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Category: Book

Queen Mary Childrens book

My Own Personal WarBride…

thankyou bookevent

I am choosing to believe that you all have suffered greatly from my lack of blogs and that there will be truth in the statement that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  It has been about a week since I have been able to stop and post, although I imagine something new to write daily.  However despite my good intentions, I got caught up in my preparations to meet June Allen, an inspiration behind my first publishing, History Comes Alive Aboard the Queen Mary.  I have mentioned before that I am writing a novel based on the War Brides that sailed across the Queen Mary after WWII and in my research I became associated with June.  Strangely, (and fortunately, because it means my research was up to par) my main character in the novel resembles her life story.  This only increased the bond I felt upon our conversations.  When I learned that she was making a trip to the Queen Mary, I knew I had to meet her in person, and to my surprise I was also able to meet her son, Jim, who was a 1 year old toddler, as they sailed across the Atlantic.  Meeting her will forever be a highlight of my life, a true living legend, an an integral part of our great nations history.  I was happy that I was able to make the children’s picture book that is secondary to my novel, but could give her a glimpse of where I am headed in all that we have discussed.

After this iconical meeting, I came home to the first book launch for History Comes Alive, which although intentionally intimidating, was a success and a lot of fun.  On the event page of the Blog, is the listing for the second event happening on June 14th at Engelmann Cellars, and will be a family friendly event, with live music, a little wine tasting, and tons of outdoor space for a picnic.  I hope you can attend this Meet & Greet of author and illustrator!

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McFarland USA – Fresno

I don’t like silence while I am working, put it down to having a house full of little boys, I think better among the chaos.  This being said, I tend to throw on a movie while writing, working, or even thinking and this is often how I catch up on the new releases.  The other night I watched McFarland USA and I loved it, of course, I enjoy most Kevin Costner movies, but this movie had all the action, comedy, drama, to keep me entertained throughout the whole thing.  I was surprised that there was not more of a buzz about this movie, either people haven’t taken the time to watch it or our world has become so “Hollywood” that we have lost the heart of America.  I don’t follow the Kardashian’s or Bruce Jenner, but because of social media, I know more about them than I care to admit.  Yet this movie about small town America and boys that worked hard to achieve and make a difference in their communities has fallen by the wayside.  However, I know that this is just the way things are nowadays and not really the point of my post today, what made me want to comment was that I cannot believe there was no Fresno love for this movie!!  The movie itself, involves the Central Valley, but two of the young men from the movie graduated and went on to Fresno State, yet still no mention across facebook or twitter about that simple fact.  I have lived around the world and Fresno is one of the proudest cities I know, but no love for a heartwarming, family oriented, rise from the ashes movie that not only put McFarland on the map, but acknowledges the higher education and successful athletic department of Fresno State University.  Let’s give credit to the underdogs, support the community, and make our hometown famous for the good, not the negative statistics that most people associate with Fresno.

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Promoting and Marketing

I can only hope that maybe you have missed me but I haven’t been far, this is a picture of us (my illustrator, Gabriel and I) with Aisha, a wonderful marketing director at a strategy meeting.  Three minds are better than one as we came up with ideas for promoting and energizing each other for the hard work ahead.  I have to say it was productive as we have two dates and locations in the works for the book launch/signing and meet the author events.  Also hope to announce a few brick and mortar locations that you will be able to buy the book in the near future.  Thank you again for following and although I haven’t posted I have been writing, as always, words from my heart, mind, and soul!!

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Actions

received_1000189973379479We have all been taught that ‘Actions have Consequences’ and that has certainly proven true in my life.  Most of the time these are negative, due to lack of consideration on my part and not thinking ahead of how my action may reflect on to another person.  But, some times those consequences turn in to positives by creating a learning lesson.  For example, my son chose not to do his homework and was forced to go to homework detention.  He knew that his action would cause that end result, and apparently was willing to accept that consequence.  What he didn’t know, was that I would refuse to pick him up and he would have to take the late bus home.  My response to the situation changed his behavior as he now knows that I won’t readjust my schedule for his bad action.  If we take action to remove negative actions that oppose our sense of well being we will be happier in our lives and able to continue with daily activities with positive and productive results.  Take Action, Take Notice, Find your Inner Worth!

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Social Media

In this process of marketing myself so that I can promote my book, I have gone back to the platforms of social media sites long forgotten to breathe new life into updated profiles.  This brings me to ask; What are your favorite, can’t live without, social media sites?  What are the sites that you don’t care about anymore or haven’t even attempted to use?  I can say that there are sites out here that I did not even know existed and I thought myself savvy on at least being “in the know” even if I never tried it.  I know that people tend to use various sites for different reasons, or to connect with different genres, but when are we “too plugged in?”  It is true that with the push of a button you can now post once and connect to multitude of sites simultaneously but to not be viewed as just a poster, never connecting to your followers, it is important to visit the site and read, comment, like, and share.  All of this takes time.  Time that we are not interacting with the real world, with people right in front of us everyday, the little people that see us, hear their stories while typing or reading at our laptops or phones.  I used to be very guilty of this, especially when I was going to school and doing homework.  I am better now, but know that it still happens more often than not, and I know it happens to many of you too.  So today I challenge each of you to take a moment and turn away from the screen and don’t just hear the person in front of you talking, but truly listen to them.  Look at their facial expression as they speak, and if it is one of those little people, see the smile in their eyes as they know you really see them.  Then tell me about it, as you share your favorite or least favorite social media site! Be it #facebook #google+ #instagram #twitter

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The First of Many to Come……..

frontcover This is it, my first real blog, my first real published book!  Seems ironic that I am to begin it all on Mother’s Day, just returning from a visit at the Queen Mary where I have submitted my book for review to see if it will be selected to grace the shelves of their gift shops.  I am hopeful as it was well received to those I shared it with and there were no other children’s books displayed.  I am in the process of writing a children’s book series and a novel about the War Brides that traveled on the Queen Mary in WWII which is how this simple scrapbook like children’s story came about.  I hope that you will follow me and hear what I have to share on a daily or bi-weekly basis.  I will try to stay short and to the point, as I tend to ramble when sharing a thought, or venting about one of my four boys.  Please feel free to share whatever you feel relevant.

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