This blog is about random things in my life, I like to talk and I like to share my opinion (whether asked for or not) and this seems like the best place for those quirky random fleeting thoughts!
Now that my daughter visits the school library with her class I have little say in what she brings home, all I can hope for is that she is happy with her choice. Sometimes I wonder how she ends up with the books she brings home... was it purely based on the cover picture... did the mom helping out that day ask her about her interests... are they only allowed to choose from a limited selection? (Keep in mind she is 5yrs old.)
She's allowed to bring home 3 books every week, and with enthusiasm we read one per night, then revert back to our home collection for the other 4 night time stories a week. Unfortunately, often, the books don't send the message I hoped. I'm not looking for profound child philosophy, but more so a nice simple way to explain life to my child. I noticed this last year at her Dutch school, and thought maybe the problem was my Dutch language skills, that I was picking the wrong books. But I'm seeing the same problem at her new English speaking school.
Let me give you an example. (I only chose these because she recently checked them out.)
The Trouble with Dogs - the book starts out great, the family has a naughty dog and they want to do something about it. They hire someone to come in and teach the dog standard commands, and he is fairly successful. The family then thinks these rules have sucked the fun out of the dog and decide to quit with the lessons. Now what exactly is this teaching my child? To give up? That animals don't need to be trained? That's not how things work in our house.
Eat Your Peas - ah, finally book to help my daughter realize how important it is to eat her vegetables. Oh, not quite. After multiple tantrums and endless unneeded promises/rewards from the parent the child turns the table and suggests that the mom eats her brussels sprouts. How did it end? Neither one ate their vegetables! What is this teaching my child? Bribes are an option? Back talk is o.k.? That if you flip out long enough mom will give up?
I'm not putting down the authors, I find writing children's book to be quite difficult. It has to be simple, light hearted, and yet still send a good message, and hopefully a laugh along the way. I'm more so just wondering why they ended the way they did. I feel in life, if you don't like it, don't subject yourself to it. (This goes way beyond books.) But see, like I said, I don't have a choice in the books she happily brings home. At least they opened up a good conversation, about how things work different in every home, and how things work in our home.
It wasn't just these books.... last year I remember checking out a book to help her get through nightmares. What happens? The tough kid gets scared, the book is full of scary drawings, and inevitably just upset her more. There was also the book about feeling left out and making friends, in the end it offered no real solution a child could relate to. I checked out a book about bullying, and again there was no real message by the end of the book. It makes me wish I could write my own children's books, but like I mentioned, it's harder than you think.
Maybe I'm wishing she brought home fables... maybe I should pre-screen the books better... or maybe authors should think about the end result. Again, I'm not bashing anyone, just raising awareness. Any of you run into these issues?
Haven't hosted a book tour for Fire & Ice since February, where does the time go? For one reason or another I either haven't had the time or seen anything that really caught my eye. Then this booked popped up on the list! It's not the 1st time a sci-fi book has made it to my blog, but definitely the 1st sci-fi book with a female author!
So, here we go again... drum roll please...
The Enclave
After reading the blurb & excerpt I knew I wanted to tell people about this book in the hopes of getting it some exposure. I love a good action with a strong female lead, and the fact it's sci-fi makes it even more interesting. The excerpt left me wanting to know more. Can Katherine actually battle her own issues in order to remain focused and get her vengeance on the man that destroyed her life? And who is Joshua? Is he the captive? Is he more?
Want to know more about The Enclave & the author H.M. Clarke? Well, you know where to go to find the official blurb & excerpt provided by Fire & Ice book tours. Hop on over to Danica's Book Corner for all the details! Hope you're as enthusiastic about the book as I am!
Recently I was contacted by Anne, from over at Nearly Irish, wondering if I would be interested in participating in the #mywritingprocess blog tour.
First off, who's Anne? She is an expat like myself, but instead of being an American living in The Netherlands, she's French and living in Ireland. And she does a brilliant job of blogging in English even though it's not her native language (big pat on the back, I wouldn't dare blog in Dutch, ha-ha)! Also like myself, her blog isn't just about being an expat, it's about being integrated into a foreign country due to the extent of time abroad. Be sure to pop over and give her blog a read.
