Tag: Middle Grade Book

What is The Most Courageous Thing You Did In 2024?

January 2, 2025 / rosieadmin / 6 Comments

I want to start off wishing you all a very Happy New Year, everyone!

What is the Most Courageous Thing You Did in 2024?

I don’t have just one, but four things which have challenged me this past year.

Don’t forget to read to the end as I have some author friends who have also shared their posts for 2024.

I’ll Start With Mine…

Writing a Middle Grade Book Solo

First of all, I’m making my first chapter book for Middle Grade readers.

Some of you have heard me talk about this already. Some of you may know about the making of a chapter book I wrote with author Catherine Michaels back in 2020. (Just Between Sam and Me) I learned a great deal from working with Cat. It’s strange not to have a second opinion in my writing as before so this is a big project for me.

Writing a chapter book is much different than children’s books. It will be all black and white with black and white illustrations. That has been very difficult for me because I crave color illustrations. I had to stop and make some art along the way to get that out of my system. (See some of my projects below.)

There’s another reason I have been doing a lot of art this past year and I will reveal more about that after my book is announced. Keep watching!

My Second Courageous Thing I’ve Done In 2024

We had to say goodbye to our sweet kittens. 🙁

They were actually both eighteen years old and sisters from a litter which were given to us back in 2006. We had their brother up until 2018. He was fifteen years old when he passed.

Lola and Jeter were best friends and you never saw one without the other. After Jeter passed in March, two days after her 18th birthday, Lola became very depressed and stop eating. One thing lead to another and we realized she had become very sick. They passed away within 7 weeks of each other. From March to May, it was a difficult time to say the least.

Even though they lived long lives, it was so very hard to say goodbye to them…it still is. I have to tell myself, eighteen year old cats in human years equals to ninety-four years old. I couldn’t expect them to live longer but having them here so constant everyday, by my side, is something I’m still working on getting over.

If you have ever lost a pet, you know how we are feeling. Many say, “get another cat or two.” We have decided we will not be getting any more pets at this time and we are okay with that. We will love on all the pets we visit though, you can count on that. ❤️️

My Art Challenges

Working with hands on art and exploring different techniques and sharing them online. That’s been a brave one as I can be critical of my art. I have a problem on stopping and leaving it alone….so it seems to take me f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Ha! When you do digital art, you can fix mistakes very easily. With mix media products, you can’t. Well, you can, but, you have to do it where it won’t show. More on that later this year, but I’m happy I’ve been able to step out of my comfort zone a bit. 🙂

Here are some of the art pieces I worked on.

These templates were found in a vintage magazine by Marlene Stevens and many other artists. They were meant for tutorial purposes on wood and other items only. Of course, they are not for sale and were used for trying out my art supplies. These were given as gifts.

My Goodreads Reading Challenge 2024

I made my goal! Yay!!!

This challenge always seems so easy at the first of the year. It’s around the fall months I realize I’d better hurry it up. 🙂

Here are the books I read and reviewed in December to top off 2024.

All 5 stars from me!

“Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals – A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food,”

“Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals – A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food,” by Dolly and her sister Rachel Parton will delight readers and cooks with these wonderful classic recipes.
Dolly and Rachel include some heartfelt stories from their childhood. This beautiful, well put together book, is formatted to include everywhere from summer to winter meals and treats. Menus for satisfying dinners and delectable desserts with visually appealing, mouth-watering photographs, make each dish even more enticing.
There’s a perfect balance between tradition and accessibility for everyday ingredients, which is my favorite part of this cookbook.
Whether you’re cooking for a family dinner or a casual gathering with friends, this cookbook will be a
trusted companion in the kitchen.

“Ghost”

This young adult novel, “Ghost,” by author Jason Reynolds, focuses on the character, Castle Cranshaw, who is nicknamed, “Ghost. The intense opening will keep readers going to the end.
Castle’s home life is far from perfect, but when he laces up his sneakers and steps onto the track, his world is transformed. With a very supportive Coach and group of teammates in his life, he discovers how to conquer his battles and overcome a devastating situation.
Reynolds’s writing and voice used for “Ghost” is genuine and resonates with the conflicts he faces. This book would be a great read aloud for classrooms and home. The back of the book holds excellent discussion questions which are a must for further exploration of situations, perspectives and problem solving dilemmas.

