Category Archives: Children’s author

The Little House in Heaven by Kathleen Watson #THELITTLEHOUSEINHEAVEN

little house

BLURB

What is in the secret place up the attic staircase? When eight-year-old Melissa goes exploring, she finds herself stepping into the pages of a book of Bible stories. At the House on the Rock, she meets Jesus, who takes Melissa to her very own little house. This ‘little house in Heaven’ grows bigger and becomes furnished with ‘treasures in Heaven’ as Melissa walks in the Christian life here on Earth. Then she meets Rufus, the boy next door, who leads her into mischief and danger…

But Jesus is with her all the way, and she learns valuable lessons of trust and obedience in her trials. These profound truths are gently woven into the story as Melissa enjoys times of fellowship with Jesus in her little house in Heaven.

Eventually, Melissa has to grow up and learn to walk by faith and the ‘treasure’ she lays up in Heaven becomes a glorious reward in the end.

little house

HOW TO BUY

Little House in Heaven can be bought from Ebay at this link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273810480044

£5 for the Book plus £1 for Postage

Or from Kathleen on this number 01903 725820

THE LITTLE HOUSE IN HEAVEN FACEBOOK PAGE 

https://m.facebook.com/people/The-Little-House-in-Heaven-by-Kathleen-Watson/100063765501052/

REVIEWS OF BOOK 

This book, aimed at young readers of 8 years or more, has a simple Christian message embedded within an imaginative story that is written with just the right balance between scene-setting, dealing with thoughts and feelings, and furthering the plot.  It is a long time since I was 8 years old, but I have enjoyed reading it – Evelyn Wendon, Author

One of the best books I have read, feel good and thought-provoking, creates pictures of heaven – Aylson Smith

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY 

little house

Kathleen Watson lives in Littlehampton, West Sussex, and has a son and daughter and granddaughter. Her other published books for children are “Treasure in the Alcove”, “The Secret Blue Door” and “The Little Grey Gate”.

#BookBlitz ~ Snowflake’s Big Adventure

It’s a #BookBlitz today for Snowflake’s Big Adventure – a fun read for children.
#BookBlitz

#BookBlitz

#BookBlitz

BLURB

Sometimes going out into the world is scary, but it can also be exciting.

We all worry about our place in the world and Little Snowflake is no different. When the day comes for him to fall to Earth for the very first time, he’s filled with worry and wonder. Guided by Mama Snowflake, Little Snowflake and the others anticipate their destination. He knows the possibilities are endless and wishes he could do them all. There are so many things he could be, but will any of it be meaningful? Will he be satisfied with his destiny?

Snowflake’s Big Adventure is a fun and engaging picture book that helps children grapple with the age-old question: “What is my purpose?” It teaches, them how to overcome anxiety and trust the wisdom of those around them. Combining beautiful pictures with powerful life lessons, this book could be your child’s next lifelong favourite.

Buy Link

https://books2read.com/Snowflakes-Big-Adventure

About the Author

Snowflake's

Helping kids to love reading one book at a time.  Erin Mackey writes in various children’s genres, including picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle-grade fiction, and Young Adult fiction.  She has more than 40 completed picture book manuscripts and she continues to develop new story ideas on a regular basis.  So far, Erin has published picture books, middle-grade fiction, and Young Adult books.  She enjoys spending time with her husband, family, friends, church family, and her crazy cats who constantly entertain her and get into trouble.

You can follow Erin at these links:

Website- https://www.erinmackeyauthor.com

Blog- https://www.erinmackeyauthor.com/blog/

Facebook- https://facebook.com/ErinMackeyBooks/

Twitter- @erinmackeybooks

Instagram- @erinmackeyauthor

LinkedIn- https://linkedin.com/in/erinmackeyauthor/

 

Snowflake’s Big Adventure ~ #CoverReveal

Snowflake’s Big Adventure is a fun read for children.
snowflake's

Snowflake's

BLURB

Sometimes going out into the world is scary, but it can also be exciting.

We all worry about our place in the world and Little Snowflake is no different. When the day comes for him to fall to Earth for the very first time, he’s filled with worry and wonder. Guided by Mama Snowflake, Little Snowflake and the others anticipate their destination. He knows the possibilities are endless and wishes he could do them all. There are so many things he could be, but will any of it be meaningful? Will he be satisfied with his destiny?

