tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18660836553895757912024-03-10T03:25:05.390-05:00sheila renfroREAD. WRITE. REVISE. THEN GO SAILING.Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-12358728926606570822019-04-27T08:22:00.003-05:002019-04-27T08:33:20.068-05:00April 2019 Kidlitsoshpere Progressive Poem<br />
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This years Kidlitsosphere Progressive Poem is based off song lyrics.<br />
I chose Pointer Sister's song, "We Are Family" because I just returned from my sisters trip. Think of it: Five sisters and this year we invited our two aunts. Needless to say it was a blast. We went to Edisto Beach, SC. <br />
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<span style="color: black;"><em>Endless summer; I can see for miles…</em></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fun, fun, fun – and the whole world smiles.</em></span><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">No time for school- just time to play,</span></em><br />
<span style="color: black;"><em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we swim the laughin’ sea each and every day.</em><span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 1em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 27px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span> </span><br />
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<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">You had only to rise, lean from your window,</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">the curtain opens on a portrait of today.</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Kodachrome greens, dazzling blue,</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">it’s the chance of a lifetime,</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">make it last forever–ready? Set? Let’s Go!</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Come, we’ll take a walk, the sun is shining down</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Tomorrow’s here. It’s called today.</span></em></div>
<span style="background-color: white; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 1em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 27px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Gonna get me a piece o’ the sky.</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">I wanna fly like an eagle, to the sea</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">and there’s a tiger in my veins Oh,</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">won’t you come with me waltzing the waves, diving the deep?</span></em></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">It’s not easy to know</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">less than one minute old</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">we’re closer now than light years to go</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">To the land where the honey runs</span></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 1em; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 27px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; color: #3f3f3f; font-size: 100%; font-style: inherit; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">…we can be anyone we want to be…</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">There’s no stopping curiosity.</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing</span></em><br />
<em style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; font-size: 100%; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Looking for a sign of life</span></em></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">You’re simply the best</span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black;">Hold my hand and we’ll be free</span></i><br />
<em><span style="color: black;"></span></em><br />
<span style="background-color: #ddddee; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong><em>Have faith in you and the things you do</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ddddee; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong><em></em></strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ddddee; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong><em></em></strong></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ddddee; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #ddddee; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial"; font-size: 13.4px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Up next, our poem moves on to Liz @ </span><a href="https://elizabethsteinglass.com/blog/"><span style="color: black;">Elizabeth Steinglass</span></a><br />
<span style="color: black;">Here is a list of line sources:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L1 The Who, 'I Can See for Miles'/The Beach Boys, 'Endless Summer'</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L2 The Beach Boys, 'Fun, Fun, Fun'/Dean Martin, 'When You're Smiling'</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L3 The Jamies, 'Summertime, Summertime'</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L4 The Doors, Summer's Almost Gone'/Led Zeppelin 'Good Times, Bad Times'</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L5 Ray Bradbury, "Dandelion Wine"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L6 Joni Mitchell, "Chelsea Morning"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L7 Paul Simon, "Kodachrome," "Dazzling Blue"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L8 Dan Fogelberg, "Run for the Roses"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L9 Spice Girls, "Wannabe"/Will Smith, "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L10 The Beatles, "Good Day Sunshine"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L11 The Carpenters, "Top of the World"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L12 Lin-Manuel Miranda, "Underneath the Lovely London Sky" from Mary Poppins Returns</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L13 Carole King, "Hi-de-ho (That Old Sweet Roll)"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L14 Steve Miller, "Fly Like An Eagle"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L15 Don Felder, "Wild Life"L16 Nowleen Leeroy, "Song of the Sea" (lullaby)</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L 16 Nowleen Leeroy, "Song of the Sea" (lullaby)</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L17 Sara Bareilles, "She Used to Be Mine" from WAITRESS</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L18 Stevie Wonder, "Isn't She Lovely"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L19 R.E.M., "Find the River"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L20 Carole King, "Way Over Yonder"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L21 Mint Juleps, "Groovin" by the Young Rascals</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L22 Jack Johnson, "Upside Down"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L23 Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) "Rainbow Connection" from the Muppet Movie</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L24 The Foo Fighters, "Learning to Fly"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L25 Tina Turner, "The Best"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L26 The Partridge Family "Summer Days"</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">L27 The Pointer Sister's, "We Are Family"</span><br />
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-87456587515962182632018-11-11T16:19:00.002-06:002018-11-11T16:19:41.251-06:002018 Siesta Key Crystal Classic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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2018 Siesta Key Crystal Classic</div>
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International Sand Sculpting Festival</div>
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There were 8 teams of 2 and 8 solo sculptors.</div>
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I was able to meet Peter Vogelaar (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) and Delayne Corbett (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) and take a picture of them with their work of art.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb67AckT0O-zz4-v6CpSdqJRPRKpuVvPZ5HpTIz9aBOC-YAEftyLTjPgJSOSa5AFxij9ity2Et68sHG5p0sfKS-5inOkrclh7W-53mxTNur_Aa3vN8ayo2ZUGILQGMzCrBHm-j4pfrwVv/s1600/2018-11-11+14.57.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb67AckT0O-zz4-v6CpSdqJRPRKpuVvPZ5HpTIz9aBOC-YAEftyLTjPgJSOSa5AFxij9ity2Et68sHG5p0sfKS-5inOkrclh7W-53mxTNur_Aa3vN8ayo2ZUGILQGMzCrBHm-j4pfrwVv/s320/2018-11-11+14.57.14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There were also sculptures of BOOKS!</div>
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Here is <em>Alice in Wonderland.</em></div>
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I like what Delayne said about his ability to sculpt. He had mentors that encouraged him and he honed his skills by attending workshops and participating in competitions.</div>
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Writers are not that much different. We too must "hone" our craft and there are many workshops we can attend either in person or online and also many contests!</div>
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What are you doing to hone your craft?</div>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-74517686711609154592018-10-21T15:02:00.003-05:002018-10-21T15:02:28.718-05:00Market ResearchHave you ever written a story and sent it off either to a magazine or agent only to hear something like, "I'm sorry, but we have a work like that already?"<br />
