Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
January 2010 VBT tour
| 2 | Dianne Sagan | Kevin McNamee | /www.diannesagan |
| 3 | Harry Gilleland | Maggie Ball | /harrygillelandw |
| 4 | Karen Cioffi | Lea Schizas | /karenandrobyn. |
| 5 | Kathy Stemke | Heidi Thomas | /educationtipste |
| 6 | Lea Schizas | Martha Swirzinski | /thewritingjungl |
| 7 | Vivian Zabel | Liana Metal | /vivianzabel. |
| 8 | Nancy Famolari | Margaret Fieland | /nancygfamolari. |
| 9 | Elysabeth Eldering | Mayra Calvani | /jgdsseries. |
| 10 | Katie Hines | Elysabeth Eldering | /katiehines. |
| 11 | Helena Harper | Dana Donavan | /helenaharpersbl |
| 12 | Liana Metal | Debra Eckerling | /lianastories. |
| 13 | Carolyn Howard-Johnson | Dianne Sagan | /sharingwithwrit |
| 14 | Gayle Trent | Helena Harper | /www.gayletrent. |
| 15 | Mayra Calvani | Stephen Tremp | /mayrassecretboo |
| 16 | Marvin Wilson | Linda Asato | /theoldsilly. |
| 17 | Linda Asato | Kathy Stemke | /lindaswritingde |
| 18 | Stephen Tremp | Katie Hines | /stephentremp. |
| 19 | Margaret Fieland | Karen Cioffi | /www.margaretfie |
| 20 | Darcia Helle | Harry Gilleland | /quietfurybooks. |
| 21 | Marth Swirzinski | Jane Sutton | /wholechildpubli |
| 22 | Heidi Thomas | Darcia Helle | /heidiwriter. |
| 23 | Jane Sutton | Nancy Famolari | /janekennedysutt |
| 24 | Dana Donovan | Linda Suzane | /www.danadonovan |
| 25 | Dallas Woodburn | Marvin Wilson | /dallaswoodburn. |
| 26 | Linda Suzane | Dallas Woodburn | /journeybestsell |
| 27 | Debra Eckerling | Vivian Zabel | /writeononline. |
| 28 | Heather Paye | Gayle Trent | /heatherpaye. |
| 29 | Maggie Ball | Carolyn Howard-Johnson | /magdalenaball. |
| 30 | Kevin McNamee | Heather Paye | /kevinmcnameechi |
Sunday, November 29, 2009
December 1st VBT
Dianne Sagan is hosting Lea Schizas
Karen Cioffi is hosting Heidi Thomas
Kathy Stemke is hosting Martha Swirzinski
Lea Schizas is hosting Brigitte Thompson
Nancy Famolari is hosting Kathy Stemke
VBT Writers on the Move is hosting Karen Cioffi
Crystalee Calderwood is hosting Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Katie Hines is hosting Stephen Tremp
Helena Harper is hosting Deborah Weed
Liana Metal is hosting Dianne Sagan
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is hosting Debra Eckerling
Gayle
Mayra Calvani is hosting Helena Harper
Marvin
Linda Asato is hosting Marvin Wilson
Stephen Tremp is hosting Gayle Trent
Elysabeth Eldering is hosting Katie Hines
Darcia Helle is hosting Linda Asato
Deborah Weed is hosting Liana Metal
Brigitte Thompson is hosting Nancy Famolari
Martha Swirzinski is hosting Margaret Fieland
Heidi Thomas is hosting Jane Sutton
Jane Sutton is hosting Darcia Helle
Dana Donovan is hosting Crystalee Calderwood
Dallas Woodburn is hosting Linda Suzane
Linda Suzane is hosting Elysabeth Eldering
Debra Eckerling is hosting Dallas Woodburn
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
It's so exciting!
Next month, VBT – Writers on the Move is having its ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
To celebrate this accomplishment, we are having a STUPENDOUS Blogaversary Tour!
Daily postings and daily prizes! But, that's not all, we're still having our Mystery Site Giveaway: the Anniversary PRIZE is a $25 (US) GIFT CARD.
Visit the VBT – Writers on the Move blogsite for all the details.
http://vbt-writerso nthemove. blogspot. com
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You can use this or change it or create your own!
Karen
Saturday, August 15, 2009
One Lovely Blog Award
I've been greatly honored to receive One Lovely Blog Award from a special friend and writer, who is also herself a very worthy recipient of the award: Helena Harper
Helena is a fellow modern languages teacher who has also been interested in writing; she has written from short, fantasy stories for children to poetry for adults. She is a unique poet and a fellow VBT-Writers on the Move member.
