Jingle Bells available in print and SuperHERo Tales available on kindle!

“Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World” is now available in both print and kindle, and now “SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories” is available in kindle!

Both are full of amazing stories from talented authors. Jingle Bells has some wonderful artwork and stories that are great for kids and adults alike. SuperHERo Tales has some stories great for older children  and adults throughout, along with stories for younger children towards the back.

Both of these books will make wonderful gifts for the loved ones on your Christmas list, and SuperHERo Tales will be available in print later this week!

About “Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World”:

Let these wonderful stories of holiday magic fill your heart with peace and love for the holiday season. From dragons at Christmas to dancing for Hanukkah, from fairy friends to a mermaid’s gift, you’ll find many stories within these pages to bring a smile to your face. With 33 wonderful short stories and 5 poems, written for children and adults alike, there is a variety of tales, written by authors from around the world, to help you find a bit of that holiday spirit to warm your heart.

Proceeds from the sale of Jingle Bells go towards the Chapter Book Challenge. 

About “SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories”:

Girls are under-represented when it comes to superhero movies, toys and other merchandise. This wonderful group of authors decided to do something about it. Within these pages, you will find stories of female superheroes to enchant and delight. You will read all about their powers and their masked identities and then get to read a short story that gives you insight into who they are or who they will become. You’ll find action, adventure, magic and betrayal. You’ll find everyday female heroes, as well as super-powered heroines and devious villains. From friendly encounters to government conspiracies, 27 new superheroes, all FEMALE superheroes, can be found represented in these stories, written by 24 talented authors. 

From the foreword by Emmie Mears: 

"When I was growing up I was told superheroes weren't for me... that superheroes and comic books weren't for girls. They were for boys... This anthology is a tribute to superheroes who happen to have XX chromosomes. I want the next generation of girls to grow up in a world where they won't get told superheroes aren't for them."

Proceeds from sales of SuperHERo Tales go towards the charity Because I am a Girl. 

About the charity (from their pages on their website):

"Because she is a girl, she’s more likely to suffer from malnutrition, be forced into an early marriage, be subjected to violence, be sold into the sex trade, or become infected with HIV. Because she is a girl, she faces discrimination in her own home. Because she is a girl, she’ll have limited access to a doctor or even a primary education (if she’s able to go to school at all). But we’re here to change all that. Because being a girl should always be a positive, empowering experience." 

Get your print copies of “Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from around the World” here.

Get your kindle copies of “Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World” here.  

Get your kindle copy of “SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories” here. 


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Picture Book Marathon

February is Picture Book Marathon Month. I love the idea of a picture book writing marathon!

Alas, I am unable to join in as I did not learn about this picture book marathon month until it was almost over. Instead I will honor the month by writing a new picture book this month and drawing three preliminary sketches for it. (Yes, I am still struggling along with my attempts at teaching myself to draw.)

Have you joined the marathon? If not, do you think you'd like to join in next year?

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Drawing - First Attempt - Fairy

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to try and teach myself how to draw, so that I can illustrate the children's stories that I have written. I also said that I would be sharing my drawings here as I attempted them.

Today's attempt:


My 7 year old daughter draws better than this! I have no concept of how to shade the drawing, so I didn't even attempt that yet. I'm not sure I succeeded in making the fairy look as though she is sitting with her knees pulled up in front of her. She is much more simplified than I intended her to be (as is the tiny dragon in the picture). I made her smaller on the toadstool than I meant to, so I didn't have a lot of room to really draw her face properly. I did not get the proportions correct. The list of my failures in this attempt at drawing could go on and on, but at least you can tell my fairy is a fairy.

And I will improve.

Illustrations

Three of the stories I have written are for very young children. Those stories need illustrations. At first, I thought I would be able to get my husband to illustrate the stories for me, as he is very gifted at drawing and at creating computer graphics. However, having him illustrate the stories for me has not worked out.

Now I have two choices. I can either pay someone else to illustrate my children's stories, or I can illustrate them myself. I may, in the end, have to resort to having an artist illustrate my stories for me, but first, I am going to try and illustrate them myself.

There is one problem with this plan. I am not very good at drawing. In fact, I am so terribly awful at drawing that it would be fair to say that my drawing resembles what it's meant to be as much as a bee resembles a dog, which is to say, not at all.

So what am I to do? Should I just give up? Maybe. But not without trying first. Children's illustrations do not need to be complicated. Simple but cute drawings can sometimes be just as enchanting to a child's eyes as more complicated and elaborate artwork. I just need to do a little learning (I hope).

I am going to spend a little bit of time each week attempting to draw. And I will share those drawings here. Hopefully, each drawing will be an improvement over the last. And hopefully, those of you reading this will give me honest (but not cruel) opinions on my progress.

I recently read an article that stated that, because drawing uses a different part of our brain than writing, even if we are not very good at it, the act of drawing helps to stimulate our creativity. Maybe doing a little drawing will help inspire me to write a bit more of my novel, as well as hopefully giving me some illustrations to use for my children's stories.

It's never a bad thing to learn new skills. And, no matter what happens with these attempts, it's never a bad thing to try something new.

Dreaming Up Stories

Ever had a dream that was so vivid and interesting that you knew you had to write it up into a story or novel? I've had two. So far, although I've written an outline for one of them and a brief synopsis for the other, I haven't really gotten started on them yet. But I know in my soul that they are meant to be written.

For other inspiration, like for my children stories, I only need to look to my children to find inspiration. What interests them? What wonderful adventure are they pretending to live today?

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Inspiring Gabby

Every year since my daughter Gabriella was three years old, I have created books using stories she has dictated to me and drawings that she has created while at each age. When she turned four, I took all the things she had "written" and many things she had drawn at the age of three and made her a book called "Dreams of Three." When she turned five, I took all the things she had "written" and many of her drawings done while she was four and made her a book called "Dreams of Four." Now that she is six, it is time for me to put together her "Dreams of Five" book.

For the first two years that I did this for her, she had dictated 12 stories each year to me. I am not sure we got that many stories this year though. We might have eight stories. I guess it just means that the book will cost me less to buy once it's created. I wish I had put in the time to have her tell me more stories this year though. She has a wonderful imagination that is growing each year. And it wouldn't even have been that much effort on my part. 12 stories is only one story a month, and her stories are usually only a paragraph or two long.

The thing that is great about creating these books is that the books inspire her to continue to think creatively. They also help her see the value in reading and writing. They also help her feel proud of her accomplishment (she loves showing them off to others), and they are a wonderful memento for the years to come. They also make great presents for her grandparents.

I publish them at Lulu.com, and Gabby offers them for sale there with color interiors and for sale in the children's art section of my Cafe Press shop Fyfe Photography & Design with black and white interiors. She's even sold some, which makes her very excited each time it happens! They are for sale at Moonduster Books. (Eventually, the children's stories that I am writing will be available there too.)

Ideas

Last year, I thought up a children's story for my daughter Gabby. She was five at the time, but I still have not finished the story, because I'm stuck on how to illustrate it. I have no artistic talent when it comes to drawing or painting.

Yesterday, I got a great idea for another children's story to write for my 3 year old daughter Bella. Again, I am faced with the problem of how to illustrate it.

I am going to try to get my husband to set aside some time to try and illustrate the children's stories, because, unlike me, he does have some talent in that area.

I just wish I could get these stories and illustrations finished in time for me to self-publish and buy them as Christmas gifts for my two girls.