VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Utah Children's Writers: Guest Post: Creating Stories for Young Readers : This is not an easy subject, because I have to look at my process of creating a story in retrospect. I just have a story and I write it. I’m...

I can suggest some components of a good story. The ones I would highlight are characters who have feelings and problems that the reader can understand and care deeply about, a subject that the author knows well and expresses with passion, and a setting and events that are described in such rich detail that the reader has an experience that goes beyond the simple words on the page.  Perhaps a discussion of some of my favorite “reads” would be fun. A recent book I found compelling was The Help by Kathryn Stockett, which recounted the lives of characters with whom I could deeply engage. I grew up in the South of the 1950s and 1960s. The book spoke to me not only by evoking memories but also by giving me a chance to reflect on that time from an adult perspective.  A genre I enjoy tremendously is the mystery. I especially find a series intriguing and usually find one that has both highly developed characters and elaborate and intricate plots. I have read all of the mystery novel...

I Love You Be Careful with Judy Snider Joan Dickow 10/18 by FMMK Talk Radio | Blog Talk Radio This was a great show! From the moment we are born, someone is telling us to be careful. No matter what country we call home or what language we speak, these words follow us our entire lives. You might hear parents , friends, family or children loving say this phrase at least once a day. Think about all of the times that a loved one goes off to school , play or work, and you say, "I Love You, Be Careful!" Award-winning children’s picture book author Judy Snider teamed up with her sister Joan Dicknow to write this heartwarming and uplifting book highlighting some of our “be careful” moments in life.

Halloween can be a fun and scary time for kids. Here are a few tips for keeping Halloween safe too. 1. Make sure masks and costumes don't block the vision of your child. Keep props easy to carry and avoid using any prop that has sharp points or edges to prevent injury while trick or treating. 2. Use flashlights, reflector material on the costume, or bright clothing to make sure others see your child, especially vehicles following or driving in the neighborhood. 3. Inspect all candy and treats before allowing children to eat them. Dispose of any that are not sealed properly. Fruits and homemade goodies should only be consumed from those you know, and not strangers. 4. One option to trick or treating might be a small party for your child's friends. Supervision by parents that you know, foods that you are preparing, and having the party at your house all work towards keeping your children safe while providing a fun atmosphere. Games, prizes, and a movie or bonfi...

The Stories for Children show 10/24 by WorldOfInkNetwork | Blog Talk Radio Maha Huneidi is a wife, mother and now grandmother, who finally found out what she wants to be when she grows up…a writer of children’s book. When Monsters Get Lonely is the first step of her journey. Huneidi began writing this book and later found out her granddaughter was afraid of monsters. “It was not about my granddaughter at all, but when I heard that she was afraid of monsters, it quickly became all about her. I wanted to empower her to take charge of her fear,” states Huneidi. “I sent my son a copy of "When Monsters Get Lonely" in a word file, with illustrations, just before I submitted it for publishing in April. Hanaa’s parents immediately began reading it to her...Now, she sometimes tells her mother, ‘the monster touched my neck, but I made friends with him.” Huneidi wants to help children, like her granddaughter Hanaa, find the courage to deal with monsters and other fea...

Children at different ages are afraid for different reasons. According to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, kids aged two to seven are afraid of things not based on reality. Kids endow animals, as well as inanimate objects with feelings, which is why at this age, kids are usually afraid of monsters and ghosts. This is one reason why debut author Maha Huneidi wrote, When Monsters Get Lonely . Huneidi shares her experience: “My younger son had nightmares on and off when he was six. I didn’t make him go back to his bed, and my husband protested because he thought that our son would get used to sleeping in our bed, and for good reason, too. We had some friends whose kids didn’t outgrow that habit till they were nine or 10. I knew that that wouldn’t be the case with my son because kids get into this habit at a much younger age. I think that this problem arises from separation anxiety, and not from nightmares or fear of monsters.” Parents do tend to dismiss such fears a...

Meeting Sisters Judy Snider and Joan Dickow, Authors of I Love You, Be Careful - Books - Blogcritics There are days you may want to put blinders on our eyes, so as you look around you are not suddenly filled with idea after idea. This is how author Judy Snider feels sometimes. “I love to write and it seems odd to me if a day goes by that I don’t write something. Yet, the ideas floating around me sometimes make it hard to select the one I want to use.” Judy lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her husband, Gil and two silly cats. She is the author of the CWA award-winning children’s picture book Goldy’s Baby Socks and one of a team of authors who wrote The Scared Purse . Okay, maybe you’re not like Judy, but I’m sure you understand having too many things going on at once. This is why I loved her recent book, co-authored with her sister Joan Dickow; I Love You, Be Careful . It is a picture book that is also designed to be a gift book for adults and children, which shar...

Maha Huneidi is a wife, mother and now grandmother, who finally found out what she wants to be when she grows up. This book is the first step of her journey. She lives in Portland, Oregon.      Note from the Author: When I began writing this book, it was not about my granddaughter at all, but when I heard that she was afraid of monsters, it quickly became all about her. I wanted to empower her to take charge of her fear. I sent my son a copy of "When Monsters Get Lonely" in a word file, with illustrations, just before I submitted it for publishing in April. Hanaa's parents immediately began reading it to her... Now, she sometimes tells her mother, "the monster touched my neck, but I made friends with him." I think that Hanaa has found the courage to deal with her monster on her own now, and she still enjoys monster movies and monster stories! VS: What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Maha: At this time ...

