Deby Adair's Blog, page 6
January 16, 2013
Sharing my article blogged in 'Ancient Children' - writer's block and more...
Deby Adair on Imagination, Writing, and the Importance of Finding your Voice
by Dreambeast7 on September 21, 2012
Today Ancient Children -http://www.ancientchildren.com/?p=561 - is honored with a guest post by Deby Adair, creator of the WISH trilogy, beautifully illustrated and written books for children an juveniles that adults will also love. The third volume of the trilogy, The Third Wish — Dreams Honour, was nominated for the 2011 Aurealis Awards — Australia’s Premier Award for Speculative Fiction written by an Australian Citizen.
'Imagination is our Greatest Tool'
by Deby Adair
Imagination is our greatest tool. When you create something meaningful, you share it with the world, even if no one ever sees your final effort. When we imagine, and then create, we are stating by our thoughts and 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.
Remember that what you write will reach inside the minds and hearts of others and, by the power of your words, resonate. How do you choose to create what resonates in others?
Writing is something that comes from within a writer; a deep need to share a story, a theme, experience or something which the writer themselves chooses to explore.
When writers ask me how to deal with writer’s block, I have one response: Writer’s block comes to you because you are trying to write what isn’t you. When a writer ‘blocks’ they are experiencing these key things: fear, self doubt and a desire to please others.
When writers ask me how they should fix their writers block, or indeed, why is it such extremely hard work to write, then my responses are simplistic, based on the need to change something that they’re doing.
At first, my answers can be met with some resistance. ie: Often, a writer has a preconceived idea of what kind of writer they are, or want to be, and that may be the problem… in not knowing what you truly should be writing as opposed to what you think you should be writing. ‘Writers block’ will always begin there.
Do you love writing? Does the written word in and of itself give you incredible joy? Does the thought of composing a sentence and describing a moment, a scene, a sensation, a palette of colour, transport you with inspiration and excitement? What entices you, the writer, to capture an audience and transport them?
I’ll ask a question: Can you effectively captivate with something you don’t know, or don’t understand or have never come close to experiencing? Perhaps, or perhaps not.
During the process of writing, part of the joy is for us as writers 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 in fact for you, that you have the guts, 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.
A highly skilled young University student asked me to read a piece of their work and to offer a critique. It was an evocative piece. Very dramatic, very intense, extremely wordy, descriptive, exciting… but it lacked something. It didn’t ring true. It was a good piece of writing but I was left unmoved. I thought carefully about the piece before I gave her my critique.
Finally, this was my response: When you write, the most important thing to remember is not to try to impress the reader but to find your own individual style. Don’t try to write with someone else’s style. Don’t copy the sort of writing that will outwardly impress you but feel to the reader as if they’ve read your book at least a hundred times everywhere else!
Write what you know. Write what you feel. By all means, use the power of your imagination, but don’t try to construct what isn’t innately a part of you because it will read cleverly, but not reach hearts and, as writers, our job is to reach hearts, otherwise we have just added to a high pile of pulp.
When a writer writes from deep inside themselves, reaching into what they know, how they’ve grown, the insights, the hurts, the joys, the depths of their being, then they lose writer’s block. They may have decided to sit down and write that great money-spinner and instead, written a poignant or meaningful story of something that jogs a memory of a day in their schoolyard. The piece they actually may end up writing may seem totally un-commercial, however, it may leave the writer, and ultimately the reader, deeply satisfied. I assure you that when you write from your inner truth you will always become a better writer and that is what really matters in the long run. You want to reach the hearts and minds of your readers.
When people read, no matter what the genre, they unconsciously go there to learn something, even if they feel they only want to be entertained. When they read, they want to leave your book/short story/poem, prose or paragraph, and feel that it was a moment in time that you loaned them and which they have captured; that borrowing from your ‘knowing’ it will leave them stronger, better able to face the world. Write what you own . . . share with us, the reader, what you know and feel.
Writers often ask me why they can’t seem to get the discipline of the thing. My response, based on experiencing the roller coaster of life, is this: No matter what is happening in your life, and I mean no matter what, write something every single day; every single day go to your work and at least sit with pen in hand, with computer open and ready; if you find nothing there, then edit something you have previously written; look at your writing and be ruthless with it; teach yourself to know if that flowery sentence is valid or just satisfying an itch to be vocal; train yourself in excellent sentence structure and that often, less is more.