Second, what is the #mywritingprocess blog tour? It's a way for bloggers to explain just how they come up with the great material they pump out on a weekly basis. And it can even go beyond blogging, because I'm sure a lot of bloggers are just writers in general, so there are possible manuscripts, poems, articles, etc. going on in the background. And of course it's a way to spread the word about your blog as well as learning about other interesting blogs.
So here goes, 4 simple questions :
1) What am I working on?
I write nearly every day, sometimes it's blog posts and sometimes it's a story. When it comes to blogging I write about events/topics as they happen or refer to the drafts I generally I keep on the back burner for the weeks when I have little content. When it comes to my stories (manuscripts - yet most of them are short and not finished) I have weeks when I am working on the same one and then times when I skip around between drafts, depends mostly on my creative flow.
2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The best part of my blog is that you (and I) never know what I'll blog about next. I feel this is what makes my blog different. One day I could be posting about clothing and the next crime. And I also have a love for photography, so I like to incorporate my own photos into the blog. As far as my stories, well, I'm not sure what makes me different because I've never dared try to publish any of my work. All I know is that the stories keep coming to my head and it's been like this my entire life. Somewhere inside I have a natural gift of creating characters and story lines, I now just need to find a way to hone in on that and turn it into something I can share with others. (But to be honest, I'm also happy just writing for myself.)
3) Why do I write what I do?
Blogging helps me get out all of the the nagging thoughts that I want to share with people. Sometimes I want people to understand you can live a normal life abroad, that it's possible to be integrated and a foreigner at the same time. I also blog because I love spreading the word (good or bad), so if there is a product, company, movie, store, etc I (dis)like, I want to let everyone know. I'm always looking for tips, so why not share my knowledge. My stories (books) are different, I tend to write action romance. I'm a sucker for a good romance, but not the boring ones. (Think of Die Hard mixing with The Notebook, ha-ha, I wish!) And in order to keep my creative side interested I hop all over the place time period wise, from medieval times to the future.
4) How does my writing process work?
Unfortunately the process is my downfall. My blog explains it all, random, random, random. I wish I could tell you I sit down and write out a good outline before I get started. If I could just get myself to do this I might actually be a published author by now. Whether it's my blog or my stories, I write what comes to mind at that moment. Sure I make notes here and there, but that's mostly because I don't have the time to write just then or maybe I have a goal and don't want to forget it. (When you write like I do, you get side tracked easily... in general I get side tracked easily, it's a personality thing.) The problem with being creative is you never know when it will hit you; being a stay-at-home mom I don't have the time to write whenever, so generally I stick to mornings when my kid is at school for my blog, and evenings for my stories (keeping in mind my husband also deserves some of my time. Oh yeah, and the dog & house, ha-ha!) The time I allot also varies, blog posts can take 15-30 minutes, and my stories, well, before my daughter came along I was writing roughly 20-40 hrs a week, and now in 30 min spurts here and there!
As mentioned, it's a tour, so of course the torch has to be passed on. I follow lots of different blogs, so I figured I would pick two completely different bloggers to keep this tour alive on July 21st.
- When looking for a fun blog with lots of blog parties, one blogger stuck out, Paula from Sincerely Paula. She maintains a lifestyle blog, but to be honest I love visiting for the blog hops. It's a guaranteed place to meet other bloggers as well as exposing my own material. She's also known for her Pinterest addiction, ha-ha (we've all been there, right?)
- When looking for posts that will get my brain churning, another blogger stood out, Karen from My Own Mind. She often talks about homeschooling and/or being Atheist, and now her blog has shifted a little since her return to The States from Australia. I enjoy the way she can get people riled up and talking, it never hurts to challenge someones point of view and open a discussion.
Please do yourself a favor and check all of the mentioned blogs, and if you're interested in the #mywritingprocess blog tour but haven't been asked to participate, send me an email!
Yes, I am actually writing about something other than our vacation!
I've probably mentioned it a gazillion times but I write stories as a hobby. I never really thought much of it until I dared let someone read a few of the books I was working on at the time. To my surprise they found them interesting and said I should do something with my manuscripts. Here it is at least 4 yrs later, and I am still talking about getting published one day but haven't dared to actually take the step. Every once in a while I take a good chunk out of my schedule to research my options and find answers to my looking concerns.
Is it better to go straight to the publisher or via an agent?
