Reviews Are Beginning to Come In!!

I've been privileged to be featured on some great book blogs in the last two months, (still more to come).  It's not just having these great folks read my book, what I most appreciate is building relationships with them.  Over a lifetime we stand behind thousands of people in the grocery store line and only exchange a, "hello", or "what cute children you have", but seldom build friendships that last with these people. Conversely, my fellow book bloggers live thousands of miles away, and I'm fairly certain I'll never stand behind any of them in a grocery store line, yet I feel akin to them.  Relationships are intentional and the best of them  are nurtured, please know dear blogger friends that I will continue to follow your blogs and leave comments as often as I can.  You are great people who commit yourselves to helping others, and as Sue Morris of,  Kids Lit Reviews, points out, practices random acts of kindness.  Please know you are deeply appreciated and greatly valued.  As Oli and Geepa would say in the midst of their Fourth of July Feeling, "Blessings To You"!!

Here are some excerpts from the, Oli's Uncommon Cents, reviews:


Home Maid Simple
I truly enjoyed this book. It is written for middle grade readers with a simple writing style, and a great lesson to be learned. I love the thought provoking questions this book raised.  Just what kind of value do we put on things. Although money all has a specific value what kind of worth should we place on money? Is it more important than our relationships?  Do we give more worth and value to our money, and forget about those people in our lives who should be cared for and loved more than money?  I think this book should be one to find it's way into every middle school!

One Desert Rose
At first I was more fascinated by the fantasy aspect of the novel. But it is so much deeper than first realized.  There are so many virtues that children can learn and practice by reading this novel.  Some of which include trust, honesty, obedience, the value of money, not judging others by appearance, helping the homeless, choosing wisely, self-worth, and personal value.  What a treasure trove!

Living Better One Day at a Time
I read this book during a few of my feeding times with Benjamin (my newborn). This book caught my interest in that the story line sort of reminded me of the book Indian in the Cupboard, which was one of my favorite stories as a child. I must say that I was very impressed with Allen's style of writing and the content of this book. I felt that the story line was believable and that I really felt for the cents and how they were living. I love that the message of the book was about the value and worth of ALL things in life and in all LIFE in life! I will be adding this book to our home library to share with my daughter and sons as they grow up.

Kids Lit Reviews
Oli’s Uncommon Cents is enjoyable cover to cover.  It is short enough to read in one or two readings, yet long enough to tell a most engrossing story.  I would not pass this one up.  Middle grade teachers can find many wonderful lessons inside of Oli’s Uncommon Cents.  Some of those lessons could cover self-esteem, respect, generational differences, family relationships, divorce, and loyalty to name a few.  I think the kids would simply enjoy the story, the humor, and the, sometimes, crazy characters.

Pansy, Not Rose

For those who try to be someone you're not meant to be...:
Love the simple you, God does!

Luke 8:4-15

     My name is Pansy. My first home was on the Path of Trampled Feet and Troubles Everywhere; the busy pathway between there and somewhere else. There was never a rush hour, rather, it was a crush hour.  No nourishment or rest was to be found, it was like the skating line at Manhattan Square in December. Their feet pounded. Their mouths talked, screamed, and chattered about life’s problems and struggles. It was no place to thrive.  I hoped someone would see my nearly crushed existence and lend a shovel, spade or hand; I’d have taken any help, and thankfully did, it was the Gardener’s hands that gently moved me.

     I was carried to the empty crevices of the Rock Garden.  A beautiful place, but jumpin’ junipers, you’ve got to have dirt in those cracks in order to grow!  It wasn’t the Gardener’s fault.  He planted me in the perfect place, but the rains came, they poured and poured and poured. If I would have had more roots I might have made it, but coming from the Path of Trampled Feet and Troubles Everywhere my roots were weak and sparse. Again, I found myself in an empty place, backed into the crevice of death. You can probably guess who came to my rescue. Oh, for the gentle touch of the Gardener’s hands.

     It was when I saw Him walking me towards the Roses that my heart raced with excitement.  To be planted in the grandeur of the Rose Bed.  I will be noticed!  Oohs and aahs will be my accolades; I will be planted among the beautiful, the admired, the rich and the famous of the plant world, the Roses.

     Here is where I discovered life is not all it appears to be in the raised beds of beauty.  If I’d have know then what I know now, but, how could I?  The Gardner knew my heart well enough to know I had to work through the thorns of life’s seemingly glorious pleasures.  Those pleasures were the thorns that nearly choked the blossoms off my fragile stems.  Their beauty was more important to them than mine.  TheRoses slowly crept upon me scratching me with the reminder that they were fragrant as well as beautiful and I was no match for them. 

