Grace Lin: A Work of Beauty!

Check out what my friend, Grace Lin, thinks is Truly Beautiful...her homage to happiness in honor of the Find Beauty Challenge.



ONE MORE DAY to create your 90-second video telling the world what True Beauty means to you. For every uploaded video, I'm donating $10 (up to $1,000--thanks to my in-laws!) to fund reconstructive surgeries for kids with cleft lips in the third world.

The winning video will win its creator an iPod touch... ooooooooohhhhhh!

So create your video essay now!

Find Beauty Challenge: The Playlist!

Little Willow and Miss Erin have unofficially declared themselves the personal mix masters for NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL.

Here's another song that Little Willow has sent to me, which is perfect for the Find Beauty Challenge.



So get yourself together there... Create a 90-second video and tell the world what's truly beautiful to you.

I have the most glorious iPod touch ready to give the winner of the Challenge.

AND my in-laws have contributed to the cause. We're giving away up to $1000 to fund reconstructive surgery on kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world.

So now you think we're ugly,
like I don't have enough to worry about.
Why do you think I'm ugly?
Which magazine did ya read so you could judge me now?

Find Beauty Challenge: Another Beautiful Video!

The video essays for the North of Beautiful: Find Beauty Challenge are coming in!

Check this one out!



Remember to vote for your favorite video! Better yet, make your own video essay and tell the world what you think True Beauty really is. The winner gets an iPod Touch...and I'm donating $10 (up to $1000) for ever uploaded video to fund reconstructive surgery for kids with cleft lips in third world countries.

A huge shout out to my in-laws for donating $100 to the Challenge! Thank you, Bill & Robbie!

Find Beauty Challenge: Another Beautiful Video!

I'm so loving the video essays people are composing for the Find Beauty Challenge, telling the world what's truly beautiful! Check this gorgeous one out care of Traci. My favorite line: beauty is jumping into life.



Remember: you've got until March 31 to create your own video. I'm donating $10 a video (up to $1,000) to fund cleft lip surgeries in the third world. So tell the world: what is True Beauty?

Find your way to Your Beautiful. Today.

Find Beauty Challenge: Another Beautiful Video!

I love what the photographer who shot the cover for my debut novel--Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies)--had to say about True Beauty in her video essay for the Find Beauty Challenge. Let's hear it for Heidi Pettit!



Create your video essay today and then send an email to north@marthabee.com. We'll upload it on the North of Beautiful channel on YouTube.

YouTube Love Letter to My Peeps

At last, I created my own video for the FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE even if I can't win the iPod Touch myself. It's my love letter to my family and friends, an homage to Maya Angelou whose PHENOMENAL WOMAN inspired my book, North of Beautiful.



You have until the end of March to create your own YouTube video of what true beauty means to you. For every uploaded video, I'm donating $10 (up to $1,000) to fund cleft lip surgeries in the third world. So please help me spread the word!

The Most Beautiful Things: Winners!

Last week, I hosted a geocache-o-rama, sending the readers of my blog all over the Internet to the places I found most beautiful. Here's the round up of the answers and winners.

Day 1: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
A boy with a cleft lip is featured in my novel. So which Oscar-winning short documentary focuses on SmileTrain, the group that fixes cleft lips? And the Oscar goes to Smile Pinki and Seeking Neverland for sleuthing it out!




Day 2: Bedazzled Beauty
So I'm holding a Find Beauty Challenge on YouTube and asked which marvy videographer loaded the first entry? Woo hoo to friendsvslovefans and to Mrs. F-B's Book Blog for winning the challenge!



Day 3: Divas Divine
Who are the four amazingly amazing YA authors who run readergirlz along with me? Let's give it up for Melissa Walker, Lorie Ann Grover, Holly Cupala, and Dia Calhoun. Congrats to Paradox!


Day 4: Shaping Beauty--and I'm Not Talking Spanx
Which high-powered, high-energy, high-intellect woman is rocking the Internet with her lobbying to use media in smart ways? Let's give a shout out to Amy Jussel at Shaping Youth!
Congrats to Stacy Nyikos!

Day 5: Beauty--One Etsy Step at a Time
Who created the beautiful custom jewelry for Girl Overboard and readergirlz? None other than rgz member Gypsy Wings who adores all things Twilight. Congrats to Lisa all the way in Korea!

Find Beauty Challenge: Beautiful Video!

Here's another absolutely, truly beautiful video that was uploaded to my FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE.

Check out this touching tribute to friends. Love it. Aren't you inspired to make your own video? I'm working on mine... Remember, contest ends at the end of March.