Readers these days want to get to the point . . . so learn the skill of writing brilliantly with a sentence well built, rather than a paragraph that repeats itself.
Take the pain from losing loved ones, your illness, a job you hate, the spiteful neighbour and use it to write! Don’t wait 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! Be your own best creator!
Write something, even if it’s for two minutes a day, every single day until the hardship of the discipline becomes your addiction and your high . . . then you have learned the true love affair of writing and have built a solid relationship that will let you call yourself a writer, a marriage where you have learned to merge words with the love of making it happen.
Remember, the entire fantastic residue of living, is stored within all of us. Don’t write about things you don’t know just because you think that’s what readers want, and worse, because someone else got rich from it . . . write what YOU know and, if you do it thoroughly, seriously and with real craft and commitment, readers will love your tale about the day you dropped your lunch at school and ten kids laughed at you but one stepped forward to help . . . because when it’s genuine, we, the readers, will know it and cheer you on!
Deby Adair © 27.08.2012
Deby Adair is an author, artist, graphic artist, environmentalist and past equestrian. An avid follower of the mystical and mysterious, Deby Adair has always loved the purity and truth of unicorns and their archetypal majesty. Deby loves all animals and champions animal rights, the environment and human rights. She believes we must take care of our natural world.
An avid reader all her life, Deby began writing stories, poetry and prose from a very young age and the WISH trilogy is based on many works of writing and art which she produced as a girl but later embelished and created into her three novels.
To learn more about Deby and her work and to purchase her books, visit her Web site, Unicorn Kisses.
by Dreambeast7 on September 21, 2012
Today Ancient Children -http://www.ancientchildren.com/?p=561 - is honored with a guest post by Deby Adair, creator of the WISH trilogy, beautifully illustrated and written books for children an juveniles that adults will also love. The third volume of the trilogy, The Third Wish — Dreams Honour, was nominated for the 2011 Aurealis Awards — Australia’s Premier Award for Speculative Fiction written by an Australian Citizen.
'Imagination is our Greatest Tool'
by Deby Adair
Imagination is our greatest tool. When you create something meaningful, you share it with the world, even if no one ever sees your final effort. When we imagine, and then create, we are stating by our thoughts and 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.
Remember that what you write will reach inside the minds and hearts of others and, by the power of your words, resonate. How do you choose to create what resonates in others?
Writing is something that comes from within a writer; a deep need to share a story, a theme, experience or something which the writer themselves chooses to explore.
When writers ask me how to deal with writer’s block, I have one response: Writer’s block comes to you because you are trying to write what isn’t you. When a writer ‘blocks’ they are experiencing these key things: fear, self doubt and a desire to please others.
When writers ask me how they should fix their writers block, or indeed, why is it such extremely hard work to write, then my responses are simplistic, based on the need to change something that they’re doing.
At first, my answers can be met with some resistance. ie: Often, a writer has a preconceived idea of what kind of writer they are, or want to be, and that may be the problem… in not knowing what you truly should be writing as opposed to what you think you should be writing. ‘Writers block’ will always begin there.
Do you love writing? Does the written word in and of itself give you incredible joy? Does the thought of composing a sentence and describing a moment, a scene, a sensation, a palette of colour, transport you with inspiration and excitement? What entices you, the writer, to capture an audience and transport them?
I’ll ask a question: Can you effectively captivate with something you don’t know, or don’t understand or have never come close to experiencing? Perhaps, or perhaps not.
During the process of writing, part of the joy is for us as writers 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 in fact for you, that you have the guts, 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.
A highly skilled young University student asked me to read a piece of their work and to offer a critique. It was an evocative piece. Very dramatic, very intense, extremely wordy, descriptive, exciting… but it lacked something. It didn’t ring true. It was a good piece of writing but I was left unmoved. I thought carefully about the piece before I gave her my critique.
Finally, this was my response: When you write, the most important thing to remember is not to try to impress the reader but to find your own individual style. Don’t try to write with someone else’s style. Don’t copy the sort of writing that will outwardly impress you but feel to the reader as if they’ve read your book at least a hundred times everywhere else!