“Wait Till Next Year”

This book isn’t just about growing up with the love of baseball and the Brooklyn Dodgers. It’s so much more.
“Wait Till Next Year,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin is a powerful memoir about growing up in the 1950s” with a rich tapestry of culture, sports, faith, and social consciousness. It offers valuable insights which capture baseball history and changing times. Yes, at the heart of this memoir, the love of baseball, idolizing major league stars and a visual illustration on how the sport brought communities together. Kearns goes on to share her innocence of childhood experiences, adding personal accounts on growing up with friends and navigating the expectations of faith and morality. The research in this historian’s writing was entertaining to learn. Readers will resonate in how different today’s world is than it was from the 50s. This book is a must-read for those interested in history, and yes, baseball and the progress made in this heartfelt story.

Will I do the “Goodreads Challenge” again in 2025?

You bet! I love it, and like I’ve said before, it keeps me accountable to my reading and I learn so much! Since I figured out how to listen to audiobooks on my headphones now, I’m going back to making my goal “50” books for 2025.

Now it’s your turn.

What Challenges Have You Had In 2024?

Let’s hear from YOU! 🙂

What challenges did you face in 2024? What have you learned from them?

What plans do you have for 2025?

Please join me and click on my author friends posts who have also participated in this “Blog Hop” to close out 2024.

Before I leave, I want to say, “Thank you” for following my author journey. You all are the best and I appreciate YOU! I’m looking forward to see what you create this coming year!

Happy 2025, and always…

Happy Reading!

Rosie

► Author Julie Gorges – The New Year: A Time for Reflection and Hope

► Author Sandra Bennett – Looking Back on the Happiest days of 2024

Summer Blog Hop, What I’ve Learned As A Writer

June 1, 2022 / rosieadmin / 14 Comments

June 03, 2022

Please join me and my author friends as we explore the different ways we have grown and learned throughout our years as writers. Many of us also illustrates our books, as well. I will share those experiences with you all today, too. I hope you’ll check out my author friend’s posts at the end of this blog.

When It All Started For Me

I just celebrated 8 years of this wonderful writing and illustrating journey on, April 27, 2022. I also released my 12th book in April called, “Beasley Helps.” You can read more about that here ► Book Launch

I can’t tell you the fun I’ve had and have met the greatest people from all over the world. Being somewhat of a shy person, I’ve really come out of my shell. Well, you almost have to, when sharing your work with others. Yes, it was scary at first, but after awhile, you do get used to it.

My First Book

My first book was created for our sons. I wanted to write a story about all the fun they had growing up. In the book, I made them best friends, which I’m proud to say, they still are to this day. It’s an endearing tale and I cherish this one so much.

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

Since I’m a self taught illustrator, I had to research the field to see how I was going to make this book. My husband bought me a Walcom drawing pad and I learned as much as I could. My, have I grown a lot since this 1st one. I’ve attended many art workshops over the years and have learned many styles of art. I continue to practice and learn as much as I can.

My next book was based on a puppy we had growing up named, Georgie. I recreated him and named him Beasley. He has 3 books now in a series and has a huge following of loving fans. Everybody loves Beasley!

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

I didn’t think about the first book, “Beasley Journey” turning into a series. Over the years, the beagles in the first book passed away. As the years went by, I had to find beagles to draw that had the same coloring as them. In the 2nd and 3rd book, I decided to use photos given to me to crop in, which even made the images more interesting.

My Next Three Books

My Maggie, Millie and Merrie books. These books are for higher elementary readers and have fun art activities at the back of the books. I love this series and it grew into more and more as time progressed. FYI, be watchful when saying you’re bored around these triplets, something magical always happens.

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

Since these books have more words than my Early Readers, there was much more editing involved. People think children’s books are easy to write, well, because they’re children’s books, right? That’s not so much the case. I learned, “less is more” when creating the sentences in these stories.

Maggie, Millie and Merrie’s Magical Series

On To My Search And Finds

These search and find were a lot of fun to make. There are word finds for readers and picture finds for non readers. These books are great to take along for long car travels and will keep your readers entertained for hours. They all have a story to go along with the searches. For example, Sherman will tell his story on what it’s like to have the life as a shopping cart.