COMPLETE DETAILS:
Tell the world what you find to be Truly Beautiful! Just upload a 90-second video describing what real beauty means to you...and you could win yourself an iTouch! PLUS, for every uploaded video, I'll donate $10 (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world.

Here's what to do:
1. Record a 90-second video essay about what's truly beautiful to you!
2. Upload the video onto YouTube.
3. Then...send a link to north@marthabee.com. (Martha Brockenbrough--tech guru and my friend of much wonderosity--will link your video to the North of Beautiful YouTube channel.)
4. Tell all your friends to RATE your video.

The Official Rules for the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE:
1) The Top 5 videos will be chosen by YOU based on the most views and highest ratings. So be sure to tell all your friends to vote for you! Any ties will be broken by the North of Beautiful team.

2) The North of Beautiful team will score the five finalists on A) 40 percent emotional appeal (humor, pull-on-the-heartstrings, incites activism, etc.); B) 40 percent content (clean, widespread appeal across audiences, plot – if applicable, scriptwriting – if applicable); and C) 20 percent professionalism (smooth transitions, stable video, non-jarring editing cuts, constant audio levels).

3) All videos must contain original content. Your entry indicates you understand this and have the legal rights to distribute your video.

4) Any videos deemed inappropriate by the North of Beautiful team will be removed. Please don't upload anything that wouldn't, say, be shown on television during prime-time hours, or anything you wouldn't want to watch with your first-grade teacher. So no nudity, profanity, or racial slurs.

5) The contest will run from 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1, 2009 until 11:59 p.m. Mar. 30, 2009. Anything submitted before or after the deadline can't be considered.

6) Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (for a maximum of $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.

7) The Find Beauty Challenge is open to people over 14.

8) The Grand Prize winner will receive one iPod Touch. 3 runners up will receive fabulous gifts, such as an autographed collection of Justina's novels, other free books, etc.

North of Beautiful: Geocache-o-rama #2

Welcome to Day 2 of the North of Beautiful Geocache-o-Rama! Today's virtual cache? BEZAZZLED BEAUTY!

How do you play?

• Visit the link that I provide below.
• Read the clue(s).
• Drop me a comment here with the Answer plus your name and email.
• A lucky winner will be chosen at random.
  

What will you win?

• Limited edition readergirlz buttons today!
  

Coordinates:
http://www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful

Clue:
What does beauty mean to you?

QUESTION:
What is the name of the videographer who created the FIRST (and awesome) entry to the FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE?? (Bonus points to those who drop on a comment on her video!)

North of Beautiful: Geocache-o-rama #1

My editor emailed with great news last week: North of Beautiful is going into its second printing! It humbles me that in this economy, readers like you are buying books. My books.

So to celebrate, I'm hosting a week of virtual geocaching with fun prizes of mucho fabulosity! Think of geocaching as high tech treasure hunting. Armed with a GPS device and coordinates, you hunt for thousands of stashed treasure boxes around the world. Hmmmm...aren't you curious what my North of Beautiful geocache tins contain?


So. This week we'll try high tech treasure hunting with clues I'll give to you--sending you to places that I think are Truly Beautiful. Post your comment with your answer and your email address, and I will randomly select a winner of the above geocache tin.

The North of Beautiful Geocache-o-rama #1: Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
In my book, Jacob had a cleft lip--a condition that can be fixed with a relatively simple surgery. I find it truly beautiful that the winner of this year's Oscar for Best Short Documentary is about this very condition.

Coordinates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CamEXQ8x72c

QUESTION:
What is the name of the winning movie for Best Short Documentary?

Today, I'm thankful for readers--whether book buyers or library patrons or both!

Find Beauty Challenge

I made a pledge to tie all my books to community service somehow. So...in honor of North of Beautiful's imminent release...I give you a sneak peek at the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE!

Tell the world what you find to be Truly Beautiful! Just upload a 90-second video describing what real beauty means to you...and you could win yourself an iTouch! PLUS, for every uploaded video, I'll donate $10 (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach, an amazing group that helps kids with cleft lips and palates in the third world.

Here's what to do:
1. Record a 90-second video essay about what's truly beautiful to you!
2. Upload the video onto YouTube.
3. Then...send a link to north@marthabee.com. (Martha Brockenbrough--tech guru and my friend of much wonderosity--will link your video to the North of Beautiful YouTube channel.)
4. Tell all your friends to RATE your video.

The Official Rules for the NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE:
1) The Top 5 videos will be chosen by YOU based on the most views and highest ratings. So be sure to tell all your friends to vote for you! Any ties will be broken by the North of Beautiful team.

2) The North of Beautiful team will score the five finalists on A) 40 percent emotional appeal (humor, pull-on-the-heartstrings, incites activism, etc.); B) 40 percent content (clean, widespread appeal across audiences, plot – if applicable, scriptwriting – if applicable); and C) 20 percent professionalism (smooth transitions, stable video, non-jarring editing cuts, constant audio levels).

