Currently...again

This week a lot of things happened, so I decided to stick with the "currently" theme. Here goes:

1. As far as my writing goes, my second book, which is Will's story, is now in the hands of Bev "Editrix" Rosenbaum, an independent developmental editor. I can't wait to read her notes when she's done since I'm anticipating a rave review with, "It's perfect the way it is! Don't change a thing." LOL. I guess you could say, I might not be emotionally ready for reality. Oh, well. For now, the view from cloud nine is pretty good.

2. I found two very cool things in my garden--I'm a fair-weather gardener, so I get surprised a lot. The first is this cool camouflage-looking moth, which turns out to be a Comstock's Sallow:

In Stealth Mode

Lichen-like Camouflage

3. Also in my garden, the poppy bud from my previous post bloomed. Boom! Red goodness. This is a rare occurrence since we have deer, rabbits, moles, and other critters that nibble on my greens. 

The Flower of Remembrance

4. I like to read multiple books at a time to keep me on my toes. For middle grade, I picked up The Call of the Wild by Jack London. It was l-o-n-g ago when I read it, and I have to say, I'm probably loving it more the second time around. I can appreciate the action, danger, and fast pace. It has truly stood that test of time (it was published in 1903), especially in this digital age where getting into a story needs to be fast and with constant hooks to keep readers engaged. I'm reading a paperback version, which I prefer, and the line illustrations add to the experience. I highly recommend!

5. Writer's research the craziest things when they're finding inspiration for characters or their story plot. Here's a coffee mug picture that says it all:

While researching book #2,  I'd written a list of ailments on a sticky note and stuck it to my desk. It read: lacerated spleen, broken arm, concussion. My husband pointed to it and asked, "Should I be worried?" Yes...I mean no. LOL. It's all part of research, my dear. I also looked up food poisoning, the drug Rohypnol, and joined a forum where I could ask a biker anything. Fascinating.

I'm starting book #3 and began wondering about color blindness, or rather, color vision deficiency. If you have it, how does it affect your life? Last night I found a very cool website on this subject called Color Blind Awareness. Pretty interesting stuff out there!

Friday Five: Garden Pics

1. Yellow Jacket

I devoured the words in The Nest by Kenneth Oppel as well as the fabulous illustrations by Jon Klassen. It's not my usual type of read, and thankfully, I pulled it off the shelf for the cover and size alone. Not to mention, I'm a big fan of Jon Klassen's artwork in picture books (I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole). There was no blurb on the back or inside the jacket, so I dove right in and was surprised. It was creepy good! I couldn't put it down.

Naturally, what do I find in my garden this morning? A dead wasp and a cherry sized wasp nest under my eave. My husband knocked it down, but nobody was home. Just a few empty combs inside.

2. Wasp Nest

3. Poppy Bud

4. Hannah's Tombstone

5. Orb Spiderlings

Currently...

Top Pot 5K at Green Lake

Seattle,WA

It rained. It dumped, then it rained some more. My feet were sopping wet, too, but I plugged into some grunge and walked for my doughnut. I'm sure it was character building (grumble-grumble), and I suppose it did feel good to get out in it. I walked 3 miles and timed in at 57:35. Not winning any races here, but it's good enough for government work. So...okay, I confess. I enjoyed it :)

Unfortunately, the whole "Friday Five" thing is not working out for me because I procrastinate! Here it is, Sunday, and I'm now thinking about what I should have written two days ago. So, let's skip that and explore the "currently" option. Here goes:

Currently:

1. I love heated seats!

2. I've reached 10,572 steps on my Fitbit

3. I'm reading Whisper If You Need Me by Dina Silver

4. I'm listening to Puddle of Mudd on Pandora

5. I'm lounging on the couch with Bean and The Rug instead of editing my manuscript...doh!

All Wrapped Up

Procrastinate Later!

I'm working on the last chapter of Will's story, book #2. I haven't reread the manuscript yet, or made revisions, but to make life a little more exciting, I went ahead and told my developmental editor, Bev Katz Rosenbaum to get ready, because in two weeks, I'm sending her a manuscript!

Then, feeling all jazzed from the Seattle sunshine, I told my copy editor, Chase, to brace himself. Come June, I will have fixed the problems Bev found and will send him my completed story for his keen eye.

Crazy!

This might not be a sound approach, but I'm going with it. Procrastinating can wait, now it's time to light the fire.

