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Writing Contest Valentine’s Day 2019

February 1, 2019 / rosieadmin / 12 Comments

Happy February 2019 everyone!

Let’s have fun writing to kick off this wonderful month.

Are you ready?

Write a short story using the ten words below. Subscribe to my page for your story to appear on my “Kid Lit Blog by Rosie” page.

(Fill out the form at the top right side or the bottom of this page.)

With your permission, your stories will be posted on February 14, 2019.

If you prefer not to join the contest, but want to subscribe to my page for future updates, that’s awesome as well.

***Please have your story to me by February 12, 2019.***

**Which paperback book will the winner choose?**

Here are the instructions for this contest.

Your story does not have to be long, it can even be a paragraph. You can write a poem if you wish. The only requirement, is to remember to use the TEN words below in your story, and as always, your post is family friendly.

Each story entered, will be included in a drawing for a free paperback copy of your choice from Books by Rose. (Those outside of the USA will receive a $10.00 gift card from Amazon.)

If you use the bonus word, your name will be entered twice.

***Feel free to send an image along with your story.***

An example of a quick story I wrote:

When Jake’s teacher announced their writing assignment was a Valentine’s poem, he was not happy one bit. Blah, Valentine’s Day, Jake thought.

He ran home after school to play catch with his dog named Cain. He wished more than ever he could live the life as his pup right now.

“Dogs don’t have to go to school and write poems about flowers, roses, and words about love,” Jake grumbled.

Jake decided right then and there, he was going to write a poem about his best friend.

My Best Friend

Valentine’s Day is here again,

an assignment is due today.

Writing of things such as flowers and hearts,

is really just never my way.

Gooey dark chocolate, it’s great,

red, white and pink candy, the rage.

I’d rather spend time with my sweet friend and mate,

than be in this blazing red craze.

This story idea and poem was inspired by one of my books called:

“A Search and Find of Every Kind with Jake and his dog named Cain.”

The inspiration for this book came from our youngest son Jake and his dog.

By the way, he and his brother were always okay with Valentine’s Day and gave straight from their hearts every time.

Good luck on the contest and….

Happy Writing!

Rosie

In case you missed my last post, click below for my plans for 2019.

“What I Want to Accomplish in 2019 Even if I Don’t Win the Lottery.”

“What I Want to Accomplish in 2019 Even if I Don’t Win the Lottery.”

“What I Want to Accomplish in 2019 Even if I Don’t Win the Lottery.”

January 10, 2019 / rosieadmin / 16 Comments

The start of a new year is like a blank slate, and we don’t know what will be written upon it. Even if we don’t hold that winning lottery ticket, there are loads of things we can engrave upon it.

My writing pals and I are sharing our hopes on the writing road and in our family life – for 2019 in our #Gr8Blog hop: “What I Want to Accomplish in 2019 Even if I Don’t Win the Lottery.”

Please have a read, and then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of this post for more smiles and inspiration.

Whew, what an exciting year 2018 was, huh? We were busy with family activities and the making of “Moonshadow Mae.” Not only is it in hardcover, but we were able to make it in paperback December 11^th.

Written and illustrated by Rosie Russell

So as 2019 begins, it’s time to set goals in action and plan for what is next. Reviewing a few things I’ve learned this past year has helped me paved the way to new beginnings.

I learned more on marketing and the technical side on how to put my books together.

As you know by now, I should be an expert on how to contact website providers and worked through the issues that arose this past year, but I can’t say that’s true. The learning curve will be forever there for me on that topic.

In April, I will approach five years as a writer and illustrator. What a wonderful learning experience it‘s been along the way.

I must remind myself:

*Not to rush and slow down to learn the steps before releasing a title. Patience is a word I say to myself often.

*Have many extra eyes read the content and evaluate my illustrations. Speaking of illustrations, studying a lot more on the technicalities on digital drawing, has helped. I can’t wait to see how much more to learn in the years to come.

*I learned to join a “street team” of friends to turn to for help, when needed. It’s a must in this writing journey. Bouncing ideas around and working through problems has been beneficial to us all.

*I learned to stay true to my heart. Just because a particular topic is hot on the market for children’s books doesn’t mean that subject is one I should write. If I were to make something out of a book not from my heart, it wouldn’t work, and definitely would not be not fair to the readers.

What’s coming for this next year?

This last fall, ideas came for new stories. I won’t go into it right now so I don’t reveal too much, but it’s something that will please readers with these next ones.

I can tell you, one will be very interactive with readers. I can add, this picture book will be for older readers. The reading level will be easy for 3^rd graders, but the project is for those that can follow written directions. Not to say younger ones will not enjoy this story. With the help of an adult, it‘s a fun activity for both to enjoy Let’s say, I tried this out with a few children younger than 3^rd grade and we had a blast.