Snowflake’s Big Adventure is a fun and engaging picture book that helps children grapple with the age-old question: “What is my purpose?” It teaches, them how to overcome anxiety and trust the wisdom of those around them. Combining beautiful pictures with powerful life lessons, this book could be your child’s next lifelong favourite.

About the Author

Snowflake's

Helping kids to love reading one book at a time.  Erin Mackey writes in various children’s genres, including picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle-grade fiction, and Young Adult fiction.  She has more than 40 completed picture book manuscripts and she continues to develop new story ideas on a regular basis.  So far, Erin has published picture books, middle-grade fiction, and Young Adult books.  She enjoys spending time with her husband, family, friends, church family, and her crazy cats who constantly entertain her and get into trouble.

You can follow Erin at these links:

Website- https://www.erinmackeyauthor.com

Blog- https://www.erinmackeyauthor.com/blog/

Facebook- https://facebook.com/ErinMackeyBooks/

Twitter- @erinmackeybooks

Instagram- @erinmackeyauthor

LinkedIn- https://linkedin.com/in/erinmackeyauthor/

Hooray for Read a Book Day! #amreading #amwriting

Hooray for Read a Book Day!

Hooray for Read a Book day! Here in North America, it’s our Labour Day weekend, so we can extend our “bookish” holiday into another full day of reading enjoyment.

Hooray for Read a Book Day!
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

What’s your preferred medium for reading? Are you a fan of ebooks or do you prefer print, either paperback or hardcover?

And then there are genres? Which do you like to read? Crime? Thrillers? Horror? Romance? Historical? Or a blend of all of the above.

I’m lucky in that being an author, I’ve met authors from other countries around the world – England, Scotland, Australia, France, the US, and back here at home in Canada.

I write in a number of genres, but my favourite is romance. You can see my books here. To find out more about any particular title, click on the cover and you’ll be taken to the book’s page where you’ll be provided with the description and buy links should you be so inclined to purchase.

possibly a title or two you might be interested in?

My brand “where fact and fiction meet” stems from the fact I take real events and spin fictional stories around them, changing place and characters’ names to protect the ‘guilty.’ 😉

Now before you think this blog post is all about me, I’m going to introduce you to two authors you might not have heard of before.

I’ll start with Chris Longmuir. Chris and I first met virtually in early 2001 when she contacted me asking permission to use a photograph. We met in person later that same year and see each other as often as possible.

Another is Wendy H. Jones. I’ve not known Wendy as long, but she Chris and I make up the Princesses of Pandemonium. While their books are crime – gritty, humourous or historical – we have a great time when we get together.

Here we are outside the Old Town Jail in Stirling, Scotland.

And inside one of the cells.

I hope you enjoy Read a Book day, and maybe even discover some new-to-you authors.

National Book Lovers Day

Think this girl will get through that stack of books today?

 

 

Another 5-star review for All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends!

Another 5-star review!

another 5-star review

So thrilled that All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his four Fantastic Furry Friends! has received another 5-star review!

The illustrated book geared for children revolves around an unusual set of friendships.

Blurb

Can five completely different animals become friends?

Meet two dogs who befriend a moose on the train from Vancouver to Toronto. Along the way, a black bear and a grizzly join them.

Will the group overcome their differences and discover that deep down they’re all the same?

Review

All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! by Melanie Robertson-King, is a wonderfully written children’s book about getting along with others, even if they’re different from each other. As an animal lover and someone born with a difference, I enjoyed reading about the friendships that developed amongst these four different kinds of animals. They were able to overlook their outside differences to see their similarities inside, where it counts. This is an important concept for children to learn —it’s what’s inside that matters. I highly recommend this book for parents to read to their children as a precursor to discussing the importance of acceptance of those who do not necessarily fit the norm. Plus it’s just a fun story! Shawn Simon 

Buy Links

All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! is now available for the kindle and for the kobo.

If you’re interested in obtaining a print copy, email me for details at
melanie@melanierobertson-king.com

In these uncertain times, stay safe and healthy.