"The most effective way to do it, is to do it." ~ Amelia Earhart

Friday Five: New to Me Authors

I've been off the grid for a week, vacationing in Boulder City, Nevada. Instead of blogging, I've been snapping pictures of lizards, visiting the Clark County Museum, touring the Techatticup Mine in Eldorado Canyon, swimming, and bowling at The Orleans casino in Las Vegas. Too much fun, but it's gotta end sometime, right?

Desert Iguana

So, while I was busy packing for home, I realized I'd missed the Friday Five. Being a day late and a dollar short, I quickly put together a list of new authors I've read within the year, ones I'm excited about:

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

One Pink Line by Dina Silver

All Played Out: A Rusk University Novel by Cora Carmack

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

If We Kiss by Rachel Vail

Friday Five: Quotes I Love

I love stuff like this! Making lists of my favorite things, little challenges and due dates. Here goes...my five favorite quotes by my favorite quoters:

"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
~ Oscar Wilde

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
~ Martin Luther King

"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." 
~ Confucius

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."
~ Yoda

"Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."
~Marilyn Monroe

I'm part of Camp NaNoWriMo and in "My Cabin" is author, blogger Alexa Barry who also follows J.M. Kelly. I'm participating in their blogging prompt for the Friday Five. Fun! check them out!

Writing the Back Blurb

I just spent an entire day updating Dealing with Blue's back blurb. It's better than it was, but could be better still. Doing the indie thing is an incredible learning experience! First hand in every aspect from writing and formatting to marketing.

It's a slow build into something long lasting. Not to mention, the fluidity is freeing. I can make updates, changes, re-design the cover, or freshen up the back blurb at any time.

The phrase Don't quit your day job still applies, but don't forget the positive, which is fostering and maintaining control over your creative passion. No more jumping through hoops and writing query letters! Yeah!

Back to the book blurbs...here are a few links I found helpful, ones I want to remember:

The Art of the Blurb: How to Write Back Cover Copy
How to Write Kick Butt Back Cover Copy
4 Easy Steps to an Irresistible Book Blurb


"A blurb sells the book that you wrote, not the book that you suddenly feel you should have written." ~ KJ Charles
_________________________

Remember the classic Wizard of Oz TV guide listing?

Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets, and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.

You can pull in the Cormac McCarthy fans this way, but you won’t keep them once ‘Over the Rainbow’ starts.

~KJ Charles

_________________________

Going with the Flow

I'm still riding the corner bookmark wave, but I'm nearing the end. Last project, I swear. Maybe.

I found the perfect book to use for my "Happy Reading" cards, one that practically begged to be repurposed since pages were falling out left and right. It was a paperback about various versions of the Rumpelstiltskin story I had picked up at the thrift store awhile back. Not my favorite fairy tale, so I had no guilt plucking it apart for this project.

Happy Reading Cards with Corner Bookmarks

"You can't direct the wind but you can adjust your sails." ~ Author Unknown

Junk or Treasure?

I wanted to make birthday cards using a story page as background and including a corner bookmark. I thought this would be apropos since I generally give books as presents. I dug through my stash, to find a book junky enough to repurpose and found this...

Famous Fairy Tales (c) 1971

by Western Publishing Company

...an old gem from my childhood, Famous Fairy Tales. It has been duct taped, inside and out, and yet is still missing the first forty-two pages with these classics: Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Jack the Giant Killer. Why keep this thing? Why not give it a new life by recycling it into cards to share with my friends?

 

First Page, 43

So I drug it down to my basement studio and flipped through the chapters...perfect! But I can't seem to make myself tear the pages out! This book has been kicking around since I was a little kid. It's been read and loved in Montana, stored in a box in Alabama, moved back across the country to Oregon, and now is seeing the light of day in Washington.

Where else can you find a book with crusty, forty-five year-old duct tape, hot chocolate stains, and an advertisement for a free can of Folger's Coffee? When I flip through the pages, the book automatically falls open to Tom Thumb on my favorite page, sixty-four. I love that picture of Tom taking a bath in a tea cup. So tiny, so cute!

Guess I'll keep it a while longer.

Tom Thumb

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." ~ Thomas A. Edison

Coach Card

I took some time away from writing to create a thank you card for my kids' basketball coach. The session is over and the Jawbreakers' team of eight have officially retired their green t-shirts. 

Thank you from Team Jawbreakers

I've turned most of my creative energy toward writing (I've started Chapter 18...whoo hoo!), but this small project whetted my appetite to create another collage. I took a peek at Illustration Friday's theme this week. It's "dragon" for anyone who wants to participate.