The next idea for a book will melt the heart of readers. You know how I love including family and friends into my stories so I will look for characters soon. Watch for a shout out when the time comes.

I plan to reach out for more interviews and author visits. I’m waiting back to hear from an event coming in May. I’ll keep you posted.

What are your plans for this next year? As you think about your goals, read these inspiring posts below from my author friends. They have many aspirations and theirs may even spark a few new ideas for you.

Thanks for stopping by! What do you want to kick off your bucket list this year? Please share in the comment section.

If you blog and want to join us on this hop, just add the family-friendly link to your blog post in the comment section. We’ll visit and give you some blog love.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2019!

Happy Reading,

Rosie

Have fun visiting these author’s sites and goals for 2019:

The Ups, Downs and In Between Times on our 2018 Writing Road.

December 4, 2018 / rosieadmin / 10 Comments

Was 2018 a crazy roller coaster ride for you? Smooth sailing? Milestone events?

My author pals and I are remembering the happy moments as well as lessons we learned from challenges this past year in our blog hop: The Ups, Downs and In Between Times on our 2018 Writing Road.” Check out our personal reveals, then visit the other #Gr8Blogs linked at the end of this post for more shared recollections and lessons learned along the way. We hope you’ll be inspired to dive into your own special memories of 2018!

January 2018 through the summer months were busy times here at “Books by Rose.” In August, I released my 8^th children’s book, “Moonshadow Mae.” Leading up to that, I had to work on setting up an all new website. Whew! It took me five weeks to figure it out, but with the help of all my tech savvy friends, I made it! This is my third time transiting websites. The first and second time, I painstakingly replaced everything. This time, I started fresh and new. Did it bother me that I lost all my content? Yes it did! The only thing that got me through was looking back and realizing all my posts would of required updates on those I interviewed and posts I created that had changed. So, as sparse as it may look at the moment, I hope to fill it fast with all new content in the coming months.

Getting back to “Moonshadow Mae.” This is my first hardcover and our goals are to see this sweet story in bookstores and libraries across the USA and then some. It’s full of wonder as Mae loves the moon and the glowing shine it leaves behind. Fun facts, a recipe, and a really cool craft is in the back of her book. I hope you will share it with your friends in your hometown. Click on this link to see her 5 star reviews: Amazon

Rosie Russell

Summer was filled with birthday parties, BBQ’s, reunions with friends and, of course, BASEBALL. If you have followed me by now, you know we are a huge baseball family and love supporting our home team and our little league teams.

In November, I was ready for a fair I signed up for. Lots and lots of work went into making crafts to go along with my books. I would also like to add, the work involved turned out to be a good thing, as it got me away from the computer with hands on activities. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the healthiest thing I could have done for myself. I really have a hard time not working on writing and illustrating more books. Since the crafts all pertain to my stories, it was the perfect time for me to give myself permission to take a break. I really recommend this for all you writers and illustrators to take breaks from time to time. It’s so good for the soul. In the long run, it will make you more productive.

If you would like to see some of the crafts I made, check out my November blog post here.

Now friends, are you ready to see what our other author friends have been up to in 2018? I hope you will click on their links below to read their stories. You may find some new authors you have not heard of or known before. You are in for a treat when you see all their wonderful books and blogs.

Don’t forget to leave a comment letting us all know how 2018 went for you. We would love to hear from you!

If for some reason a reply form does not show up on your side, please go to the top of this page and click on comment under the title of this post. Thank you for your patience as I’m still learning this new website. 🙂

Happy Holidays!

Rosie

Cat Michaels Writer

Sandra Bennett

Julie Gorges

Rebecca Lyndsey

Auden Johnson

Carmela Dutra

Corrina Holyoake

Shana Gorian

Happy October 2018!

October 4, 2018 / rosieadmin / 16 Comments

Happy October 2018!

Fall is here! Our temperatures have not been reflecting the cooler weather quite yet, but we know what’s on the way, so we’ll take it.

As the days turn cooler and get shorter, we’ll be spending more time indoors.

Everyone loves warm soups on those chilly evenings. If you are a football fan, you will want to look over this recipe to see it will fit into your next gathering. This recipe makes a lot!

My brother-in-law, who is a retired Captain from his fire department, made this for his crew and it was a big hit!

All the credit goes to my sister-in-law Karen, for making this soup at an event years ago. As we talked about this recipe last week, we decided to call it, “It’s Not A Diet Soup!” Once you see the ingredients, you’ll know why. Also, this isn’t one of those regular type of recipes you normally find. It’s little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Potato Soup Pexels CCO License

Potato Soup

10 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

Cover the potatoes with water and add 1-2 Chicken Bouillon cubes for flavoring or season as desired.