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Market research is one of my least favorite things to do, but a necessary task that should be done if you are writing to be published.<br />
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Some of the ways that I have been able to research the market is to check with the library. What are some of the new releases?<br />
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I receive an email newsletter from the Sarasota County library that posts new arrivals. I can choose from several filters. <br />
Another tool used frequently is the library online search for books. I can log in from home and search for books by subject. If the book is not at my home library I can request a hold and they will send it to my home library for easy pickup.<br />
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<a href="https://www.hbook.com/" target="_blank">Horn Book Review</a>, <a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/indie-reviews/" target="_blank">Kirkus review</a>, <a href="https://www.publishersweekly.com/" target="_blank">Publisher's Weekly</a> are a few that offer best books for the year and you can filter to children's books.<br />
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Of course we all know Amazon is a great tool for researching subjects and can also read excerpts of the book to give you an idea of the slant the author has taken.<br />
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Another helpful tool to use is <a href="http://www.arbookfind.com/bookdetail.aspx?q=28441&l=EN&client=WKAR" target="_blank">Renaissance</a> Readers, this site tells you published date, number of pages and much more.<br />
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But why do a market research?<br />
You don't want to spend volumes of time and effort on a topic that has been recently published unless you can slant it differently. You will need to be able to show how your book is different and why it should be published.<br />
In my recent market research I have been looking at picture book biographies. I'm amazed at how focused they are, but still contain other information not known before or not highlighted before.<br />
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Some things to note in your Market research:<br />
Title<br />
Target age group<br />
Publisher<br />
Fiction or Nonfiction<br />
Total pages<br />
Chapters: How many pages to a chapter?<br />
Who is the main character?<br />
What POV is used?<br />
Prose or Poetry?<br />
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What are some of you market research techniques?<br />
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-78865217850263014812018-10-13T17:04:00.000-05:002018-10-13T17:04:25.262-05:00I'm Back!<br />
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I'm Back! Where have I been you ask? Well, let me tell you a story.<br />
I took a two year hiatus while I worked on my MBA. Yep that's right. I now have my Master of Business Administration. I learned so much and wrote so many papers I thought my fingers would never straighten out. Many early mornings and late nights. I still snuck in some reading though. Audio books on the way to work and back and reading a page or two to wind down before I closed my eyes for the night. Graduation will be December 15th, 2018. I am looking forward to meeting the women that were in our group project. We were scattered across the south and different time zones but we worked like a well oiled machine.<br />
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Some things I learned about myself was that I still loved to learn and could learn. I can do research and write exceptional research papers. I can get in the habit of getting up early to study or write and stay up late if needed.<br />
I can and will set aside time to write, research and edit.<br />
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Some other things that happened to me in the past two years was that I moved to Venice, FL and work at Sarasota. We have a swimming pool! and a place on the water.<br />
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But most important, I have a new granddaughter, my first grandchild, so I'm definitely over the moon.<br />
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I have updated and cleaned up my blog page and will post more often.<br />
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I have also signed up for another ICL Class and will be blogging about my experience with this. If you're looking for a good online writing class I highly recommend them.<br />
<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-81604948050775102452016-09-25T17:49:00.001-05:002016-09-25T17:49:40.694-05:00Congratulations to the Winners!Congratulations to the winners of the August Book giveaway:<br />
Rick Starkey has the After-Room by Maile Meloy and Jennifer Williamsfield has won the book Writer With a Day job.<br />
Please send me the addresses you would the book mailed to.<br />
Due to my day job and going back for my MBA I will not blogging regularly. I will try to squeeze in some blogs when I can because I still have lots of books to giveaway.<br />
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I'm thinking about asking for volunteers to review the books I have and they keep them for themselves.<br />
Leave a comment with your thoughts on this.<br />
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Thank you so much for following my blogs and hope to back soon!<br />
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Stay tuned:<br />
Sheila<br />
<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-16926459952625351512016-08-28T17:21:00.002-05:002016-08-28T17:21:20.777-05:00Interview with Doraine Bennett
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;">Doraine, it was so good to meet you and talk to you about how you got started writing nonfiction. Please tell us a bit about what you write.</span></div>
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I<em>
have written a lot of nonfiction. I think because I like the research
part of writing more than because I love nonfiction. I know that sounds a
bit strange, but I do like taking complicated ideas and writing them in
an understandable way. I worked as editor for a military magazine for
eight years and one of the challenges was to make all that complicated
strategy stuff accessible to an average reader. It was a fun challenge,
at least on the days I didn’t want to pull my hair out. </em></div>
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<em>I’ve
tried some picture books, but haven’t quite found the knack of getting a
story into 700 words or less. And I’ve written one novel which will
probably remain in a bottom drawer from now on. </em></div>
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<em>I
love writing poetry. I like forms and I like free verse. I especially
enjoy the Poetry Friday community in the Kidslitosphere and all the
poetry sharing each week.</em> </div>
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How long have you been writing?</div>
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<em>Officially
in the children’s world, since about 2002. Before that I wrote
newsletters. I’ve pretty much always kept a journal since my mother gave
me a five-year-diary when I was eight. I was totally absorbed in what I
ate for breakfast and what I made on spelling tests.</em> </div>
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<br />You have written for a series of nonfiction books: America, My Country American Heroes. Please tell us how you found out about this series.</div>
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<em>I
worked as a sales rep for Delaney Educational Enterprises for nine
years, selling books from about 150 publishers into schools. We met for
presentations from publishers on their new books for spring and fall
every year and I crossed paths with editors from several of those
educational publishers. The editor from State Standards Publishing was
one of those editors. She was a small publisher targeting state history
standards. I wrote a number of series for her. America My Country was
one of them. The educational market is a bit of a different animal from
traditional trade publishers. Few of them are looking for stand-alone
books. They want a series. It means more sales. It was a doorway into
the publishing world for me.</em> </div>
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How did you break into writing nonfiction.<br /></div>
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<em>It
was simply what the publisher wanted at the time, although I’ve always
loved history. I would have written most anything, but she needed
Georgia history standards. So that’s what I wrote. Second grade reading
level for Georgia. Tell this life story in 200 words or less using no
contractions, no introductory phrases and no words that register higher
than a third grade reading level. It was a bit like putting together a
puzzle.</em> </div>
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What tips can you give writers wanting to break into nonfiction?<br /></div>
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<em>You
have to love the research. You can’t be afraid to talk to experts. You
must keep exact records of where you got every tidbit of information.