Write what you know. Write what you feel. By all means, use the power of your imagination, but don’t try to construct what isn’t innately a part of you because it will read cleverly, but not reach hearts and, as writers, our job is to reach hearts, otherwise we have just added to a high pile of pulp.
When a writer writes from deep inside themselves, reaching into what they know, how they’ve grown, the insights, the hurts, the joys, the depths of their being, then they lose writer’s block. They may have decided to sit down and write that great money-spinner and instead, written a poignant or meaningful story of something that jogs a memory of a day in their schoolyard. The piece they actually may end up writing may seem totally un-commercial, however, it may leave the writer, and ultimately the reader, deeply satisfied. I assure you that when you write from your inner truth you will always become a better writer and that is what really matters in the long run. You want to reach the hearts and minds of your readers.
When people read, no matter what the genre, they unconsciously go there to learn something, even if they feel they only want to be entertained. When they read, they want to leave your book/short story/poem, prose or paragraph, and feel that it was a moment in time that you loaned them and which they have captured; that borrowing from your ‘knowing’ it will leave them stronger, better able to face the world. Write what you own . . . share with us, the reader, what you know and feel.
Writers often ask me why they can’t seem to get the discipline of the thing. My response, based on experiencing the roller coaster of life, is this: No matter what is happening in your life, and I mean no matter what, write something every single day; every single day go to your work and at least sit with pen in hand, with computer open and ready; if you find nothing there, then edit something you have previously written; look at your writing and be ruthless with it; teach yourself to know if that flowery sentence is valid or just satisfying an itch to be vocal; train yourself in excellent sentence structure and that often, less is more.
Readers these days want to get to the point . . . so learn the skill of writing brilliantly with a sentence well built, rather than a paragraph that repeats itself.
Take the pain from losing loved ones, your illness, a job you hate, the spiteful neighbour and use it to write! Don’t wait 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! Be your own best creator!
Write something, even if it’s for two minutes a day, every single day until the hardship of the discipline becomes your addiction and your high . . . then you have learned the true love affair of writing and have built a solid relationship that will let you call yourself a writer, a marriage where you have learned to merge words with the love of making it happen.
Remember, the entire fantastic residue of living, is stored within all of us. Don’t write about things you don’t know just because you think that’s what readers want, and worse, because someone else got rich from it . . . write what YOU know and, if you do it thoroughly, seriously and with real craft and commitment, readers will love your tale about the day you dropped your lunch at school and ten kids laughed at you but one stepped forward to help . . . because when it’s genuine, we, the readers, will know it and cheer you on!
Deby Adair © 27.08.2012
Deby Adair is an author, artist, graphic artist, environmentalist and past equestrian. An avid follower of the mystical and mysterious, Deby Adair has always loved the purity and truth of unicorns and their archetypal majesty. Deby loves all animals and champions animal rights, the environment and human rights. She believes we must take care of our natural world.
An avid reader all her life, Deby began writing stories, poetry and prose from a very young age and the WISH trilogy is based on many works of writing and art which she produced as a girl but later embelished and created into her three novels.
To learn more about Deby and her work and to purchase her books, visit her Web site, Unicorn Kisses.
January 15, 2013
Thanks to all the entrants for my book giveaway!
Hello all!
Just under 700 of you entered to win 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' and I would like to thank you all so much for taking the time to enter.
For those of you who didn't win, don't despair, as of the middle of February this year, UnicornKisses will be hosting a giveaway for some fabulous UnicornKisses WISH trilogy artwork- www.unicornkisses.com - and then a little later in the year there will another Goodreads giveaway for 'WISH-Dreams Beginning'.
And CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda Anderson & Joel Voth, our 2 lucky winners this January, for winning the Goodreads Giveaway for 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth'. We hope you thoroughly enjoy your reading experience!
Warm wishes!
Deby Adair & the Team at UnicornKisses.
www.unicornkisses.com
www.amazon.com/author/kindredspirits3...
The WISH trilogy - www.amazon .com in Kindle and Paperback.
Just under 700 of you entered to win 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' and I would like to thank you all so much for taking the time to enter.
