Tag: #Gr8BlogHop

Celebrating “Wintertime Bliss” at Books by Rose with Blog Hop Author Friends

November 1, 2019 / rosieadmin / 7 Comments

Enjoy my blog and my #GR8BlogHop author friends posts, as we celebrate how we find our “Wintertime Bliss.”

Each of us will give you our take on what “Wintertime Bliss” brings to each of us. I hope you will click on their links at the bottom of this page to join in. Don’t forget to share with us what wintertime means to you and yours.

Book Launch!

First up in November, is my book launch for Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Mystery Mail.” I hope you will stop by on my “Books by Rose” Facebook page on November 07, 2019 at 9 am CST.

Thanksgiving

Next up, is Thanksgiving!

I wish everyone the best from A-Z for a wonderful November and Thanksgiving Day.

If you live outside of North America, you may celebrate a different holiday. Write us a note and tell us all about it.

Now on to the Rest of My Wintertime Bliss

December!

We celebrate Christmas at our home. We have so much fun exchanging gifts and eating a traditional Christmas Eve dinner each year. Our special meal is called, “Velveeta Chicken.” I usually make it along with a Sweet Potato Casserole, our favorite veggies, and rolls. Morning is spent opening presents and visiting with family and friends late into the evening.

Share with us on how you celebrate this holiday or your special holiday.

New Years!

It’s been pretty quiet around our house these past years on New Years Eve. When our sons were home, we’d eat snacks, watch the ball drop on T.V. and play board games.

How do you celebrate the upcoming New Year at your house?

Winter Reading

I plan to make sure I have a stack of books on hold from our library for those snowy days. There’s nothing better than relaxing and reading. It’s fun to get a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books. I usually have many going on at the same time. It depends on my mood that day.

Are you a “one book at a time reader” or do you read like I do? Oh, and if you have any great books to suggest, please leave the titles in the comments below.

Winter Shows

Outside of all the holiday movies to get through, my husband and I have been binge watching a bunch of shows. We are currently watching “Heartland.” Have you seen it? It’s a show based out of Canada and it’s really good. I’m learning lots of facts about horses which leads me to my next subject…Winter Writing

Winter Writing

Now that my Picture Book, “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Mystery Mail” is finished and out into the world, I’m giving my full attention to the MG story I’m co-writing with Cat Michaels Writer.

We are having so much fun with this book. Here’s a snippet of our story to come.

Our protagonist, Olivia, and her friend, Isabella,
introduce new girl Candace to Olivia’s horse, Lucky.

“There now, boy,” Olivia crooned, moving to Lucky and stroking him gently alongside his neck.  “Candace is just trying to be friendly.”

“Your horse doesn’t like me,” Candace blurted. “He’s mean.”

“He’s just not used to you.  It’ll take time for him to know you, that’s all,” Olivia said.

“Yeah, right.”

“Try a friendly horse handshake like this, Candace.” Olivia suggested. She stuck out her hand with fingers held down and slightly bent.  “Hold your hand like this near Lucky’s nose. That way, he can smell your hand and get to know you.”

Unconvinced, Candace kept her distance, hands clasped securely behind her back.

“I was explaining the best way to pet a horse,” Isabella said, “but before I could finish, Candace reached over and petted Lucky in that small blind spot in front of his face. It startled him, so he bucked sideways.”
Check out Cat’s photos here, as she visited a farm for our research. Sounds exciting, huh? Keep watching!

Anticipating

I’m looking forward to what 2020 brings. I will start another Picture book later next year. It has been written for some time now but has been put on the back burner to work on my past projects. I’m excited to get started with it. This story will melt your heart. It’s already melting mine.

Illustrating

Not only will I have the cover to finish for the book I’m writing with Cat Michaels, I’m excited to use some new techniques I found for my new Picture Book. I draw with a Wacom Drawing Pad to create digital art. What do you use?

If any of you want to begin illustrating or want to create art, please visit YouTube. It’s amazing the free lessons you’ll find. Don’t forget to follow your favorite artists. They will welcome you and love to have you on board to follow them in their journey.

What’s your Wintertime Bliss?

Please leave us a note in the comment section below. Don’t forget to subscribe to my page at the top right corner or the bottom of this page for more updates on what’s to come.

Click on the links below for more Winter Time Bliss.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Winter!

And, always, Happy Reading!

Rosie

Author and Illustrator Carmela Dutra – Click on Part 1 and Part 2.

Part 1 .

Part 2

Author Sandra Bennett

Book Lovers’ Day

August 4, 2019 / rosieadmin / 16 Comments

Book with rose and heart shaped pages. — Image: Pixabay

In honor of Book Lovers’ Day on August 09, 2019, my writerly pals and I are sharing all the ways we adore reading with the #BookLuvHop

We all chose different ways to celebrate this day. Don’t forget to visit the awesome bloggers listed at the end of this post. I hope you’ll find find more ways to share your bookish passions.

