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Christmas Cookies!

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One of my favorite parts about the holiday season is making Christmas cookies! Baking is just so much fun… and also a really good way to take a break from writing! I haven’t really been baking too much this season, though, because it just didn’t feel right to be celebrating the Christmas season without my family. This year has been my first Christmas season alone, and it hasn’t been all that festive. (Although I have been listening to Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas is You on repeat…) But today I decided to go ahead and bake anyway. Who says I can’t get into the holiday season by myself? And so I turned up the Christmas music and began to bake! I decided on sugar cookies, and found an online recipe that didn't look too complicated. Cutting out the shapes was really fun. At first the dough was really crumbly and I thought I had done something wrong, but after I let it chill in the refrigerator, it was all good! Turns out that crumbling dough was the leas

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.

If you’re anything like me, you hate waiting. And yet patience is a HUGE part of being an author. I ought to know… I’m currently in the process of trying to find an agent for my newest book, which I am really, really excited for. It’s a big step from Son of the Sea Wolf, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about getting this out there. The problem is, I’ve hit a rut in my publishing endeavors. I’m no longer self-publishing; I’m trying to move on to getting published by a publishing agency, and I am in the current position of waiting to hear back from the people I have contacted. The waiting period is depressing, there’s no doubt about it. It really feels like you’re not living out your purpose; that you’re being passed over and rejected. I know I’ve been through times where I wonder if it’s really worth it to go on for one more day of waiting. And if I’m being honest, I still haven’t gotten past that. We authors really put ourselves through a lot by giving the world a part of ourselv

First Semester Wrap-up

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This is a picture of Cornell campus that I took today. And it's every bit as cold as it looks. "I would like to propose a toast to our first semester at Cornell University. Fellow students, we survived! We made it! We have laughed, cried, danced, and tried not to miss the bus to our eight-forty class.    We have journeyed through the stormy waters of our first round of prelims and relished the freedom of our first snow day. We have experienced new things such as taking a ballroom dancing class and learning the waltz, and we have experienced embarrassing things such as instantly forgetting every word of the lecture when the professor calls on us in class. We’ve learned how to walk across this vast campus to take in the beauty of the gorges, and we’ve learned how to   run  across this vast campus when we’re late for a class. But no matter what the first leg of our college journey may look like, we are all united by our determination, our inner strength, and our love for t

Me, a public speaker?

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A few years ago, if you told me that I would be speaking at schools about my books, I would have laughed. Me, a public speaker? I'm the last person you'd expect to speak out!  But that all changed when I was invited to the Harmony School of Excellence as their guest author at their Read Across America/Dr. Seuss celebration. I was so afraid I'd get stage fright, or that the students would laugh at me! But the second I got up on stage and grabbed the microphone, everything changed. All my fears melted away as I realized that I was more comfortable doing this than I would have previously imagined. I answered questions without skipping a beat, and I could tell that everyone was really impressed. Who says homeschoolers are unsocialized? I'm glad to say that I have gotten more opportunities to speak out about my books. I'm about to speak at two more schools these upcoming weeks, both in the White Mountain Apache Reservation. I'm so blessed to have t
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A Noble (Barnes and Noble!) Dream Come True! Have you ever been to a bookstore called Barnes and Noble? Well, I have. And it is probably my  favorite store in the world. Ever since I was little, I would get very excited when my Dad would tell us that we were going there. I loved to browse among all the books and see what was new. And whenever I did, I would always wish that somehow, someday, I would write a book and see it at Barnes and Noble. That, to me, would be the greatest achievement imaginable. Today I happened to be looking over some articles about my book when I came across a link to my book… from Barnes and Noble ! I clicked on the website and stared at it in disbelief. There was my book! On the Barnes and Noble website! Let’s just say, I freaked out. Big time. This was a dream come true for me and I couldn’t be more delighted! Click here to purchase my books at B&N 
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It's so exciting for me to be revealing the second book in the Son of the Sea Wolf: FIRE vs. Water to my faithful readers at Harmony School of Excellence on National Read Across America, Dr. Seuss Birthday!!!! If you missed the event, you may still purchase a copy of  Fire vs. Water  here on Amazon! Hurry and read it because the THIRD book is already in production!!! Thank you so much to all of my friends who have given me so much feedback and support. Your love keeps me writing!!! Daniela Lee