VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Book Lovers July '12 Blog Hop: Make friends, share the love of reading and be entered to win a FREE book! 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. The winners will win a copy of Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare. Learn more at the link below and to join/enter! SFC Blog: Families Matter: July '12 Book Lovers Blog Hop & Giveaway :

Sands Hetherington credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Sands raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during those formative years. He and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take. Sands majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives in Greensboro. Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare by Sands Hetherington is an after lights-out adventure story that will delight young readers and middle graders who relish roller coaster fantasy and fun, filled with unforgettable characters and an astonishing and inventive collection of magical whatchamacallits. The book is all about the nighttime adventures of a young boy named John (named after Sands' son), who is not ready to go to sleep, and his friend, a bright red crocod...

Jo Linsdell picture book 'Out and About at the Zoo' is a rhyming picture book with colorful pictures showing children a fun day out discovering different things in the world around them. This first book in the ´Out and About´ series is a wonderful introduction to a day at the zoo for children young and old. Linsdell, also the illustrator, has created pictures so adorable it makes you want to hug each animal in the book. Both the pictures and the text will entice a child's wonder and excitement during a day at the zoo. Linsdell writes mostly about Italy, pregnancy and parenting, marketing (She LOVES social media) and the writing industry. She has some very successful blogs such as Writers and Authors were those who are new or experienced authors can pick up a tip or two. Linsdell has enjoyed writing since she could hold a pen in her hand but officially started her writing career in 2006. Since then, Linsdell has worked for numerous clients around the world...

This Friday I'm sharing an interview we did over at the SFC blog Families Matter. A bit different from my normal interviews, but I hope you like this one all the same. Born and raised in New York, Bill spent his middle years in Southern California. There, he raised two sons and enjoyed a twenty-five year career as a self-employed management consultant. For twenty years, Bill published and edited the Business Strategies Newsletter . He authored two business books, including, Strategic Thinking: A Four Piece Puzzle . Published in 2004, that book is currently in its third printing. In 2007, Bill and his wife, Wendy, were ready to write a new chapter in their lives. They sold their home, put everything they owned in storage and purchased one-way tickets to Arequipa, Peru. They spent the next eight months living in Peru, six of those months working voluntarily in a poor community in the Peruvian Andes. In 2008, the Birnbaums spent an additional four months traveling in Ecuador, P...

BTR’s World of Ink Network show: Families Matter with hosts VS Grenier, Kecia Burcham and Irene Roth.   The Families Matter show airs live once a month on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 6pm EST - 5pm CST - 4pm MST - 3pm PST   The idea of this show on Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network is to have guests and listeners (adults or kids) share information to help empower children and their families. Our June show topic is about homeless families and children on the streets. This month we have a special guest...Deb Borys! She has recently released "Painted Black" a suspense novel that twists the reality of Chicago's homeless community. Borys has worked with the homeless, which helped with the research of her novel. The hosts also understand the importance of this ever growing issue in our communities and look forward to sharing programs and ways we can help those in need; along with helping those who do not understand the need in homeless communi...

Personal growth is the hot topic of the day. You'll notice that nearly every magazine you see, no matter whether it targets men or women, has one thing in common with all the rest: at least one article encouraging some kind of personal growth. These articles tell you about "empowerment," about growing as a person, about controlling your destiny, taking your life in both hands, and following your dreams. Do you need a magazine to tell you to take control of your life? Certainly not! You know deep in your heart whether your life is under control and moving in the direction you want for yourself, or whether you need to take measures to enable that self-control. Here is where you can use journaling to encourage personal growth. Journaling is a very old practice. Logs and field notebooks have been used by scientists, explorers, and travelers for centuries. During the Renaissance of the 14th through 17th centuries, journaling was extremely popular, as a focu...

When I decided to start critiquing, and later do freelance editing, I realized I needed to hone my grammar and punctuation skill set. Unlike most people who set out to be writers, English was not my favorite subject in school. In fact, I have talked about how I repeated 9th grade English three times in high school. Not because I didn't understand the class, I just plan out hated English class and didn't go half the time. I don't know about you, but I found learning the basic rules of English boring. However, here I am today much older and wiser with an understanding about how important it is to know the basic rules of grammar and punctuation when writing. Now I'm not saying you need to know all the ins and outs of grammar, style and punctuation. In fact, the rules do change from time to time and from publisher to publisher. But having a basic understanding will help you with your writing career. One of the ways, besides going back to school to brush up on my Engli...

Jo Linsdell writes about Italy, pregnancy and parenting, marketing (She LOVES social media) and the writing industry. Linsdell enjoyed writing since she could hold a pen in her hand but officially started her writing career in 2006. Since then, Linsdell has worked for numerous clients around the world and won a few awards along the way too. She has also published several books including the popular "Italian for Tourists" phrase book.   VS: What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life?   Jo: It's not easy but I try to make time for both everyday. I always have a to-do list written up for each day and make sure it includes both work and family based tasks. A trip to the park with my kids is right up there with writing a new chapter or carrying out marketing tasks. I think when you love doing something you make the time for it in your life regardless.   VS: How long have you been writing...