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Learning How To Read: Guest Writer

Learning how to readLEARNING HOW TO READ: Guest Writer

Learning how to read is becoming a bigger topic than we care to admit.  There is an amazing website out there that I want to bring to your attention.  Run by Bianca Schulz, The Children’s Book Review is a great stop for any parent looking for children’s books, especially Saltwater Taffy.  I recently had the pleasure of writing an article for the website about child literacy in America.  As an advocate of children’s literacy in America, this was the easiest article I have even written.  Together we can change the futures of our children, by teaching them to read TODAY.

CREATIVE CHILDREN: Something They Can Learn?

Creative ChildrenCREATIVE CHILDREN: Something They Can Learn?

Creative children are creative because they are willing to practice being creative.  Some middle school readers have asked me the question, ‘Can I learn how to be creative?’  As the author of Saltwater Taffy, I am going to answer that the best way I know how:

ABSE-TUTTIE-FRUITY

Children can learn how to be creative children.  Do you think painting classes are for creative children who already know how to paint?  Do you think piano lessons are reserved for creative children who already know how to play the piano?  Being creative only means you are willing to PRACTICE at what you desire long enough to become good at it.  Then you will be called, CREATIVE.

Being creative” means nothing more than having the confidence to fail

The only difference between creative children and non-creative children is…

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Domestic Violence Disguised as Entertainment

domestic violence disguised as entertainmentDomestic Violence Disguised as Entertainment

We are so used to domestic violence disguised as entertainment, our moral responsibilities are being sold down the river.  Maybe Phil Collins had it right when he said, ‘I don’t care anymore…you hear me, I don’t care anymore.”

I left the comforts and steady pay of the cop world drama on LAW & ORDER because the stories of murder began to take it’s toll on my soul.  Every day we’d sit around and create more stories of murder.  This is how I was using my creativity?  The glorification of murder?  I decided it was time to tell other stories.  Having been involved with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Monica, I finally found my way into the telling stories for children. You could say I am now very protective of ‘my kids’, which are mostly the middle school children across the country, so when a network decides to use domestic violence disguised as entertainment where kids are the center of all the violence, I have to say, enough is enough.

Having grown up watching the original Hawaii Five-O, not to mention a fan of Scott Caan’s, I decided to DVR the new Hawaii Five-O.  I know what I am going to get with a show like this, situational domestic violence, guns, murder, and all things network television cop drama.  What I didn’t account on getting was a storyline involving situational domestic violence in front of and around a child.

As the author of Saltwater Taffy, a children’s adventure novel that inspires as much as it entertains, I have a big issue with most of the network programming we have today.  Like most stories of situational domestic violence

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WRITING CHILDREN’S BOOKS

do_your_bestWRITING CHILDREN’S BOOKS

One of the biggest secrets to writing children’s books is to watch your own thoughts.   Be careful not to judge your abilities, just trust in the process and keep moving the story forward.  Remember, if a chapter or page doesn’t propel your story, then CUT IT.  Be bold.  Be ruthless with your story.  If you don’t, who will?  Certainly not your readers because they will lose interest.

The process of creating my Middle Grade Fiction novel, Saltwater Taffy has been a wild ride.  By saying it’s been a wild ride, I mean my thoughts were all over the place…thoughts of JUDGEMENT, right there alongside…. Read more