For those of you who didn't win, don't despair, as of the middle of February this year, UnicornKisses will be hosting a giveaway for some fabulous UnicornKisses WISH trilogy artwork- www.unicornkisses.com - and then a little later in the year there will another Goodreads giveaway for 'WISH-Dreams Beginning'.
And CONGRATULATIONS to Amanda Anderson & Joel Voth, our 2 lucky winners this January, for winning the Goodreads Giveaway for 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth'. We hope you thoroughly enjoy your reading experience!
Warm wishes!
Deby Adair & the Team at UnicornKisses.
www.unicornkisses.com
www.amazon.com/author/kindredspirits3...
The WISH trilogy - www.amazon .com in Kindle and Paperback.
January 10, 2013
Happy 2013 to all!
Hello everyone!
It's the 11th of January already... I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season filled with reading, relaxation and all things good.
Well, in four days and (at the time of writing,) 7 hours, two lucky winners will be announced by Goodreads to win 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' from a pick of five countries and (at the time of writing 400 entrants and here's hoping we can make it some more, just to add to the fun of it all.)
I'm really keen to find out who the winners are!
This year, this author is going to take a small break from the frenetic pace of work of the past few years and concentrate on producing more artwork, a short youtube clip and of course, more writing... but at a more leisurely pace, for a change.
Happy 2013 to you all and here's hoping that all of your endeavours shed joy and light into your lives and of the lives of your loved ones.
Deby
It's the 11th of January already... I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season filled with reading, relaxation and all things good.
Well, in four days and (at the time of writing,) 7 hours, two lucky winners will be announced by Goodreads to win 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' from a pick of five countries and (at the time of writing 400 entrants and here's hoping we can make it some more, just to add to the fun of it all.)
I'm really keen to find out who the winners are!
This year, this author is going to take a small break from the frenetic pace of work of the past few years and concentrate on producing more artwork, a short youtube clip and of course, more writing... but at a more leisurely pace, for a change.
Happy 2013 to you all and here's hoping that all of your endeavours shed joy and light into your lives and of the lives of your loved ones.
Deby
November 27, 2012
From Benny UX
Tips for young creators!
Benny says:
November 28, 2012 at 10:30 am (Edit)
Hi All! At last, the WISH trilogy is on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback and Prime!
I’ve been away for a while but I’m getting ready for all your New Year’s questions so you’ll see me back here early in 2013.
And don’t forget the GIVEAWAY – 2 copies of WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth up for grabs. Catch our giveaway here:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
OR AT:
http://www.unicornkisses.com/main/pag...
Good Luck! Happy Holidays and all the best for the NEW YEAR.
Your favourite unicorn,
Benny.
http://unicornkisses.com/blog/
Benny says:
November 28, 2012 at 10:30 am (Edit)
Hi All! At last, the WISH trilogy is on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback and Prime!
I’ve been away for a while but I’m getting ready for all your New Year’s questions so you’ll see me back here early in 2013.
And don’t forget the GIVEAWAY – 2 copies of WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth up for grabs. Catch our giveaway here:
http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...
OR AT:
http://www.unicornkisses.com/main/pag...
Good Luck! Happy Holidays and all the best for the NEW YEAR.
Your favourite unicorn,
Benny.
http://unicornkisses.com/blog/
November 15, 2012
Just one more... GIVEAWAY!
Hello all!
Well I was to have made one last post for the year but then the brilliant people I'm lucky enough to have in my life suggested that I not only hold a Goodreads Giveaway for WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth, but also a Giveaway for WISH-Dreams Beginning... hmmm... I decided that it was a great idea :), so now... not only are the two copies of WISH AGAIN up for grabs but two copies of WISH, as well!
The WISH-Dreams Beginning Giveaway starts and ends a little later, so keep your eyes peeled! The first two books of the WISH trilogy can now be yours as a great edition to your New Year's reading... check them out to find out more, either here at Goodreads, or at the website www.unicornkisses.com or www.amazon.com.
Best of luck, happy and safe holidays and here's wishing you all the best New Year, ever.
Joy to you all.
