Lisa Orchard's Blog - Posts Tagged "paperbacks"

Hello Everyone! I hope all is well with you! I've got a new dessert that is a family favorite for the holidays. I thought I'd share it with you! :) So, check it out and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear from you!



LORNA DOONE DESSERT

1 package Lorna Doone Cookies (or any shortbread cookies will do)
Add melted butter to cookies (approximately ¼ to ½ cup)
1 7 oz package of chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons of Sugar
2 ½ Tablespoons of water
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites

Crush the Lorna Doone cookies and add melted butter to the crust. Put crust in 10” baking dish and bake at 350 degrees until crust starts to brown. Remove from heat and cool.

Combine chocolate chips, sugar, and water in double boiler until blended. Remove from heat and add egg yolks, beat after each one. Add vanilla and chill slightly. (I usually stick it in the refrigerator until the pan feels cool approximately 10 to 15 minutes.)

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into chocolate mixture. Spread over cookie crust and top with whip cream.

I usually double this and put it in a 9x13 dish.

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Hello Everyone! I’m participating in the Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop! See the details below and see how you can enter to win!

Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop
May 13th – 19th
Hosted by
KidLitFrenzy, Mymcbooks
& I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

What is Children’s Book Week?


Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!


For more information please visit: http://www.bookweekonline.com/

Celebrate & Promote Children’s Book Week by taking part in The Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop.

Stop by my blog to see how you can enter to win! http://lisaorchard.wordpress.com/2013...

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about a brand new site and give you a chance to win some great tween books!

I recently joined the Emblazon group. As Indie authors, we know the importance of group support. I have been learning all of this firsthand since joining. Let me share with you some details about our group.

Emblazon is a blog maintained and written by a collection of indie and traditionally published authors who care about producing high-quality stories for kids. We have a particular focus on ages 11 to 14. We call them Tweens.

The purpose of Emblazon is to celebrate tween literature. We want to draw attention to this fabulous genre, interact with other enthusiasts, whether child or adult, and encourage new writers.

Emblazon launches its first post on July 10. Please consider helping us spread the word by mentioning us on your blog today or later this week. You may cut and paste from this website and use our attached logo if you wish. All bloggers who participate are eligible to enter our $100 Amazon gift card drawing that will be held the following day.

Click the link to enter!

http://emblazoners.wordpresshttp://ww...

To thank all those bloggers who help us announce Emblazon‘s launch, we will be giving away a $100 Amazon gift card on July 11, 2013, as well as a smaller second place prize.

To enter the drawing, you must post about Emblazon on your blog on Wednesday, July 10, our official launch day. Then tweet your Emblazoners post to @CassidyJonesAdv and include the hashtag #Emblazoners. (Note: You will not be entered into the drawing without your blog post tweet that includes @CassidyJonesAdv and #Emblazoners.)

@CassidyJonesAdv will confirm you’ve been entered into the drawing by “favoriting” your tweet. If your tweet wasn’t “favorited,” tweet it again.

We appreciate your help getting the word out about our new website!}

You can also treat your readers to our upcoming Sizzling Freebies bash that will be hosted on Emblazon on August 1, during which a great selection of ebooks will be free for one day only.

We hope you’ll join us in kick-starting this fabulous new adventure!
Below is yet another way to win copies of some of our tween books!

Hello Everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m writing a post for the Emblazoner Blog today and so I thought I would share my thoughts with everyone here as well. Today, I’m talking about writing for the tween market. Here’s the link if you’d like to check it out! http://emblazoners.com/writing-for-th...

First of all, I love this age group! When I look back on my life, I recall my tween years as some of my happiest memories. In fact, my friends and I formed our own detective squad and tried to solve a mystery in our small town. We never did, but let me tell you that was one of the best summers of my life. When I get together with those friends, we always bring up that summer and laugh about it.

When I look back on those years, I chuckle at my attitude. We thought we were invincible and we could accomplish anything! What a wonderful feeling to believe that there are no limitations or obstacles.

So, when I decided to write for this market I wanted to bring that same feeling to my readers. And being an avid mystery fan, it was a natural choice for me to write stories in that genre. However, I had to be careful because I wanted my characters to be good role models too. So, I made sure they didn’t condone or take part in any negative behavior like bullying or teasing. I had to do that and keep the story entertaining. No small task, that’s for sure!