And when you spit it all back out, it has to sound like a story.</em> </div>
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Did you have to supply the photos/images? What tips can you share for this?<br /></div>
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<em>I
have never been asked to supply the photos for any of my books,
although when I came across one that I thought especially good, I might
include the url for the editor to check. Interesting, when the proofs
came back with photos included, we often had to make revisions to the
text based on which photos she chose.</em></div>
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What are you working on now?<br /></div>
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<em>I
began working on a couple of poetry projects this year. I think I
needed a break from the educational world. Right now I’m working on a
historical novel in verse. It’s a big project and I’m only about half
way through. </em></div>
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<em>I recently read Walking on Water by Madeleine L’Engle. Here is an excerpt that has me pondering my work in progress:</em></div>
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<em>I
believe that each work of art, whether it is a work of great genius, or
something very small, comes to the artist and says, “Here I am. Enflesh
me. Give birth to me. And the artist either says, “My soul doth magnify
the Lord,” and willingly becomes the bearer of the work, or refuses;
but the obedient response is not necessarily a conscious one, and not
everyone has the humble, courageous obedience of Mary…then the job of
the artist, great or small, is to serve. The amount of the artist’s
talent is not what it’s about.</em></div>
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<em>I’m asking myself how I serve this work. We’ll see what happens.</em></div>
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<em>Thanks!</em></div>
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Doraine Bennett<br /><a href="http://www.dorainebennett.com/">www.dorainebennett.com</a><br />www.dorireads.blogspot.com<br />bennett.doraine@gmail.com</div>
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<br /><br /><br />Please leave a comment or enter through rafflecoptor to win The After-Room by Maile Meloy or Writer with a Day Job by Aine Greaney<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-46839211072323862032016-08-21T12:17:00.000-05:002016-08-21T12:17:16.207-05:00Writer with a Day Job by Aine Greaney<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">August book giveaway by Aine Greaney<br />
<br /><br />
Let's face it not all of us can afford to quit our day job and write full time. My day job has benefits that I just can't afford to lose at this time in my life. But that doesn't mean I can't have a writing career too.<br />
Sometimes I do struggle to find the time or have difficulty looking for the right word, finding the right market to tap, or just having time to research!<br />
If you are working full time and want to write too, then this is the book for you.<br />
<br /><br />
At 233 pages, Aine Greaney gives you lots of resources and encouragement to keep doing what you love. It is divided into five sections:<br />
Section 1: Getting Started<br />
Section 2: Let's Go - Start the habit of daily writing<br />
Section 3:Integrating Writing into your work day<br />
Section 4:Making Your Writing Better: Reviewing and Revising<br />
Section 5: Twenty Author Interviews<br />
It also includes an index.<br />
<br /><br />
Writer Beware tips are scattered throughout the text, lists of free resources with links are posted and thoughts on rising early or writing after work. <br />
<br /><br />
I love the section on integrating writing in your work day. The titles of the chapters in this section are:<br />
Chapter 8: Drive Time: thinking out loud on the Road<br />
Tutorial 3: Creating memorable characters<br />
Chapter 9: All Aboard! Turn your train ride or bus ride into writing time. <br />
Tutorial 4: Writing Great Setting <br />
Chapter 10: Before, During and After Work: Grab your writing time when you can<br />
Chapter 11: Writers, Take Back Your Lunch Hour ( I don't have an hour)<br />
Tutorial 5: Writing Dialogue<br />
Chapter 12: Truth and Fiction: Writing About Other People- Including Your Colleagues.<br />
<br /><br />
If you would like to win this book please leave a comment or enter through the Rafflecoptor.<br />
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See you next week!</td></tr>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-65718561579852269522016-08-14T13:31:00.003-05:002016-08-14T13:31:58.735-05:00The After-Room by Maile Meloy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jS5lem0M1tnlY7I76qyNQOTBnn8MSBCy9mXTZZ9Uo5gnjUkFMXwyAczYZkgXL7r8pq2E3xD_2Rrm3kYy0eYgfdbmZyjRenOMFDZnoWpJz3exrM7DTNLpwoZBCynBf4xZ1Lt45Vs46QOI/s1600/51IHKWGB6WL._SX329_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jS5lem0M1tnlY7I76qyNQOTBnn8MSBCy9mXTZZ9Uo5gnjUkFMXwyAczYZkgXL7r8pq2E3xD_2Rrm3kYy0eYgfdbmZyjRenOMFDZnoWpJz3exrM7DTNLpwoZBCynBf4xZ1Lt45Vs46QOI/s320/51IHKWGB6WL._SX329_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<em>The After-Room</em> by Maile Meloy is the third and last book in the Apothecary trilogy. If you haven't read these books, then you have a surprise waiting for you! These books are a mixture of science-fiction and magic. The Apothecary is a long established society of herbalists who use plants to do all sorts of things from turning yourself into a bird so you can fly to stopping a nuclear bomb.<br />
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In this third book, Benjamin is desperately trying to communicate with his dead father. Or is he really dead? Is he able to free his father from the After-Room as Benjamin calls it? His friend Janie Scott is worried about Benjamin. What if he goes to the After-room and is unable to come back?<br />
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Then on the other side of the world Jin Lo with the help of Ned Maddox, is trying to stop a madman from blowing up China.<br />
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Add to all this historical fiction! This is an unbeatable combination.<br />
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If you would like a chance to win this third book in the series, please leave a comment, tweet or enter using the Rafflecoptor.<br />
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Also, I am waiting on Alana White to claim her prize <em>A Hitch at the Fairmont</em> by Jim Averbeck.<br />
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See you next week when I talk about the book <em>Writer with a Day Job</em> by Aine Greaney.<br />
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-46743839111745360862016-08-07T12:37:00.003-05:002016-08-07T12:37:32.829-05:00Congratulations to July Winners Alana White and Nancy K AllenCongratulations to Nancy K. Allen for winning the book <em>Writing Down the Bones</em> by Natalie Goldberg and to Alana White for winning <em>A Hitch at the Fairmont</em> by Jim Averbeck.<br />
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Please send me the addresses you would like the books shipped to. My e-mail is <a href="mailto:Sheila_renfro@cox.net">Sheila_renfro@cox.net</a>.<br />
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Thank you for visiting my blog.<br />
For those that didn't win this don't despair! Here are the title for August:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRavoi5jzjk8dgKSMDJL14qFBDg9l873dKKjamR8MteFo7a8DACVzb1FHyM0cdKDZDQ-la6DWG4G9yqES6cHbO_bO1s1hE2u82OREr07yUKA320saJI6Dg2tjWQWVysnkFTPAWsu64tgHv/s1600/IMG_0320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRavoi5jzjk8dgKSMDJL14qFBDg9l873dKKjamR8MteFo7a8DACVzb1FHyM0cdKDZDQ-la6DWG4G9yqES6cHbO_bO1s1hE2u82OREr07yUKA320saJI6Dg2tjWQWVysnkFTPAWsu64tgHv/s1600/IMG_0320.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Writer with a Day</em> Job by Aine Greaney and <em>After Room</em> by Maile Meloy.<br />
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More about these books next week, but you can enter to win by leaving a comment or entering through the rafflecoptor.<br />
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See you next week!<br />
Sheila </td></tr>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-60720907927876405412016-07-30T15:26:00.002-05:002016-07-30T15:26:17.493-05:00Critques are not for Cowards<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBOtkmHJrODo8nJoXl3m70QlXMVnDwpn_qcOCIruJ4D6LdS_Xtf0GonTEJFnEG1zG9kHObOnxdpA483CtphXSWnAKcXOag4AkkHe3C6Izv2XyYkNlCa3xdfk54IJAQz9d2gtWG4iBPhQ6/s1600/covered+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBOtkmHJrODo8nJoXl3m70QlXMVnDwpn_qcOCIruJ4D6LdS_Xtf0GonTEJFnEG1zG9kHObOnxdpA483CtphXSWnAKcXOag4AkkHe3C6Izv2XyYkNlCa3xdfk54IJAQz9d2gtWG4iBPhQ6/s1600/covered+bridge.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irene Latham on left and Patricia Weaver on right. Writing buddies</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We've all heard the phrase: "Parenting is not for Cowards." Well neither is critiquing.<br />
Here are some tips whether you're giving or receiving.<br />
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For the Giver:<br />
Give your reaction to the story not YOUR opinion.<br />
Avoid saying things like this was weak. Instead give some constructive feedback like:<br />
I'm having a hard time picturing this.<br />
I'm confused by...<br />
Also give some positive comments on what you thought the writer did really well.<br />
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For the receiver:<br />
Find a group with like interests. Where do you find them? I suggest writing conferences or local writing groups. If there isn't one in your area, start one. <a href="http://www.scbwi.org/">SCBWI</a> is a great organizations that puts writers and illustrators together.<br />
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Ask yourself if you are ready for this? You have written what you hope is a perfect story or article.<br />
