Kathleen J. Shields's Blog, page 17

The Painting 3 – Available Now!

I am so excited to announce that the third book of the Painting trilogy is now available! The Painting 3 by Kathleen J. Shields

I finished writing The Painting 3, October of last year, but then it had to be critiqued. I had multiple beta-readers scour through the story, we made this change and that change, and then I sent it to the editors. After over four months of work, (after the story was written) the book is now published!

It has been quite the long process, writing this trilogy. I have done so much work, just in research. There have been multiple life lessons incorporated into the stories, so much retrospection, multiple ah-ha moments, and some really inspiring wow factors.

What I’m saying is – THIS story inspired ME!

I am really looking forward to everyone’s response regarding this book because so much of the story is near and dear to my heart. The fact that this is about Gerald’s granddaughter, Nevaeh, and the conversations this little girl has with her grandfather are reminiscent of times I spent with my own grandpa. The tornado was straight out of life events.

However, my favorite thing about this story is the exploration. Getting to explore the whole of space one star at a time. The explanation of how the colorful nebula’s came into existence. The journey to the depths of the oceans, the tops of the mountains and getting to touch the clouds. Just beautiful!

I loved how each book melded together, took on a common scenario and worked it out from three different perspectives. I loved the way the story ended, bringing the three entities together for one combined experience. I loved the fact that I take on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in such an abstract way that anyone can understand the dynamic!

I really think this is the best book of the three and I encourage everyone to read it (even if you didn’t read the first two books). The paperback and e-books are now available everywhere books are sold online.

The Painting 3 – The Trilogy is now complete!

The Painting 3 is now available! Happy Birthday to me! Buy the third book of this inspirational trilogy today at Amazon, Barnes and Noble or anywhere books are sold online including Kathleen’s Books. Get the e-books here also!

The Painting 3 by Kathleen J. Shields

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Start your own Troll Patrol

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Hamilton Troll & Friends start the first Troll Patrol group to raise awareness of bullying.

What is the Troll Patrol?

Hamilton Troll realizes in our next book “Hamilton Troll meets Rudy Rat” (available July 4th) that there are some children out there that are ‘mean’ to others….

You see Rudy Rat wasn’t a very nice rat to the other children.  He didn’t know how to make friends so he took their toys and laughed at them not realizing it was hurting their feelings.

When Rosa Raccoon and the kids told Hamilton about Rudy, Hamilton decided to have a talk with him, but when Rudy ran away scared, Hamilton realized what the problem was.

Hamilton Troll explained to the children that Rudy just needed a friend. He needed to be accepted and allowed to play with them. They decided they needed to put their PAWS together for Friendship and this is what they came up with:

PAWS for Friendship
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Hamilton Troll’s PAWS for Friendship

Pause what you are doing.

Look around. If you see someone who looks sad, scared or is sitting by themselves…

Approach them.

Walk up to them. Say hello. Ask the questions. Tell them about yourself.

Welcome them to join you.

Invite them to your table or group of friends. Introduce them and help them feel welcome.

Smile.

Keep smiling, it makes you look friendly and helps them feel happy.

 

 FRIENDSHIP – Become a Friend.

Be nice to others. Invite them to play with you. Care about their feelings.

Take the PLEDGE:

I promise to think about my words and actions, feel what others feel and be a friend whenever I can.

Why don’t you start your own Troll Patrol???

Learn more at: www.HamiltonTroll.com/TrollPatrol

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Tomorrow – a mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement is stored.

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I’ll do it tomorrow.


The day just isn’t long enough.


I don’t feel like it today.


I’m too busy.


It can wait.

We’ve all said it. We’ve all done it.  We all are guilty of it.

But instead of accepting it as fact and laughing about it as if it is perfectly okay to do or say or feel, lets attempt to do it today!

Find the time.


Take a break.


Get to it now.

If you don’t it’ll get delayed over and over again until it has to be done in a rush or given up entirely.  If you want to write, find ten minutes (forget about that hour a day thing). If it’s a job you just don’t want to do, suck it up and get it started at least.