While keeping my stories interesting, I also weave life lessons throughout the books; that way my readers can learn the lesson right along with the characters. Fiction can be a wonderful teacher, and sometimes it’s easier to learn a lesson from a book than it is to learn one from a parent. Sometimes, it’s easier on the parent too. :)

I’m always striving to teach with my stories and the other Emblazoner authors feel the same way. It’s so nice to work with a group of like-minded individuals. We all use different tools to tell our story. For example, some of us use humor, and some use fantasy or history. What’s nice about that is there’s something in our selection for every type of reader. So go ahead and check out our books, I’m sure you’ll find something for even the most reluctant reader! You can find our books here: http://emblazoners.com/our-books/

Thanks for reading my post and if you’d like to share some of your thoughts on writing for the tweens in your life, feel free. We’d love to hear from you!

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you! Guess what? I’m participating in another blog hop this week! That’s right! It’s the back to school blog hop! The members of the We ♥ Middle grade Books Facebook Group are hosting it and we’re giving away some awesome prizes! Books! That’s right! Books for your tweens and teens!

Here's the link to my Blog:

http://lisaorchard.wordpress.com/2013...



So please visit the other blogs and see what you can win! Here at my blog I’m giving away one full set of the Super Spies series (e-book copies) to one winner! And a ten dollar Amazon Gift Card to another. How do you enter to win? Very good question!

You can enter a variety of ways. You can like my Facebook author page and leave a quick comment letting me know you’re from the blog hop. The link is below:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-O...

You can also tweet about my books and leave the tweet in the comment section below: Here’s an example of a tweet you can use:

What would you do if you were 15 and accused of murder? http://www.amazon.com/Super-Spies-Lad...

Amazon bestseller and great #teen read! 4.5 stars!

You can also leave a comment telling me your favorite book you read during your middle school years.

And you can enter more than once! Good luck and don’t forget to check out the other blogs on the hop! They have prizes too!

Click the link below to check out the other participating blogs!

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Here are the three books in my Super Spies series!






Blog hop is open until midnight, September 15th! Winners will be announced on the 16th! Good luck everyone!

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today and I’m going to write about a personal experience that I had over the weekend. It’s kind of funny now, but at the time…not so much.

I should have known it was going to be one of “those” days when I got up.

My alarm went off and the numbers on the clock were blinking in their neon redness twelve o’clock. My clock reverts to twelve o’clock when there’s an interruption in power. I didn’t think anything of this at the time, though I just stumbled out of bed, and jumped in the shower.

After my shower, I made my way to the kitchen to make some breakfast. As I opened the fridge, I glanced at the clock. Did a double take and glanced at it again. Then I walked forward and put my face right up next to it, just to make sure I was reading it correctly. Sure enough, it said four thirty. It was four thirty on a Saturday morning; I didn’t have to be up until seven. Of course, I freaked out a bit and then went back to bed, wet hair and all. I should have known then, what kind of day it was going to be, but I ignored this glaring sign. Totally disregarded it.

I was so excited, I was going to meet fellow author and great gal pal Lori Lapekes. We were going to share a table at a book fair/craft show/bake sale and sell our books. We haven’t done this together in quite some time and I was really looking forward to it. I went to MapQuest and found directions to our destination. Lori arrived, and together we set out for this quaint little town north of where I live.

Things were going smoothly; the directions were accurate and Lori and I were chatting, having a great time. Until…MapQuest told us to turn left on Elm Street.

That’s when things started to get a little funny. We were supposed to look for Croton-Hardy Dam Rd. We became concerned when we’d driven south for ten miles and hadn’t come across it. So we backtracked.

Pulling off the side of the road, we asked a woman who was pulling out of her driveway for directions. She gave us some, but when we got to where she directed us, the road she said we needed wasn’t there. Now we were really concerned. We didn’t want to be late and miss the fair.

We pulled up to a four-way stop and parked along the side of the road. We weren’t sure what we should do. When another car pulled up to the stop sign, I acted quickly and waved them down.

This nice young woman gave me directions. She even wrote them down for me. Lori and I were on our way. However, things still didn’t go smoothly for us.

We were on a Michigan highway and unbeknownst to me the speed limit for these highways is fifty-five miles an hour, not the seventy that I was going. At least that’s what the State Trooper said when he wrote me a speeding ticket. Boo! According to him, all State highways are fifty-five while interstate highways are seventy. I learned something new! Grrr..

We asked this officer of the law for directions and he gave them to us. It seemed like he knew what he was talking about and his directions matched the young woman’s, so we were once again on our way, going fifty-five instead of seventy. :)

We finally reached the tiny burg that housed the show we wanted to attend. However, there was still another glitch in the directions. According to the directions from the cop and the young woman…we were supposed to turn left. After going to the wrong school and getting still more directions. We found out we were supposed to turn right.

We weren’t out of the woods yet, though, because we still couldn’t find the school we were looking for. That’s right, you guessed it, we stopped and asked someone who was standing on her porch where the school was. She didn’t know and her daughter didn’t know either. Now, you have to understand, this was not a large town by any means.