Which agents actually want what material?
Do I need an editor? And if so, which type?
These are pretty tough questions (and costly) when you're dealing with a piece of amateur work, that means something to you. A book that you don't want someone to steal by sending it to the wrong person. A book that you're not sure is good enough to handle true market feedback.
In the past I barely read books, besides being a time thing, I didn't want someone else's work to influence mine (movies do enough of that). But then I decided I needed to understand what I was up against and if my work was even comparable. And I must say there is just a lot on the market, all types of books, and I think I might have a chance somewhere on the rung of published authors.
I recently contacted quite a few agencies and authors, curious about their take on editors. Only 3 out of the 13 literary agencies I contacted actually responded. 2 couldn't really help and referred me to Google and 1 offered in-house editing at $225 p/h. (I'm an amateur author, I don't have that kind of money!) 3 out of the 8 authors I contacted replied (it's nice to know we're all willing to help each other out). So far the feedback has varied, and so far only 1 out of the 3 actually used an editor.
Do any of you have any experience with editors? Or manuscript publishing? Have any advice for a newbie?
Wow, there's so much to say about our trip, here it is 2 weeks later and I'm not even near out of stuff to write posts about!
For many people, vacations seem to call for a book (or books), maybe because you need something to do on the plane, maybe you like to kick back and read poolside... me, vacation means some time away from my usual tight schedule and a chance to squeeze in a quick read.
Knowing it's easiest for me to buy books in English and for a decent price in The States, I waiteded until I arrived. As soon as we hit up Walmart I darted to the book section the first chance I had. Of course since we were shopping with 5 people and time was limited, I didn't get to really skim through many books. But luckily the one I ended up grabbing turned out to be decent!
It's been a couple months since I last hosted a book tour for Fire & Ice. Why? Between the holidays and taking a small break from blogging, it just didn't pan out. But all the while I did keep my eye open for a children's book, then one finally turned up!
Drum roll please...
The Money Tree
Besides the fact it's a children's book, I also chose it because of the message it sends. Sure it's a fictional story just like the last book I helped tour but I really felt it was a story my child could relate to. I'm sure a lot of you have dealt with teaching your child(ren) to spend their money wisely, so why not present the idea in the form of a fun book.
If you want to find out more about LaDonna Smith's first children's book, The Money Tree, pop on over to Danica's Book Corner. Over at my book blog, you can find excerpts & blurbs provided by Fire & Ice book tours, and this book I actually read to my child so there will also be a short review. Hope you give it a chance!
Back in March 2013 I wrote a post about how much my husband & I enjoyed listening to the audio book of Ender's Game. Well, the movie is finally out and it's not going to let you down. I must admit, I watched the entire movie completely fascinated with how they portrayed Ender's character. He seemed more intelligent and stronger than ever, and they did a great job bringing the book to life. I must admit when we listened to the book years ago I envisioned Atari Space Invaders, but with this was obviously way better. For any of you sci-fi fans out there, don't miss this movie!
And speaking of children, this brings us to the follow up of a post from last October. Barbie Dream House has been one of my most viewed posts yet. I wish I could say its because the post is so captivating, but most likely it's because of the title and when people search for info on the house, coincidentally my blog pops up. Anyway, my grandma did me a favor, dug around in her vast collection of photos, and mailed me a pic from when I was kid and had my own Barbie house. My daughter was thrilled to see I had one also, and it looked just like the pictures of the 70's Dream House we had found together online. And just so you know, my 4yr old loves her Barbie house and I recommend one to all little girls who love playing dolls. The only problem now is she is determined to collect all the dolls from the tv show, she is well on her way and even saved up for one and bought it herself.
Well, that's it for today, think my next follow up should be in a couple weeks and it will have to do with the Jazz Dance class I participated in and maybe I'll find a 2nd one to throw in also.
I'm a librarian, sort of!
My daughters elementary has just set up their first in-house library. It's not really comparable to school libraries in The States though. It's literally in the middle of the foyer with a total of maybe 10 racks that aren't even full yet, but it's a start!