First put on your helmet and a shield wouldn't hurt either unless you have a thick skin.<br />
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What you need to remember when getting feedback is "Did I get my message across?" Listen for the responses. <br />
Did your character show the expected reaction in this scene?<br />
Was the character's action predictable or out of character? There can be a fine line here. You don't want to be too predictable.<br />
Did it make sense?<br />
What expectations did you want the reader to have? Did you accomplish this?<br />
At what point did the reader lose interest?<br />
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Did you feel the urge to explain why the character did what he did when getting feedback? Don't say anything just make a note of it and revisit it later. If your not sure of some of the comments ask them to clarify.<br />
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For example I am taking Allyson Levitt's online picture book class, and in lesson two our assignment was to write a question and answer for our manuscript. If you have someone that can read your story, ask them what they think the question and answer is. Mine did not answer the question I was asking. Taking the feedback I was able to focus my story more where it needed to go.<br />
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So that leads me to the next tip: Be flexible. Perhaps your story is many layered, and you could break it down into more than one story. <em>Yippee! </em>Now you have another project to look forward too.<br />
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This was excerpted from the article by Steven James in the <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/">Writer's Digest</a> September 2016 issue.<br />
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Tomorrow is the last day to enter for the July book giveaways. Leave a comment or use the Rafflecoptor to enter.<br />
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Next week the winners and August books will be announced. If you know of a good craft book, let me know. I do know that Janice Hardy has some coming out that I'm looking forward to reviewing soon.<br />
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See you next week!Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-22395125701346162712016-07-24T11:49:00.000-05:002016-07-24T12:49:06.486-05:00Writing Contests!Here's a sampler of writing contests I have found and participated in:<br />
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The <a href="http://creativewritinginstitute.com/">Creative Writing Institute</a> has a themed contest which opened July 15 through September 15. Click on the link for more information. there is a $5 entry fee. It must have this sentence in the story <em><strong>"Explain how that happened."</strong></em> <br />
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1500-2000 words.<br />
I have taken several of their writing classes too and I believe this is a good one to enter.<br />
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<a href="http://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php">WOW Women on Writing</a> This one is open now and closes August 31st. Open prompt 250 -750 words. They also offer writing classes and I believe you will recognize some of the instructors. You can also pay a little extra for a critique of your story. The entry fee is $10 and limited to 300 entrants.<br />
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I have taken some of their writing courses and they are very good too.<br />
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<a href="http://24hourshortstorycontest.com/">Writers Weekly 24 hour Fall</a> contest is September 17 . Entry fee $5. This is a fun contest. On September 17 you will be given the theme and word count. You will have 24 hours to write and submit your story. <br />
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There are 89 prizes and this too is limited to 500 entrants. I have entered this before and have come up with some interesting new stories. <br />
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However, if you are a resident <strong><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="color: #404040;">of Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Tennessee.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #404040;"> </span></span></span></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Your state may prohibit your participation in skills-based contests that have an entry fee. If your state prohibits these types of contests, please do not enter. If you wish to participate anyway, your $5 fee will be considered a participation fee but, unfortunately, you will not be eligible to win a prize.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="http://pockets.upperroom.org/write-for-us/annual-fiction-contest/">Pockets Annual Fiction</a> writing contest is open until August 15. there is no theme and no entry fee! Word count is 750-1000. Click on the link for more information.</span><br />
<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">This just in from Charles Suddeth: <a href="http://www.greenriverwriters.org/contest2.html">Green River</a> Writers contest is open until September 30th.<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">I am a Midsouth member & also the Contest Chairman for Green
River Writers of Louisville. For 2016 we have about $1600 total in
prizes in 2 grand prizes and 14 prose & poetry prizes. I
sponsored the only category dedicated to children's writing, but
virtually all of the categories are open to children. T</span>his has a low entry fee.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Hope you enjoy and will try some of these out. Let me know if you have participated in any of these and your thoughts on them. Also please feel free to add any other contests that you think are good for writers or illustrators.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Don't forget to leave a comment or enter through rafflecoptor for a chance to win: <em>Writing Down the Bones </em>by Natalie Goldberg or <em>A Hitch at the Fairmont</em> by Jim Averbeck.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">See you next week!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; display: inline; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 16px/25.6px "lato" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Sheila</span><br />
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-22822382746105787262016-07-18T06:01:00.000-05:002016-07-18T06:01:09.145-05:00Jim Averbeck presents A Hitch at the Fairmont<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzv8hjanUTxfRiwJfwYoB60hI2i0WlDVovJ4DE0LwWMu6RacrReL3v6y4M3UjVxs_TRgvnUzM4Wu4RTdokweroRnjZeIHnIrDOx9Y5jEL9Fd9Ii7t0kmSqMfk79LHUNvF2sFaCI1ZNCnHV/s1600/518XUTIQDzL._SX336_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzv8hjanUTxfRiwJfwYoB60hI2i0WlDVovJ4DE0LwWMu6RacrReL3v6y4M3UjVxs_TRgvnUzM4Wu4RTdokweroRnjZeIHnIrDOx9Y5jEL9Fd9Ii7t0kmSqMfk79LHUNvF2sFaCI1ZNCnHV/s1600/518XUTIQDzL._SX336_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div>
Jim Averbeck is an illustrator as well as a children's author. I was fortunate enough to attend a SCBWI workshop in Orlando this summer where he presented how he wrote this book. The research he went into not only for the Fairmont Hotel but also about Alfred Hitchcock was inspiring.<br />
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Averbeck shows us the details about how Hitchcock uses storyboards to direct the audience attention to where he wants it go.<br />
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He also brings to life how an artists creates: <em>There was that thrilling moment when pencil caught paper and dragging it across was like striking a match. And like fire the pencil burned the paper with black lines and curves. Small bits of lead popped and leapt behind as it tracked along with a satisfying scratch.</em><br />
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The story is about a boy who goes to live with his aunt in the Fairmont Hotel after his mother drives off a cliff and kills herself. Alfred Hitchcock just happens to be staying there too.<br />
When Jack's aunt is kidnapped, he ropes Mr. Hitchcock into helping him find and rescue her.<br />
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Well that's all I'm going to tell you about that because this has more twists and turns than a roller coaster and I don't want to spoil the ending for you.<br />
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For a chance to win this book in this month's giveaway, please leave a comment or enter through the rafflecoptor.<br />
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See you next week!<br />
<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-69826150089652937242016-07-10T13:07:00.000-05:002016-07-10T13:07:12.684-05:00Book Giveaway-Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyfKjrSa5T-Bo_mQCxcphBsOznUYZcD539kHLWwgsxKm4xoYhP8xWgIk2MTl0xhmhE1QwYpDoPpXPUBq2ktbANcsuTnVWbyyZz8mLG6JbHxeMq1O8OwuVP7ttRjZgNhE_kosZ07tBH6E-/s1600/51NbU6v6lML._SX317_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyfKjrSa5T-Bo_mQCxcphBsOznUYZcD539kHLWwgsxKm4xoYhP8xWgIk2MTl0xhmhE1QwYpDoPpXPUBq2ktbANcsuTnVWbyyZz8mLG6JbHxeMq1O8OwuVP7ttRjZgNhE_kosZ07tBH6E-/s1600/51NbU6v6lML._SX317_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" /></a></div>
<em>Writing Down the Bones- Freeing the Writer Within</em> by<a href="http://nataliegoldberg.com/"> Natalie Goldberg</a> is a classic and a good book for beginners and seasoned writers.<br />
This book has sold millions of copies and translated to many languages. First released in 1986, it still holds true to writing for today.<br />
This book is an excellent encourager and stimulates the creative process.<br />
In the epilogue of her book she states: "The biggest struggle was not with the actual writing, but working out the fear of success, the fear of failure, ..."<br />
