Kathleen J. Shields's Blog, page 9
October 25, 2021
Are you a bird brain? Take the test.
Then maybe you are a birdbrain.
Why is that phrase a negative thing? Why does it mean you are unintelligent? Bird brain’s might be small but there is enough in them to know how to survive, eat, live, find a mate, raise children, vacation every year, travel… (can you do that?) They can talk, do sign language, count, solve puzzles, recognize shapes, are self-aware, capable of using tools, they can imitate, learn through a rewards system, and are empathic enough to know when you are sad.
That is why I especially liked this Dennis the Menace cartoon. Children can see things us adults can’t. They have a perspective we have forgotten and can bring clarity through the simplest thoughts.
I want to be more like a child… and a bird brain!
I want to travel! 
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No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life.
Yeah, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love what I do!
I love creating graphics for people… and getting paid for it.
I love designing websites and having my clients ooh and ahh at how neat it looks, at how quickly it gets built, at how much they saved.
I love writing stories and publishing them, and receiving rave reviews and responses from people who liked the stories.
I am super enthusiastic about my work so I am not afraid… (much)… I do worry about the bills sometimes when money gets tight. I do worry about my future in writing if I can’t get the word out. I do worry the technology is going to surpass my capabilities and I won’t have the aptitude or time to keep up. But that is simply playing the “What if” game and no one ever gets ahead playing at that.
No person who is enthusiastic about his work has anything to fear from life.
Samuel Goldwyn
I wasn’t always where I am now. I did not enjoy life (in my past). I had a job I hated, or multiple loathed jobs simultaneously, with the added stress of even that wasn’t enough. Family problems and sleepless nights, multiple worries led to multiple fears…
So my prayer for you – is if you are in that place where you are not enthusiastic, where your life is full of fears and doubts – I want you to know I am praying for you! I want you to feel the happy again. I want things to work out for you. I want the enthusiasm to re-enter your life so your smile can return and your fears can dissipate.
This is my prayer for you. I want you to find a way to love what you do.
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Award-Winning Book – First Place
Excellent news Hamilton Troll fans…
We WON the 2014 TexasAssociation of Authors Book Contest forBest Children’s Book under 7![image error]That is right!
Hamilton Troll meets Dinosaursis now an Award-Winning Book!
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[image error]I know I couldn’t have done it without my super talented illustrators Leigh A. Klug and Carol W. Bryant whom I met at church and give all the credit to God’s plan for us.
It is a wonderful feeling to know that we are truly making a difference in young children’s lives and others are acknowledging our hard work for it. Our hopes are that we will continue to produce fun, fully-illustrated rhyming educational stories with strong moral values and enjoyable content for years to come. Hamilton Troll has another dozen stories waiting to be told and we truly feel this will be a series that will be shared with children for generations to come.
PRESS RELEASE[image error]
For Immediate Release
Contact: B. Alan Bourgeois, Director
(512) 554-9560
TxAuthors@live.com
www.TXAuthors.com
EXCELLENT LITERATURE AT ITS BEST!
SNAPPY TITLES, RIVETING CONTENT SELECTED BY TAA AS 2014 WINNERS Austin, TX –Readers of the delightful titles selected for Texas Association of Authors Best Book Awards would agree that the selected books are winning reads and top-tier selections in their categories. By any measure, excellent books from this years’ list are of stellar quality and are delivering to readers who love to fall into the pages of them the experience of climbing out with the greatest of satisfaction. The newest slate of winners come from various genres.
Hamilton Troll Meets Dinosaurs, Kathleen J. Shields, Children Under 7
This was the third year for TxAuthors to select winning titles by Texas Authors.
TxAuthors is currently accepting entries for books published during 2014. This year’s winners can be found along with the previous year’s winners at TxAuthors.com. Texas Association of Authors focuses on promoting authors within the Lone Star State.
The association leverages the knowledge and expertise of various authors to facilitate promotion of their works locally and globally.
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Buy this award-winning book to add to your collection today! Thank you again to all who voted and are helping to make Hamilton troll a success!
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Elephant Therapy – Advanced Memory Replacement
I can’t blame age… nor would I want to in my case, but I know I’m not the only one who feels her memory is not what it used to be! I have to make a note for everything! If I don’t I am doomed to forget it. I have walked into a room for something only to forget what I went in there for. I have found myself trying to fit the milk container in the cabinet instead of the fridge. Fortunately, I haven’t lost my car in a parking lot… but it’s a little hard to misplace this masterpiece:
So when I saw the cartoon to the right in the funny pages I had to laugh! Elephants Never Forget! What a memory they must have! What if they shared it with us? How great would that be? A little Advanced Elephant Memory Replacement Therapy and all of our troubles are over.