Deby
Well I was to have made one last post for the year but then the brilliant people I'm lucky enough to have in my life suggested that I not only hold a Goodreads Giveaway for WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth, but also a Giveaway for WISH-Dreams Beginning... hmmm... I decided that it was a great idea :), so now... not only are the two copies of WISH AGAIN up for grabs but two copies of WISH, as well!
The WISH-Dreams Beginning Giveaway starts and ends a little later, so keep your eyes peeled! The first two books of the WISH trilogy can now be yours as a great edition to your New Year's reading... check them out to find out more, either here at Goodreads, or at the website www.unicornkisses.com or www.amazon.com.
Best of luck, happy and safe holidays and here's wishing you all the best New Year, ever.
Joy to you all.
Deby
November 2, 2012
The 2012 Rollercoaster!
Hello all,
This will be my last post for 2012 as it's been a very hectic and eventful year full of twists and turns.
Firstly, the Australian school tour in conjunction with the 2012 National Year of Reading was a HUGE success!
UnicornKisses was inundated with requests for the WISH trilogy from both school children and school libraries from across this broad land and we were also swept off our feet when we received such amazing press from readers in the United Kingdom, as well.
Our distributor in Australia has been just amazing and... at last... in the next three weeks the WISH trilogy will be availabe from Amazon with our beautifully formatted 'QED awarded quality and excellence in design' eBooks, (eBook Architects, I'd recommend them for their professionalism and expertise) in Kindle as well as paperback. Next stop, Google books.
Thank you to all of you who have supported UnicornKisses, the WISH trilogy and myself during this year of change, transition and big developments.
All the best to you all for now and into the new year and a huge 'GOOD LUCK' to those of you entering the 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' Goodreads GIVEAWAY!
Warm wishes,
Deby Adair
(Dedicated to all those loved ones who are no longer with us to share the wonderful moments of our lives, but who will live on in our hearts for ever.)
This will be my last post for 2012 as it's been a very hectic and eventful year full of twists and turns.
Firstly, the Australian school tour in conjunction with the 2012 National Year of Reading was a HUGE success!
UnicornKisses was inundated with requests for the WISH trilogy from both school children and school libraries from across this broad land and we were also swept off our feet when we received such amazing press from readers in the United Kingdom, as well.
Our distributor in Australia has been just amazing and... at last... in the next three weeks the WISH trilogy will be availabe from Amazon with our beautifully formatted 'QED awarded quality and excellence in design' eBooks, (eBook Architects, I'd recommend them for their professionalism and expertise) in Kindle as well as paperback. Next stop, Google books.
Thank you to all of you who have supported UnicornKisses, the WISH trilogy and myself during this year of change, transition and big developments.
All the best to you all for now and into the new year and a huge 'GOOD LUCK' to those of you entering the 'WISH AGAIN-Dreams Truth' Goodreads GIVEAWAY!
Warm wishes,
Deby Adair
(Dedicated to all those loved ones who are no longer with us to share the wonderful moments of our lives, but who will live on in our hearts for ever.)
October 29, 2012
GIVEAWAY!
Hi all,
WISH AGAIN - Dreams Truth, will be on Goodreads as a Giveaway for the next two months... I've decided that WISH AGAIN can be a lovely post Christmas and Happy New Year bonus for two lucky winners!
WISH AGAIN steps up the pace from "WISH -Dreams Beginning" and reaches out to a wider audience, and please don't worry... if you haven't read Book One of the WISH trilogy, this second book can be read as a stand-alone (and of course all three books are for sale on Amazon and other sellers) but the chances are that once you read WISH AGAIN you'll be thinking about The THIRD WISH!
Best of luck to all the entrants!
Warm wishes,
Deby Adair
WISH AGAIN - Dreams Truth, will be on Goodreads as a Giveaway for the next two months... I've decided that WISH AGAIN can be a lovely post Christmas and Happy New Year bonus for two lucky winners!
WISH AGAIN steps up the pace from "WISH -Dreams Beginning" and reaches out to a wider audience, and please don't worry... if you haven't read Book One of the WISH trilogy, this second book can be read as a stand-alone (and of course all three books are for sale on Amazon and other sellers) but the chances are that once you read WISH AGAIN you'll be thinking about The THIRD WISH!
Best of luck to all the entrants!