Helena uses an original way to express her feelings via poetry, and her book 'It's a Teacher's Life...!' illustrates her life as a teacher vividly and successfully. Her second book, 'Family and More - Enemies or Friends?' is also an interesting collection of poetry. You can find extensive extracts from both collections on her website www.helenaharper.com.
Helena also writes unique, personalized poems for any occasion or situation, for anyone who wishes. Website http://sayitwithapoem.bttradespace.com
It is now my pleasure to pass on this award. These are the rules for those individuals I choose. They are simple:
1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.
2) Pass the award on.
3) Notify the award winners.
There are two persons I would like to pass this award on to, who have inspired me in different ways:
Harry Gilleland
Mary Ann Melton
Harry Gilleland is an excellent poet and author
Mary Ann Melton is a fantastic photographer I got to know via Tweeter and from Henry Melton's site. She runs a wonderful blog filled with her photos from nature. She gets inspired by the beauty in the world around her and this aspect has made me to appreciate her sense for beauty and harmony. I have hosted Mary Ann in my blog quite recently.
Both these persons are unique in their own way. Enjoy their blog!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Gayle Trent -part 2
Today, you will learn more about Gayle's book. Here is her Press Release information:
MURDER TAKES THE CAKE, BY GAYLE TRENT
• In Gayle Trent’s latest mystery Murder Takes the Cake (ISBN: 978-0-9802453-6-3, available October 1, 2008), when the meanest gossip in Brea Ridge dies mysteriously, suspicions turn to cake decorator Daphne Martin. But all Daphne did was deliver a spice cake with cream cheese frosting--and find Yodel's body. Now Daphne's got to help solve the murder and clear her good name. Problem is, her Virginia hometown is brimming with people who had good reason to kill Yodel, and Daphne's whole family is among them.
• Murder Takes The Cake tells the story of Daphne Martin, a forty-year-old divorcee who returns to her fictional hometown of Brea Ridge, Virginia to start her life over. She has left behind an ex-husband who is in prison for an attempt on Daphne's life, a dingy apartment and a stale career. She has started fresh in a new home with a new career, Daphne's Delectable Cakes, a cake-decorating company Daphne runs out of her home. She is thrilled to be living closer to her beloved niece and nephew, although being close to other family members brings up lifelong resentments and more than a couple complications. Daphne is also reunited with childhood friend, Ben Jacobs, a full-fledged HAG (hot, available guy). Then Daphne finds her first client dead.
• "Gayle whips up a sweetly satisfying mystery that'll have you licking your lips for more!" – Christine Verstraete, Searching for A Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery
• “Murder Takes The Cake has all the right ingredients for a delicious read.” – Ellen Crosby, The Bordeaux Betrayal
PUBLISHER:
BELL BRIDGE BOOKS
Deborah Smith, Dir. Mktg.
Phone: 706-864-3306
E-mail: debbsmith@aol.com
Website: http://www.bellbridgebooks.com
AUTHOR: GAYLE TRENT
Phone: 276.645.0301
E-mail: gd830@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.gayletrent.com
Purchasing Information: Books bought from Bell Bridge Books will be personalized. They can be purchased through the website at http://www.bellbridgebooks.com. The Amazon page is http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Takes-Cake-Gayle-Trent/dp/0980245362/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237845598&sr=8-1 ; Amazon reviews are available at this page.
Additional Reviews:
http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/book_review_of_murder_takes_the_cake
http://www.literaryfeline.com/2008/11/reviewl-murder-takes-cake-by-gayle.html
http://genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com/2009/01/murder-takes-cake-gayle-trent.html
http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2008/09/murder-takes-cake-daphne-matin-mystery.html
http://www.bellebooks.com/BellBridge/books/MurderTakestheCake.asp (also, check out the book trailer at Bell Bridge’s site)
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Thank you Gayle for all the information you've given us, and Good Luck with your next book!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Self promotion
Hello visitor,
I've just read the article about self promotion on Crysralle's blog and I agree with her. Promoting ones' book is very hard work and who can tell which way is the best?
Read the article at
http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com/
I've just read the article about self promotion on Crysralle's blog and I agree with her. Promoting ones' book is very hard work and who can tell which way is the best?
Read the article at
http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Meet Mary Ann Melton, the nature photographer!
Get to know Mary Ann Melton through this interview, and view the fantastic photographs she shoots.
