Last Release Party Winners--Baby Step Excerpt 1

Yesterday got away from me--but no worries. The final prizes are out here today, so no worries ;o)

Nad D (who commented at 4:39 in the Saturday post)--I have one last RT tote bag and it's yours.

Donna (who commented at 9:30 in the Saturday post)--I have one final selection of books from RT '07 coming your way.

Emma (who commetned at 12:36 in the Sunday post)--a Borders Gift certificate has your name on it.

and

Belinda Peterson (who commented at 2:13 in the sunday post)--there a few of the fabulouse promo items from RT '07 left, just for you ;o)

Keep emailing me your mailing addresses, ladies. I'll post a summary of all the giveaways and who I haven't heard from yet either tomorrow or Wednesday (along with more blogging of the daily but still partying kind, lol!)

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Now, because I promised, a taste of Baby Steps...I may have excerpted this before, so it may sound familiar to some, but we're through revisions with the publisher, which means things are really strating to come together...I can't wait for this one to come out!

So, let's meet our Snow White (or Lily, as the case may be in this version of the fairytale story...)

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"Lily, the chicken's bottoms aren't fat enough. Do you have any more stuffing?"

"If I had a dollar for every time someone's asked me that..." Lily Brooks looked up from her portable sewing machine and handed over a bag of cotton batting. "And for the last time, Ashley. They're hens. Happy mothers, all."

The stars of her Mother's Day surprise for Silent Springs Elementary's upcoming Spring Fling.

"Okay, then." Ashley Lawson crammed a brown, corduroy bottom with more fuzzy, white filling.

"I don't think top-heavy hen's toppling over and smothering live chicks is what Ms. Emory had in mind when you suggested doing something special for the K-3rd grade moms."

"Good point." Lily grabbed a handful of cotton, plumped the nearest chicken's tush to find the hidden Velcro seam and pried it open. "I'm going for memories the families can look back on and cherish. Not scarring children for life."

She'd pitched the assistant principal a booth where carnival attendees could stop and play with baby chicks, then smile for commemorative photos that the younger kids could decorate for a Mother's Day present. Another fabulous idea, Gayle Emory had cooed. I'm sure you'll pull it off as effortlessly and successfully as you do everything else.

Lily stuffed and sighed.

She'd lined up a local farmer to provide the chicks, arranged to rent a tent from the same company providing the dunking booth, and she and her best friend Ashley would be spending their lunch hours for the next two weeks effortlessly sewing and painting a picturesque barnyard motif for other women to enjoy with their kids.

A perfect idea that would take forever to execute.

She glanced around the cluttered, colorful art room. Ashley put her energy into exploring and enjoying the school day. Getting the most out of each moment. Not so much with the planning and worrying that everything be perfect. Lily had the corner on that obsession.

She tossed a chicken at her carefree friend.

Ashley giggled and lobbed the lovingly-stuffed bundle onto its growing pile of peers. "So, what's next?"

"Mr. Palmer offered to bring enough animals for a petting zoo, if we could find the space for him to set up a corral." Last year, Lily had been his granddaughter's third grade teacher, and she'd encouraged Molly's parents to test her for Dyslexia. Since starting treatment, the formally shy, withdrawn child had blossomed, and the Palmer family was convinced Lily was their angel's fairy godmother. "But I'm not sure—"

"Do it!" Ashley ran her hand over at the bolts of bargain-bin fabric Lily was morphing into easily controlled replicas of living, breathing, pooping stable inhabitants. "Sewing everything would be a safer solution, especially once the chickens—hens—don't look like the bad end of a funhouse mirror. But a little chaos is a good trade-off. It might get crazy, mixing things up with the kids and real animals, but everyone will love it!"

Crazy...mixing things up...

Panic surged through Lily at the mere suggestion. She was starting to hate that about herself.

"Maybe... Maybe it wouldn't be so out of control," she agreed, when she'd promised a calm, picture-perfect photo op. "As long as we're careful about which animals Mr. Palmer brings."

"Dakota, stop running in the hallway!" a familiar voice boomed, a split second before a whirlwind dressed in jeans, tee-shirt and a Atlanta Falcons cap blurred through the doorway and took aim for Lily and Ashley's poultry assembly line.

"Look out!" Ashley dove left.

Lily ducked right. "Ah!"

The boy hit his knees and slid beneath the table, catching a table leg with his sneaker. Corduroy and butt stuffing flew into the air. The table clattered to its side. Their hen-assailant kept on sliding, until he'd crashed into the easel Ashley had set up to teach the second graders coming in after lunch.

"Ow!" he yelped.

The wooden frame collapsed on top of him.

"Are you ladies okay?" His pursuer's emerald gaze connected with Lily's. Tyler knelt on one knee, held out his and helped her to her feet.

His frown warmed to a heart-tugging smile in response to her nod. When he turned toward Ashley, Lily forced herself to let go and head for the struggling heap of little boy and art supplies in the corner.

"Nice touchdown, kiddo." She extricated the easel, then the blank canvas that had been propped on top of it. The kid's shaggy, dark hair partially obscured the bright green eyes glowering up at her. "I bet you're a champ on the ball field."

"What do you know about it, stupid!" His insult missed it's mark. His scowl was simply too adorable to pull it off.

"Dakota, you know better than that!" Silent Springs, Georgia's impossibly tall, impossibly handsome PE teacher corrected. He stepped to Lily's side. "Apologize to Mrs. Brooks for your bad manners."

The child struggled to feet that were covered in unlaced, hole-riddled sneakers that didn't square with the rest of what appeared to be spanking new clothes. Lily caught a hint of embarrassment, maybe even regret, touch his hostile expression. Then everything but anger disappeared.

"Why do you care how I treat to your wife?" Dakota demanded. "Everyone in school knows you two aren't even living together anymore."