Of course, a friend (another SAHM) & I jumped at the chance to volunteer. Unfortunately we missed the demo and have very little understanding of how the library works, but we did our best this week to help out. As of yet it's simple, return the books from the drop-off bin to the shelves & dust. Since the order of the books isn't exactly clear, we did our best to find a suitable shelf (another mom said she spent an hour trying to figure it out). Hopefully with time they'll get a better system (guess they never heard of properly labeling the books & shelves, or even the Dewey Decimal System, but whatever). Needless to say, we put our SAHM cleaning skills to work, and dusted like crazy, ha-ha!
Never realized I was interested in being a librarian until the semi-opportunity arose. But it makes sense, I love books, writing, sorting, & organizing.
Who knows maybe the library will grow or maybe the one at her next school will be bigger... I can see it now, me pushing the trolley full of books around and finding their homes on the proper shelves. Or possibly introducing a child to the book that changes their life. I remember almost all of the libraries I ever visited, the best having to be the Trinity College Library in Dublin. But the old public library where I grew up had a great view of a lake, also a nice aspect.
The virtual book tour from Fire & Ice is rolling around again... not sure if it will be a weekly post in the future but as of yet I just keep finding books that interest me and hopefully you too! Finally a western romance popped up on the list of possible books I could host!!! I was so excited to see it in the list, I signed up right away.
Drum roll please...
The Cowboy's Bride
Like the last book from the tour, I can't get much out of the blurb & excerpt, but it still interests me. If the main character is so great & romantic and they've known each other since childhood, what's standing in their way?
Even though I started the book tour off with a great sci-fi book, it was actually the following inspirational women's fiction novel that truly made me want to jump feet first into the Fire & Ice Book Tours.
Loud drum roll for...
BEAUTIFUL SCARS
The blurb provided to me about the book didn't offer a lot of detail, but it did stir my curiosity. The book seems so real, it could happen to anyone. How strong is a friendship? How strong can someone be faced with life changing challenges again and again? Beyond the emotional scars, what are the physical scars the main character has endured?
The blurb did exactly what it was supposed to, make me ask questions and want to read it to get answers! I hope you all hop over to Danica's Book Corner to read the blurb yourself. And of course the author, D.L. Johnson, has provided Fire & Ice with an excerpt of the book, Beautiful Scars. Don't miss out!
Drum roll, please... I am now officially hosting book tours for Fire & Ice! As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a soft spot for western romance novels... well, the 1st book I am presenting you with is nothing of the sort! (I like keeping you all on the edge of your seats!)
Another drum roll please for...
THE FIFTH COLUMN
When I read the blurb about this book my mind started swirling with images of an oppressive government where the people live in fear and robots & technology keep the people under control. I immediately started plotting movie rights, just kidding ha-ha! Needless to say "The Fifth Column" by Robert Corrado has grabbed my attention, so much so I want all of you avid readers out there to give it a shot!
Please hop over to Danica's Book Corner to get an official blurb & excerpt of the book as well as more information about the virtual book tour.
The time has come to expand my blog! I've added two new pages, Book Reviews & Blog Hops, so be sure to check them out!
I felt with my connections and my love for writing & books, it would be a good idea to start up a place to host & promote books that catch my interest. I love a good romance, but who knows what will turn up!
I'm often looking for a central location for blog hops so that I can quickly & easily promote my blog and link up to blogs I might not have found on my own. I finally decided just to create my own simple directory.
If any of you want to see your books or blogs end up on one of my new pages please pop me an email and I will be sure to reply. (contact information located on sidebar)
Multiple times this weekend I have found myself bringing up an event that just didn't sit right with me, and here I am telling you all about it. I felt this past week a school and fellow parents let me down. How you ask? I was able to leave a school yard with two kids I didn't know and no one stopped me or even questioned my actions.
I guess I'll have to start from the beginning for you to understand (and I want to be clear on one thing, in no way do I blame my friends). Some close friends of ours were hosting a birthday party for their son after school and I offered to help out, especially since my daughter was already attending the party. Here in The Netherlands once a kid turns 5 yrs old they start hosting b-day parties just for kids, this means the parents of the birthday boy or girl get 5-10 kids handed over to them and they're responsible for their well being for 2-4 hrs. To me that's not so unusual except in the fact half the time the parents aren't even asked to drop or pick the kids up, it's left up to the host. Different culture, different ways, or maybe I'm just clueless to how elementary aged kid b-day parties work, since mine is still a toddler. Our good friends said they could use help transporting the kids from the school to the playground where the party would be held. I was happy to help, even though part me assumed I would end up with one of their kids and maybe a friend in my car. Since I'm unfamiliar with the school I ended up parking around the corner from where the other party cars were parked. So once all 9 kids were rounded up (I think I saw 3 parents hand their kids over) they were divided and sent to 3 different cars. I ended up with two little boys who I had never seen before. Trusting our friends, these kids followed me & my daughter to our car and hopped in. Then they rode to the party 15 minutes away in another town with us, all the while telling me everything about their personal lives (they're 5-6yrs old).
