My next children’s book, Finally Home, stars a young girl who wants a dog for her birthday. Will she get one? Stay tuned.
Finally Home
Writing
Yup, I’m writing a new mystery.
National Novel Writing Month
We, the crazy writers of #nanowrimo are attempting to write the rough draft of a novel in 30 days. The concept: If you write 1,667 words every day in the month of November, you will have the first draft of a 50,000 word novel. I have written approx. 20,000 words thus far. My work in progress (WIP) does not yet have a title, but when I know, you’ll know.
(I have to get back to writing, now.)
A cameo in my next book!
My children’s picture book, Bee Wars, will be published later this month. Like my other children’s books, A Gift at the Door and Bully Pie, I use photographs translated into cartoon-like images. The lovely tire horse (pictured above) has a cameo in several scenes in Bee Wars.
The swing holds special memories. My sister, Karen Bowman, first bought the swing for my parents who lived on a farm in Kansas. Grandchildren, cousins, and an occasional adult would ride this beauty in their side yard. A yard, I must say, that would put most parks to shame. When my parents passed, my sister graciously gifted the much-loved swing to my husband and me for our grandchildren. Although Karen is no longer with us, her gift of joy for the next generation flows through the memories of my grandchildren.
I need a little help, please.
My dad used a word I believe he coined. When he would bring a bag, bundle, or box into the house and we wanted to know what it was, his response would often be WOOLENASY or WOOLENAUSSIE (some in the family say willinashy).
The meaning was “a secret” or “I’m not going to tell you.”
Of late, I have been wondering if “woolenasy” was a word from another language, slang, or a combination of a few words. Dad is no longer with us, so I am reaching out to biggest audience I know…social media.
If you have heard of this word before, please comment. If you don’t know this word, please retweet or share. I’m trying to reach as many people as possible. Thank you, one and all!
I might have missed something…
It’s been a few months since I published Double Take, my first mystery. In preparation for some publicity, I re-read the first chapter and to my horror and embarrassment, found two errors (and it was a short chapter). The more I read, the more errors I found. How frustrating.
Two dear friends are willing to re-read the book as well and we are all going to combine our info to (hopefully) clean up the text further.
The errors are not massive, many having to do with spacing and punctuation. At one point I seem to have used a colon followed by quotation mark and then an apostrophe!
A big shout out to those who have read the book and given me such positive feedback. I’ll keep on working, finding mistakes and trying to fix them.
How to un-block…
Writers often share stories of being blocked. They sit down to write and the white screen mocks them or their characters are in a pickle without a clear exit plan. Twitter, especially, is filled with stories about being blocked.
So I ask you…how do YOU get un-blocked? What are the techniques or events that have lead you to your breakthroughs?
Behind the Scenes
Here’s one of the photos taken for my recent work in progress, Bee Wars.
This will be the third of my children’s books which are illustrated by pictures I take and then translate into comic style images using the app Clip2Comic.
The books take a great deal of time to put together even after the story is written. Models have to pretend a great deal, not always easy with a camera in their faces. I take between 150-200 photos to get the 25-30 I need for the book.
As a reminder (wink, wink) my first two children’s books with the wonderful models who helped bring the story to life:
Thanks for the Feedback
While I was pleased with finally putting my 150 cartoon collection together in a paperback form, I was shocked with the price of having it on KDP (or Imgram Sparks, which I also checked). This is what happens when you print a book in all color. Yikes.
Armed with the results from the survey, I decided to find a better way of sharing my Goldfish Diaries collection. Would some be interested in a straightforward digital collection? I hope so.
I was pleased as punch to get the price down to $5.99. Introducing Goldfish Diaries for Kindle. Thank you for your feedback.
My newest children’s Book
Introducing the two characters in Bully Pie. My husband Robert and our grandson, Lincoln were the actors who brought my words to life.
The book is based on a true story…something that happened to my siblings and me when we moved into a new home.
Click on the link to find this book on amazon. BULLY PIE
Radio Interview for “Double Take”
I was very lucky to be interviewed by Dave Duncan of KMUZ in Salem, Oregon. We discussed my recently published book Double Take (which you can buy on amazon.com *wink*)
Click on the following link to hear my 28 minute interview.
Podcast for 6/25/2019 Willammette Wake-Up
Drawing on Words 