April is for BASEBALL!

Here we go, Sport Princess #2

Samantha, or "Sam", was my second idea. She's a little more tomboy than the others, partly because her parents both played and supported baseball as well. She lost her mother shortly after her younger sister, Sarina, was born, so Sam plays a motherly role over her little sis, plus still plays baseball with her father. The reason she goes to the Perfectly Pink Princess Etiquette School is because she remembers how excited her mother had been about the school, and her daughters going to it, when she was very young. Sam is a pitcher - a left handed pitcher - like Babe Ruth. She has Babe's number, too. #3.

I learned baseball from my father, as well. I would go watch his games with the church team at grassy fields early early Saturday mornings. He instilled the love of Baseball into me at a young age. For one of our daddy daughter dates, he took me and my sister to go see the movie about Babe Ruth... "Babe" ... and then we went to the batting cages ... and then went and ate BabyRuth candy bars afterwards. Another time, on an early Saturday morning, his team was short some players, and they let me play out in far right field. It was a casual pick me up game, with no one watching. But it thrilled me. I ALMOST caught a ball.

That was just enough for me.

This month we will highlight baseball players, baseball photos and stories, and some fascinating history of Women playing Baseball. As well as more about the Baseball Princess book!

If you have any photos or stories you'd like to submit for the photo/story/athlete spotlight of the week, please email to sportprincess@gmail.com

1 day left to enter to win Soccer freebies and Dick's Sporting Goods card!

Our March Soccer month is coming near to a close - and we are also nearing the end of our free soccer giveaway! You still have one day to enter to win all the pictured items - and it's easy to enter! 

All you have to do is comment with what your eligible entries are! If you just comment alone, you have an entry... if you follow the blog, that's another one, if you "Like" us on Facebook, that's another one, if you do a posting on the blog that's another way, etc etc. You still have to comment with your entry in order to win though - it's easy! And your chances are high of winning - see comments so far! :) 

You can comment with all your entries up until March 30th at 12AM PST

Winner will be announced on Thursday on Facebook, and emailed to the address provided.

It's just for fun to close out this month of soccer - we will be going into our next Sport on April 1st, and there will be a new free giveaway at the end of every month! Here are the full giveaway details again and where to comment! 

Cheers and good luck!!

$25 at Dick's Sporting Goods... and more giveaways too - see full details and where to enter here

Soccer Princess eBook

NEW: The cover for the Soccer Princess eBook that will be available for the iPad this Spring as well! 

The Soccer Princess: Josephina and the Gown Fashion Runway Show, eBook version

This version has a slightly different cover, due to the different size layout, to fit on the iPad best. I don't have the hard date yet, of both. But we're getting close! "Follow" the Blog or "Like" on Facebook for exact timing and big discounts right away :) xo. BH

As we get closer ...

I'm starting to get excited. nervous. butterflies. I just have about another month and a half before I will get to finally have this first Sport Princess book - for the Soccer Princess - in my hands. 

But it makes me think ... I've always wondered if famous singers get sick of singing the same songs over and over again, and then hearing them afterwards played over and over on the radio, usually months and years after they've produced them? Or what about novel writers, who write, rewrite, edit, re-edit hundreds of pages of manuscript before it's official, then to wait an endless time before having it in print. Do they enjoy reading it that first time after it's published? And what do movie stars think as they watch their million dollar movie at the box office after they filmed it in bits and pieces? I imagine it's weird being on the flip side. You're obviously biased... yet you're also your own worst critic. Will I still like reading the Soccer Princess book after I have it in my hands? 

I have one of the book proofs from the printer right now - a paper version - not true color, but it's called a "Plotter Proof", showing how all the pages fit together right. Mack requested it for her bedtime story a couple nights ago, and when it was over, she sighed and told me "I love that story mom, can you read it again?" It's moments like those - or the days when she responds better to "Josephina" then she does to "Mackayla" ... that I remember why I created the Sport Princess series in the first place. For her. And it already did exactly as I hoped it would. So no matter how the books end up doing, or what I think, the most important thing to me is that my little Mack became my true Sport Princess, and how she squeals in delight when she sees her picture next to mine on the back inside jacket of the book. 

Of course, it would be a dream come true to watch other little girls also transform from Disney Princess high-heelers to Sport Princess hot pink cleats and jerseys... but in the meantime, my little one is everything I could have hoped for. Hugs. BH 

Soccer Princess book update: Sneak Peek

The Soccer Princess: Josephina and the Gown Fashion Runway Show is just around the corner! With the first volume in the Sport Princess series at the printer right now, we are looking at a Spring release date. We will have an ebook version available at the same time. I hope it's worth the wait...here is just a sneak peek at some of the illustrations by Kristin Abbott in the book!!