"Slow progress is better than no progress." ~ Author Unknown

Camping Season with NaNoWriMo!

I'm all signed up for Camp NaNoWrimo starting in April. I'm planning to write 20,000 words for the month, finishing up Will's story, then writing toward my next idea. Come join the fun! 

April 2016

The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn't write. ~ Author Unknown

Not So Special Delivery

So, I'm new at this, right? I was so excited to mail my Dealing with Blue (DWB) books to the Goodreads Giveaway winners with my newly hand-crafted bookmarks...until I got to the post office and started talking shipping costs. Ugh!

One paperback book to London costs $28.00! Same scenario, but to Alberta, shipping costs $20.00. Ouch. That puts a hefty dent in the budget.

For London, I logged onto Amazon.co.uk, ordered the book, made up a 555 phone number, and had it shipped at half the price. Now, I sit here with my fingers crossed, hoping for a no-snafu delivery.

For Canada, Amazon had this to say, which didn't inspire much confidence:

Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item. 

 Anyway, back to the post office to mail DWB to Canada, and my apologies to the UK winner. There will be no cutesy bookmark with your giveaway, but the silver lining is you should receive it on Thursday :) Schwing!

Brushing aside the unexpected shipping woes, I hope everyone enjoys DWB! For the stateside winners, your book is in the mail.

Special Delivery!

The Goodreads Giveaway for Dealing with Blue is over and five winners have been selected. Congratulations to the following:

Wendy from Alberta, Canada
Violaine from London, England
Galina from Hattiesburg, MS
Ron from Pearland, TX
Savannah from Madison Heights, VA

I wanted to send a little something extra, so I thought about some monster bookmarks, only I couldn't find any of the creepy eyeball stickers by Sticko. Boo. Hiss. On the flip side, I had to get creative and ultimately came up with a better idea. Still bookmarks, but now they are relevant, can act as a giveaway, and be my business card, too. Yeah!

 DWB Giveaway Bookmarks

Paper, scissors, glue. Sigh. Yeah, I found my zen.

Lights Out, Price Down

Oops! I'm not very good with marketing it seems. I scheduled my one-time allotted Kindle Count Down Sale for Dealing with Blue to start today...and never told anyone about it!

Then the power went out...

In the Dark

...but the count down continues! The Kindle price for Dealing with Blue is $0.99 right now. Price goes up to $1.99 in two days. Get it while it's hot :)

Thank goodness, it was only three hours of candlelight, cold cereal dinners, and rowdy kids. Power's back on, and I'm ready for bed.

Have a good night!

March 2016 Reading Challenge - Green Covered Books

No, I'm not talking about anything eco or sustainable. I'm talking about the color most found in nature, like kelly and pine, forest and sage, and some khaki and neon, too. I recently joined a Goodreads group and one of their challenges was to read books with green covers during the month of March. I love stuff like this, so I was on board.

 

TBR Pile - Green Books

I'm currently reading and loving Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty* (Middle Grade). I also have a bookmark in Rule by Jay Crownover (New Adult - NA).

Being a slow reader, there is no way I'll get through all of these, but I will definitely read FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell* (NA) before I leave the "Green" phase. 

The other books in by To Be Read pile, pictured above, that have a dab of green on the cover are:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Young Adult)

Finding it by Cora Carmack (NA)

Ivy + Bean: No News is Good News by Annie Barrows* (Chapter Book - CB)

DragonBreath: Attack of the Ninja Frogs by Ursula Vernon (CB)

Please feel free to share your green book in the comments :)

* A recommended read!

Home Shelf Favorites: Chapter Books

There is still confusion between the Chapter Book genre and the Middle Grade. One year, I won second place for my first chapter book in a series. The second and third year, my second book in the series was dinged for being in the wrong category. The judges felt it should have been entered as middle grade. This year, I entered book three in my series in middle grade to see what happens.

*shrugs*

Here's my take on what a chapter book is:

- It's a transition between easy reader and middle grade.

- It has short chapter lengths, about 500 - 750 words.

- Overall, it's approximately 10,000 - 15,000 words. 

- Usually, pictures and white spaces break up the page of text.

- Content is suitable for six to ten year olds.

- Protagonist is younger than age twelve.