Warm wishes,
Deby Adair
September 16, 2012
Busy authors
What a year so far! What fantastic schools! Starting with the invitation from ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association,) Deby Adair joined the Australian National Simultaneous Story time. From there, Deby's journey of spreading the word about the joys of reading and the love of books, (as a Friend of the 2012 National Year of Reading,) went on to several schools, with some events still to go by the end of 2012.
UnicornKisses has provided beautiful FREE UnicornKisses Stickers and WISH trilogy bookmarks to each and every child who attends... that's about 700 stickers and bookmarks... and they are a raging success... the kids love them! What could be better than a bookmark for all those young readers!
UnicornKisses and Deby Adair also held a fantastic 'schools-only' competition this winter, with beautiful and quality prizes to be won. Lucky winners in each school won prizes ranging from the Benny Posters to the amazing giveaway First Prize of the WISH TRILOGY in paperback!
During her school talks Deby Adair not only talks about the love of, and importance, of reading and literacy, but she also asks the schools to become involved in awareness of animal welfare. Some schools participate in fund raisers for Accredited Animal Welfare organisations. This year, the organisation that was chosen was the Australian Koala Foundation, (in order to raise awareness for the endangerment of the koala's environment due to loss of habitat.)
Deby Adair has enjoyed her 'school' days immensely, and says that she met wonderful children who were bright, intelligent and very well informed about all sorts of subjects and that their level of enthusiasm for books and reading was a real credit to the amazing and dedicated teachers that she feels awe-inspired to have met!
So, a great day for kids to receive wonderful insights into the fun and benefit of reading and literacy and also in understanding how valuable the animal kingdom (our friends on Earth,) are! These exciting events have all been mentioned on Facebook 'Books you Love' and Facebook 'UnicornKisses' & posted as Events on the 2012 National Year of Reading.
Good on you kids. Good on the hard working authors who spread the message of reading and books!
Best Wishes,
Deby Adair and UnicornKisses.
UnicornKisses has provided beautiful FREE UnicornKisses Stickers and WISH trilogy bookmarks to each and every child who attends... that's about 700 stickers and bookmarks... and they are a raging success... the kids love them! What could be better than a bookmark for all those young readers!
UnicornKisses and Deby Adair also held a fantastic 'schools-only' competition this winter, with beautiful and quality prizes to be won. Lucky winners in each school won prizes ranging from the Benny Posters to the amazing giveaway First Prize of the WISH TRILOGY in paperback!
During her school talks Deby Adair not only talks about the love of, and importance, of reading and literacy, but she also asks the schools to become involved in awareness of animal welfare. Some schools participate in fund raisers for Accredited Animal Welfare organisations. This year, the organisation that was chosen was the Australian Koala Foundation, (in order to raise awareness for the endangerment of the koala's environment due to loss of habitat.)
Deby Adair has enjoyed her 'school' days immensely, and says that she met wonderful children who were bright, intelligent and very well informed about all sorts of subjects and that their level of enthusiasm for books and reading was a real credit to the amazing and dedicated teachers that she feels awe-inspired to have met!
So, a great day for kids to receive wonderful insights into the fun and benefit of reading and literacy and also in understanding how valuable the animal kingdom (our friends on Earth,) are! These exciting events have all been mentioned on Facebook 'Books you Love' and Facebook 'UnicornKisses' & posted as Events on the 2012 National Year of Reading.
Good on you kids. Good on the hard working authors who spread the message of reading and books!
Best Wishes,
Deby Adair and UnicornKisses.
September 6, 2012
Benny's Blog-Tips for young creators #4.
Benny Blog Tip: #4 – The unexpected.
Hi young creators! Well, it's been a super busy week at Benny's Blog. We received so many emails from the young Australian school kids that got to meet our author, Deby Adair, when she did her big school tour this winter.! Phew... she met around 700 school kids this year, so you can just imagine how jammed my email inbox was!! I didn't expect to receive all those emails! And they ALL wanted copies of the WISH TRILOGY!
I got asked lots of questions, but the question I got asked most, was: 'How long does it take to write a book?'
Well, this is different for every writer. Not everyone writes a book in the same way. Some writers plot their books and some writers write what they feel like on the day.