Finally, we found it, nestled off on a side street. We were an hour late. We had a speeding ticket. But we finally made it. We even sold some books.

We talked amongst ourselves in between moments of trying to sell our books and there were bouts of hysterical laughter and tears running down our faces. Now that we had arrived, we could laugh at the comedy of errors that occurred on our way to the fair.

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve been busy these last few months with a new job and working on my Coming of Age novel. Because of that, I have had quite a few guests on my blog. So, I thought today I’d write a quick post for all of you to let you know what inspires me to keep writing.

I love Christmas time. It’s my favorite holiday. The reason for this is because; it’s a time of giving. I love giving gifts and shopping for my family, but it’s also a time of great inspiration. At least it is for me. Just the other day, I thought of another idea for a great story. But I have to finish the one I’m working on plus its sequel before I can start it. Sigh.

However, I digress. Anyway, this year I participated in an event that occurred close to home. I became involved with the “Raising Spirits with Reading” program at the Helen Devos Children’s Hospital. What an experience.

I must say, it was very rewarding to meet the young people who’re battling life-threatening illnesses and watch their faces light up when they get a signed copy of your book. It’s hard to describe that feeling. Knowing you were responsible for that bright smile. That spark of happiness in another day of fighting for their lives. That’s more rewarding to me than making any bestseller list by far and it has inspired me to keep on writing.

I also ran a writing workshop for a girl’s group. It’s so nice to work with young girls who’re pursuing their dreams. They want to learn and it’s a rush to work with such eager young minds. It was another rewarding experience for me, and one more reason to keep writing.

I feel it’s good for the girls as well, to meet an author or an artist and realize that they’re normal people and not celebrities. I feel this way because it makes their dreams possible. I mean if this “normal” mom can write a book, why can’t I?

That’s the feeling I want these girls to leave with when they leave my workshop and I feel like I accomplish it each time I do one. It’s another reason I keep writing. I want girls to grow up with the confidence that they can achieve their dreams if they “believe.” And isn’t this the season of believing? ;)

Thanks for reading my post. I’d love to hear what inspires you to keep writing. So leave a comment I’d love to hear from you!

Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you! I’m back today and I’m talking about what I’ve learned juggling motherhood and the writing life. Those are my two main goals in life to become an awesome writer and to be an awesome mother.

These goals are sometimes at odds with each other, because writing takes a lot of time and so does mothering. It’s a little bit easier now because the boys are in school and I get time during the day to write, but I still find myself stealing moments during the day to write a smidge here and there.

In addition, there’s more to writing than meets the eye. There’s also editing, writing query letters, and finding an agent or publisher. After that, there’s more editing and then you have the unending job of promoting your work once it’s published. Sometimes, I have a hard time balancing between promoting my work and actually creating it. Throw my hubby and my kids into the mix and that’s when I need about ten more hours in my day.

I try very hard to carve out some time for my family. I think it’s important. I want my kids growing up feeling valued and loved. It’s kind of a trial and error thing because our kids don’t come with instruction booklets do they? Moreover, with two distinct personalities; the needs of one child are different from the needs for the other child and as a parent; I have to figure out what those needs are. I’m fortunate because I have a hubby who helps!

There are times when I’m in the middle of a great scene and I’m going gang-busters that I’m interrupted because one of my little guys needs some attention. This can be frustrating, but then I think about how I want to be remembered. When I do this, when I imagine the result that I want, it’s much easier to keep my frustration under wraps so my kids feel like their emotional needs are being met. I don’t want to be remembered as the mom who was always saying, “Just a minute.”

Although, there are times when I have to say those words and it’s not always when I’m writing. It may be one of those times when I just need to sit down and take a breath. I tell myself that’s okay too, because if I get drained from always giving, then I can get a little grumpy. :)

Taking a break is good for me. Therefore, it would make sense if it were good for me, then it’s also good for my kids, so it’s one of those win-win situations. Mom’s less stressed if she takes a little time for herself and that means she’s more fun to be around.

We all want to be one of those “fun” moms, right?

Having kids is a great way to set priorities. The things that seemed so important when I was single just aren’t important any more. When my kids were babies, everyone told me that my life would become busier and more complicated.

So not true. The complicated part anyway. Sure, I’m busier because I want my kids to have all kinds of positive experiences so I’m busy trying to introduce them to new things, but complicated? No way.

Having kids strips away all the meaningless crap you were doing because you just didn’t know any better. My children have simplified my life. I make sure I only spend time on the things that are important to me.

If you have any thoughts on juggling motherhood and your other endeavors please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!