Great resources for a little more clarity:

Chapter Book Chat

Emma Walton Hamilton

KidLit

The Book Pile

Now, onto our favorites! My two voracious readers helped me pick out favorites off our home shelf. Here's the big bad:

All time favorite: Ivy + Bean (Volumes 1 - 10)

Most funny: Junie B. Jones

Most Interesting: Human Body Theater

Most Scary and Different: Goosebumps #13: Scream of the Evil Genie

Favorite Classic Single: Alice in Wonderland

Favorite Classic Series: My Father's Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland

Just Plain Super Cute: Appleblossom the Possum

Worth a Read: Heidi Heckelbeck and Katie Kazoo Switcheroo

I've not read all the above books, but the ones I have and strongly agree with are Ivy + Bean and Human Body Theater.

According to Goodreads I've read 36 chapter books with my kids. The ones I really enjoyed, that are worth a mention are:

The Mouse and Mole series by Wong Herbert Yee

Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo

Roscoe Riley Rules #2: Never Swipe a Bully's Bear by Katherine Applegate

Bookmarks: A Simple Craft

The Event: Second Grade Valentine's Day party.

The Mission: offer a craft that's quick, easy, uses very little glue and no paint. The craft needed to be completed and sent home immediately after the event.

The Idea: bookmarks. Thanks, Pinterest!

To save on time and explanation, I pre-cut and pre-scored the pieces. I bought stickers (eyeballs, glasses, and mustaches), and provided glue sticks and scissors. Boom. Let's do this thing.

Everything you need.

The purple card stock pattern is based on a 3x3" square. The pink paper squares are just slightly smaller. The only thing missing in my picture above is a pair of scissors and a Sharpie pen.

1.) Fold triangles flaps in and crease. 

2.) Open flaps back up and glue one pink square on the purple card stock.

3.) Cut the remaining pink square in half diagonally, forming two triangles.

4.) Use one triangle to cut out some monster teeth, assuming the back of the paper is white.

5.) Fold the purple flap, glue teeth onto the top, then cover flap with glue. Fold second purple flap down, adhering to the top (teeth should be in between the layers).

6.) Glue remaining pink triangle on top of flap.

That's a tongue, by the way.

7.) Add stickers of eyeballs, glasses, and/or mustaches. The stickers I used by Sticko were foam padded stickers. Colorful cushions that won't damage the book's page. After it's all said and done, use a Sharpie pen for eyebrows, nostrils and other details.

For a great tutorial, check out Tally's Treasury blog on how to make the corner bookmark along with creating the pattern.

From the Art Docent: Symmetry

Second Grade Art Wall

Ladybug Image Transfer

Bumble Bee Image Transfer

To help the kids understand symmetry, I opted for an easy image transfer project. I gave each student a piece of white paper, a soup spoon, and an assortment of oil pastels. Here's the lesson:
1.) Fold the piece of paper in half.
2.) On the fold, draw half a bug by pressing firmly with a dark colored pastel.
3.) Fold the bug to the inside, and on the back, burnish the bug lines with the spoon.
4.) Unfold and voila! A mirror image on the opposite side.
5.) Color the same on both sides.

At first I thought the kids would whip through the assignment, and the lesson would be over in fifteen minutes. Most did, but they were excited to make another...and another. They got into the spirit of exploring. They turned out so cool!

Another fun day with the kids :)

Groundhog Giveaway

Spring! Spring!

Super Phil, my little groundhog buddy, is helping me get the word out today. We have five copies of Dealing with Blue up for grabs on Goodreads.com. The giveaway starts today! Head on over to enter your chance for a spankin' new paperback.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dealing with Blue

by Stacia Leigh

Giveaway ends March 03, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Now Available in Paperback!

Dealing with Blue is now available on Amazon in paperback. It was a long process, and one that I found conflicting. On the one side, it was a drawn out slog. On the other, I kind of enjoyed it. Weird.

I'm one of those people who take the long road. I like to jump right in, then spend 90% of my time fixing all the errors I made, like:

1) Getting the margins right, including enough space for the gutter.
2) No ragged edges. Justify it, please.
3) Then, adjust character spacing to avoid excessive rivers.
3) No last-chapter widow sentences.
4) No dangling m-dashes.
5) Remove TOC in print version, add back for digital one.
6) Go back and add Acknowledgements page after all.
7) Make sure the spine on your cover is the correct width when it's all said and done!

There was a lot of back and forth and precious time spent waiting for Createspace to approve my changes.

And here we are...

Sigh.

Done.

If you've already read it--I hope you enjoyed it! Please remember to leave a review on Amazon. Algorithms, marketing, blah blah blah. Plus, this is all new to me. I'd love to know what you think.