I have heard many writers that have successful published book say pretty much the same thing every time about the their current work in progress.<br />
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I like the exercise she gives in the chapter: <em>The Action of a Sentence</em>.<br />
Fold a paper in half long ways and write a noun, then on the other side think of occupations that go with the noun and write a verb. Open the page and see what new sentences can be made with the different combinations.<br />
I love the "My blood buzzes like a hornet's nest"<br />
If you feel your writing is getting stale with "he ran, she walked" this may be a good exercise to try.<br />
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If you would like a chance to win this book please leave a comment below or use the rafflecoptor.<br />
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See you next week!<br />
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-62131383635764291782016-07-03T11:52:00.001-05:002016-07-03T11:52:27.218-05:00Winners of Book Giveaway <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoSbIx9LhFg4CKsemFPsHjSKsE4jmn6MYlrCshBmy0Av4eE64TsPhL-LyyQN2pPW_Qy5N1Z4NtasABfmhux3tdQ33OqCjHNWQCHyxPP_6mM27WIYINvhn763OVplP0tUmi218TtZEcCzE/s1600/51kIIw9ip1L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoSbIx9LhFg4CKsemFPsHjSKsE4jmn6MYlrCshBmy0Av4eE64TsPhL-LyyQN2pPW_Qy5N1Z4NtasABfmhux3tdQ33OqCjHNWQCHyxPP_6mM27WIYINvhn763OVplP0tUmi218TtZEcCzE/s320/51kIIw9ip1L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Congratulations to Joyce Lansky on winning The Legend of Ghost Dog Island!<br />
Please send me the address you want this book mailed to.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPS43GPchR7i5tcO-kRdhSttmp0vkMDcUGqB4-gaRyv6nR88h5mkn_1immPZKQFcDpVyXfXV8Auj1fxLH-wFl2edHqPGuKD2V0BOPgOtZPL_UaHRL47wZt-RG6jVeG7ntxbgjkuPWnpXDy/s1600/413ZWY5YS3L._SX315_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPS43GPchR7i5tcO-kRdhSttmp0vkMDcUGqB4-gaRyv6nR88h5mkn_1immPZKQFcDpVyXfXV8Auj1fxLH-wFl2edHqPGuKD2V0BOPgOtZPL_UaHRL47wZt-RG6jVeG7ntxbgjkuPWnpXDy/s320/413ZWY5YS3L._SX315_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Congratulations to Angie Quantrel! You have won The Writing book. Please email your address.<br />
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Happy Fourth of July! Have a safe one and donate blood if you are able!<br />
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See you next week I unveil the July book giveaways!<br />
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-83539504204797589182016-06-26T15:11:00.000-05:002016-06-26T15:11:15.081-05:00The Writing Book by Kate Grenville This months Book Giveaway and Contest!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em>The Writing Book</em> by Kate Grenville, is the other book I'm giving away this month along with <em>The Legend of Ghost Dog Island</em> by Rita Monette.<br />
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<em>The Writing Book</em> is a workbook for fiction writers. It is full of exercises to stimulate your creativity.<br />
Each chapter except the last one has examples. The last chapter is all about submitting a manuscript. One of the things I like about this book is that it addresses organization. Yes, I want to know how other writers keep their work in progress organized. <br />
I do mine by keeping a WIP folder on the desktop of my computer. Inside that folder is another folder for "obsolete" for the stuff that I cut, but not ready to discard just yet. <br />
Chapter Two is about making piles, the advantages of piles and ways to sort piles. <br />
There are chapters on POV, characters, description, voice, dialogue, revision, and design.<br />
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If you want to enter to win this book please leave a comment of how you organize your work in progress.<br />
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****Contest****<br />
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I just saw this contest in the Sub It Club Facebook page June 2016 Contest Roundup:<br />
It the <a href="https://larawillard.com/70pit/">#PG70PIT</a> contest. I've heard of first pages but this is the first time I've heard of submitting page #70. I don't know much about this contest, but it does look interesting so I thought I would pass it along. If you know anything about this contest (good or bad) please share in comments below.<br />
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See you next week when winners of the book giveaway will be announced.<br />
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-70655540534934851612016-06-19T15:08:00.003-05:002016-06-19T15:10:13.589-05:00Happy Father's Day and Book Giveaway<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wiley (Eddie) Brazil on right<br />
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My father has been gone for more than a few years now, but I still think about him and the things he taught me.</div>
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Despite only having an eighth grade education, he didn't let that stop him from following his dreams. He was a hard worker and always provided for us six kids and mom.</div>
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Here he is working at Cleveland Cap Screw in Ohio. He left this job and moved his family back to Alabama where he drove an eighteen wheeler. He wasn't afraid to try new things and he was always working on machines. There wasn't anything my dad couldn't fix!</div>
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Love you dad!</div>
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Now to tell you about another girl who loved her dad. Nikki Landry loved her Papa. He knew everything and was a great fisherman. One thing though, Nikki was tired of moving. Her papa would move their houseboat when the fishing got bad and they would move on to richer waters.</div>
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This time when they moved she resolved not to make any new friends because she would just have to leave them behind when her papa moved them again. </div>
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Their boat was anchored across from Ghost Dog Island. Nikki tells her papa about the howling she hears and asks him what it could be. Papa tells Nikki the legend of Ghost Dog Island how some monster lures dogs there and then turns them into ghosts. Nikki doesn't believe in ghosts but when her dog comes up missing, she's determined to rescue him.</div>
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Nikki does make new friends despite her vow not to, and with their help she solves the mystery of the howling and saves a woman too!</div>
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This is a great mystery by Rita Monette and she also did a great job with the illustrations! </div>
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To enter to win this book or <em>The Writing Book</em> by Kate Grenville, use the Rafflecoptor or leave a comment.</div>
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Next week I'll tell you about The Writing book.</div>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-87774728038005771512016-06-12T15:21:00.000-05:002016-06-12T15:21:42.399-05:00Writing Tips Gleaned from Florida SCBWI Summer ConferenceJust got back from the Florida SCBWI Summer Conference and this is the first year I made it to the Silent Auction and Elixir Mixer. <br />
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Look what I won the auction! Thank you Tara Powers for donating this beautiful birdhouse.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back<br />
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I bought this for a special friend who will remain nameless. She will get it in July for birthday, but her birthday is in August.</div>
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Here are some things I will get to keep even though they are shared here.</div>
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<strong>From Tracey Adams of <a href="http://www.adamsliterary.com/">Adams Literary</a> </strong>shared this about character:</div>
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Explore your character. Look online for character studies. </div>
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What is your character afraid of?</div>
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What does he daydream about?</div>
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Use Pinterest to choose items that inspire you or remind you of your character.</div>
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Draw a picture of him/her.</div>
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Draw a map or legend of location. The setting could be a character.</div>
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How would your character finish these lines?</div>
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You need to know____</div>
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You can't know____</div>
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The truth is____</div>
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The first time____</div>
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I would die for ____</div>
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<a href="http://jimaverbeck.com/">Jim Averbeck</a> talked about mystery vs suspense. </div>
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His book Hitch is a historical fiction about a boy whose aunt is kidnapped and he teams up with Alfred Hitchcock to find her.</div>
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Mystery is more of an intellectual who dunit and suspense is more of an emotional process. </div>
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There is a difference between shocking/thrilling which last a few seconds to drawing out a scene to build tension. A few movie clips were shown to emphasize the meaning.</div>
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Four things needed to build suspense are:</div>