Book Art

For this day, I’m choosing Book Art. Being a lover of reading and art, why not combine the two?

Looking online for sources of book art, I came across many ideas. Painted book pages. Decoupage book pages. As an result, deciding which one to pick, was hard.

blue bird painted on a book page — Image: Pixabay

After taking a break from the thought, I found one right under my nose. It’s an art activity that was created by me in my first Maggie, Millie, and Merrie series.

These books have been close to my heart lately. See more below.

If you have read “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Magical Adventure,” you know what the special art activity is in this book. Widget Boxes! I’ve read this story and shared this activity in classrooms many times and children loved making them. Adults have told me it’s one of their favorite projects to make, too.

Now For The Fun Part

Here’s some boxes I made from the pages of their book. The triplets story comes with instructions in the back of the book. You can make boxes with or without lids. If you make ones without lids, add a pipe cleaner or a stiff ribbon for handles. What a perfect gift to leave a little surprise for someone. They make great table decorations, too.

As in the story, the funny little gnome explains, “you can make them as small as a coin or big enough to sit in them.”

Widget boxes from "Maggie, Millie, and Merrie's Magical Adventure." — Widget Boxes

Would I recommend for readers to use any old book they see? No, we better not do that. I made these from books that were proofs. Proofs are books authors order to see their work in print. It’s a must, by the way, if you are starting out as an author. There’s something about seeing the words on actual pages. It’s a great way to catch errors or if you want to make changes. Authors revise their books many times. Proofs cannot be sold and throwing them away is hard to do.

Other Books

If you see any books out there that are ARC (Advance Reader Copies) or proofs, try and think of a way to recycle them. Sometimes, books have been damaged and are no longer readable. These would be perfect to use. See what fun “Book Art” you can find on Youtube, Pinterest, and the Web. You will be glad you did and our Mother Earth will thank you, too.

FYI

You can use any kind of paper, cardboard, or card stock. I’ve even used cereal boxes. Practice making them first with thinner paper. It’s much easier.

What to put in your boxes? Treats and other small items is an idea. Make them larger for all sorts of gifts and treasures.

Why Has Maggie, Millie, Merrie’s Books Been on My Heart Lately?

I’ve been working hard to release their third book in late fall. I’ll hold off telling you the title for now.

I can tell you this much.

The triplets have grown up a bit.

Something magical happens to them.

Readers will be introduced to a new fun art activity. A yummy recipe will be included, too.

If you would like to get caught up on their past two books, and want to learn how to make Widget Boxes, check out their first book, here.

Available in paperback and kindle.

"Maggie, Millie, and Merrie's Magical Adventure" book. — “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Magical Adventure”

Amazon Barnes and Noble Rainy Day Books

Book 2, “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Magical Coins.

This book includes another exciting magical story with activities that will keep readers busy for hours.

"Maggie, Millie, and Merrie's Magical Coins" book. — “Maggie, Millie, and Merrie’s Magical Coins”

Amazon Barnes and Noble Rainy Day Books

*If you are already a subscriber to Books by Rose, write me a note to receive instructions on how to make, “Widget Boxes.”

*Subscribe to Books by Rose in the top right hand corner to receive free instructions. We are excited to have you on board for future updates, new books, with more fun activities.

An Extra Surprise

I received a nice surprise. My author friend, Rebecca Lyndsey, sent me her book art project.

Check out Author Rebecca Lyndsey’s wonderful Book Art project.

Author Rebecca Lyndsey's Book Art. — Author Rebecca Lyndsey’s Book Art

Rebecca said this wasn’t hard to make and it took her about 45 minutes. She found the template online. There are many out there. Youtube has a ton of different ones to make. She said it was easy, just a bit time consuming. The book she used here, took 40 pages and 80 folds.

Rebecca’s latest release is called, “Into the Ocean.” It’s full of facts, humor, and lots of fun. You can find more about Rebecca Lyndsey and her books ► here.

More Fun With Book Art with

“What’s In My Wonderland“

Georgia is a passionate writer, photographer and aspiring author, she writes for her blog whatsinmywonderland, which was created in Jan 2018. Her blog covers many topics ranging from her lifestyle, to her mental health journey as well as anything and everything book related. Georgia enjoys to be creative and aims to inspire others to chase their dreams. She also sells handmade vegan scented candles on her website.

Check out Georgia’s cute Book Art project.

► Hedgehog Book Art

You can find more about Georgia here:

Website Facebook Pinterest Twitter Instagram Youtube

How will you celebrate “Book Lovers’ Day?” We hope to hear from you in the comment section below. Don’t forget, if you blog, add your feedback and share your family-friendly blog link in our comment section, and we’ll spread blog love your way!

Thanks for visiting.

Tap on the names below for more ways to enjoy, “Book Lovers’ Day.”