I’ll be willing to bet, that if we at least attempt to pull a percent out of tomorrow and bring it into today,

we’ll find a newfound pride in ourselves,


we’ll feel more productive,


we’ll feel less stressed that another day didn’t go by without starting that project, that our list decreased in tasks instead of increased…

And if I’m wrong, well, you’ll probably sleep better tonight because you are more tired than you would have been and that goes to help a whole slew of people in the sleep deprivation category.

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Be a Good You and Let Them Through

The other day I was stuck in traffic, construction traffic, with no shoulders, no turn lanes and then came the train.  Cars were backed up as far as the eye could see and we waited… And waited.

Finally the train ended, the gates went up and the traffic started flowing – slowly.

As my side started forward I began noticing how the other side was still stopped, and as I got closer to the plug – I realized it was someone needing to make a left turn.

His side couldn’t pass him. My side wouldn’t let him through.  As I looked in my rearview mirror I saw so many cars behind me that I realized that guy and everyone behind him were going to be stuck there for a very long time.

In fact if anyone on my side needed to turn left we’d all be stuck….

So I stopped.

I let him turn left in front of me.

I probably really annoyed the person in the car behind me, I mean we had already waited a very long time and this was another delay….

But the way I see it, is: my side was delayed another five seconds… But his side was saved five minutes. I imagine many happy folks on the other side appreciative for what I did and I hope that maybe those put off by my deed on my side, eventually understood my actions and took it to heart. Maybe it touched their heart just enough that day to do the same for someone else down the road.

Maybe if we all took five seconds to do a nice thing, we all could have better days.

Generous acts and really good deeds,

Are exactly what our little world needs.

– me

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If kids aren’t supposed to take candy from strangers… can someone please explain Halloween?

[image error]Don’t take candy from strangers! Do parents still tell that to children? Do parents still teach their children about the dangers of drugs laced in candy or razor blades in chocolate? I remember those talks vividly. I remember mom saying, don’t ever eat an unwrapped piece of candy. Always have her check the candy first. That scare, over-night, removed the candied apples and popcorn balls from the Halloween bags. Heck even raisins were questionable since they weren’t wrapped in cellophane.

How sad is it that we live in a society where we can’t trust our neighbors, where strangers are dangers and children are never safe.

This Halloween, be safe, of course, but have fun. Let a child be a child for a little bit tonight and if you must go through their candy, as my mom did, and some of the chocolate just happened to be removed, admit it is the fee for taking them trick or Treating and the sweet-tooth in you begging to be fed.

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My Thinking Cap – A Funny Poem

Anyone ever feel like this???

Oh my, oh my, what can I do?

I’m filling up with doubt.

My thinking cap must have a hole

‘Cause my thoughts keep coming out!

The other day I went upstairs,

…To get what?  I don’t know.

And as I stood there like a bump on a log

That hole began to grow.

Out came my memories of what to do

There went my thoughts away

And as I returned back down the stairs

Those memories stayed gone all day!

It wasn’t until night, at 2 am

When I awoke from a sound sleep

And yelled “A-ha!” at the top of my lungs

Which made my husband *!%* bleep.

The other day I was on the phone

Talking about my job

When suddenly I forgot the simplest word.

My brain must be a blob!

Because out it came my thoughts and plans

Right through my thinking caps hole

And I’ll be darned if I could find it.

I’m loosing all control!

So I decided I could fix this thing

Seal the hole by wearing a hat?

But as I stepped inside my closet

I simply forgot about that.

I think I may need rescuing

So I’m typing out this plan

Just incase I might forget again

You’ll remember. Yes you can.

I know I’m not a seamstress

So could you bring me needle and thread?

And maybe mend my thinking cap

To keep my thoughts inside my head.

My friend, I haven’t much time left

Since I’m missing so much brain.

And friend if things keep dripping out

I know I’ll go insane

So please hear my plea, and help me out

So this forgetfulness will end…

.

Uh, hey you said you wrote something…

But you never did press send.

Ugh!

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The Flower that couldn’t be seen….

[image error]A friend of mine was stuck in traffic one day when he just happened to look over to the side of the road and see a flowering plant (some may call it a weed – but we’ll get into that in a moment).  This flowering plant was stuck in the bottom of the ditch and was stretching as tall as it could to get to the top of the ditch so it could be seen.  It was sad to think that no one could see its beauty, could enjoy its colorful flowers – so it stretched and grew and expanded it’s limbs as high as it could until just the tippy-top was visible from a car on the side of the road.