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1. <strong>Audience awareness</strong>. an example was giving of a man talking about baseball (boring) and a bomb exploded and obliterated everyone. But if you told (show) the audience the that there is a bomb and it was going off in five minutes then it builds the suspense.</div>
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2. <strong>Ticking bomb</strong> see above. you can increase by adding another ticking bomb.</div>
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3. <strong>Stakes</strong>- what are the stakes if the bomb goes off?</div>
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4. <strong>Disempower your protagonist</strong>. Put your character in a position where he can't do anything. This can be done by having a power shift between MC and another character, dwindling options, dramatic irony</div>
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<a href="http://www.lindasuepark.com/">Linda Sue Park</a> gave several revision tips. She said she doesn't like books on how to write with the exception of authors who write about how they write. Don't worry, I'll still review and giveaway writing craft books here. She said the best way to learn to write is to read hundreds of books.</div>
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When you get stuck writing ask your self "What does he want in this scene?"</div>
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Tips:</div>
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1. Read story out loud in the voice your character would use.</div>
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2. Widows and orphans are when there is one word left on a line before a new paragraph starts. Try to eliminate a word in the paragraph to bring it up. No fair adding words!</div>
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3. Change the font and critique it. This helps to fool your mind and help you be more objective.</div>
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4. For Voice: Choose a sentence and rewrite it as many different ways you can.. You may be surprised with what you come up with.</div>
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5. Copy and paste a section and then delete. Rewrite it. Is it shorter? Only the important things will be left ( most of the time).</div>
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6. Start at the end of manuscript and work back. Look for nouns. If the noun isn't in the first 2/3 thirds of the book it needs to go or be added in first 2/3.</div>
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Hope this helps!</div>
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Don't forget to enter to win The Legend of Ghost Dog Island or The Writing Book.</div>
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-11892010573325964202016-06-05T12:55:00.002-05:002016-06-05T12:55:58.994-05:00The Winners of May Book Giveaways<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The winner of Chapter after Chapter by Heather Sellers is Donna Volkenannt.</div>
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The winner of the Wollstonecraft Detective Agency No1 The Case of the Missing Moonstone is Renee Grandinetti.</div>
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If you didn't win, don't despair! Here are this months books:</div>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-59307905332537028342016-05-29T12:09:00.000-05:002016-05-29T12:09:16.456-05:00Blog I'm Following: Nancy Kelly Allen-Writing Workshop<div class="titlewrapper" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: #88bb22; color: black; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 13px/normal tahoma, "Trebuchet MS", lucida, helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<a href="http://nancykellyallen.blogspot.com/">Nancy Kelly Allen-Writing Workshop</a></h1>
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<span>Welcome to my blog. This blog is all about writing tips for writers and teachers of writing. Each week I will address one aspect of writing. Occasionally, I will post tips about no-fee contests and calls for submissions by publishers. If you would like to know more about me or my books, check out my website at <a href="http://www.nancykellyallen.com/">www.nancykellyallen.com</a> (This is from Nancy's blog, you can click on link to visit her blog.)</span></div>
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<span>Why I follow Nancy's blog:</span></div>
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<span>Nancy has lots of experience writing for children, and her blog caters to those like me that want to improve their writing.</span></div>
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<span>Each week Nancy posts articles on how she writes, or just gives me something to inspire me to write.</span></div>
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<span>This weeks blog is about where we find inspiration!</span></div>
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<span>Nancy mentions calls for submissions for magazines. These are broken down into call for young writers and adult writers. She also list contests!</span></div>
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<span>I love contests and many of these are no -fees!</span></div>
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<span>So if you are like me and always looking for ways to improve or be inspired, check out her blog and tell her Sheila sent you!</span></div>
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<span>If you have a favorite blog you follow, please list it the comments. It can even be your own!</span></div>
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<span>Don't forget to enter the contest for May's book giveaways. Winners will be announced next week.</span></div>
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-69244040410963291232016-05-22T12:28:00.000-05:002016-05-22T12:28:04.861-05:00Chapter after Chapter by Heather Sellers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is one of the books I'm giving away this month. It is fast becoming a favorite and will be hard to part with. So you know what I do when that happens? Buy another copy of course!</div>
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Instead of outlining this book and telling you all about the goodies inside, I'm going to focus on chapter four. Why? Because this is an area I struggle with and am really excited about learning how to do this and maybe just adding my take on it too.</div>
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So what is Chapter Four? The Book 100. In other words, read 100 books, which I have already done thank you very much. Ahh but I didn't read them as a writer! I got so wrapped up in the book I forgot to study it. So the book 100 is making note cards of books you chose to use as mentor texts (another thing I'm learning and will feature more in a later blog so stay tuned.)</div>
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Read books of the genre you write. What did they do well? Was there great dialogue? Did they do suspense in a dramatic way, building up to a climax? </div>
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How did the book start? Chapter endings leave you not wanting to put the book down?</div>
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Heather suggests you keep this information you mined on note cards and have this information on them for quick referral:</div>
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<strong>Title of book:</strong></div>
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<strong>Book in a sentence [just to remember it]:</strong></div>
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<strong>Book in a paragraph [pretend it's your book and you're explaining it to an agent who has just asked you, "What's your book about?"]:</strong> ( I find this a great way to prep for pitching. It's so much easier form me to tell you about someone else's book than mine.)</div>
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<strong>Best thing about this book:</strong> (Here is where I'm putting in my 2 cents worth. I'm playing around with color coding the index cards for things like plot, character, dialogue. You get the drift? So if I'm beating my brains trying to remember which book that has good example of dialogue, or the mystery that built suspense to a sitting on the edge of my chair to see what happens next, I can just look for the color in my box). </div>
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<strong>List of memorable, useful techniques [like (I'm inserting my own version here) transitions; page 67"; good dialogue between children, page 8"):</strong></div>
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Leave a comment to books you have used as mentor texts.</div>
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Hope this helps and don't forget to register for a chance to win this book. USA residents only.</div>
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See you next week.</div>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-50141893829711218522016-05-15T10:56:00.000-05:002016-05-15T10:56:01.930-05:00The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Moonstone book reviewThe Wollstonecraft Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Moonstone by <a href="http://jordanstratford.com/">Jordan Stratford</a> and illustrated by <a href="http://kelmurphy.com/">Kelly Murphy</a>.<br />
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Published in 2015 by <a href="http://randomhousekids.com/">Yearling</a>. 203 pages.</div>
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Yearling Mystery ages 8-12 </div>
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US $6.99 </div>
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ISBN: 978-0-385-75443-9</div>
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Jordan Stratford writes a unique historical mystery in that the characters are historical and all else is fiction. Kelly Murphy depicts the year 1826 with beautiful black and white drawings.<br />