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

Search and Finds are a blast to make, but they are also a lot of work. If you ever plan to create one to the extent I made mine, (they search for over a hundred of items in two of these books) plan ahead and plan to work on them for awhile. These books didn’t go as fast as my others. Will I make more again? You bet, because readers love them and I enjoy making them. If you have any ideas for a certain theme for a search and find book, write me a note. I’d love to hear your ideas.

My First Hardcover Book – “Moonshadow Mae”

“Moonshadow Mae” is a darling book about a little girl that adores the moon. What a nice reception this book has received. It’s full of learning facts, an art craft and a yummy recipe. Make galaxy rocks and Moon Pies in your very own kitchen.

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

Making hardcovers requires a lot of research and making sure you find the right company to print your book. I used Ingram Sparks. I had to buy my own ISBN and barcode for this book, along with setting it up with the Library of Congress. If you want your library to carry this book, have them order a copy. To make that process easy for you, just give them these numbers:

ISBN:978-1-7323848-0-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907295

My Middle Grade Book with Cat Michaels Writer

Talk about growing as a writer, whew. I never thought in a million years I’d be able to write higher than children’s books, but I did it! Yay! Cat Michaels is a higher level writer, so with her expertise in this field already, we made it. It took us twenty-two months of sharing our chapters back and forth and created, “Just Between Sam and Me.” It’s a book about a young 6th grade girl that lives in the country. All she really wants is to hang out with her best friend and her animals on her farm. Her first day back to school crashes down after a mean girl moves to town and tries to ruin all her dreams.

What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown:

I learned so much from this process and enjoyed how our story turned out. I’m so glad Cat and I accomplished our goal of 30,000 plus words and turned it into a story that readers have enjoyed.

Our Middle Grade Book – “Just Between Sam and Me

Now For My Special Share

After celebrating 8 years in writing and 12 books, I treated myself to something very special. I always said I wanted to set a goal for 12 books so I could create a virtual dozen of roses. Why virtual? Our cat, Lola loves flowers so much, she eats them. Yikes! So, that was out of the question. I was blessed to meet a wonderful artist in Texas and guess what? She makes beautiful silk roses! Well, I’ll just let you watch this video to see more…

(Please excuse the low audio. I’ll record on a different device next time. I have written about most of this I’ve told you above. Thank you. )

Hilda Coronado’s Roses

To learn more about Hilda and her products, visit her Facebook page at: TOYA Designs From The Heart

Thank you, again Hilda! I love my roses as they will last forever!

I appreciate you all stopping by today. I hope you will check out my author friend’s post as they share their writing journeys and how they have grown.

Have a great start to your summer and, as always,

Happy Reading!

Rosie

Check Out This Special Guest at Books by Rose

May 7, 2021 / rosieadmin / 16 Comments

May 07, 2021

First, before I start, I wish everyone out there a very special May and spring season, 2021! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! 🌺

My Special Guest for the Month of May is…

Author Peggy M. McAloon!

Peggy is an author and a talented artist.

She has a story of resilience, bravery and faith.

Her story, “Elle and the Reflective Portals” is a wonderful book that reflects just that.

Let’s Dive in and Meet Peggy

Peggy, what inspired you to write your story?

I loved fantasy stories when I was young (and still do). As an abused child, the books were my escape from the real world and into something more beautiful and safe. When I wasn’t reading, I made up stories in my head to pass the time.

Mom was very religious and taught me all about the guardian angels who watch over us. I wanted to write something including those guardians that would not only touch the hearts of young girls, but provide an opportunity for discussion of today’s social injustices with their parents. Bringing fantasy and reality together was a major concern as I formulated the story in my head.

My next major concern was the diversity of our world and the young girls who are growing up afraid of the same threats I endured. It wouldn’t do to call the winged creatures angels because not every child believes in angels. So, I chose the name Fiori for the dimension rather than heaven. (Fiori is the Italian word for flowers and I’ve always imagined heaven is filled with flowers.

