Welcoming More Lotto (and Pooh) in the New Year

Fall was quite busy around here. I didn’t have much time for Lotto and book promo. And I’ve got to say I missed Lotto. I realized that many times, but especially on January 9th, when I had a chance to speak about the book in a local author showcase held at the Telegraph gallery and shop in Charlottesville. The event was organized by Bethany Carlson of The Artist’s Partner (Bethany is a former screen-writing classmate and instructor for an e-book DIY class that I took before publishing Lotto:).

Tonight, I was browsing for the blogs of the other authors at the event. When I searched for Braver Than You Believe by Sue Mangum with Claire Cameron, this YouTube video came up and I had to watch.

I guess I’m out of it because I didn’t know , or more likely had forgotten the “braver than you believe” quote from Christopher Robin. Might be time to go back and read some more Pooh bear.

It is heartwarming and appropriate that Sue Mangum and Claire Cameron used the quote for their book about putting life back together after losing a spouse. See more about their book and a photo from the author panel on the book website. All the authors on the panel had great books. See a list of them here. And remember, no matter what the situation, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” 🙂

 

Vote If You Love This Cover

The cover of Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure is nominated for a cover award on ewords4kids.com! My cover illustrator, Brian Allen from Flyland Designs , did a magnificent job. If you think so too, please click here to give his cover a vote!

Voting ends July 8th.

Locally Featured

Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure is featured on Charlottesville Family’s Cool Stuff page this month!

 

And Lotto’s Adventure is now available at New Dominion Bookshop on Charlottesville’s downtown mall.  Thanks to Charlottesville Family and New Dominion Bookshop! It feels great to get local coverage and availability:)

 

Children’s Book Week and Good Things

Erik from This Kid Reviews Books is giving away a copy of Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure on his blog for Children’s Book Week! Head over to his blog to enter the give-away and also to check out some of the amazing things Erik is up to – including a funny rap about sheep for the jingle contest for Susanna Leonard Hill’s Can’t Sleep Without Sheep. Vote for your favorite jingle on her site.

Kids, books and fun activities. All great reasons to celebrate!

See more about Children’s Book Week events and details at www.bookweekonline.com

A Book That Supports Getting Kids Outdoors

Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure is all about outdoor discovery and adventure for the three kids in the book.  And this weekend, Lotto, his brother, Armond and his sister, Riley are helping get kids outdoors – so to speak.

From May 3 – 5 $1 from every print or Kindle copy of Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure purchased on Amazon will go to the Children and Nature Network, a wonderful non-profit organization that brings together ideas, research and grassroots efforts that help reconnect children with nature.

Buy a good summer read for a kid you know and help get kids outside!

Happy Friday everyone!

Spring, Renewal and Great New Things

With spring comes renewal and great new things.

Today, I am proud to announce that Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure has a fantastic new cover. Thanks to Brian Allen from Flyland Designs .  Brian has definitely made the book better and more appealing to the target audience by bringing Lotto, Armond and Riley to life.  If you’ve read the book, you’ll know that he pretty much nailed the characters and captured a good sense of the story with the illustration.

Also, Erik from This Kid Reviews Books liked my book!  I’m happy when an adult likes my book, but I’m absolutely thrilled when a kid likes it – and Erik is no ordinary kid. Erik reads A LOT and provides reviews for kids, parents, teachers, etc. looking for good books for kids.  Check out Erik’s blog, his April Fools joke, and Lotto’s review here.

Happy spring!

Back, Better and Free Today on Kindle

Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure is now available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon (again). If you downloaded the book in November during its brief pre-appearance – thank you, I’m grateful, but also a little embarrassed:)

My new mantra is “slow haste” versus “quick haste” which doesn’t seem to work well. I rewrote Lotto in third person. I like him better and hope you do too.

If you are interested, you can download Lotto’s story for free today (Sunday, January 6) on Kindle.

First Versus Third Person

If you read this blog, you may know that I am struggling to finish and publish a novel  – and that I actually did e-publish it for several hours a few weeks ago – only to panic that something about the story wasn’t right. I was mainly concerned that when I read the whole narrative at once, my main character sounded too snarky, egotistical and a little boring.

In an effort to “fix” my book, I read some middle grade books to try to see what they had and my book might be missing. I realized I much preferred books written in third versus first person. I wrote my book initially in first person because much of the narrative is supposed to come from journal writings of the main character. So for more than a few minutes, I had to convince myself that a better book was more important than my original ideas.

Now I am so glad I did.  In my humble opinion, third person, at least for a kids’ book sounds more magical and more fun.  Here’s a look at the beginning of my first chapter as it was in first person and as it is transformed in third person.

1st Person

My name is Lotto. Believe it or not, this is what I did last summer.

So you can understand, I have to begin last spring. Back then, my little sister, Riley and I lived with our foster mom, Ms. Shirley. We’d been in foster care for three years when Riley and I made cupcakes for Armond’s eighteenth birthday. That is when our crazy adventure began.

VERSUS

3rd Person

Armond closed his eyes. For a long time he just breathed in and out and didn’t say anything.

“Are you dead?” asked Lotto.

Armond opened his eyes and said, “I wish I could find Mom’s Cousin Baxter.”

The candle went out in a snuff. Some candy sparkles took flight and temporarily fluttered in the air of Ms. Shirley’s sunny kitchen.

“Did you even blow?” Riley gasped.

***

If you are interested, you can see the whole transformed first chapter on my writing page.

What are your thoughts/experiences with the two different perspectives in writing?

Thanks for the Votes!

Thanks to those who voted and helped me choose a new title.
Lotto’s Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure it is.

Help Me Choose a Title for My Book

I am revamping the cover and reconsidering the title for my book (coming really soon!)  A description of the book is under the cover image on the sidebar—>

Help me decide on a title by weighing in with your preference and/or suggestions.

Much appreciated. Thanks!