Princess Josephina

Jo playing soccer before the Royal Ball

Perfectly Pink Princess Etiquette School Schedule

Sam's first day at Princess Etiquette School (Baseball Princess)

Book 2 - Baseball Princess - is already more than halfway illustrated too. I love how both turned out and can't wait for you to see. :) 

As far as overseas rights go - my lovely Irish agents, Prizeman & Kinsella, are headed to the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy at the end of March -- and then the London Book Fair a few weeks later in April. I will keep you updated!!

THE new illustration style =)

Real quick, I just received this tonight... *much anticipated*... I saw the model sheets of the sport princess characters from this illustrator, Kristin Abbott, earlier this week, and loved them right away. You can see more of her portfolio at http://www.abbottillustration.com/. I wanted to post this full illustration so you can see the new style we are most likely going with for the Sport Princess series! We will have an official decision by Leo Publishing Works next week, and then after some minor tweaks to the characters themselves, new BIO pictures and style on here, soon.

More details to be continued...

UPDATE: it's official, Kristin Abbott is the new illustrator! We will have new character bios and images up as soon as they are completed... finalizing now!

Go Irish! A Literary Agent Tale

London Book Fair, day one, April 19th.

The iceland volcano Eyjafjallajokull (I didn't make that up) impacted the book fair, to say the least! Empty booths and holes in once-filled schedules presented an opportunity I didn't expect.

While I went to London to attend the fair as a spectator... to learn what goes into the UK and other foreign markets, to understand "rights" and contracts and see if there is a market for Sport Princesses outside the U.S... in one of those not-so-coincidental-chance-meetings... I found my literary agent match overseas! Two agents, actually, who work together. I love them immediately, but how can you not, with that Irish accent and charm?

I was sitting on an aisle bench at the end of the day... weary... looking through old Sport Princess illustrations on my new Ipad, wondering if I change the style? When they each plopped on each side of me, delighted, asking if this is really the Ipad and could they please have a look? Turns out the Ipad is not available in Europe yet (so this wasn't my first Ipad demonstration) These gals are so witty and fun and they're asking about the illustrations and I'm showing them the book and sharing laughs before I even look at their nametags and see that they are Literary Agents. The rest clicked right away. They weren't even on my radar - and they weren't there to sign any more authors - and on their webpage they aren't even accepting manuscripts right now ... it was just meant to be. *aww*

The lovely Prizeman Kinsella gals are my new Irish go-tos, and I couldn't be more escatic about them! To be continue.

A Sport Princess beginning

I used to flinch at the word "princess".

My sister teased me when I made my own onesies for my daughter when she was newborn... I wasn't finding much neutral colored clothes for so young, and when I put Mackayla in boy onesies... yellow or blue or green, everyone thought she was a boy... and that just wasn't fair to my sweet little baby.

So I bought pink plain onesies, and sport patches from a craft store, and made my own! I'd put on a sport ball patch, a number or two, and sometimes put her name "Mack" across the back. I didn't think much about it back then, but now I realize it was the start of the Sport Princess concept.

My sister teased me again after she taught Mackayla all the mainstream princess names and got her into dress-up gowns. See, she had a baby girl just 9 days after I did! Sweet little Avery, who is the girly-girl-princess of them all. I was no competition at first... Mackayla started requesting a dress everyday. So I compromised and bought her new flouncy skirts to twirl in, but sport shirts to go with it... and eventually... her own mini football jerseys. She loved it! As long as she had some girly twist to go along with the rugged sports, she was thrilled.

Ringlets... glittery stripes... puffy crinoline under her skirt...

It wasn't until after I created Sport Princess characters, pictures, and stories that she really got hooked though. She started asking me to call her "Jo" and wore her pink soccer socks and cleats through the house and to preschool! She made me cut out paper dolls and characters and act out the stories with her at night. She has colored and painted countless Sport Princess pictures by my side at night. She is both my biggest fan and inspiration.

The real eye-opener was when we hooked Avery, too.

I have rarely seen anything as beautiful as a rugged sport shirt or jersey over a flouncy skirt, coupled with tennis shoes or cleats, skipping off to preschool and singing a sport tune.

"J J! na-na-na-na-na.....na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na... na-na... na-na"

Will you help me share it with others who might feel the same?