Wednesday, June 18, 2014

What's New?


I just attended the West Virginia Writer's Conference. 
Along with lots of writers, there were an abundance of geese, lakes and other wildlife.



I attended work shops on children's writing, writing short stories, beginnings and endings, marketing yourself and your books, etc.

I enjoyed the workshops and learned info that will help me with my writing. Plus, I met old writing friends and made new ones.

At the Saturday Night Banquet, I excitedly accepted awards for three of my children's manuscripts that I had entered in their annual West Virginia Writing Competition.  I received 2nd, 1HM and 3HM in the children's category.

Now, I need to start sending out my MG to publishers. I checked my records and I haven't sent it to anyone this year.

If you write, you must submit or your work will never get published.
Just make sure it is ready to submit.

Let other eyes see it, let other writers critique it and edit it until you are happy as you can be with your finished product.

I have been working on my author's page. It is still under construction, but it is on the web.

You can go here to visit it.
There is also a page above that has a link to it.
Check it out. If you have any ideas for my page or questions, contact me on the contact gadget. I'd love to hear from you.

What have you got planned for this summer? Any conferences? Any submitting?

Happy Writing!




Sunday, June 15, 2014

Father's Day





Father’s Day

We have Sonora Louise Smart Dodd to thank for creating the tradition of celebrating Father’s Day. The idea came to her while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.

She wanted to honor her father, William Jackson Smart. Her dad, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. He raised his children all by himself on a rural farm in the state of Washington.

He was a special father and Sonora chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration on the 19th day of June 1910. The holiday continued to be 
 celebrated, but it was not made an official national holiday until 1972.





A Father’s Life

A father’s life is cluttered
With tools and nails and stuff.
He works with them each day.
He’s very rough and tough.

A father’s child is special
No matter what the gender.
He plays with them each day
He’s very sweet and tender.



This post is a small excerpt from my book, Fun Through the Seasons.

I don't know if my husband is a descendent of Sonora or not, but I'd like to think that he might be.  

I'm wishing all my readers  a wonderful day and hope you have a nice time celebrating with your family.

My father is gone now and I miss him very much.
But he will always be alive in my heart.

I don't know who tried to enhance this picture with color. 
But, I'm innocent until proven guilty.
Maybe I was meant to be an illustrator, too.





 

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

My First Book

I know many of my readers have had books published. It feels good to finally accomplish one of our writing goals.

But, this is my first one and I (as I am sure you do, too) will always remember the feeling of seeing my name in print for the first time. Exciting!


Fun Through the Seasons! Recipes, Crafts and Fun Facts for Kids . . . is hot off the presses!

 Fun Through The Seasons!: Recipes, Crafts and Fun Facts for Kids

My first shiny, honest to goodness book.



Here is the description of it on Amazon:

 In Fun Through the Seasons, Janet goes month by month through the seasons with informative articles for children to read and enjoy. The articles appeared in her column, Fun Facts for Kids, in Two-Lane Livin' Magazine. While reading this book, kids will learn all about snowflakes, Independence Day, genealogy, ants, the first Thanksgiving, collecting memories at Christmas, cookies - and much more! Sprinkled among the interesting articles are easy recipes, crafts, poems and challenges for kids in K through 5th grade. Parents will enjoy reading the stories to the younger ones and helping with the activities.

I have been working on putting together this book for a long time.  Each time another month came and went, I had another article to add. I also added a few more easy recipes, stories and poems. The pictures and clip art are grayscale, but perfect for your child to add their own touch to the book by coloring in with colored pencils.

I did it all myself (with help from my son with the cover), learning along the way.  It was a lot of work, but I loved every minute of it and I hope the children who own a copy of it will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

You can get a copy at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or from me (wvsmarties@yahoo.com). The ones I send out will be autographed and have a handmade bookmark with them. My price is $10 + $2.50 for postage and handling (continental US only).




Happy summer everyone! It has been a long and hard winter that didn't want to let go. But, I think warm weather is finally here to stay and I welcome it.