As always,

Happy Reading!

Rosie

Cat Michaels – Book Lovers’ Day and Bibliophiles Everywhere with My R*A*P, Really Awful Poem, to Bookishness

Rebecca Lyndsey has a list of great books to share for Book Lovers’ Day.

James Milson – Happy Book Lovers’ Day – Why Lifetime Reading is Important

Sandra Bennett – 5 Reasons to Support Independent Bookstores

Auden Johnson – #BOOKLOVERS’ DAY HOP: BEST FANTASY BOOK TROPES (IN MY HUMBLE OPINION)

CURRENTLY – Summer 2019 Blog Hop: Ready, Set, Jump into Summer!

June 17, 2019 / rosieadmin / 21 Comments

Sunscreen. Kids playing “Marco Polo” in the pool. Family road trips. Summer is in the air! My writerly pals and I are sharing our summer dreams and inspiration in the C*U*R*R*E*N*T*L*Y – Summer Blog Hop. For more summertime fun, click over to meet the awesome #Gr8Blogs bloggers listed at the end of this post.

Here are a few things I’m looking forward to this summer:

*Loving – The Warmer Weather!

I feel like a broken record when I say I can’t wait for the nice, sunny days of summer. No, not much of a fan of the heat, but after this winter, I will have to catch myself not to complain.

Our team started playing softball this year on March 17th. I don’t think we had one game above 50 degrees. We had so many rain outs, they had to end the season before finishing the playoffs. Hopefully we will be off to a better start next spring.

* Reading – Every MG Book I Can Find

As you all know by now, I’m co-authoring a MG (Middle Grade) novel with author Cat Michaels. I’ve written and illustrated eight children’s books, so for me, writing a MG book is much different. I’ve been reading as many of them as I can find. It’s helped me get a feel on what readers enjoy and how larger plots come together. Our book also, involves a horse in our tale. Since neither one of us grew up around horses, much research has taken place and it’s been lots of fun.

We are at a place in our story, where a very big problem happens and things are getting exciting. Keep watching for more details to come.

Pssst. Don’t forget to check on Cat Michaels’s site from time to time, so you don’t miss anything.

* Thinking About – Summer Cleaning and Decorating

We have a breakfast nook that we are redoing. We’re bringing our washer and dryer up from the basement. This is has been a huge undertaking for my husband, as he’s had to redo wiring, plumbing, and lots of construction.

I get to do the fun part. (Not really) Years ago, we had the big idea to turn our breakfast nook into a “collective room.” You know the style, like they have at Applebees. We thought, what a cute idea!! (Chuckling now.) Well, it looked really great at first, but, as our sons grew, everything special they ever did, which was a lot, ended up on those walls. Baseball Jerseys, baseball hats, the list goes on and on. The task of cleaning this room after awhile, became so overwhelming. Needless to say, much of it is going to be packed away. We will still have many fun items to display, just not nearly as much.

* Anticipating – Party of the Year with Friends and Birthday Day Parties.

Summer holds lots of birthdays in our family, so we have many fun gatherings and celebrations to look forward to.

Every June, the friends that my husband and I grew up with, has a annual party to celebrate each other, and those no longer with us. It was around ten years ago, we all kept seeing each other at funerals. After that, our friend decided to put on a gathering with friends, food, and music. This event have grown and has become very big in the past years. It’s much different than a class reunion, as these friends all grew up in the same neighborhood or surrounding areas. I encourage all groups to try to reunite and have a party with those you knew back in the day and celebrate your time together.

By the way, our party was a giant success! We had perfect weather. The food was outstanding, along with the band. “The Instamatics,” were a huge hit for all that attended. Their 60’s and 70’s music was a perfect fit for our crowd.

* Making Me Happy – Summer Dinners

With all the gatherings, it’s the best time to fire up the grill and cook some of your favorite summer meals.

After roasting our vegetables in the oven all winter, I’m looking forward to cooking them outside for that smoky flavor. We love just about all meats grilled out, but a few of our favorites are, BBQ Pork Steaks, and Pineapple Bratwursts. Our store here sells them already made, but if you go online, you will find how to make them yourself.

Another meat we really enjoy cooking out is, “Flat Iron Steaks.” Most people we’ve talked to, have never heard of these. Many stores don’t have them, but ask to check to see if they will carry them. They are always tender, cooked on the grill, or as a roast.

So, what are some fun things you are looking forward to this summer? Write us a note, we’d love to here from you!

Don’t forget to check out our author friends to see what they have in store for this summer. You never know, you may hear about a new adventure you never tried before.

Happy Summer, and as always, Happy Reading!

Rosie

Cat Michaels on Cat’s Corner

Rebecca Lyndsey

Julie Gorges at Baby Boomer Bliss

Sandra Bennett

James Milson “Writing & Things”

Carmela Dutra

Mackenzie Flohr

Auden Johnson