Thursday, December 24, 2015
Merry Christmas
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Little Bug Review
Barbara Bockman's review of Little Bug is up on her blog if you would like to pop over and read her very kind words or learn more about Barbara and her books. Visit her blog at https://barbarabockman.wordpress.com.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Book Review: BonBon
I am happy to share my review of Barbara Bockman's new children's picture book, BonBon. It is a delightful story.
Title: BonBon
Category: Children’s Picture
Book
Author: Barbara Bockman
Illustrator: Eugene Ruble
Print ISBN: 9781616337032
eBook ISBN: 9781616337049
Published: Guardian Angel
Publishing, September 2015
BonBon is a toy French Poodle living in the Twice Loved Toy Shop (what
a great name!) in Paris, France. From the very beginning of Bockman’s story, we
can feel BonBon’s heartfelt longing to be chosen as someone’s special toy. Will
her wish come true?
We see many beautiful and historic places in this story—the Eiffel
Tower, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, Moulin Rouge—as BonBon’s
friends discuss landmarks they’ve “seen” in their lives. But BonBon just wants
to be noticed and decides she must practice patience. Despite ongoing
challenges like being hidden behind bigger toys in the window, luck prevails
and BonBon is spotted by a little girl looking for her Paris keepsake. Will she convince her mom that BonBon is the
perfect souvenir?
Eugene Ruble’s detailed illustrations are beautiful and bring BonBon
and her story to life. BonBon is a lovely story that is sure to delight young
readers.
Learn more about Barbara Bockman or purchase books at:
** Please Note: I do not receive monetary
compensation nor any other incentive for my reviews.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
SCBWI Book Launch Party
Come join the fun on my Book Launch Page at http://www.scbwi.org/display-book-launch-party/?id=363527
Check out my contest details and help name Little Bug. The winner receives a free autographed copy in time for the holidays.
Start or continue your holiday shopping with a terrific selection of children's books. Hope to see you there!
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Happy Thanksgiving
Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving! As we go about our celebrations, let us all pause and give special thanks for all those who have and continue to serve and fight for our freedom.
Friday, November 13, 2015
Avoid the Trap of Perfectionism
I've blogged before about the debilitating idea of perfectionism. One can argue the merits of being a perfectionist, and I am certainly one who would agree there are numerous pros. Yet time and time again, I am slapped upside the head with the corresponding cons.
All of you who follow and read my blog (and thank you very much to those who do!) know very well my struggle with needing to have a "perfect" (e.g, clean and organized with few things on my TTD list except writing and writing related activities) environment in which to write. Often, I blow my entire allotted time prepping my surroundings to write only to then have no more time to accomplish what I've hoped to accomplish.
I'm working very diligently to overcome this mental need for organization...my husband would argue my surroundings are far from organized with all my piles and lists..though he obviously has no idea of the organized nature of my chaos:)
I was thumbing through a Self magazine while on the treadmill the other day and ran across this blurb about avoiding the perfectionism trap. It referenced Elizabeth Gilbert's "Secret to Creativity" in Big Magic. As I read, it was like Wham!
And I quote, "Perfectionism stops people from completing their work--but even worse, it often stops people from beginning their work. Perfectionists decide in advance that the end product is never going to be satisfactory, so they don't even bother trying to be creative in the first place."
Hell yeah! This epitomizes me and so many things in my life but especially writing. Giving oneself the freedom to create with no thought to the end product (until such time as one begins to edit, that is) is something I preach though am not very good at doing. Which is why this month's Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) challenge has been wonderfully enlightening and productive for me. Thank you, Tara Lazar! The idea is to generate 30 PB ideas in the month of November. No one has to see them; they don't even have to be wonderful ideas. They just have to be ideas, not books in whole. I am on my honor to create them, and it has taken the pressure off and opened the floodgates. Some ideas are definitely not so great, but some I am very excited about further developing.
Now, my mission going forward is to take this feeling of being able to create ideas and run with the ones worth running with and not fear the crippling perfectionism that can often stop me dead in my tracks.
I urge all you PB writers to consider Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo next year! More info here...
http://taralazar.com/
For now, happy writing and creating. Let it flow freely without the binding chains of the need to be "perfect."
All of you who follow and read my blog (and thank you very much to those who do!) know very well my struggle with needing to have a "perfect" (e.g, clean and organized with few things on my TTD list except writing and writing related activities) environment in which to write. Often, I blow my entire allotted time prepping my surroundings to write only to then have no more time to accomplish what I've hoped to accomplish.
I'm working very diligently to overcome this mental need for organization...my husband would argue my surroundings are far from organized with all my piles and lists..though he obviously has no idea of the organized nature of my chaos:)
I was thumbing through a Self magazine while on the treadmill the other day and ran across this blurb about avoiding the perfectionism trap. It referenced Elizabeth Gilbert's "Secret to Creativity" in Big Magic. As I read, it was like Wham!
And I quote, "Perfectionism stops people from completing their work--but even worse, it often stops people from beginning their work. Perfectionists decide in advance that the end product is never going to be satisfactory, so they don't even bother trying to be creative in the first place."
Hell yeah! This epitomizes me and so many things in my life but especially writing. Giving oneself the freedom to create with no thought to the end product (until such time as one begins to edit, that is) is something I preach though am not very good at doing. Which is why this month's Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) challenge has been wonderfully enlightening and productive for me. Thank you, Tara Lazar! The idea is to generate 30 PB ideas in the month of November. No one has to see them; they don't even have to be wonderful ideas. They just have to be ideas, not books in whole. I am on my honor to create them, and it has taken the pressure off and opened the floodgates. Some ideas are definitely not so great, but some I am very excited about further developing.
Now, my mission going forward is to take this feeling of being able to create ideas and run with the ones worth running with and not fear the crippling perfectionism that can often stop me dead in my tracks.
I urge all you PB writers to consider Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo next year! More info here...
http://taralazar.com/
For now, happy writing and creating. Let it flow freely without the binding chains of the need to be "perfect."
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