This event sent up so many red flags to me, maybe I'm over reacting but I am really disappointed in these kids parents, the school, and any onlooker at the school. Why?
An unfamiliar women at the school (my kid does not attend there) led 3 children off to her car and not one teacher or parent stopped to ask any questions! They were purely handed over by their parent or teacher to a b-day party and never asked for any more details.
Am I overreacting? All I can think about is my kids future and the many parties she'll be invited to, I would never want my kid to end up in a vehicle with someone I had never met, I would never just assume she would be o.k. and get dropped off at home hours later.
I can only remember listening to one audio book in my adult years, Ender's Game. At this time in our lives (over 7yrs ago) my husband was easily spending 4-5hrs in his car everyday and he was looking for ways to entertain himself. A colleague suggested audio books, so he took him up on the suggestion and borrowed a stack of cd's. One of which he enjoyed so much he wanted to share it with me. Despite the hours he spent in the car for work, at this time we also often went on Sunday drives, which took us all over The Netherlands and occasionally across the border. It was the perfect time for us to pop in the cd's and get lost in Orson Scott Card's imaginative book. We were big on movies and owned a couple tv show collections on dvd but we didn't read together. (Do you read with your partner or at least exchange books?) It was an entirely new experience for us! Sometimes we would return home and just sit in the apartment parking lot finishing off a chapter, we couldn't get enough. Even the ending of the book shocked us, all of that listening and imagining and somehow the author still surprised us. When we finished the audio book we talked about buying more but it never happened. Then here we are all these years later and I've started seeing advertisements for Ender's Game, but this time it's a movie! For old times sake maybe I can convince my husband to watch it at the theater with me, but if not, we'll definitely be renting it down the road. The book is about kids, but the idea behind it is so much more. I'm crossing my fingers that the director gets it right and passes on this intriguing story from 1985!
I'm not much of a reader, mainly because I'm a writer and that's where a lot of my free time goes. But about a year or so ago I bought my grandma a book through Amazon and it's occasionally crossed my mind, oddly enough. I often wondered if the characters were too young or if possibly the book interested me more than her, but it's a romance and that's the genre she avidly reads. Being that there isn't much to do here at night once the tot & grams have gone off to bed, I turned to this book. I miraculously finished the book in 2 days! The book caught my attention and even reminds me of some of the partially written light-hearted romances I have (or am) working on. This book, He's No Prince Charming, by LuAnn McLane is even a southern cowboy-cowgirl romance perfect for my stay here in Tennessee.
The 1st night I stayed up until 1am reading, woke up at 6am and read until everyone awoke, and then finished it off by 10pm! I had to find out more... maybe that's another reason I don't bother with books I can't stand putting them down. But once finished with the book disappointment set in, the story was over. No more hopes of what might or might not happen to Dakota & Trace's relationship, the book wrapped up neat enough that I know there will not be a sequel. I thought about re-reading it, but that would just be crazy, it was good but there wasn't anything I possibly could have missed. I even considered buying another one of LuAnn's books but when I return to my usual life it'll back to writing my own stories. But if there are any of you out there looking for an easy read that will make you chuckle and also want to hop in bed with your hubby, check out this book!
Maybe you have or haven't noticed but besides the usual posts on my blog I also have a couple lists, ranging from people following my blog to websites I like, but one is also goals for 2012. So far I've only completed 3 out of 7, I wouldn't say that's very good considering it's already November. But to be fair, some of the goals are out of my hands or based on other goals. I can't make someone buy our apartment, and until we sell the apartment, goals like buying a house and getting pregnant are just going to have to wait. But there is one that can be achieved, I can write a synopsis for one of the two books I completed. Sounds easy enough, except this has been on going since 2008/2009. I am a creative writer, and writing a synopsis is like being back in high school English all over again. Being that I'm a story teller I also struggle to summarize things, I like to give the full drawn out description, and as we all know a synopsis is a general summary. Back in 2008 when I realized I had the potential to be a published fiction author I asked for two books for Christmas, both written by Jeff Herman.
