New Year's Writing Resolutions

I do, in fact, have other resolutions for 2011 that are not writing-related, but I'll post them on my other blog. One of these days, I'm going to have a single blog that combines writing topics with everything else, but until that day... you're stuck with my dual blogging. Sorry. haha. Anyway, as a way to keep me accountable, I'm putting my New Year's Writing Resolutions in... ha ha.... writing :) - so feel free to ask me about them and how they're going, I could use the accountability!

And, without further ado: my resolutions for writing in 2011 --

1. Finish my rewrite of Book 1 by January 24
2. Carefully read the submission guidelines for the ABNA contest
3. Submit Book 1 to the ABNA contest
4. Make it to round 3 of the ABNA contest (I made it to round 2 last year)
5. Republish Book 1 with new artwork, new title, and rewritten manuscript
6. Do one book signing this year with Book 1

Happy New Year

Well hello there. I've been absent for a while. I was working on a quilt for my parents, and had to take a break from writing in order to get it done by Christmas. However, now that Christmas is over, I'm back to my re-writing/editing and am pleased to announce that I only have 27 pages left in the first run-through. I still have to go back through and do some polishing, and look over my editor's notes, but my January 24th deadline (when the ABNA contest opens) is looking more and more likely to happen!

In other good news, I have an illustrator for the new version of The Dragon's Eye, which I will be renaming King's Warrior once the re-write is done. I'm also planning on trying to do some book signings this year, and maybe travel to a book fair with the new (and improved) version of my first title... we'll see. I would love to be able to give out free copies of King's Warrior to anyone who has already bought The Dragon's Eye, but will have to think through whether or not I can afford such generosity... will let you know when the time comes!

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year! Stay tuned for more updates!

Happy Veteran's Day

 I wrote this a while back for my sister to make into a song. I wish I had the ability to post it here so you could listen to it... but I don't. I love how she can take words and turn them into music, it just amazes me. Anyway, I thought it fitting, considering the date, to post the lyrics today:


 Don't Rob Us of Our Heroes
Just take a look around you, do you think this all came cheap?

It cost a lot in good men’s blood for us become free.
Now it’s said we shouldn’t have been there, out across the sea
Helping men and women like us, how selfish should we be?

Don’t rob us of our heroes
Don’t tarnish their names
They may not have flown like Superman
But they’re heroes just the same.

They gave up all the comforts that you and I afford
To sacrifice, lay down their lives, heroes to the core.
Don’t tell me they didn’t believe in what they’re fighting for
Here back home it’s our job to lift them to the Lord.

A freedom’s flag now waves aloft in far and distant lands
Placed there by some who gave their all with strong and steady hands.
Respect the love they freely gave, those brave men with their guns
Before faulting them remember: that is my neighbor’s son.

Beloved of their families
Lifted up in prayer
Let us bow our heads and thank the Lord
For our soldiers everywhere.

They’re our heroes....

~Jenelle Schmidt


To all those who have served and are currently serving our country in the military: Thank You. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all days, but today in particular. You are our heroes.

It's been a while

Sorry it's been a while. Though I think all of 2 people actually read this.

Updates on the editing/rewriting process:

- I have 40 pages to go on the major rewrite. Yay!
- I am working very hard to be finished with the rewrite by Christmas
- Once the rewrite is done, I still have to go through the polishing notes my editor is sending me on the rewrite
- Polishing is never as hard or labor-intensive, so I have high hopes of having it done quickly
- Goal 1: to have the ability to enter the new and improved "Dragon's Eye" - aka - "King's Warrior" into the 2011 ABNA contest (I will keep you updated on what all is going on with that once they send out information about it. As of right now, I don't know what the deadline for entering is, but I'm pretty sure it will be end of January/beginning of February like it was last year)

- Goal 2: get someone to design a new cover for "King's Warrior"
- Goal 3: republish with new text and new cover through createspace
- Goal 4: set up some book signings at bookstores/libraries with re-designed and re-written "King's Warrior"
- Goal 5: Win the ABNA (well... it's good to have goals... right?)
- Goal 6: find an agent or publisher willing to take on "King's Warrior" (if I don't win the ABNA) ;)

Sammy and His Shepherd - Great Read

Sammy and His Shepherd by Susan Hunt, is a bit longer than most of the books I have reviewed thus far, although I would still consider it a “children’s” book. It is based on the 23rd Psalm and each 1-3 page chapter’s title comes from one of the lines of the 23rd Psalm. The story is about Samuel (called “Sammy” for short) who has a good shepherd. One day, Sammy meets an unnamed sheep who has a lazy, uncaring shepherd. Sammy calls this sheep “My Friend,” and they compare stories about their shepherds. Sammy keeps an eye out for “My Friend” and one day, when “My Friend” gets into trouble, he starts bleating and running around until his shepherd becomes aware of what has happened. The good shepherd buys “My Friend” and renames her, “Precious.”