     I was out of my league, slowly being suffocated by sophistication and charm. I was simply Pansy, not Rose.  Once again I found myself wilting, struggling to be noticed; I hoped somehow the Gardener would rescue me from the deceptive flowers of grandeur.  When at last His gentle hands surrounded me and carefully lifted me from the thorns I quietly sobbed beseeching Him, “Please do not forsake me, my strength is gone”. He quietly whispered, “I will never abandon the work of my own hands”. 

     In His infinite wisdom He understood my now broken heart and weakened roots.  Carefully He planted me in the New Garden among the other weak, wilted and broken flowers.  Although withered from our own deceptions of life we were not dead, wounded maybe, but far from dead.  Daily we accepted the watering from His loving words and together we quietly hummed His praises, thankful for the simplicity of the New Garden.  We grew and became vital and beautiful flowers who cared little for the oohs and aahs of the visitors to The New Garden.  It was there I came to understand that this Pansy is never a pansy unless I deceive myself into believing I am something like a Rose. Never again would I covet the beauty of another, or allow life’s troubles to stunt my growth. As long as I remained in the New Garden and flourished as a Pansy I would remain vital.  It is at the hands of the Wonderful Gardner that my beauty flourishes.

     I hope I’m talking to other Pansies who have been moved from the Path Of Trampled Feet and Troubles Everywhere, to the empty crevices of the Rock Garden. to the grandeur of the Rose Bed.  Perhaps, at last, you have been planted in the beautiful soil of the New Garden too.  Simple as we are, we were never meant to thrive without the wise words and the gentle hands of our Loving Gardener. Through our travels we have learned our purpose: be humble, live simply, grow in faith and trust our Gardener, after all, we’re Pansies, not Roses!

Looking for good MG books, and Bloggers.

Oli's Uncommon Cents is coming out next month in paperback, ebook in May.  I'm looking for books with similar themes: adventure, inspiring, warm-hearted and funny.  Not books that are dark, vampirish, ghostly, or mystic... I know, that's a tough one.  I'm also looking for book bloggers who would be interested in receiving a book and giving a review on their blogs.  Let me know if you have some book suggestions and/or are an interested book blogger. Thanks!!

Life Lessons

The shooting at Chardon High School reminded me why I write for kids.  There are those gifted writers who purpose to entertain children and help them escape reality, hats off to them!  I hope my books entertain, but I want  more.  If I can craft a fiction novel that imparts a valuable life lesson, AND entertain, then I have slipped in a gold nugget without broadcasting the attempt.  Wouldn't it be a bonus if the content of a novel provoked a child to ask their parent a question about life-even better, a question about their life. Could someone have reached T.J. Lane through a book, a book that spoke to him about his worth, and the worth of others?

I've spent the morning reading...to two of my grandchildren.  I LOVE their intrigue, each page turned is a new adventure.  Sure, I have forgotten a lot about what it is like to be a full-time mom, but, one thing I haven't forgotten is how great it is to hear the SILENCE of wonder as a book is being read, to once rowdy children.  I suppose you could turn the TV on and get some of the same results, but then you have to listen to Dora's squeaky voice or Thomas and Gordon's english accent.  Besides I'll take a break from the chores to read a good book.

Here's a great link to an article written by, Mom It Forward.

http://bit.ly/ccQLbJ

I just added Oli's page to my website. Woo hoo!!  I'm getting excited to see my book in print. 
Illustrator, Sophie Mattinson, has completed the last of  7 illustrations, and the cover art.  She is amazing!  What is most amazing about her is that she is 17, a high school senior.  Her future as an artist will be limitless.  Most accomplished in portraits, her imagination has really been challenged while conceptualizing illustrations for coins, with the likeness of humans.  I'm proud of the job she has done. 


Take a look at her rendering of Penny, on my website, and tell me what you think :)  Go to the "OLI" page of my website.

Here is a bit of a challenge for those of you involved in kid's ministry.

As I've been developing my Sunday School curriculum I've been asking God to help me see His vision for both church development and the development of strong Christian children.  I continue to hear Him impress upon my heart the importance of joy in the journey.  He doesn't let me get far from the conviction of finding humor and laughter in life.  When I start to take life's events and circumstances too seriously He drops a scriptural nugget in front of me and makes me laugh at the humor of some aspect of that circumstance. 
Recently I was reading an interesting article regarding choosing appropriate Sunday School curriculum; once you read it you may find God inviting you to look at your churches vision, as well as your own and be challenged to expand your own genre of curriculum.  Maybe we should do a better job of thinking outside the box?
http://www.christianitytoday.com/cbg/2008/mayjun/2.42.html