Renée Paule's Blog, page 8

15% Discount on my Books at Createspace Until Further Notice

If Amazon doesn't deliver to your country, Createspace will. Below are links to each of my books with a 15% discount code, which will remain valid until further notice. Createspace's eStore is quite primitive - you have to go to each link separately to add the book to your cart - but it does work ;) This discount is only valid at Createspace. 15% Discount Code T3VLWYVG


On The Other Hand
https://www.createspace.com/5028508

Just Around the Bend
https://www.createspace.com/4826248

Louder Than a Whisper
https://www.createspace.com/5710655

A Three Course Meal for the Mind
https://www.createspace.com/6277083

Stepping Out of Time
https://www.createspace.com/6537661

The Frightened Little Flower Bud (British spelling)
https://www.createspace.com/7566464

The Fearful Little Flower Bud (American Version)
https://www.createspace.com/7567846

About - 'The Frightened Little Flower Bud'

I'm still waiting for a publisher for this book, but if they keep rejecting it, I shall publish it myself before the end of the year.

From an educational point of view, this book shows the life cycle of a goat’s-beard plant from seed to seed again. The illustrations were created using images of the real plant in order to keep them true to life. Our story begins with a seed landing in a pretty garden. As it grows, it becomes afraid of things it ‘heard on the wind’ (gossip etc.) and consequently becomes afraid of the sun that might scorch its petals, the rain that would spoil them, the wind that might blow them away, bees that might sting and ultimately its death - our flower does not want to bloom. She also becomes afraid that she will not be as beautiful or strong as the other flowers in the garden. However, one day the flower must bloom and discovers that the fears she had have no substance as we introduce them one at a time. She discovers that she is beautiful and unique, the sun is warm and soothing, the rain is refreshing and cleansing, the bees tickle her face and the wind flutters between her petals - she is no longer afraid. The story ends with a new seed blowing away from a spectacular seed head and landing in a new garden, where the cycle begins again.

From a self-help point of view, this book aims to teach children (of all ages) that fear is just that; it holds us back from living life to our full potential, and shows that the more we think about our fears, the more they overwhelm us (shown in thought bubbles). The goat’s-beard plant produces a seed head rather like that of a dandelion, but larger - through this process we touch on the subject of death as the flower becomes that seed head and blows away before becoming a flower again. This is particularly useful for children who have lost one of their parents or a sibling.

From a fun and observational skills point of view we have included a ‘did you see’ page at the back of the book with strategically placed images of random things that children may not have noticed whilst reading it. The skill level required is ‘easy’. There is also a page where simple questions can be asked of children encouraging them to think over the book further - questions like, What did you learn from this book? What did you already know?

Much love <3

Renée

Giveaway Ended - Another Complaint

Once again a giveaway of mine ended a couple of minutes ago and once again, the winners entered in the last two minutes. Please listen Goodreads! Below is a link to my more detailed previous blog post about this.

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Giveaway Coming to an End 'Just Around the Bend'

Hello Everyone,

I have a giveaway for 'Just Around the Bend' coming to an end in around 16 hours time. As I've written about in a previous post, late entries have always won these giveaways.

Enter here

Good luck to all of you,

Much love as always,

Renée

Border Collie Overcoming a Fear of Water

This is a video of our six-year-old Border Collie ‘Tommy’ overcoming a bit of a fear of water. He tends to walk around puddles rather than through them. Taken at Lough Allen in Co. Leitrim.

https://youtu.be/lBs3xUHjM3Y

Goodreads Giveaways - Complaint

A giveaway of mine for 'On The Other Hand' just ended and yet again I'm dismayed to find that the winners entered in the closing minutes.

I have complained to Goodreads several times about this and despite their claim for a 'random selection' algorithm for selecting winners, every winner of my giveaways has entered in the closing minutes. Goodreads deny there's anything wrong and blame it on a late rush, so it's likely a winner will be a late entry. Well to me this means that if you enter early you have far less chance of winning, which is surely not fair. Today all three winners of my book entered in the last two minutes. This has been the same for the 30 giveaways I have set up, for some 82 odd books, 100 percent of the time.

Something is wrong with your system Goodreads, and you need to do something about it. These books are costly to send out and at the very least the system must be fair for everyone who enters.

Much love as always,

Renée

Two Giveaways

Hello Everyone,

I have two giveaways on Goodreads.

I’m offering three copies of my book On The Other Hand and that giveaway ends on the 12th July 2017 Enter here

I’m also offering two copies of Just Around the Bend in a giveaway, which begins on the 12th July 2017 and ends 10th August. Enter here

Good luck to all of you,

Much love as always,

Renée

Update - 'The Frightened Little Flower Bud'

Co-written and illustrated with G R Hewitt,

The Frightened Little Flower Bud has been rejected by several publishers (it's to be expected). However, we've had amazingly positive feedback from several schools and nursery schools who have read the book and done the activities with their children. One of these schools, replacing our goat’s beard flower with a dandelion from their garden for the purposes of a demonstration said:

“We read the story the following day, on Wednesday and the children loved it. We used props from the garden, a dandelion seed clock and I was so disappointed that I had not brought the main character in, the unopened dandelion, but the children were not annoyed at all. They were engrossed in the story. It is every bit as good as the very hungry caterpillar and other famous books which focus on life cycle, nature, feelings etc.”

and

“One child went home and told his Mother all about it, she was amazed as we had not mentioned it to her! Another took the seed clock we had used as a prop and brought it outside to show her Mother how the seeds would blow away and then grow again.”

This book can be read to three-year-olds on one level and eight-year-olds and above on many others, according to their ability.

Based on the above and other feedback, we've decided to wait a little longer for a publisher or agent before resorting to self-publishing. In the meantime we shall continue to visit schools and bookshops to introduce The Frightened Little Flower Bud.

As always,

Renée

Two Giveaways Open

Hello again Everyone,

I have two giveaways currently open on Goodreads.

I’m offering two copies of my book Just Around the Bend and that giveaway ends on the 19th June 2017 Enter here

I’m also offering three copies of On The Other Hand in a giveaway, which ends on the 12th July 2017. Enter here

Good luck to all of you,

Much love as always,

Renée

Two Current Goodreads Giveaways

Hello Everyone,

I have two giveaways currently open on Goodreads.

I’m offering two copies of my latest book ‘Stepping out of Time’ and that giveaway ends on the 1st June 2017 Enter here

I’m also offering two copies of ‘Just Around the Bend’ in a giveaway, which ends on the 19th June 2017. Enter here

Good luck to all of you,

Much love as always,

Renée