Look What My Eyeballs Found!

I'm considering a book giveaway on Goodreads, and through a search, found an informative blog by author Catherine Ryan Howard.

I love her writing style and gleaned fabulous information on what to consider and what to ignore. Here's what I've learned, just in time, too:

* It's not about how many books you give away. It's about how many eyeballs see your book giveaway.

* Don't restrict the giveaway to U.S. residents only, especially if you're self-published and don't have to worry about territory issues. Again, it's about how many eyeballs see your book.

* If you're worried about shipping costs, order your book from Createspace and send directly to the winners from there, instead of paying to ship to yourself and again to ship to the winner's address.

* If the winner is from another country, say the UK, order and ship your book to them from Amazon.co.uk.

* Don't just have one giveaway, have multiple, and make use of the fact that participants who didn't win, will get an email from Goodreads, saying to try again in the book's new giveaway.

Read Catherine's article Don't Do What You're Told and Goodreads Giveaway: An Update for an in-depth and witty read.

Favorite Picture Books on My Home Shelf

I love reading out loud to my two voracious readers. When we were in the picture book phase, we'd check out tons of books from the library and read through the stack in short order. We'd discuss what we liked about each book and what we didn't. It was a nice way to spend time together, to communicate through stories. Our imaginations would soar.

Last night, I picked through our shelf and made a pile of the books that were my personal favorites. Instead of me reading to them, they read to me. Times change quickly, don't they?

Anyway, I wanted to share my favorites that are currently in house. This short list by no means covers them all. *sigh* That would require a bigger house, a bigger shelf. Here goes:

The Book Pile

Are You a Horse? by Andy Rash
Waking Beauty by Leah Wilcox (illustrated by Lydia Monks)
Brontorina by James Howe (illustrated by Randy Cecil)
I'm Not Afraid of This Haunted House by Laurie Freidman (illustrated by Teresa Murfin)
The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen
My Truck is Stuck by Kevin Lewis (illustrated by Daniel Kirk)
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
The Runaway Pumpkin by Kevin Lewis (illustrated by S.D. Schindler)
A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker (illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton)
Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett (illustrated by Jon Klassen)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
Journey by Aaron Becker
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
Falling for Rapunzel by Leah Wilcox (illustrated by Lydia Monks)

I have a whole slew of other favorites I keep track of on Goodreads. According to them, I've read 524! That's a fair amount. Out of curiosity, I looked for my last two picture-book favorites from the library...they were so good, they're worth a mention:

Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! by Mo Willems

Okay, that's it for now. I'm done listing.

eBook Available on Amazon

Two years! What a haul. But after writing, attending critique sessions, rewriting, sending it to a developmental editor twice, more revisions, sending it to a copy editor, and...yup, you guessed it, more writing and rewriting...

I can finally say--

Wait! I also muddled through cover design. I took a picture of a pair of jeans, bought new fonts from myfonts.com, and perused buttercup images at Foter.com (thank you Blue Diamond Photography!)

Then--

I fussed with changing the margins, uploading to KDP, creating...you know what? This is boring. Suffice it to say Dealing with Blue is up and digitally available. Check it out on Amazon. It's also available through Kindle Unlimited until April 2016.

Getting it in paper back is another matter altogether, and I'm still working on that one :)

Dealing with Blue

Cover Art

  Dealing with Blue is a Young Adult Romance about a self-contained girl named Suzy Blue, who quietly endures a fragile relationship with her hoarding mother. Suzy wants to be wild and free and agrees to take part in a pretend girlfriend scheme with her charming neighbor, J.J. Radborne. When the lines between fake and real start to blur, Suzy gets nervous. What if J.J. wants more and what happens when he finds out about her mom?

This is a small town love story about a strong girl, a bad boy, forgiveness and trust, and finding love.

Merry Christmas!

"Merry & Bright"

Burst Pattern

I found a "burst" pattern on Pinterest and loved the look. This design made good use of the scrap paper I keep around. Gotta love the stacks of music I have set aside for collaging. I tried to capture some of the Christmas lyrics while cutting out the pieces.

"Merry & Bright"

Circle Pattern

This piece was inspired by a German advent calendar I received as a gift several years ago. Behind the chocolates were red holiday images, which I cut out with a large hole punch. I arranged them on red polka dot paper and...boom! Fin.

These two projects were done at the Western Washington Scrapbook Retreat last November.