The main character, Elle Burton is ten-years-old as the story begins. At the age of ten, I was very mature and many times brought poorer kids to my house to trade their dirty and frayed outfits for one of my pretty tops or dresses. Therefore, because I have two sons, Elle had to be a kid like me because I have no other experience with little girls.

Fiori and the Fiorins were a joy to create. The winged creatures can be whatever the reader wants or needs them to be: angels, fairies, creatures from a dimension we’ve never heard of before, or aliens. Imagination is an incredible gift to children and I loved the freedom that knowledge gave me in creating Fiori and its inhabitants.

How many years did it take you to write it?

I spent about a year writing the book. It took another six months to do the editing and work with the publisher. The original book was roughly as long as a Harry Potter novel, but the publisher told me I had to end it in a cliff hanger because no one would purchase the entire story. The last 100 pages were removed and became the first 100 pages of the second book, “Missing.”

Tell us, Peggy, what type of research did you have to do to bring across your beautiful tale?

In order to bring inspiration to the readers, I chose to utilize many of the experiences I had and my children had growing up. As an example, when Elle chooses the class bully to help with a school project it was very loosely based on an experience my son had with the class bully.

The description of Fiori was actually quite simple. We travel to the Gulf Coast each winter to visit my brother. One of my favorite places to go during that visit is Bellingrath Gardens and Home outside of Mobile, Alabama. Even though we visit each year, it feels like heaven each time I enter the gates. https://bellingrath.org/

The rest of the story takes place here in Menomonie, WI. I spent many days driving around town with my camera figuring out which locations would be used in the book and which businesses would be featured. Once the book was published, each business featured received a signed copy of the book. I was taught at a young age that we are supposed to support our local businesses.

What do you expect Middle Grade readers to walk away with after reading your story?

My purpose in devoting so much time to this story is to convince kids in trouble to have the courage to tell someone, even if it’s another kid like Elle. For those who haven’t experienced the social injustices in this world, I want them to recognize the problems and step up to help whenever it’s safe to do so or to find an adult to help as Elle did with the girl she found hiding in the girl’s restroom at school after suffer a beating at the hands of her father.

I think Maya Angelou said it best: “If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.” That’s who Elle Burton is – a kid who wants to help others, and now she has some magical creatures to help her.

Do you have hobbies outside of being an author?

More than anything, I love being outside. I particularly love being by the water which makes our winter trip to the Gulf Coast so enjoyable. My relaxation comes from painting in watercolor and acrylics. I also have the old Conn organ that I played in the Miss Iowa Pageant when I was a contestant back in the 60’s. I also love traveling the world with my wonderful husband and the hours of fun we’re having with our newest family member, Shelby (a Schweenie – cross between a Shih Tzu and a Dachshund). We are anxiously awaiting the summer months, when she will graduate from her “terrible-two’s.”

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Peggy.

You can find Peggy’s M. McAloon’s work on the following sites.

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Link to the Book

In Other News at Books by Rose

Guess what? The Early Reader I’ve been hinting about? It’s done!

I have so many things to do to get it ready for you all to see. The formatting, technical side, editing and so much more is in the works for the coming months.

Keep watching!

Have a wonderful spring and I’ll be back to catch up with more news in the month of June.

Happy Reading!

Rosie

What is The Most Courageous Thing You Did In 2024?

What is the Most Courageous Thing You Did in 2024?

Writing a Middle Grade Book Solo

My Second Courageous Thing I’ve Done In 2024

My Art Challenges

My Goodreads Reading Challenge 2024

“Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals – A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food,”

“Ghost”

“Wait Till Next Year”

Will I do the “Goodreads Challenge” again in 2025?

What Challenges Have You Had In 2024?

Summer Blog Hop, What I’ve Learned As A Writer

When It All Started For Me

My First Book

My Next Three Books

On To My Search And Finds

My First Hardcover Book – “Moonshadow Mae”

ISBN:978-1-7323848-0-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907295

My Middle Grade Book with Cat Michaels Writer

Now For My Special Share

More Inspiring Posts and What They Have Learned…

Check Out This Special Guest at Books by Rose

My Special Guest for the Month of May is…

Let’s Dive in and Meet Peggy

In Other News at Books by Rose

Books by Rose