Friday, February 27, 2015

Check out Experiment 38
by Charles T. Suddeth
new from 4RV Publishing http://4rvpublishing.com/

and read this review by Deb Hockenberry:

Eighteen – year – old Emily has a job and a boyfriend for the first time in her life. She’s never been allowed to go anywhere in her life, except to school and back. Why?

When Nate takes her to the movies, a green SUV follows them. The two occupants even follow them in. When they go to the amusement park, there’s the SUV. This time it’s two occupants stalk them through the park. Even through the tunnel of love. Who are these men and what do they want? Emily has nick – named them Igor and Weasel. She also has weird flashbacks of these two goons when she was little. The SUV will not leave them alone and Emily and Nate’s lives are even threatened. Not to mention the lives of Nate’s friends.

They try hard to escape the SUV and find that Nate’s car has been bugged with a GPS. This results in a high speed chase through the mountains of North Carolina, a kidnapping, and an attempted murder or two.

Emily’s mother has died when she was little. Or did she? And what of her father? Why is he letting all this happen? Is he really her father?

Your new adult will just love this action packed thriller in your home library. As soon as one of questions is answered, another arises.

If you’d like Experiment 38 for your home library, you can order it in several ways. You can order it from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Experiment-38-Charles-Suddeth/dp/1940310024/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424035214&sr=1-1&keywords=experiment+38+%2B+charles+suddeth
Or your favorite online bookstore.
If you would like to learn more about Charles Suddeth and Experiment 38 just visit his website http://ctsuddeth.com


Deb Hockenberry

and you can read more about Deb  on her website: KidzTales http://www.debhockenberry.com

Sunday, February 22, 2015

New 4RV Release: Brady's Lost Blanket

I'd like to announce my latest release with 4RV Publishing, out this month: 

Brady's Lost Blanket!

Brady is a sensitive young boy who takes his blankie wherever he goes. After traveling with his parents to visit his new cousin, Brady accidently leaves his blanket behind. Can Brady learn to get by without his blankie?

SHORT ESSAY ON BLANKIES:
I was one of those young kids who grew up with a blankie.  My blankie was blue and soft and I loved to rub the silky part against my cheeks. When my blankie was close, I felt very confident and secure. However, I think there comes a time when one "outgrows" a blankie and it's time to let go. Unfortunately, letting go can be hard to do. Learn how Brady lets go and takes his first steps growing up in my new children's story.

5 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR STEPHANIE:

#1: What inspired you to write the story?

STEPHANIE: One of my husband's relatives mentioned their grandchild had a blankie and was having a hard time without it.  I drew on my own childhood memories of having a blankie.  I think letting go of the blankie is the first step in growing up.

#2: How long did it take?

STEPHANIE: It took about a week to write the story. I have to thank 4RV Publishing for publishing Brady's Lost Blanket.  It took about 2 weeks back and forth with the editing.

#3: Did you pick the illustrator?

STEPHANIE: No, I did not.  4RV Publishing selected the illustrator.  I think Bridget McKenna did a great job with the illustrations.  They have a very whimsical feel and compliment the story well.

#4: What makes this book special?

STEPHANIE: Brady's Lost Blanket has a message for all young children who become attached to "something" (be it a blanket or something else) because they want to feel secure. It's okay to let go of our "security" nets and move forward.  It maybe a little scary at first, but once you go without it, you learn you can live without it.

#5: How long have you been writing children's books?

STEPHANIE: About 5 years now. My first children's book, "The Giving Meadow" was published with 4RV Publishing in 2010. It has a great message about sharing and caring for young children as well as telling about Caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly. It's perfect for Easter as it helps young children understand Jesus' story.



Author Bio:
Stephanie Burkhart was born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, but now calls California her home. She currently works for LAPD as a 911 Dispatcher. Stephanie has been writing since she was five, when she crafted homemade comic books on the kitchen table. Her previous books with 4RV Publishing include: The Giving Meadow, and First Flag of New Hampshire.  Stephanie enjoys coffee, adores chocolate and is currently the Den Leader for her son's Cub Scout Den.

BRADY'S LOST BLANKET is available in print from 4RV Publishing.

BUY LINKS:

4RV PUBLISHING BOOKSTORE: http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/burkhart.php

AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Bradys-Lost-Blanket-Stephanie-Burkhart/dp/1940310040/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1423445945&sr=8-8&keywords=stephanie+burkhart

BARNES & NOBLE:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bradys-lost-blanket-stephanie-burkhart/1121138037?ean=9781940310046

This is the first stop on my blog tour! 

FIND ME ON THE WEB LINKS:

FIND ME ON THE WEB AT:
WEBSITE:

TWITTER:

FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor

GOOD READS:

YOU TUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee

PINTEREST:

Sunday, February 1, 2015

4 Major Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Blog Posts

By Karen Cioffi

Writing is a craft, a craft that needs to be learned. With that being said, there are many successful bloggers who had no writing training.

You might consider writing as being doubled sided. There are research papers, resumes, articles for medical and scientific use, business and health content, and even short stories, children’s books, and novels.

To write for these genres, you need to learn the craft of writing. Depending on the genre you write, you need to know how to write dialogue, how to reference quotes in a nonfiction article, and how to write POV (point of view). You should know the difference between a comma and a semi-colon, and how to use each. You get the idea.

On the flip side, there is web writing: blog posts and writing copy. In these niches there aren’t many rules, aside from grabbing the reader and making your content engaging and shareable.

While there aren’t many rules for blogging, there are four mistakes you should avoid:

1. Avoid aiming for perfection.

If you wait for the perfect time, the perfect circumstance, the perfect topic, the perfect anything, you’ll be forever waiting.

While you do need to be a responsible writer and respect your reader by providing quality content and doing the best you can, you shouldn’t wait for everything to be perfect. There’s nothing wrong with learning as you go along.

I love what George Fisher said about perfection: “When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target.”

2. Avoid confusing and unfocused content.

The quickest way to lose a reader is to make your content confusing. If you’re topic is ‘allergies,’ don’t go on a rant about the latest clothing styles.

Blogs posts should be in easily digestible pieces of information that are focused. From the title to the concluding paragraph, keep it on topic.

In addition, you want to lead the reader down your post. In the beginning let the reader know what to expect, what’s in it for him. This will motivate him to read on.

3. Don’t write long paragraphs.

We all lead hectic lives. We want to get targeted information as quickly as possible. For this reason, your content needs to be easy to read and written in short paragraphs. This is especially important for skim readers.

Keep your content clean and leave plenty of white space. White space is the space between paragraphs, between words, and such. It’s the blank space on the page.

4. Don’t use grandiloquent language.
Here we go back to the premise that people are in a rush and along with this, most people don’t want to have to look up words to get the gist of the article. This is another quick way to lose a reader.

Keep your writing simple. Write how you would normally speak.

In addition, choose your words with care. C.S. Lewis knew the importance of this when he said, “Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”

Following these ‘four mistakes to avoid’ will help you write blog posts that readers will appreciate and will want to share.

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