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Tell us about yourself. When did you start photography?
How long have you been doing this?
I started photography when I was young. My grandfather bought me a Kodak Brownie camera. My dad bought me a little Ansco camera with built in flash. When I first got married, my husband introduced me to 35mm photography. I shot my first wedding (with much fear and trepidation) in 1972. I continued to use my photography primarily to record our family vacations, my kids growing up, and memories for the kids that I worked with in scouting. In 2001, I got my first digital camera, an Olympus D510 zoom. As I got more serious about my photography, I bought my first DSLR. Since 2003, I've been moving from being an amateur into the professional world of photography.
 What inspires you? |
I am inspired by the beauty that I find in the world around me. As I photograph, I become more aware and more attune to the brilliant colors of sunrises and sunsets, the small flowers, the colorful insects and butterflies, the patterns in the water ripples. etc. I am also inspired to go beyond traditional photography. My Photographer's Canvas images are created using in camera motion to create interesting effects. Sometimes I shoot from a moving car on a bumpy road. Other times I stand in place and use motion and zoom to see what happens. Digital photography really frees me, because there is no cost to develop and print film. I can try anything and if it doesn't work, you can easily delete the attempt and move on. These motion blur images are an act of faith in many ways. I chose an interesting place to try the technique and I'm amazed at what the camera captured. Right now I'm working on a sequence of images where the combination of the natural environment and the motion blurs create "characters" in the image - hidden from our eyes, but revealed in the image.
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First and foremost, nature is representative of God's creation. As I view the mountains, the streams, the animals and their interactions, the deserts, I see the hand of God. As I watch animals interact with each other, I find applications and wisdom for living my own life better. As I watch animals defend their territory, parent their young, it helps me understand human behavior better. When I'm out in the field, not only does my physical body enjoy the outdoor activity, but my spirit rejoices in a way that is hard to explain.
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I've been feeding birds around my house for a number of years. So much of my photography is done when we are on trips out of state. When we're spending a lot of time traveling and I've been photographing 8-10 hours a day, it is easy to get home and put the camera away. The mundane but necessary life chores cry out for attention. Last year I saw killdeer chicks and
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I'm currently making submissions to magazines and galleries as well as the major nature photography competitions. I am hoping eventually to start publishing books that will inspire people to take time each week to notice and enjoy the beautiful world around them - whether through photography, birding, walking, gardening, etc.
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For my bird and animal photography, I have the big Sigma 300-800mm lens with a special tripod. I LOVE this lens because it allows me to capture images that really get up close and personal with these animals without distressing the animal or disrupting its activities. Because birds are so small and skittish, this large lens lets me set up and wait for them to come in.
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First, learn your camera and the basics of photography, composition and post processing with photoshop. Then go beyond and be willing to try new things and new equipment - be creative!
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I would advise new photographers to spend time taking lots of images - at all times of the day - in all types of weather. As in many other areas of life, patience is a virtue. You have to spend time in an area, going back again and again. Sometimes the lighting just doesn't make great images - too bright or too dark. But consistently getting out and photographing allows you to be there when the lighting or the situation becomes what I call "magical." And you can't always predict when the sun is going to light the entire sky full of clouds brilliant red or yellow. You can't predict when you're going to see a chick flutter its wings and beg for food while the mother sighs in exasperation.
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Get yourself out photographing regularly - take LOTS of shots - you have to be out there consistently so that you will be there when the lighting, the clouds, the animal behavior all line up to create a work of art.
and
The way to guarantee you won't be published, exhibited, or win the competition is not to submit or enter. Submit, submit, submit!
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Mary Ann's View Nature Photography Website
Mary Ann's Blog
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Carole's blog tour
Carole McDonnell is a poet, Christian Mom, Black woman and Bible study writer. Her Bible study, “Seeds of Bible Study,” is available for free download at www.carolemcdonnell.ning.com.
Wind Follower can be bought at barnes and noble, amazon, borders, and at the juno website which is
www.juno-books.com/windfollower.html
Carole is now doing a Blog Tour of the Psalms beginning Jan 1, 2009 and will last for a year.
Any bloggers want to join in?
The bible study is available at http://www.lulu.com/content/1832478
for free download.
The following sites take part in this tour:
http://otiumsanctum.com/2009/01/02/blogging-the-psalms/
http://pen-of-the-wayfarer.blogspot.com/2009/01/psalm-46.html
http://carolemcdonnell.blogspot.com/2008/12/most-absurd-war-psalm-2.html
Friday, January 2, 2009
How the idea of the White Snail developed...