No more would we be laughing at such a poignant yet ridiculous story like the one I paraphrased and made my own, below…
I decide to go through the mail. I start to put the junk in the trash can but notice it is full. So, I decide to take out the trash, but think, the mailbox is next to the trash can, I may as well pay the bills first. I go to my desk where I find a bottle of water that it is getting warm so I should put it back in the refrigerator. While in the kitchen I find the TV remote and realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s in the kitchen, so I take it back to the living room but I trip over the dog. I put the remote on the floor while I check on him, and his tail begins to wag enough to knock the remote under the table and then when I get up I forgot why I was going to the living room in the first place or what I was doing before that. That evening I can’t find the remote, there’s a bag of trash in the bathroom, my bottle of water is outside in the mailbox, there are bills shredded on the floor thanks to the dog and I am enjoying a glass of wine wondering how I got so lucky!
Isn’t memory grand?
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Latest Release: Hamilton Troll meets Whitaker Owl Book #7
[image error]Whooo thinks owls are cool?
I do!
And in this 7th story of the on-going Hamilton Troll Adventures we meet Whitaker Owl who is currently being taught by his parents how to hoot properly. Unfortunately, he needs a LOT of practice! The good news is he can fly really great! And when a bear approaches the woods which is a possible danger for everyone, Whitaker with his silent fast flight and hoot that is wild comes up with a daring plan to chase that bear away and save everyone!
Be whooo you are! is the message of this book and Hamilton is proud to be friends with Whitaker even if he sounds a little different than other owls.
Making others smile is just a hoot! and we sure hope this book makes you smile too!
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The Annual Telephone Call to Heaven
Last night I had a dream; a dream that you could make a phone call to heaven to talk with anyone there. The catch was: you could only make one call per year, to one person.
In my dream, I started way back when I lost my mother, of course, I decided to call her. I don’t recall a conversation actually taking place (probably because the dream was symbolic of something more important) but if I had conducted a conversation, I imagine it would have been along the lines of my catching her up, sharing the things that had occurred over the past year. Yet, I couldn’t remember the conversation, so that is just introspection.
My next memory of the dream was the following year when I lost a good friend. Of course, I contemplated calling her but I struggled with the decision. Would it be a waste of that very important one phone call, if I called my friend over calling my Mom again?
The following year I lost two more friends… but instead of delving into the conflict of whom to call, my mind took me further ahead to the year my grandmother died, then the year my grandfather died, then the year my father died. Those all felt like easy choices, those were my last chances to have that one final conversation with my closest relatives and to see how they were doing in Heaven.
However, the following year I looked at the fact that all of those family members were in heaven and whom should get that one special call from me? How could I decide between just one of them? Would there be hurt feelings from those I couldn’t call? Could I ask about the others during my conversation with that one? Would that be against the rules?
Who makes the rules?Then it occurred to me that if there were rules, of which I hadn’t even thought to ask, well who made those rules? That’s when the light went on. Maybe my annual call should be to God!
Symbolically the dream was a metaphor to stay in contact with God, and to me, it also symbolized letting go. When that became my thought process I started bouncing back and forth between the two revelations.
I was thinking of things like, they’re in Heaven… discussing my daily life with them just keeps pulling them back here instead of letting them go to enjoy their afterlife. I then started thinking about what it was like there, what had they been up to? I hoped I had remembered to ask them about their new lives in those previous conversations. You get so used to sharing in prayers your hopes, dreams and thanks, but you don’t ask questions you know will never get answered (via phone that is).
Then I bounced back over to God. I can talk to him whenever I want! I am not limited to one call per year. Heck, I’m not even limited to one call per day! Why would I even allow myself to worry about this dream at all? Probably because in this dream, I was thinking about one specific person I missed, and one specific conversation I wanted to have. I was limiting my celestial options with human limitations.
Our God is grand. He is everywhere and hears every prayer. He answers every call and doesn’t limit us, like the phone company. Maybe it’s time to change your calling plan to unlimited?
I don’t know if my revelation about this call to heaven meant as much to you as it did to me, but if it helped to open your eyes a little bit, then maybe my task is complete? Kathleen J. Shields 10/25/2021
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September 30, 2021
Writing Poetry – A Child Shall Lead You…
The other day I received a phone call, completely out of the blue, from a very, very shy child in the Chicago area. She had been scouring the internet apparently looking for poetry and came across the below poem I had written for my mom for mother’s day quite some time ago. She began asking me questions like,
“How do you go about writing poetry?”“How do you come up with the rhymes?”I was being interviewed by a fellow writer and I was elated!I answered her questions, suggesting a great place to find rhymes is RhymeZone.com (a website I frequent often while writing Hamilton Troll stories) and the thesaurus when I am trying to rhyme a word that either doesn’t work or has no relevant rhymes. I encouraged her to keep writing and before hanging up asked her how she heard about me. That is when she told me the name of the poem she liked. It had been so long since I wrote it, I had to go back and find it.
Less than a week later, I received another call from that child. She asked a few more questions then told me she had written a poem. I asked her if she would like to read it for me, expecting a Dr. Seuss or Roses are red, kind of poem and was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by her poem.
It was outstanding and deep! Major Deep!This child showed me a talent I don’t even think I possess.
I wish I would have recorded that call. I wish she would send me a copy via email. I wish I could stay in touch with her and follow her as she grows up and watch her literally WOW the people in her life with this amazing talent for writing. WHEN you get published, and with talent like that, you WILL… please let me know. I am PROUD of you! And I KNOW I had NOTHING to do with it.