Two protagonists join forces to form The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency.<br />
Lady Ada Byron, in real life, a mathematician and daughter of the poet Lord Byron.<br />
Mary Godwin, the author of <em>Frankenstein </em>and the daughter of feminist writer, Mary Wollstonecraft.<br />
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It all starts when Mary goes to be tutored with Lady Ada Byron.<br />
Ada is just weird. She doesn't pay attention during lessons and often corrects the teacher when she does stay in the classroom. Mary is amazed and a little fearful. If the tutor gets canned as so many before, will she be able to continue her studies?<br />
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Ada notices that Mary has a knack for observation, picking up on peoples feelings, and begins to understand more about the outside world.<br />
When the tutor introduces her to the newspaper, she is enthralled, but also disturbed that clever criminals would not be caught. Would the criminals be smarter than Ada? Ada doesn't think so and sets out to prove it.<br />
So Ada only eleven and Mary, fourteen, decide to be "secret " detectives. they put an advertisement in the paper and get their first case. A young woman's maid confesses to stealing a necklace. The woman doesn't believe her and hires Mary and Ada and to find the real culprit.<br />
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I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do. this is the first in a series. I am also offering this book in this months giveaway. Enter by using the rafflecoptor or by leaving a comment. USA residents only.<br />
See you next week when I review the book Chapter after Chapter by Heather Sellers.<br />
<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-87676381634573049782016-05-08T14:01:00.000-05:002016-05-08T14:01:05.484-05:00Happy Mother's Day!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;">Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, whether they be aunts, sisters, or friends.<br />
If you would like to share a tribute to your mother please leave a comment with a link to your blog or Facebook page or wherever you have it posted.<br />
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This is year is our first year without our mom for Mother's day. When my mother-in-law passed away, it was hard, but now that they are both gone it is doubly hard.<br />
One of the things I would like to thank my mother for is that she instilled in us to be friends to each other. To help each other when needed, to be there.<br />
I know that she would be proud of us now, it didn't take a lifetime for her to see her girls grow up and not only be sisters, but friends as well.<br />
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I would also like to say I had the best mother-in-law. My husband tells me often how much she and I are alike, and I'm proud to say this is a compliment and not insult!<br />
We would often commiserate together on how awful our husbands were and end up laughing about it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTw7jLiB3xjDibXkcS8RSLK4jmSfJJ94pxuqYBYh35RY2eBEcmOp22iW0DE1XIWc2ykAojn9UAtvy08WT6Okt3mqmA1DQuaX93kIViTSN7nTXtShb0b4618-RH7hzPnbzGY9k3Da34QG9F/s1600/100_0169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTw7jLiB3xjDibXkcS8RSLK4jmSfJJ94pxuqYBYh35RY2eBEcmOp22iW0DE1XIWc2ykAojn9UAtvy08WT6Okt3mqmA1DQuaX93kIViTSN7nTXtShb0b4618-RH7hzPnbzGY9k3Da34QG9F/s320/100_0169.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, and sisters Sherry, June, Angela, and Glenda after a homemade Ice Cream party.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjAYtq-T_g8uSipHDs4Fwj1scNNTNxjj34RPyLN9rmOn4jCvaVhdqweHOKTzqKNm6313OhqjDLCyjXFulpnPyQ3frA3fLDj7lak4YSvJIKlUFzs5UrBxjzKouY-Wrfg851bSNaG3rUwcB/s1600/2015-05-24+17.59.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXjAYtq-T_g8uSipHDs4Fwj1scNNTNxjj34RPyLN9rmOn4jCvaVhdqweHOKTzqKNm6313OhqjDLCyjXFulpnPyQ3frA3fLDj7lak4YSvJIKlUFzs5UrBxjzKouY-Wrfg851bSNaG3rUwcB/s200/2015-05-24+17.59.31.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">me and sister-in-law, Evelyn Dawson who helped counsel our children when they wouldn't listen to us.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: Roi Solberg, Right: Kathleen Leech sitting Marie Renfro My mother-in-law and her two sister.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my mom on her 85th birthday.<br />
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-43271548778651980992016-05-01T14:36:00.002-05:002016-05-01T15:32:49.796-05:00Winners of Book Giveaway New Book Giveaway Announced <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Special thank you to <a href="http://irenelatham.com/">Irene Latham</a> for donating her books to the April Book Giveaway.<br />
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If you are interested in doing the same, email me at <a href="mailto:Sheila_renfro@cox.net">Sheila_renfro@cox.net</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bugVrYYwvbjuWH8grt5xJiWJoOkMkQWhpE7RE5-wGaIepib_QEljXKWJ1APX5iAr3fwX5HY1uEr8Q_901NswEGug147pRPnjOOyzjbaGaacSmw9v26ZDV0YbjsibHztlcRmjISsloC0m/s1600/51l8Hc6L0UL._SY479_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bugVrYYwvbjuWH8grt5xJiWJoOkMkQWhpE7RE5-wGaIepib_QEljXKWJ1APX5iAr3fwX5HY1uEr8Q_901NswEGug147pRPnjOOyzjbaGaacSmw9v26ZDV0YbjsibHztlcRmjISsloC0m/s320/51l8Hc6L0UL._SY479_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kristi Veitenheimer winner!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathy Hall winner!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virgina Rinkel winner!<br />
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May Book Giveaway</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May Book Giveaway<br />
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Next Sunday is Mother's Day so I would like to open next weeks blog to everyone to honor their mother.<br />
Please leave a comment with your blog site if you have posted something in honor of Mother's Day.<br />
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Thank you and to all the mothers out there, hope you have a nice Mother's Day.<br />
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-18480042270049852172016-04-29T05:09:00.002-05:002016-04-29T05:09:42.876-05:002016 Progressive Poem<br />
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It all started in the year of 2012. Irene Latham 's idea to celebrate National Poetry Month ( April), with a blog hop from one exciting blog to the next. Across oceans and back we visit each other's blog to see what the next line will be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">This year has been an exciting odyssey and today I humbly add my line.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype";">First I counted all the syllables in each line to find a pattern besides the obvious rhyme. Then I read and re-read to get the feel of where this has been going. To me the theme seemed to be welcoming Spring. What could be better than a picture of new life in the Spring. I took this picture at the Homosassa State park and even though the line said <span style="color: blue;">Yet I fear I am no kite or bird– <span style="color: black;">There were a lot of references to flying, soaring things that birds do. So maybe this little fellow doesn't realize he is a bird yet and can fly and soar, but he definitely looks like he is dancing!</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">West Wind Dreams of Taking Shape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A squall of hawk wings stirs the sky.<br /> A hummingbird holds and then hies.<br />“If I could fly, I’d choose to be<br /> Sailing through a forest of poet-trees.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00I8-T6g7WLs9eyJJApE4AiabIs26mKAEg3FwYwkSECW9ekanxQiUzfrR0aucL_lU7Oqtisvgt2Wd0aWK56ks03uk8359TE3hASuhvRyx6_XfGKnAdrG2kJDtJO8UVJkgMstz98ghjDl3/s1600/2015-04-09+12.38.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj00I8-T6g7WLs9eyJJApE4AiabIs26mKAEg3FwYwkSECW9ekanxQiUzfrR0aucL_lU7Oqtisvgt2Wd0aWK56ks03uk8359TE3hASuhvRyx6_XfGKnAdrG2kJDtJO8UVJkgMstz98ghjDl3/s320/2015-04-09+12.38.19.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A cast of crabs engraves the sand<br /> Delighting a child’s outstretched hand.<br />"If I could breathe under the sea,<br /> I’d dive, I’d dip, I’d dance with glee."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">A clump of crocuses craves the sun.<br /> Kites soar while joyful dogs run.<br />"I sing to spring, to budding green,<br /> to all of life – seen and unseen."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"> Wee whispers drift from cloud to ear<br /> and finally reach one divining seer<br /> who looks up from her perch and beams —<br /> <i>"West Wind is dreaming May, it seems."</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Golden wings open and gleam<br /> as I greet the prancing team.<br /> Gliding aside with lyrical speed,<br /> I’d ride Pegasus to Ganymede."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">To a pied pocket, the zephyr returns.<br /> Blowing soft words the seer discerns<br /> from earthbound voyage to dreamy night,<br /> <i>"The time is now. I give you flight!"<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">"Yet I fear I am no kite or bird–<br />I lift! The world below me blurred<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">by tears of joy. I spiral high<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif";">,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;">I hum, I dive, I dip, I hive!"</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "palatino linotype";">Behold, Spring is but a dance away</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype";"> Donna will have the difficult post of putting the last line down at <a href="http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/">Mainley Write.</a> I can hardly wait to see what she comes up with.<div style="border-image: none;">
