Apple is a new line of paperbacks that follows in the footsteps of the successful Candy Apple line from Scholastic. Poison Apple books are all stand-alone titles and they’re packed with spine-tingling thrills, chills, and fun.

The first two books in the line (The Dead End and This Totally Bites!) will release in May and Miss Fortune (#3 in the line) will launch in August! The covers look great and I can’t wait to see some of the promotional stuff Scholastic has in store.

So, stay tuned for more news on the launch of Miss Fortune!

I’m happy to announce the exciting news that there will be a new Littlest book in time for Christmas, 2010. The announcement was just made in Publisher’s Marketplace! Here it is:

Brandi Dougherty’s THE LITTLEST CHRISTMAS STAR, the follow up to the New York Times Bestselling THE LITTLEST PILGRIM, about a boy who wants a big role in the school Christmas play but gets the littlest part of all, to Rotem Moscovich at Scholastic, by Jennifer Rofe at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

I can’t wait to see the adorable art of our littlest Christmas star in action.