Read this little story to get to know my Snail secret! There is a snail recipe at the end of the story!
Happy New Year!
Christmas snails!
“Mom,” my five year-old daughter, Lisa, begged, “Shall we make cookies? Please!”
I was tired after five hours work at school, and a couple of more of doing housework, but I couldn’t resist her enthusiasm. After all, in two days we would have Christmas and she deserved a treat!
“Cookies, animals…please!” she kept on shouting.
Forming the pastry was one of her favorite tasks, and so was mine! Art in the kitchen was fun. In no time we started making the dough.
The kitchen was small and crammed as our new flat was too small for the three of us, and soon, all four of us-a baby was on the way. We tried to find a bigger flat in the town, but our income did not allow more space, at least for the time being.
I placed a big bowl on the square kitchen table and pushed a stool nearby for Lisa to stand on. She had already found a long apron and I helped her tie it around her tiny waist. Then she washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Now she was ready to start.
She gave me the flour, sugar and yogurt and I mixed the butter and eggs. I had to stir everything using a big wooden spoon, as the mixer was in the box-no room to place it anywhere! Now the dough was ready. Lisa took a small piece and played it in her tiny fingers humming a tune.
“What are you making?” I asked her across the kitchen table.
“A snail,” she said seriously.
She formed a long strip of dough and then made one ring over another, shaping a snail.
“Clever girl!” I said. “I’ll make one, too.”
In no time we managed to fill a tray with big and small snails, a whole snail family. I brushed them with lemon juice and sugar, and put them into the oven. The kitchen soon smelt of vanilla. When the cookies were ready, I let them cool on the kitchen table. But Lisa couldn’t wait!
“Let me have one snail, a tiny one!” she begged.
“They are still too hot! Be patient! A few more minutes?”
I knew I had to do something to distract her from the cookies.
“I’ll tell you a story, with snails!” I announced her. “When the story ends, you can have a snail!”
“Okay Mom,” she agreed.
And my first kids’ story came out.
“There was a big family of snails, living in a big garden…,” I went on and on, pausing every now and then to invent the rest of the story. Lisa heard the story asking questions in between, like “why?”-that was her favorite- and then, it was time for the cookies.
When Lisa went to bed later that evening, I sat at the kitchen table looking at the snails on the tray. An idea flashed over, and that was it! I grabbed a piece of scrap paper and started sketching a family of snails: Big ones, small ones, a big garden with flowers. Soon the whole story emerged, the story I had told Lisa before eating her tiny snails. I did not write a single word at that time, I only sketched and sketched dozens of snails till I had produced the whole story on paper.
It felt so good! I had fun and I liked it! Then the doorbell rang and my husband was at home. That day was a long, but surely an interesting one. I put the scrap paper aside and forgot all about it.
Years later, when I took up a creative writing course, I remembered my snail story. I searched my files and luckily, I found them. I always kept things that were related to my kids, such as their first paintings, poems, and so on. It was really exciting to reproduce the same story in words. I also painted the pictures of the story carefully. And I finally created a picture book.
I self published it for my students at school, and I distributed it to them. They were motivated to draw their own pictures and add them to the story. They liked it and they encouraged me to go on. I sent a copy to Lisa, who lives now in
This little snail story was the beginning of a new outlook in my life –now that Lisa and my son are away studying- a new creative challenge to help me go on with my life. What is sweeter than some snail cookies for Christmas?
Xmas Snails recipe
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Ingredients:
4 cups of flour
1 teaspoonful baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 cup margarine or butter
1 ½ cup sugar
1-2 eggs
1 lemon –the rind grounded only
½ cup yogurt
Vanilla essence
Lemon juice
Sugar
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Mix flour with baking powder, soda and salt. Beat butter and add sugar. Add the egg and lemon grind. Add flour, yogurt and vanilla. Make snail cookies and place them on greased tin. Wet the top with lemon juice and sprinkle sugar. Bake at 180 C or until golden for 15 minutes.
Please, feel free to pass this little story along to your friends or to other blogs.
Thanks!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
New Editions in Corfu
A new publishing company is going to launch their first book for kids soon.
The aim of this company is to help kids and families in need, so most of the profits from their books or other products will be donated to various non profit organizations that are linked to kids and families.
Their blog is in Greek for the time being, but it will also be in English in due time.
Visit them at support49100.blogspot.com
Everybody can help by buying one of their products.
Paypal option.
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