For Immediate Release   Award-winning Author Camille Matthews on Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: St ories for Children –October 10, 2011   Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: Stories for Children with hosts VS Grenier, Kris Quinn Christopherson and Irene Roth will be chatting with award-winning author Camille Matthews about her Quincy the Horse picture book series. The first book in the series, Quincy Finds A New Home is a 2010 Mom’s Choice Gold Award Winner and the sequel, Quincy Moves to the Desert was recently released in August 2011. Camille Matthews, MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker and writer who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, complex PTSD and attachment disorders. In 2002, she received her certification in the new field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association and established the Pathfinder Program in Farmington, NM where she treated adolescents, children and wo...

Writers On The Move: Writing the Second Book: Is it Easier? : Ten years ago, if someone had told me I would have two books published by now, I would’ve laughed—longingly of course. My first novel, Cowgirl Dreams , was released in December 2008, almost ten years after I started writing it. The sequel, Follow the Dream , came out two years later. People say to me, “The second book must be a lot easier than the first one, right?” Well, yes and no. I guess I could say that I cheated, in a way. I wrote the two books as one long book to begin with. But when I began researching publishers, I found that the word count for the “western” genre was generally shorter. It just happened that I found a place in about the middle where I thought it could be easily divided. But then I had to make sure the second book could stand alone and fill in some of the back story without resorting to the old “telling” versus “showing.” Read more here http://www.writersonthemove.com/2011/10/writing-second...

Camille Matthews, MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker and writer who  specializes in the treatment of eating disorders, complex PTSD and attachment disorders. In 2002 she received her certification in the new field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) from the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association and established the Pathfinder Program in Farmington, NM where she treated adolescents, children and women victims of domestic violence using EAP.  Ms. Matthews is also the author of the Quincy the Horse Books for children ages 5-10. She teamed with illustrator, Michelle Black to create the series. Their first book, Quincy Finds A New Home was published in 2009 and awarded a Mom’s Choice Gold in 2010. The sequel, Quincy Moves to the Desert   was released in August  2011. Ms. Matthews has been an advocate for access to mental health treatment, an op ed contributor on the importance of psychotherapy and served on the Healthcare Task Force of Represe...

More than a dozen authors, mentors, and nationally known book marketers will offer thousand in bonus gifts focused on the needs of authors when novelist, poet, and book marketer Carolyn Howard-Johnson releases the second edition of the first book in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers, The Frugal Book Promoter . Among those supporting Howard-Johnson’s book are self publishing gurus Dan Poynter and Shelley Hitz, book marketers Dana Lynn Smith, Patricia Fry, D’vorah Lansky, and Aggie Villaneuva and even some fun stuff like a full book of poetry from Magdalena Ball and advice on feng shui from Anna Maria Prezio, Ph.D. Leading the charge is Amazon and book launch expert Denise Cassino. Collectively, they offer an inestimable value in career boosting bonus gifts to anyone who pays a mere $9.95 for The Frugal Book Promoter in its Kindle iteration ( www.budurl.com/FrugalBkProKindle ) or $12.82 (discounted from $17.95) for the paperback on Amazon ( www.budurl.co...

Whether you have lived a rough life or had a silver spoon in your mouth, it is normal to want to write your memoirs. This is especially true if you are getting up into middle age or beyond. Otherwise, it could be a pretty short story. Assuming you are ready to put 40 years or more down on paper, here are some tips for maximizing the effect of your finished work. First of all, give yourself plenty of time for a project like this. You are going to remember things as you work through the memories that are freshest in your mind. For this reason, it makes sense to give yourself lots of time, even as much as a year or more. Hopefully, you have a supply of old photographs you will be going through at the same time. But even if you don't, you can dig out those memories that are buried within. A good place to start is with a general time line of your life. You may find that you need to make more than one draft of this line, because you are likely to remember important ...

Writers On The Move: Creating, Promoting, and Selling in the Writing World : I recently attended a teleconference presented by David Riklan, a well-known marketing expert and the founder of SelfGrowth.com. The focus of the topic was creating a successful online business from scratch. According to Riklan, the first two ‘core’ ways to establish a successful online business, one that generates income is to: 1.Create your own product to sell. 2.Create a service to sell. Please understand that when you create a product or service, it should be a quality product or service. It needs to address the potential customer’s problem, need, or want. Read more at http://www.writersonthemove.com/2011/10/creating-promoting-and-selling-in.html

SFC Blog: Families Matter: Book Lovers Blog Hop - October 2011 : 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 the October '11 World of Ink Tour 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 three (3) winners and each will get a different book in the Book Giveaway. Find out more at http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-lovers-blog-hop-october-2011.html

SFC Blog: Families Matter: Fall is Here ... : Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. Crisp air, beautiful colors, falling leaves, brisk walks, and a time to start making hot meals and snacks. I would love to share your favorite recipes for fall here on the blog. Do you have a fun recipe that you and your kids like to make? Recipes for dips, treats, soups, stews, chili, or whatever your fall favorites are. Send them to me at blogeditor@storiesforchildrenpublishing.com or terri.forehand@gmail.com Who knows, we may even gather enough great recipes to put together an EBook for our readers. So join the fun and bring it on. Here is a quick hot dip for fall at http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-is-here.html