Passport booklet uploaded

I'm excited. Heather and I finally got the page numbering and the puzzles straightened out for the Passport booklet and I just uploaded the files to createspace.com, so now it's a matter of waiting to make sure we have the layout to their standards, et cetera.

I have a meeting in the morning (well in less than 7 hours from the time this post is being done) with the elementary school librarian here and hopefully she will have some funds to start getting some books as she had talked about last year. I know they (the art instructor and the librarian) were trying to get a grant to get copies of the books to have on hand for the students for giveaways like AR prizes or other things, so I'm hoping that tomorrow she will say yes, they received the grant and would like to proceed with getting books in. If that is the case, we can start getting more books in the series ready for publication. The process is taking about 6 weeks total right now - but that is because Heather and I are still learning each other's styles and we have both had other things going on during this time. She also has been doing double duty the last month for me - creating the Passport booklet and doing everything for State of Successess (layout, interior illustraions, cover, design, et cetera plus deal with me changing my mind on something or making her life more difficult - not really; - lol). She truly has been wonderful to work with, very much wants to make sure I am satisfied. Her mother is thrilled with the series and is excited to be receiving items to use with Heather's younger siblings. So Ms. Mary, be patient - you will get the books, study guides and fun activities as I can get them published and sent to you - lol.

Keeping with the excitement today, my first official order of "Train of Clues" arrived this morning - looks pretty awesome. I will head to Charlotte this weekend with probably 4 or 5 copies in hand - sold a copy today, have three spoken for (will get with Anita tomorrow or Friday) and have one for the winner of my blog comment contest, Ms. Carol, whom I will see this weekend. May have another copy of the book sold Thursday when I go to school to teach class. I will order more copies probably next week unless the librarian has funds available to purchase books. I am taking orders for "Train of Clues" now and when I have at least 10 copies ordered, I will submit the order and ship the books out within a couple of days of receiving them (I've been getting books the day after an order is placed, which is a huge advantage of having books printed in the same state - only 4 or so hours from where I live).

Mr. Hughes and Heather will have to wait on their spoken for copies until the next order goes in - lol; sorry ya'll but you will get them -

Okay - need some sleep - just reporting on updates - see you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

Congratulations to Carol

As per the Random generator, the lucky winner of a signed copy of "Train of Clues" is #12, which is Carol. Thanks for stopping by everyone. See you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

We've been awarded with a blogger buddy award

For those of you who follow my blog, you will see that I also follow several of the authors from 4RV and usually can be found chatting with them via instant messenger. So today, I got a response in my email on my posting about the NCGE's conference coming up the end of September from Rena Jones saying she had given me this award. I don't know the rules of this award either, so I will just pass it on to to a couple of folks -

Mr. John Hughes and Ms. Carol Baldwin - two blogging buddies that have special places.

Thanks, Rena and I'll see you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

Grits in Utah?

GRITS: corn that is partly crushed (really ground down) before cooking, often eaten for breakfast or as part of a meal in the southern US. Most southerners put lots of butter and salt in their grits or even put cheese in them, but I've known some to put a tad of sugar in them as well.

So how did grits get in Utah? As everyone knows, I'm virtually visiting Mr. Hughes class in Utah and we are using Carol Baldwin's book "Teaching the Story" for writing class. We are working on dialogue now, not how to create dialogue but making it useful in the story. Carol has a page of Tips for Writing Dialogue. While reading the tips, I had to really laugh about this one particular one:

Show your characters doing something as they talk. Is he shoveling grits into his mouth? Is she painting her toenails deep purple? Is the old man wiping his bifocals with an embroidered handkerchief? Does the teenager frown/roll her eyes/tremble/avert her eyes/giggle? Is the lawyer tapping his foot/pencil/briefcase impatiently? Gestures, body language, actions, and small habits can all add to the picture you create in your reader's mind.

Now I'm not saying that isn't a good tip, it's just I don't think Carol realized she placed herself in the South with the grits statement and she may have even dated herself due to the reference of "embroidered handkerchief."

I've even been called on not doing this by my editors, so it is a good tip and one that I've tried to get the students to see during class time with their own writing projects. Funny how we can see things when others don't do them or do them differently but not when we do it. I'm getting better I hope with the dialogue as far as having my characters doing something while they talk, so that's a good thing all around.

And now you know ... the rest of the story (taken from Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story" radio tidbits) - Mrs. E :)

Teaching the story - my first time to really teach (POV)

A couple of weeks ago, I had to miss class due to being out running errands or somethig. Mr. Hughes started the mini lesson from Carol Baldwin's "Teaching the Story" workbook we are using on POV. When I caught up with him that evening, he said he felt that the kids weren't understanding POV. So I told him I would check some things out over the weekend and come up with something to help guide the students with POV. It is difficult to do a mini lesson in such a short amount of time. I found two websites with some excellent definitions of POV for the students - Learner Org and Blue Gill. On the Learner Org site, there was a story called "A Jury of her Peers" to use when discussing POV. I had the class read about three pages of the story. I read the whole thing but didn't really feel that the POV was clear enough for them to grasp.

So I found this onlne version of The Three Little Pigs and read to the class. Then we talked about POV and did some fun rewriting of the story. So we took the writing time in class and rewrote the story from the wolf's POV in first person. The kids had a ball doing this. We shared a few beginnings and then Wednesday, shared a few more. The kids were supposed to finish their stories and post on the wikispaces pages we have for the class, but I've not checked them yet. Just haven't really had much time.

I will try to do better and update how the use of the book is going in conjunction with the writing time in class, so Ms. Carol will know where we are in the book. LOL. I think the book will work well, once Mr. Hughes gets the kinks worked out and can settle down into a routine. I know in the fall, we will probably go full force, since we will have most of the lessons down to where he needs to be teaching them, what's working and what isn't. I wouldn't mind doing a few more lessons for the class - that was fun for me. So maybe in the fall, I will get to do some. See you all in the postings.

Free book anyone? Your school could really use this book

My friend Carol Baldwin, author of "Teaching the Story," is giving away a copy of a "My Fun Picture Dictionary" in an effort to help out Kathleen Skotcher, owner of Studium Educational Resources. For more on how you or your school can be entered to win a copy of this book, click the title of this post and you will be taken directly to Carol's blog posting or click on Carol's name above to be taken to her blog. It doesn't cost anything to enter and maybe your school really can use this book. The prices are great from Kathleen (read the story, please to find out how much you can save as a school or even a district). Let's have fun and get those kids reading. See you all in the postings - Mrs. E & the JGDS :)