But I think it makes good sense to make order of your book writing. These are my rules for getting started.
a. Decide on a theme or idea.
b. Create your main characters (later you can add more.)
c. Imagine what you're going to write about in your head.
d. Don't rush, take your time. Remember that anything worth doing deserves to be well thought out and patiently delivered!
It's been great sharing my tips with you once again! And keep those lovely emails coming; I'm having a big unexpected adventure replying to you all!
Thanks everyone! I’ll see you here next time, at Benny’s Blog!
Hi young creators! Well, it's been a super busy week at Benny's Blog. We received so many emails from the young Australian school kids that got to meet our author, Deby Adair, when she did her big school tour this winter.! Phew... she met around 700 school kids this year, so you can just imagine how jammed my email inbox was!! I didn't expect to receive all those emails! And they ALL wanted copies of the WISH TRILOGY!
I got asked lots of questions, but the question I got asked most, was: 'How long does it take to write a book?'
Well, this is different for every writer. Not everyone writes a book in the same way. Some writers plot their books and some writers write what they feel like on the day.
But I think it makes good sense to make order of your book writing. These are my rules for getting started.
a. Decide on a theme or idea.
b. Create your main characters (later you can add more.)
c. Imagine what you're going to write about in your head.
d. Don't rush, take your time. Remember that anything worth doing deserves to be well thought out and patiently delivered!
It's been great sharing my tips with you once again! And keep those lovely emails coming; I'm having a big unexpected adventure replying to you all!
Thanks everyone! I’ll see you here next time, at Benny’s Blog!
August 28, 2012
Benny's Blog-Tips for Young Creators Tip#3
Benny Blog Tip: #3 - Write what you like.
Hi young creators, it’s always great to see you here!
Katrina from Wales asked me one day what she should write about. She said that she knew she wanted to write something, but wasn’t sure what.
Well, first I asked Katrina how old she was and she told me that she was eleven. So Katrina is a spring chicken then, isn’t she! I asked Katrina what she liked… you know, what kind of things she does in her spare time and she said that, (apart from her love of unicorns and ponies,) that she also loved to draw pictures and she loved walking her dog in the park and watching dogs play. These are her favourite things.
So I told Katrina to write stories about her dog and other stories about the dogs that she meets. Well, Katrina’s eyes lit right up when I mentioned that and she told me that she had tons of stories she could write about dogs!
How good is that! And last time I met Katrina, she showed me six stories that she’d written and she’d also done some drawings to go with them! Wow, Katrina, so proud of you.
Her friend Jayden also began writing stories, but he loves trains, and he can see the trains arrive in town from his bedroom window. He told Katrina that he wrote a really long story about all of the different kind of people who were getting off the train and he imagined, by looking at them, what kind of people they were and what kind of lives they lived. I say that’s just fantastic! Such amazing kids and wonderful ideas about writing their very own stories. I hope they keep those stories and share them with the world, one day.
Thanks everyone! I’ll see you here next time, at Benny’s Blog!
Hi young creators, it’s always great to see you here!
Katrina from Wales asked me one day what she should write about. She said that she knew she wanted to write something, but wasn’t sure what.
Well, first I asked Katrina how old she was and she told me that she was eleven. So Katrina is a spring chicken then, isn’t she! I asked Katrina what she liked… you know, what kind of things she does in her spare time and she said that, (apart from her love of unicorns and ponies,) that she also loved to draw pictures and she loved walking her dog in the park and watching dogs play. These are her favourite things.
So I told Katrina to write stories about her dog and other stories about the dogs that she meets. Well, Katrina’s eyes lit right up when I mentioned that and she told me that she had tons of stories she could write about dogs!
How good is that! And last time I met Katrina, she showed me six stories that she’d written and she’d also done some drawings to go with them! Wow, Katrina, so proud of you.
Her friend Jayden also began writing stories, but he loves trains, and he can see the trains arrive in town from his bedroom window. He told Katrina that he wrote a really long story about all of the different kind of people who were getting off the train and he imagined, by looking at them, what kind of people they were and what kind of lives they lived. I say that’s just fantastic! Such amazing kids and wonderful ideas about writing their very own stories. I hope they keep those stories and share them with the world, one day.
Thanks everyone! I’ll see you here next time, at Benny’s Blog!