3) All videos must contain original content. Your entry indicates you understand this and have the legal rights to distribute your video.

4) Any videos deemed inappropriate by the North of Beautiful team will be removed. Please don't upload anything that wouldn't, say, be shown on television during prime-time hours, or anything you wouldn't want to watch with your first-grade teacher. So no nudity, profanity, or racial slurs.

5) The contest will run from 12:01 a.m. Feb. 1, 2009 until 11:59 p.m. Mar. 30, 2009. Anything submitted before or after the deadline can't be considered.

6) Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (for a maximum of $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.

7) The Find Beauty Challenge is open to people over 14.

8) The Grand Prize winner will receive one iPod Touch. 3 runners up will receive fabulous gifts, such as an autographed collection of Justina's novels, other free books, etc.

NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL: Book Party on Feb 1!

Please celebrate my third novel, North of Beautiful today when it hits the shelves. What better way to celebrate than a party?

Where: Barnes & Noble in Bellevue, WA, 626 106th Ave. NE, (425) 451-8464

Why: North of Beautiful, of course!

When: Sunday, February 1, 3-5 p.m.

If you can’t make it to the party, but still want the book, pop into your favorite bookstore or order it from www.bn.com, www.amazon.com, and www.indiebound.org. Drop me an email at justina [at] justinachenheadley [dot] com by Feb. 14, and I’ll snail mail you an autographed bookplate.

Tell the world what True Beauty really means!

Just shoot a 90-second video describing what’s truly beautiful to you—your friends, your family, your world, your favorite book, yourself!

Load your video on YouTube and you could win great prizes, including a cool iPod Touch! PLUS, Justina will donate $10 for every uploaded video (up to $1,000) to Global Surgical Outreach to help fund facial surgeries for kids in the third world.

Here's what to do:

1. Shoot your 90-second video and post on YouTube.

2. Send a link to north [at] marthabee [dot] com and we'll upload it to the North of Beautiful channel.

3. Get your friends to vote on your video!

4. Check out all the rules on Justina's website!

www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful

Find Beauty Challenge

So...I vowed to tie community service to every book I publish. In honor of the imminent release of NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, I'm giving you a sneak peek at the FIND BEAUTY CHALLENGE.


You tell the world what's really beautiful to you.
In 90 seconds.
On YouTube.

You might win fabulous prizes...like an iTouch.
AND you help a child in a third world country.

More soon...

A shout out to:

• Little, Brown Books for Young Readers to helping with the prizes!
• Kim Edberg for creating the logo!
• Martha Brockenbrough for manning the YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/northofbeautiful.

Real, At Last!

Never mind signing the book contract. Or holding the bound book after months (heck, years!) of writing and rewriting. Never mind seeing it in bookstores to make you realize, oh my goodness! My words are in print!

Nothing signals that you're a bonafide author than having your picture taken by Sonya Sones, wonderful novelist, former film editor, and fabulous photographer.

When I was in LA a week ago, Little Willow and I filmed a bunch of YA authors for our new endeavor: rgz TV. A ton of them have Hollywood backgrounds, which made it more nervewracking for ME than for the authors, I'm sure.

You can catch the first of our interviews up on www.youtube.com/readergirlz. Watch Paula Yoo ripping on her violin with sass and verve. And Sonya--witty, charming, gorgeous--giving the inside scoop on her latest book. And then she turns her camera on all of us.

It's nothing but fun at readergirlz! Especially when I'm editing the footage for these videos and giggling at all the (lame) special effects I'm (lamely) using.

A New Kind of Beauty Contest: you be the judge!

My mom is one of the most beautiful women I know. And since I was a little girl, she's always told me that part of our job on earth is to help others...like practicing her bandaging skills in case of a community emergency. With her philosophy in mind, I tie all my books to community service...whether it's a college scholarship or a challenge grant to fund youth-led ideas.

My next novel, NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, is being published in Feb '09. Which means it's time for me to start working on a cool little community service project. So I'm considering a YouTube contest: iMbeautiful, challenging teens to tell me in 90 seconds or less what they think is Truly Beautiful. For every video that gets uploaded, I'll donate $10 (up to $3,000 total) to this wonderful non-profit group that provides surgeries to kids with cleft lips in third world countries. Thoughts?

My very good friend and amazing graphic designer, Kim Edberg, has started concepting some logos for this program. I love Kim's design work because it's always so layered with meaning. (North of Beautiful is about a mapmaker's daughter. See the compass, which is also on the book cover?) Which logo direction do you prefer? Why?