Imagine how hard it worked, how long it may have taken for it to reach that point, how many obstacles it may have had to over come to get here. We’ve all had to grow, to stretch our minds, our abilities, make our way over and around obstacles to get to where we are at.  Some of us may still be working our best to be seen and might not have made it yet.

Either way, all I can really say, is first, pay attention. See what is trying so desperately to be seen and be happy for it (or them).

Secondly, don’t call it a weed.  Just because it wasn’t supposed to be there doesn’t mean it should not be there. Not all actors are born in Hollywood, just because they aren’t from there doesn’t mean they don’t have a right to be there.

Now, I’m not against weed killer – don’t get me wrong – this is an analogy.  I personally can’t stand the weeds that have the thorns and stickers and choke out the good plants or leave their remnants in my dogs fur for me to cut out, but I do love the “weeds” that produce flowers and bring beauty into the world.

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I’ll leave you with one thought to ponder. I worked at a flower shop in New Braunfels for a while and learned that instead of baby’s breath (those little white flowers) to use as filler for a dozen red roses, they used something called Queen Anne’s Lace.  It is a gorgeous white lacy looking flower that really fills in a dozen roses nicely.  Do you know where it comes from? Well I’ve seen it growing in ditches along the corn fields of Ohio – they call it a weed.  Us Texans pay good money for their weed to make our flower arrangements pretty.  Just like someone may pay good money to read your book or give you a chance at the job you want.

The fact of the matter is, you need to reach for it!

…if you plan on being seen.

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What makes a successful author?

The other day I met another children’s book author whose publisher suggested she talk with other successful children’s book authors to get an idea of what to do. She told me this because she wanted to talk to me.   I don’t know if she came to that decision after she saw my booth, or the way I communicated with others, or the number of books I had… either way, she decided that I was successful. Color me surprised.

Now granted I have 9 children’s books but how does that determine success?  Should I have stopped writing and publishing when the first book sold 350 instead of a million? I felt a second book would help propagate sales, all of the first sales and many new ones to buy both. Which worked. So I made a third book, now I was working on a series. That third book was more popular than the second, so I wrote a fourth because everyone kept asking when the next one was coming out. I’ve kept the series growing, watching the sales grow with each book, but I am still not at a million.

So if I have 8 books but not a million sales, the big publishing houses would consider me an utter failure. But I don’t feel like a failure. I don’t talk like a failure. I don’t go to a show every weekend promoting my series as a failure. I go because I want to succeed. I sell like a successful person because to be successful you have to feel successful. You grow, you smile, you push harder, you work longer and you keep at it, because if I didn’t, I would be a failure.

 

PS: I will be at the Texas Book Festival in Austin this Saturday. I am an award-winning author and will be at the Texas Association of Author’s table. Then, that evening I’ll be attending the celebration of authors dinner.  Maybe I am a success and didn’t even know it.

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.

Robert Green Ingersoll

Did you lose the game?


Did you get passed up for the promotion?


Did you receive another rejection letter?

[image error]If you were defeated in any category of life and stopped trying all together, you’ve failed the test of life.

If you fell off the horse, and didn’t get back on, you’ve lost heart.

You must keep trying, because that is what life is all about. Success doesn’t come to those who haven’t tried to succeed.  So study up – buck up and gather your courage, because you need to strengthen your heart for the greatest test of life.

And…

If you won the game.


If you got the promotion.


If you received an acceptance letter…

Don’t stop studying!

The greatest test of life is a pop quiz that keeps popping up in life and you have to be ready for it. There will always be another game. There will always be another opportunity. There will always be another dream worth following.

So be courageous – bear defeat without losing heart – so you can proceed into life with all of the skills you need to pass the test!

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Eat flies – Date a pig – Live your dreams

The other day I saw this Kermit the Frog billboard and while it made me laugh, it also made me think – this is exactly what I keep saying! No matter what your dream is; how weird, crazy, difficult, adventurous, impossible or far away – follow your dreams. If you don’t do it – no one else will.

Shoot for the stars (or the flies) and as long as you never give up, it will make you happy. It may take you a long while. It may feel like it’ll never ‘arrive’ but so long as you try, you will KNOW in your heart, you did what you could in this life.

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