Here’s the poem she liked…
Mothers Day – two years before she truly became an angel. I miss you mom.
If you like poems, check out my new poetry book, A Rhyme for Everything
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We Did It Y’all! Unibear’s Release Day was a Huge Success!
Whew, what a whirlwind the past few days have been!
While there was a lot of prep work leading up to the big release day, that was nothing compared to the actual release day!
“The First Unibear” made it into the Top 200 Books!
#131 in Children’s Christian Animal Fiction!
#195 in Christian Poetry!!
#208 in Children’s Inspirational!!!
Unibear was in the Top 200 of ALL Books in that genre!
On release day I spent just about the entire day on myself! That’s also a HUGE step for me because I almost never spend time for myself! Work always comes before play. I consider my writing “career” free time / play time. So when I say I spent the day on promotion of “The First Unibear” you have to realize how serious I am in seeing this book become a success.
This was for my father. Those who follow me know the story… how my father kept encouraging me to do something with “Unibear” for 30 years. Those who know, know I lost my father 3 years ago and how hard that hit me. Those who know, know the release date was intended to make a Sad Day into a Glad Day by giving me a happy memory to wash over the sadness of losing my father that day 3 years ago. Those who know – Know how much I cherish your support and friendship!But for those who don’t know – THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of MY HEART! You did it!I didn’t need to become a Top 10 Best Selling Author. I didn’t need to be a Top 100 Best Selling Author – although we came super close!
My goal was to get the story out there. To get the book into the hands of readers, and that is exactly what WE did!
On Day Two there are SIX 5 Star Reviews!
I’ve spent a huge amount of time submitting to reviews, awards, contests, newsletters… I’ve got some great shows lined up for the rest of the year and starting early next year I’ll be getting busy with schools and libraries. I have plans to see this book go places. I would appreciate prayers for the Contests I entered, but I’d also like to ask yet another favor if you wouldn’t mind…
It’s fairly easy to do. Just click the link and fill in the form. It doesn’t cost you anything but a few minutes of your time.
I am asking anyone who has read the story to do this… but only if you feel it is a worthy story, which I hope you do!
This is the information they ask for – you can do a copy and paste:
Book Title: The First Unibear
Author: Kathleen J. Shields
Illustrator: Aashay Utkarsh
Publisher: Erin Go Bragh Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-956581-00-3
Copyright: 9/28/2021
# of Pages: 46
Book Type: Fiction
Book is nominated for: Children’s Gallery Award 1st-3rd grade
Description:
A tiny bear follows a butterfly into the woods where he sees a horse that needs help. After helping the horse, he discovers it is actually a unicorn! The unicorn tells the bear that now he will be able to see other unicorns. Bear tells his friends and one bunny becomes his best friend. One day the two see a baby squirrel in danger and they both jump in to help. After they saved the squirrel, bunny sees a unicorn horn on bear’s head. The race to find the unicorn and find out why. He explains how the magic can spread when good souls help others. This story is written in rhyme and encourages the reader to do good deeds and help others in need. There is also scripture from the KJV that mentions unicorns.
Thank you for your encouragement and time! I truly appreciate it. I write because I am led to by a higher power. I publish so I can share my stories with the world. I keep going because I have no other choice but to keep breathing and I keep trying because if I don’t, no one will do it for me. Your continued patronage is the icing on the cake for me – and REALLY like icing!
If you haven’t yet… Buy the BookClick the images below to be directed to Amazon.
The First Unibear children’s book by author Kathleen J. Shields 
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September 3, 2021
What on Earth are WE Eating???
Between you and me… I just had to ask.
The other day I get out of my car in a parking lot of an establishment I frequent quite often. I stepped down onto the ground and heard that crunch of a processed food product that fell out of someone’s hand or bag previously before my arrival. I looked down at it, making note of the color and texture and recognized it. There were about a dozen pieces on the ground. I went about my day assuming a critter or bird would eat these. We live in the country. We have deer, raccoons, skunks, cougars, vultures, hawks, etc. Something will eat it.
Three Days Later… [image error]I step out of my car in the same parking spot of that same establishment only to see the remnants of the same processed food product that had been there before. Another piece had been crunched under someone’s shoe but the rest of them still sat there. Untouched. Not a single critter wanted to eat it.
Explain this to me…Why would we eat something that a hungry, wild animal won’t eat?I just had to ask.
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The unexpected comes in all forms…
The unexpected could be exciting, nice or upsetting, but what it is always, is unexpected.
What if you chose to do the unexpected instead of the expected.
Instead of taking the last of the coffee in the pot, make a new pot before you go.Instead of grumbling when the person in front of you in line starts counting out pennies, give them a dollar.Instead of laughing when something bad happens to someone, go and help them instead.I choose for my unexpected moments to be good, but that brings about a question. If you expect good things from me, wouldn’t the unexpected be that my good deeds are in fact bad?
I could say instead:
When someone says “expect the unexpected”
smack them and say “you didn’t expect that did you?”
Nah, don’t do that, but do try to do the unexpected.
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