VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Book Lovers Blog Hop: Make friends, share the love of reading and be entered to win a FREE book! All you have to do is post the Book Lovers Blog Hop and World of Ink Tour Banners below to your blog. Promote the Book Lovers Hop and World of Ink Tours on any social network. Tweet it once a day, share on Facebook and then follow others back that leave you a comment. By joining the Book Lovers Blog Hop, you are automatically entered in our Book Giveaway!  There will be two (2) winners for this Book Giveaway.   Note: One book per winner. Make your own banner at MyBannerMaker.com! Hop Rules: 1.       Follow the Top link of the hop! Hop Host: Families Matter        2.       Grab the button for the hop and place it in a post, sidebar, or on a blog hop page and let us know where it is in the comments section below. This will help the hop grow and gain us all new followers. It's a Win-Win...

If you've ever struggled in coming up with creative ideas, welcome to the club. For most writers, discovering new writing projects involves conscious pursuit of their thought trails. But where do start on our quest for inspiration? Here are a few places you can find new ideas for writing: 1. The world around you. Just like a photographer, you must start looking at life through your own personal lens. You will get a tremendous amount of writing material if you start filtering your own experiences. Soon you will start noticing ideas everywhere around you. Very often the muse will come at strange times and from unusual sources, so be prepared. The world is full of surprises that can materialize in your next book or article. 2. Writers’ associations and networks. If you are a professional writer, you probably belong to an association or writer's group. Generating new ideas will feel much easier after meeting other members or attending writing workshops and conferences. You ...

Clayton Paul Thomas has worked with kids for about 16 years from three different settings. The first was at St. Joseph Children’s Home where he helped abused kids permanently separated from their parents. Afterwards, Thomas became an elementary public school teacher. He taught for 7 1/2 years from 1st through 4th grade. Finally, he became a father of two boys. Though his parenting skills were learned at St. Joseph, his wife’s has been the inspiration to writing “ Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures: A Parent Guide to Parenting in the 21 st Century”. VS: Clayton, I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. As a dad, what do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Clayton: As important as my book Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures and my blog are to me…my family comes first. Therefore, there really isn’t a balance.  I do my work before my family wakes in the morning. I can also be caught burning ...

The Writing Mama show on Blog Talk's World of Ink Network is now a monthly show on the last Wed. of each month. Tune in at 9pm EST and join us as we chat on topics from family to writing. This month I've asked author Clayton Paul Thomas to join me again so he can answer questions from you and share some tips to help us with children find a solution to problems we may be dealing with from little one to teenagers.   For Immediate Release Come chat with Author Clayton Paul Thomas on Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: The Writing Mama –July 25, 2011   Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: The Writing Mama with host VS Grenier will be chatting Author Clayton Paul Thomas. In his book, “ Tantrums, Troubles, and Treasures: A Parent Guide to Parenting in the 21 st Century” Thomas shares an insider’s point of view on how to work with kids who can be challenging. Clayton Paul Thomas has worked with kids for about 16 years from three different settings. T...

I don’t know about other writers with kids at home, but I’m ready for school to start. Trying to get anything done lately has been well…let’s just say, my personal writing and blogging is taking a very big backseat to everything else.  It’s funny because the reason I started this blog was to 1) get myself writing again after having my baby girl over a year ago and 2) share with all of you who write with kids at home that you’re not alone in trying to balance it all. So here, I am writing about how I am having trouble with the balancing act this summer. The irony of it all. Well it’s not as if I thought I was perfect. Heck, I laugh half the time and cry the other half when I get emails from fellow writers commenting, “Virginia, you amaze me. I just don’t know how you do it all.” In truth…neither do I. I do have to say I am lucky to have the support of many fellow writers, known as the SFC Team, helping me out. I also have partnered with some great writers as well. They give me sup...

Stories for Children Publishing has been touring Author Linda Valderrama R.D.H. and her book “BRUSH BARRY BRUSH” all month long in July 2011. Linda Valderrama R.D.H. has over 25 years experience as a dental hygienist. She has treated patients from ages two to one hundred years old and has successfully developed preventative oral hygiene programs tailored to individual needs. Linda is a strong believer that good oral hygiene habits lead to good overall health and that these daily habits must be acquired early in life. She is working towards developing programs for schools, assisted living facilities and healthcare institutions to enable them to offer more effective oral hygiene programs. Linda is a member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, the California Dental Hygienists’ Association and the San Diego Dental Hygienists’ Society. Her book “Brush Barry Brush” is to help parents and young children work together to achieve the simple but very important goal that every time ...