Wanda Luthman's Blog, page 45
August 5, 2016
Summer Indie Book Awards
Hi, Everyone!
I have exciting news!
All 3 of my children’s books have been nominated for the Summer Indie Book Awards!
Wish me luck!!
Sleeping Beauty by David Roberts and Lynn Roberts-Maloney (Pavilion)
I love the updated fairy tale idea with strong leading women!
We absolutely adore these reinvented classic fairy tales from Pavilion.
The newest addition to this group is a highly stylish 1950s (and 2950s) interpretation of ‘Sleeping Beauty‘.
Retold in a contemporary style, these updated mid-century versions of our well-loved fairy tales are bound to be a complete winner with a new audience of readers everywhere.
Offering a fresh take on these quintessential tales, Lynn Roberts-Maloney (David Roberts’ sister) has created a fairy tale that is way more current and more accessible for a wide and varied audience.
Complete with an injection of David Roberts characterisation and stylish illustration, there’s nothing we don’t love about this feisty, science-fiction obsessed heroine.
Meet Annabel, our protagonist.
A space-loving, strong-minded, 1950s female with a passion for robots and all things scientific.
Her sixteenth birthday arrives and following a fall out with a disgruntled neighbour, she is doomed to prick her finger and sleep for 1000 years.
The main…
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August 1, 2016
Our Pet Turtle
I’m in love with turtles! My daughter had a pet turtle (she named him Tad) when she was younger and we loved watching him swim in the tank. Until, one day, my husband mentioned that he needed a place to rest! Poor thing, we didn’t realize, he was supposed to have a landing zone. We quickly went out and purchased a larger tank and a little bridge that came out of the water for him to rest on. The tank came with a light and the light would make his shell shine with many iridescent colors! His shell was like a prism, just beautiful.
He was so funny! He would climb up on that bridge and jump off into the water. My, how we laughed! He was definitely entertaining.
We would clean out his tank frequently and while we were washing out the tank, we would put him in the kitchen sink. We would run water on him and he loved it! He would wiggle under the waterfall. We were always cautious to wash our hands thoroughly afterwards, though, because we heard turtles could carry salmonella.
Well, he grew in the larger tank and not realizing that turtles will grow to the size of the tank, we thought he needed a bigger tank. My husband got a big round pot and filled it with water. He loved his new home! We, of course, made sure he had a nice landing spot. But, this time, we added live water plants. We didn’t know he was going to eat them! We thought he would just enjoy swimming in and hiding underneath them.
And then we thought he needed some friends.
We added some goldfish, maybe 5 and a sucker fish to clean the bottom. Well, to our dismay, he ate the sucker fish. We didn’t realize he was carnivorous. We had always just fed him “turtle food” out of a box. We worried over the goldfish but they seemed fast enough to get away and he left them alone.
Goldfish are notoriously dirty, so we knew we needed another way to clean the tank because we didn’t have a filter. We bought a snail thinking that his hard shell would keep him safe. Maybe a day or two after we got the shell, we found the snail outside of the tank. We thought, ‘silly snail’, and picked him up and put him back in the tank. You guessed it, the turtle bit right through his shell and ate him too! Poor snail had been trying to get away and we plopped him right back into danger.
Well, you can see, we weren’t the best pet owners for our little turtle but we did learn as we went and enjoyed him immensely. Our turtle was the inspiration for my children’s chapter book called, a Turtle’s Magical Adventure.
The turtle in the book is named after our turtle, Tad. He goes on a grand adventure trying to rid himself of his shell because he thinks it makes him too slow. He meets many interesting characters and learns a lot from other slow animals about the benefits of being slow. He travels to meet a wizard who can rid him of his shell and solve all his problems. But, that, is where all the trouble begins. Your children will love this delightful tale of a cute turtle struggling to find self-acceptance.
Available on Amazon in Paperback, Ebook (free on Kindle Unlimited) and Audiobook!
July 26, 2016
Enter to win character education books for kids!
Teachers–check out this contest and enter to win!
This month we’re giving away two books full of true stories that will inspire kids and teens to do and be their best. Our lucky winner will receive Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Character and Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change by Garth Sundem.
To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us how you build character in kids.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks that you complete:
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Pinterest
Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s four chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, August 3, 2016.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around August 8, 2016, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or…
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July 25, 2016
Growing Book by Book
Hi, Everyone!
I wanted to introduce you to a fun resource page I found recently, it’s called Growing Book by Book. It’s by Jodie Rodriguez who is a Mom and has been in childhood/elementary education for 18 years. Her website is colorful and fun and PACKED with information.She has a list of books for the early readers, a list of YouTube videos for children, and much, much more! Check it out!
