Deby Adair's Blog, page 4

Winners - 'Wish-Dream's Beginning' !

Thank you to all the fantastic entrants who took part in the
'WISH-Dream's Beginning' Giveaway!

And a BIG Congratulations to Maria and Elizabeth, our winners!

Happy Reading!

Last Giveaway... be in it to win!

This is the last EVER Giveaway of the WISH trilogy books!

Over the past eighteen months we've donated books for literacy, we've donated the WISH trilogy as book prizes during Deby Adair's 2012 National Year of Reading School Tour, we've donated the books to raise funds for animal rights, we've run several competitions and held a few Goodreads giveaways...

And now we say goodbye to WISH trilogy giveaways forever and look forward to releasing new books in the near future!

Thank you to everyone who has entered to win and, to the winners of all of our book competitions and giveaways, joyful reading!

Deby Adair and the Team at UnicornKisses.

Believe it ... or not...

During my travels as a writer and as a follower of mythical marvels, a dreamer who shapes words, and a believer in making dreams come true, I have met unicorns.

I met them long ago, when I was a girl... a girl that animals followed through the streets and who talked to the ethers, sending out her thoughts in happy, floating imaginings… who deliberately touched trees as she passed them and climbed rocky, red soiled and sun-struck hills, barefoot.

There was so much to understand and learn about places unseen - hidden places - places where beauty unravelled as naturally as a mountain stream and where waterfalls of galloping horses would masquerade as drops of water, vibrating with essences invisible to the mortal eye. Trees with grand canopies hid the music-halls of fairies and, in the tumbling sun-slants of thick forest undergrowth, there walked elves and their consorts - stately beings with watchful eyes.

I knew something then. I knew that if I closed my eyes and drifted with morning mists or walked barefoot in streams or on dew - all the time with my eyes shut tight - then suddenly, when the moment chose, the whole world would entangle in a web of perfect silence and, in that moment it would happen. A brush upon my brow or on my bare-skinned arm and the sigh of a gentle breath… the softest most intangible fleeting gossamer touch would send tingles up my spine. And I knew, I knew for certain, that I had felt the unicorn's kiss.

'What is that?’ you ask, almost believing me. Well, I will tell you this: A unicorn's kiss is the brush of their forelock or mane upon those lucky humans still unsullied by the mortal world - a child of pure heart. Yet in the second that you open your eyes to catch a glimpse, there may be one thing only, which, captive in your mortal shell, you may or may not hear - the swish of a step as they leave… Deby

More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPlMpb...

When the obvious is new

‘I have something very important to tell you. Did you know that each human being born on this planet has a very special purpose that is completely their own and that belongs only to them? Did you know that each and every one of you is the only one who can do or be something that absolutely no one else can ever be or do?’

Last year during my school tour as an author and Friend of the National Year of Reading - to support and promote literacy - I went to a school which was considered a ‘difficult’ school. The teachers were some of the most amazing, dedicated and inspirational people that
I have ever met, and I will never forget their commitment and integrity.

I presented to approximately 800 children in that school that day and as the older children began filing into the hall, the teachers became more and more stressed and nervous and continued to let me know that if the kids were rude or badly behaved, not to take it personally and, to their credit, they kept asking me if I would be ok with that.

I responded by telling them that if I could once re-train ‘dangerous’ horses then children were no different… neither they, or the horses, were the problem, it was the approach that counted. I could see the teachers were hoping I wasn’t delusional.

The older children filed in, not terribly disinterested but not terribly interested either, unlike the dear younger children who were absolutely divine to present to.

The older children talked loudly amongst themselves, told stories and were obviously relieved to be out of the school room… until I spoke those words to them… ‘I have something very important to tell you. Did you know that each human being born on this planet has a very special purpose that is completely their own and that belongs only to them? Did you know that each and every one of you is the only one who can do or be something that absolutely no one else can ever be or do?’

And you could have cut the air with a knife, the silence was so thick. For the rest of the presentation I had their full attention.

It seems impossible doesn’t it, that what is so perfectly obvious, was new to those kids… by their silence they let me know that no one may ever have said those words to them before… and it was in the barrage of appreciative emails that they sent me in the following weeks that I knew that going to a ‘troubled and difficult’ school was one of the best choices I have ever made.

UnicornKisses to you all. Deby.

The ones that come before.

Remember that each time you buy your child a book you may be creating a writer, an artist, a next generation inspirational creator who will go on to tell a story, paint a picture and inspire the ones who come after them. UnicornKisses to you all!

The story hour.