1) Writer's International Guide to Book Editors Publishers and Literary Agents 2008
2) Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents
They were helpful, full of great tips. They helped me to realize I wanted to use an agent to get into the publishing world instead of pursuing things alone. I searched through the endless lists of agents and found one that suited me. But then fear set in. Then our daughter was born. Then... I could keep coming up with reasons. Here I am, years later, still wondering if I could ever pursue my dreams, if I really am capable of producing books people want to read. Here I am still calling myself a writer, yet not letting anyone read my work. So after a talk with my husband, I realized I needed to dust the old books off and see where it gets me. Knowing the above mentioned Jeff Herman books were outdated, I ordered the latest :
It arrived yesterday! I still haven't opened it, I need time to sit down and really process the tips again. Decide how I want to market myself and get a proper worthy synopsis written. I'm tired of wondering if writing is just a personal hobby or if I could actually make a career out of it. I don't know if I'll meet this goal by the end of 2012, but I'll at least have a good start.
Oddly enough I don't read fiction unless it's my own. But I do own a gazillion self-help books and guides to this & that. Right now I am borrowing a book from a Dutch friend about Feng Shui.
While flipping through this guide I realized how much work it would take to actually get this right. Everything in my house is off, but to be honest I'm not ready for a home make-over. I'll definitely consider some of the tips for the next house (whenever that happens). One thing I will be taking away from this book before returning it to my friend is a list of plants and how they help the Feng Shui in and around your house. It's a small step and something I can easily work on in my own home. And it also has a lot of great ideas as to how to stir up creativity... now all I have to do is bust out the old compass and figure out which direction I'm sitting to make sure I'm stimulating the creative energies around me. It never hurts to learn about something new and take away what I can, even if I'm not ready to apply it to all aspects of my life. In Dutch they use the term "mooi meegenomen", it's not something you can literally translate, generalized it means "an added (sometimes unexpected) bonus". Here's an example : I might not be ready to overhaul my life with the ideas of Feng Shui, but I did learn what types of plants are best to put around the house to help lift moods and stimulate energy.
It's so easy to forget things from elementary school, it was a loooong time ago. But every once in a while you stumble across something that makes you smile and reminds you of bits and pieces of such an innocent time. A time of development, a time of learning (oh wait, that's still happening). Maybe it's just where certain things in your life started, an interest was instilled, a seed planted deep inside that would one day bloom. I stumbled across an old book cover, and when I did I remembered how much I enjoyed the book series as a kid. In my elementary ALPHA class we were asked to read a certain amount of books, a point system that most schools in the county used. I can't remember if we were allowed to choose the books ourselves or not but all I know is I ended up reading Bruce Coville's series again and again.
Years ago while going through storage boxes at my mother's house I found a t-shirt I had designed for a school project based on one of the books. I had painted my own version of the book cover on the t-shirt with puff paint (super popular in the 90's), it glowed in the dark similar to the title of the book. It was a nice find. I can't say I remember much of the books, I think there was one intense scene as the kids stood outside of the teachers house and witnessed that he was an alien, other than that it's a blur. Curiosity almost makes me want to order the books and read them again, just to experience what I did as a child, relive the magic. But then again at 30 years old I don't think I want to regress to reading elementary level books. I guess I'll just wait until my daughter is older and read them together. As I stared at the book cover it made me think, was this when I realized how much I like books and stories or did it happen long before? Was this when I found an appreciation for sci-fi? Was this when deep inside the seed was planted to become an author?
One thing I remember vividly from this time period was one of my ALPHA teachers, Ron Wilder. He was creative and knew exactly how to motivate the kids, he could draw, he could play an instrument, he had high tech equipment in the classroom (laserdisc player), and above all he taught us how to dream and let our creativeness inspire each other despite the fact the other kids at school put us down for being different, for being nerdy. ALPHA was a seed, and I thank my parents for making sure I was enrolled in these special classes.