July 22, 2016
Reviews
If you’ve thought about purchasing one of my books but you haven’t decided yet, please read some of the reviews that readers have sent in on my review page.
There are also reviews on Amazon from readers. Here is the link for The Lilac Princess on Amazon (average 4.9 out of 5 stars) and here’s the link for A Turtle’s Magical Adventure on Amazon (5 out of 5 stars). You’ll need to scroll down past the Product Description and an Amazon ad for the reviews.
I believe hearing from other readers can help you decide if you’d like it as well. If you do purchase my book, please consider leaving a review or telling your friends. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
July 19, 2016
Share your blog!
This is a great idea!
First of all If you reblog this post you help me, I help you and you help your readers, so everyone wins..
There are thousands of good blogs out there and think of all of that we are missing just because they are not visible to us. That’s why I want to encourage you to share your blog with me so that I can read and hopefully many of my other readers as well. This is also a good opportunity for you to get some new readers and I believe in helping one another since we all want to spread our message to the world.
Leave your blog page link as a comment and I will definitely read it. Please be patient because I have some hectic days in front of me. I encourage everyone to read one another blogs to get motivation and thereby also motivate one another.
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July 18, 2016
Q&A With Author Lorraine Nelson
Rosco the Rascal's Reading Room
Today I’d like to introduce the most prolific author I’ve interviewed yet. The amazing Lorraine Nelson has been published since the 1990’s, writing romance novels and children’s books. Hoppy Froggy is her latest picture book. Please welcome her to the Reading Room.
Lorraine Nelson
Q. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your books.
A. Hello! My name is Lorraine Nelson and I write books. I’m an East Coast Canadian, born and bred in beautiful New Brunswick. Mom says I’ve been writing and telling stories from the time I picked up my first pencil. God love her. In reality, I remember writing short stories and poems since elementary school. I even won an award back then for an essay I wrote and in Junior High, I had a poem published in the Legion newsletter for Remembrance Day.
I wrote and published children’s books in the nineties, which were…
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Your Chance to Win
New Favorite Ice Cream Shop
Hi, Everyone!
I had the opportunity to try out an Ice Cream Shop in Satellite Beach, FL called Surfin’ Turtle recently. I popped in because of the name since I’m into turtles and my latest book, A Turtle’s Magical Adventure, is about a turtle, obviously. So, I was intrigued.
I was beyond pleasantly surprised! When I first heard about Surfin’ Turtle, I assumed wrongly, that it was a restaurant. When I actually pulled into the parking lot, I realized it was an Ice Cream Shop. That’s good because I wasn’t sure if a restaurant named the Surfin’ Turtle might serve surf and turtle, get it?
They had many different flavors of ice cream but I saw Dole Whip on the menu. After asking the server in the window what a Dole Whip was, I ordered one. She explained it was a Pineapple Sorbet. Once I put that first spoonful in my mouth, my memory came back to me. I used to eat these in Hawaii. The Dole Pineapple Company was huge there and the Dole Whip was a staple all over the island. They’re delicious! They’re sweet, refreshing, and takes the heat right out of your body.
I sat under the awning and enjoyed the rather warm Florida summer heat (98 degrees but feels like 110). I noticed there were several board games for kids to play, a large checker game with a cloth checkerboard and a one-hole putt-putt mat. There was a father with his son enjoying the putt-putt when I noticed a two foot high wooden fenced-in area. It had a stick with a decorative ornament on it protruding above the fence. I thought it was just a plant area but decided I’d get up and look.
Guess what? It had turtles in it! Real live turtles!! I was so excited to see a place that celebrates turtles. I took out my phone and started taking pictures. They even had a turtle nest. I would love to see those little babies!
I went up to the window again and explained that I was a local children’s author who had just written a book about a turtle and wondered if I could leave a copy for the kids to enjoy with all the games. She said, sure. Her name is Nicki Brackett and she co-owns the Surfin’ Turtle with her husband, Todd Brackett. They’ve been open for 3 years now. She is a delightful lady!
So, if you’re in the area and need to cool off from the heat, pop into the Surfin’ Turtle (located at 1210 Florida A1A, Satellite Beach, FL 32937) and grab yourself a cool ice cream, play some games, and enjoy the turtles. It’s more than just an ice cream shop, it’s a destination.
And just FYI, I’m not getting paid for this article and this isn’t an advertisement, I’m just sharing a fun experience I had recently.