Cook until tender.

Drain the water off of the potatoes.

Add a stick of butter. (Salted or unsalted.)

Once the butter is melted, add enough milk to almost cover the potatoes.

Add 1 Tablespoon of regular mustard and stir.

As the soup heats up, add up to 2 squares of Cream Cheese, if desired. Stir until melted.

Add more milk if desired. It depends on what consistency you like. If it becomes thinner than you expected, add a couple teaspoons of cornstarch to a small warm glass of water. Stir to dissolve and add to soup.

Here’s what we have added to this soup to make it even more delicious Slivered Deli Ham. Sometimes we’ve added cooked crumbled bacon. Many times we’ve topped it off with shredded cheese.

Want to really send this soup over the top? My sister-in-law has even added a few tablespoons of Sour Cream, oh and yes her favorite, Ranch Dressing. She also suggested shredded carrots for a little color. You can add those when boiling your potatoes.

Once you make this soup, you may have some other ideas. Let us know and we’d love to hear from you.

P.S. This soup goes great with any sandwiches, especially BLT’s.

Last week, I made a post on Facebook about a big fad going on right now, and that’s rock painting. If you go online or on Pinterest, type in “Rock Painting” you will find a ton of ideas on how to do this. Basically, you need acrylic paints, acrylic markers, and something to seal your rocks with. (Waterbase products will not work for outdoors.) Why worry about the outdoors? The painting groups I have found and joined online, paint their rocks and hide them for others to find. It’s a nice way to give someone out there in the world, a smile for their day, as they find your treasure. They can keep the rock or pay it forward by hiding it for others to find.

Here are a few I’ve made so far.

Find a group near you to join if you and your family are interested in this activity. Many of these groups have hashtags and the name of their groups. Each group will have their own rules, but almost always, they have these rules.

1. Safety first and always. Online safety, but also, make sure you don’t hide your rock that could put someone in danger by retrieving it.

2. Never hide your rock outside or in a business. Parks are a perfect place.

3. Never hide your rock where someone could possibility mow over it. Hide it in plain site or somewhat easy to find.

4. Finally, use rocks from natural resources or purchase your own rocks. Never take rocks from businesses or homes where people have used for landscaping. Remember, they bought those rocks.

If you have little ones and it’s too cold or wet to go outside, have a hide and seek game for the rocks in your home. Talk about the kids having fun! They love this game!

One last thing, here’s an indoor activity to make. Cards!

If you have followed my page for a while now, you know I love making cards or anything out of paper.

Here is one Pop-Up card I made awhile back. I actually found many sites online on how to put these together. Let me know and I’ll send you the links.

Here’s another one I did using Stickers. A lot less cutting for this one.

This next card is one I’m REALLY excited to tell you about! I won’t be able to reveal what’s inside quite yet though. I have a fair coming up in November. I’ll have this card at my booth to show those visiting, how I made this. I’ll give you a hint. It has something to do with two of my books, “Maggie, Merrie, and Millie’s Magical Adventure” and “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Magical Coins.”

I hope you have enjoyed these ideas.

Happy October everyone!

Rosie

PS. Don’t forget to take a look at my “Shop Here” page. For full descriptions on all my books, visit my author page on Amazon.

As always, Happy Reading!

My Last Five Weeks Building A New Website

September 24, 2018 / rosieadmin / 3 Comments

Have you ever had to switch to a new software and build a new website?

There were lots of technical issues for this one.

With this one being my third time changing, I’ve learned a lot about how websites work. I’m still learning more every day.

The second time I had to rebuild, I painstakingly tried to replace all my posts from my first website. Talk about a lot of work.

When looking back, many of those posts were outdated so I’ve decided to start fresh and new.

First you’ll see the landing page, Welcome to Books by Rose.

Next is a Kidlit Blogs by Rosie page. This is where things might look a little different. I will have blogs for news and will also include interviews with authors, artists, and more. (Before I had a separate page for that.)

Last, I’ll still have my Shop Here page. I plan to add more in time.

Before I go any further, I’d like to thank James Milson – Writer for helping me figure out how WordPress works and talking me through the “Hemingway” theme.

If you haven’t met James by now, he too is a Missouri author and has a favorite book of mine out there called, “The Adventures of Little Red Bear: The First Holler.” Talk about a fun, family friendly book for a read-a-loud in the classrooms and at home.

Here is my five star review for James’s book:

I’m excited to have my website back to bring you more fun posts that I hope you will enjoy.

Always feel free to contact me at booksbyrose4u@gmail.com or leave a comment. Scroll back to the top of this post and click on comment.

Now, off to learn more about this website.

As always, “Happy Reading!”

Rosie