It takes Precious a while to come to trust her new shepherd, but with time and Sammy’s help, she begins to realize that she has been bought by a shepherd who will take good care of her, lead her beside still waters, allow her to lie down in green pastures, and keep away their enemies. She also learns how to get along with other sheep who even annoy her sometimes because Sammy reminds her that every sheep in their flock has been bought by their shepherd and is precious to their shepherd, and that they should try to get along if only for their good shepherd’s sake.

This is a touching story that parallels the 23rd Psalm in a way that young children can understand. It has a set of questions at the end of the book for each chapter so you can discuss the book with you child(ren). The pictures of the sheep are a touch cartoony, but  they are also beautiful with lots of bright colors and beautiful scenery.

My two year old doesn’t have the patience to listen to the whole story at once (as it’s 43 pages long), but she does enjoy reading a few pages at a time. This will definitely be one of our “read it again” books.


Many thanks to Reformation Trust Publishers for providing this book for my review. They did not ask for a positive review, merely an honest one.

Book Give-Away

I have 3 copies of Dawn of the Dragon's Eye, in hardcover, to give away!

Contest Deadline: November 17th, 2010
How to enter for your chance to win one of these (3) free copies:

Either:
1) Post about my books on your facebook or your blog
or
2) Get 5 people to "like" my author fanpage

Then: come over to my fan page and leave me a comment with (a) information on your post (and the link to your blog if you posted there) or (b) the names of the people who you invited to "like" my fanpage.

The winners of the contest will be decided by a random drawing of all the names entered.

Creation Curriculum: "God Made the World & Me" Review

What is even more exciting right now than getting free books? Getting free educational materials! This book, God Made the World & Me by David and Helen Haidle and Susan Laurita is a 13 lesson curriculum unit on the Creation Story. It goes hand in hand with the book I reviewed a few weeks ago: The Creation Story for Children. You can read my review for that book in the post before this one.

Anyway - I have read through this curriculum and I will definitely be using it. Though most of the material is preschool-oriented, I may even use some of the ideas now with my 2-year old. And I felt that the material would scale well - you could use this with older kids (not tons older, but definitely anywhere in the 3-7 range), which would be nice if you had two children in that age range and wanted to use the same curriculum for both of them.

Pros:
-Cross curriculum activities. For example, each lesson has ideas for a Physical Center, Science Center,  and Art Center. Each lesson has songs that you can sing with the kids, a memory verse, and quite a few game ideas. Each lesson also has at least one Older Children idea and one idea for Younger Children, which helps to make the curriculum scale well depending on the age of your children.

-There is a parent note for each lesson if you were to be using this in a larger classroom as a teacher.

-There are discussion questions for each lesson.

-There are extras for each lesson as well if the other ideas aren't enough to keep you busy.

-I like that they have large group vs. individual instructions for some of the activities. I also like that there are often multiple options for the same type of activity (e.g. two art options in Lesson 2, two physical options in Lesson 3).

Con:
-The only thing that I found to be a con was that there was a graph that the kids were supposed to make during the week for Lesson 2, and I thought it would have been nice if the curriculum had a sample graph for the kids/parents to look at. I know that it would be an easy thing to figure out, but I'm so very visual and graphs are not my strong suit.

Overall, this seems like a great, hands-on, curriculum that is very cross-curricular. It's not just a set of science lesson plans, it also includes art and music, PE, critical thinking, some writing, and it is not at all just a workbook. It is very home-school oriented, but I like that it would also be very easy to use in a classroom full of kids. This is definitely something I will use with my children.

Many thanks to New Leaf Publishing Group for providing this curriculum for review. The FTC requires that I inform you that NLPG did not ask for a positive review, merely an honest one. Therefore, I like NLPG more than I like the FTC... but I also like not being fined... so I include the disclaimer as ordered.