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype";">If you missed any of the poem and want to see where it started and follow along; here is the list of contributors and comments of how they came up with their line.</span><br />
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2016 KIDLITOSPHERE PROGRESSIVE POEM</div>
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April</div>
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<b>1</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laura at <a href="http://laurasalas.com/blog/"><span style="color: navy;">Writing the World
for Kids</span></a></div>
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<b>2</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joy at <a href="https://joyacey.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Joy Acey </span></a></div>
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<b>3</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doraine at <a href="http://dorireads.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Dori Reads</span></a></div>
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<b>4</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Diane at <a href="http://randomnoodling.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Random Noodling</span></a></div>
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<b>5</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Penny at <a href="https://pennyklostermann.com/blog-a-penny-and-her-jots/"><span style="color: navy;">A Penny and Her Jots</span></a></div>
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<b>6</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carol at <a href="http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Beyond
LiteracyLink</span></a></div>
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<b>7</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liz at <a href="http://elizabethsteinglass.com/blog/"><span style="color: navy;">Elizabeth
Steinglass</span></a></div>
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<b>8</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Janet F. at <a href="http://www.irenelatham.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Live Your
Poem</span></a></div>
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<b>9</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Margaret at <a href="https://reflectionsontheteche.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Reflections
on the Teche</span></a></div>
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<b>10 </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pat at <a href="http://writeronahorse.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Writer on a
Horse</span></a></div>
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<b>11</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buffy at <a href="http://buffysilverman.com/blog/"><span style="color: navy;">Buffy's Blog</span></a></div>
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<b>12</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Michelle at
<a href="http://michellehbarnes.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Today's
Little Ditty</span></a></div>
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<b>13<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Linda at <a href="http://www.teacherdance.org/"><span style="color: navy;">TeacherDance</span></a></div>
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<b>14</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jone at <a href="https://deowriter.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Deo Writer</span></a></div>
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<b>15</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt at <a href="https://mattforrest.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Radio,
Rhythm & Rhyme</span></a></div>
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<b>16</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Violet at <a href="https://vnesdolypoems.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Violet
Nesdoly</span></a></div>
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<b>17</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kim at <a href="https://flukeprints.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Flukeprints</span></a></div>
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<b>18</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irene at <a href="http://www.irenelatham.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Live Your
Poem</span></a></div>
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<b>19</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles at <a href="http://www.charleswaterspoetry.com/#!blog/c16qh"><span style="color: navy;">Charles Waters Poetry</span></a></div>
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<b>20</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ruth at <a href="http://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">There is No Such Thing as a Godforsaken Town</span></a></div>
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<b>21</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jan at <a href="https://bookseedstudio.wordpress.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Bookseedstudio</span></a></div>
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<b>22</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Robyn at <a href="http://www.robynhoodblack.com/blog.htm"><span style="color: navy;">Life on
the Deckle Edge</span></a></div>
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<b>23</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ramona at <a href="http://pleasuresfromthepage.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Pleasures
from the Page</span></a></div>
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<b>24</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amy at <a href="http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/"><span style="color: navy;">The Poem Farm</span></a></div>
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<b>25</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mark at <a href="http://jackettwrites.weebly.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Jackett Writes</span></a></div>
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<b>26</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Renee at <a href="http://www.nowaterriver.com/"><span style="color: navy;">No Water River</span></a></div>
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<b>27</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary Lee at
<a href="http://www.maryleehahn.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Poetrepository</span></a></div>
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<b>28</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heidi at <a href="http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">My
Juicy Little Universe</span></a></div>
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<b>29</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sheila at <a href="http://sheilarenfro.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Sheila Renfro</span></a></div>
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<b>30</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Donna at <a href="http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: navy;">Mainely Write</span></a></div>
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Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1866083655389575791.post-59099351382153128872016-04-28T08:00:00.001-05:002016-04-28T08:00:37.161-05:00Cry of the Sea by D.G. Driver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<em>Cry of the Sea</em> by <a href="http://www.dgdriver.com/">D.G. Driver</a> is a story about a girl, </div>
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Juniper Sawfeather ( love that name), who didn't want to be like her environmentally fanatic parents. She did care about the environment, but didn't want to be in the publicity that followed her parents. Instead she chose to go to a college far enough away that she wouldn't be bothered with the news magnetic parents she had.</div>
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She did care about the environment, though, so when there's an oil spill she goes to help her father save what marine animals she can.</div>
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But what they find there no one would believe! She didn't believe it could be possible- Mermaids! Three of them, almost dead by the oil covering the water and their skin. Two of them died, but she was able to save the third one. The mermaids were not like story book mermaids, These looked more mutants fish with human like heads.</div>
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At the beach she meets Carter, who helps her and her father get the fish and other animals to safety. While she is trying to move the mermaid, her father is videoing the rescue to use as ammunition against the Affron company responsible for the oil spill.</div>
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"June" wants to help her friend Haley in her quest to be popular, but when June doesn't show up to help with a presentation, Haley will not speak to her.</div>
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In desperation, June emails the video of the mermaids to Haley to explain. The video goes viral, but the mermaids have been stolen!</div>
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June, Carter, Haley and popular group gets together to find and rescue the mermaids.</div>
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I truly loved the this story. It was realistic in that you feel that "it could happen".</div>
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D.G. Driver has a sequel out <em>Whisper in the Woods. </em>I can't wait to find out Juniper finds in the woods!</div>
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<br />Sheila Renfrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07863505792366698713noreply@blogger.com0