No matter how busy you are, how worried, or how much daily occurrences get in the way, there is a special feeling when you sit down with a child and you open a book and tell them that you're going to read to them.

I have never met a child yet whose eyes don't light up with the anticipation of hearing a story, and, when that story is shared with a loved one, the story is somehow enhanced and often remembered until the latest years of life.

Give a child you know the gift of magic and wonderment. Read to them or listen while they read to you. And don't forget, if they want to discuss the story afterwards, that means they need to learn something that you can give them... a lesson in life.

Cheers, Deby.

It might be a cliche, but write for yourself first

During the process of writing, part of the joy for us as writers is to explore how a scene, projection, moment or situation may occur, creating that rush of creativity, the adrenalin and thrill that actually makes us want to write!
If you have decided that writing is for you, that you have the courage, determination and the hard-driven discipline required to master your much loved skill, but you sit down to write and falter, then you must ask yourself why.
I find this has helped me over the years: Take the experience from losing loved ones, your illness, or a job you hate, the spiteful neighbour or a memory that still sits deeply with you from the past, and use it to write.

Don’t wait to write for when life will 'get good' - for when you live in the right house, have the right amount of money, have the perfect relationship, have wonderful heath - all or some of those things may never happen, so write now, today; one sentence, then another and let them flow. Most importantly for the beginner - Don’t get critical and throw it away! What might not be perfect today may be the material you will want to use tomorrow/next week/next year and you’ll wish that you had kept it.

I didn’t write my first book for anyone other than for me… it was the story I wished that I had read when I was young, so I wrote it… and then shared it with the world with no expectations, and was delighted and thrilled when others wanted to read it too.

If you’re a beginner, write with no expectations and discover who the writer in you is. That’s a great place to start. No pressure; a love of writing and lots of room to refine your skill and discover your talent. Cheers and happy writing, Deby

The rythm of writing

Why do you suppose we love the ups and downs of a good story? Apart from the obvious entertainment value, of course!
Because it imitates our lives from a safe distance and it won’t hurt us a bit… oh, we may have a good cry, a good laugh or get thumping angry, but ultimately, it’s someone else’s problem/love-affair/illness or financial issue.

But I think that apart from being entertained or informed, when we read a story, we’re also identifying with the pattern of things. The beginning, the middle and the end - this pattern being an imitation of our own road through life, many times over the years.

Beginnings are always primed with hope, even if a beginning is a telling tale of something bad and we can’t imagine it happening to us.

The ‘middle’ is like a washing machine filled with mixed colours, and the hope that putting our whites in with our reds, blacks and blues, won’t mean we pull out a wet, discoloured mess.

And ‘endings’, classically, are what we hope, work and pray for - when, with a bit of luck and some really hard work, it all works out - the mystery is solved/ the solution is found/the culprit is dammed – and dare I say it… our characters live ‘happily ever after.’

Happy writing!

‘Big bank of books.’

Don't you love that moment when you've finished an important project/completed a cycle of events/come over the ‘loop’ with some personal difficulty/put a hardship to bed, and finally had time to relax long enough to realise that who you are today is a much stronger, finer and more empowered person than you were five or ten years ago? I’m sure you all know what I mean… so here’s the good part… if you’ve always wanted to write, this might be the opportunity to jot down those thoughts that will get your creative juices flowing. It needn’t be a novel - it can be a journal or a diary. When we write, if we delve deeply, there are many events in our lives that can trigger the process of creativity. Our thoughts and life experiences are the ‘big bank of books’ and one small experience can often get you started. And, for many, it’s the same with that piece of artwork. We’re all creative in one way or another. Find your great way to creatively express who you’ve become. UnicornKisses to you all!

Imagination is our greatest tool.

Imagination is our greatest tool. When you create something meaningful, you share it with the world, even if no one else sees your final effort. When we imagine, and then create, we are stating by our thoughts and our actions who we are… and that person follows us around day and night for everyone else to see, interact and share with. If we have music in us, then we strum, sing or write our lyrics. If we have art in us then we sketch, draw or paint. And if we write, we are usually sharing our deepest thoughts and projections.
Writing is a tool that can captivate an audience in a way that no other art does. A book presents an opportunity to immerse ourselves, sometimes completely, into the lives of others, and in the process it changes us forever…we have now walked in another’s shoes and we will never be the same again. Although it may be argued that a movie will do a similar thing, the difference between reading a story and watching a story, is that a reader must go that extra mile and play the movie in their head, their way, with only the writer’s word to prompt the screen inside the mind.
As writers, we hold the world in the palms of our hands and, like all projections, how we do it is what counts. Happy writing!