 

A warm welcome to 2020! What will you do in the new year?

welcome 2020

A warm welcome to 2020!

By the time this post goes live, I’ll be long since asleep. Thank goodness for the ability to schedule, so before I fall asleep, I wish a warm welcome to 2020!.

I’m not much of a night owl anymore. I prefer early to bed and early to rise. Those few hours when the house is quiet allow me to formulate ideas for my books, which is best done while working something ‘mindless’ like jigsaw puzzles online. I love doing them, and usually, during the process, I come up with some crackers!

My 2019 achievements

2019 was a great year for me. I crossed an item off my bucket list – train trip to and from Vancouver on The Canadian.

On our return trip, the idea for a children’s book came to me and All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! came to be. Currently, it’s only available in paperback from me, but in the new year, I plan on getting it formatted for kindle and kobo.

Something that is unheard of for me is I released two books in 2019. The above-mentioned children’s book and the second in my It Happened Series – It Happened in Gastown.

My crowning achievement, YESTERDAY TODAY AWAYS, received a silver Recommended Read Badge in the mystery/thriller category!

a warm welcome to 2020

So now that I’ve given you the highlights of 2019, let’s give a warm welcome to 2020!

I’m hoping to cross another item off my bucket list – The Ocean from Montreal to Halifax. That way I can say I’ve travelled across Canada from coast to coast by train.

Book three in the It Happened Series (It Happened at Percé Rock) takes place in the Canadian province of Québec on the Gaspé peninsula in the quaint village of Percé. A time-honoured tradition is to walk to the rock and back from the mainland at low tide. Needless to say, that event features heavily in the story.

Unfortunately, my characters aren’t cooperating at the moment and not talking to me. I have the plot outlined (sort of). Actually, I think they’re miffed at me because this was supposed to be book two in the series, but got shuffled back.

The idea for a third time-travel book featuring Sarah Shand, so perhaps it will be my 2020 release.

What are your plans/goals for 2020?

 

 

My Halloweenie #halloween # dachshund #wienerdog

There has been a multitude of photographs making the rounds on social media of wiener dogs in Halloween costumes – aka Halloweenies. Well, Buddy had to show off his costume and here he is – my little Halloweenie.Halloweenie Doesn’t he look cute dressed as a ladybug?

Little Seaumus, not to be outdone, had to have his own costume. What do you get a Scottie dog wearing a tartan coat? A vampire cape, what else?

Halloweenie

The two went to the market in costume with me this past Saturday to promote their book, All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends!, but being outdoors and temperatures barely above freezing early in the morning, my phone locked up and I lost the picture of ‘the kids’.

Halloweenie

This picture was taken the previous week. At least the pumpkin lights were on the table and the spider web. You’ll have to use your imagination to see the two boys in their “Halloweenie” costumes.

Robbie Raven who promotes my novella, The Secret of Hillcrest House felt a little like a poor cousin because he didn’t have a costume. I let him try on the vampire costume. It suits him well, don’t you think? I might have to go buy him is own.

Halloweenie

If you’ve enjoyed my short story, A Halloween Tale, in the past, you can read it here.

Happy Halloween everyone!

 

 

5 stars for All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends!

Three cheers for Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! Their book has its first review and it’s a corker. As in, it’s 5 stars! This is what the book is about…

Can five completely different animals become friends?

Meet two dogs who befriend a moose on the train from Vancouver to Toronto. Along the way, a black bear and a grizzly join them.

Will the group overcome their differences and discover that deep down they’re all the same?

5 stars

And now for the review…

5 stars! All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! by Melanie Robertson-King is a fun adventure story for children that demonstrates that friendship means you do not make fun of others. You accept the differences and never leave anyone out. Joan Y. Edwards

All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends! will be available for the kindle and kobo soon. When it is, I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops. Actually, Buddy will. Since he’s received this review, the little diva’s head has swollen considerably to the point there’s no living with him. 😉 And then there are the four fantastic furry friends… but that will be another blog post.

 

All Aboard the Canadian with Buddy and his Four Fantastic Furry Friends!

We started with two travelling companions – Buddy the Dachshund and Seaumus the Scottish Terrier. I know that’s not the traditional spelling for Seaumus, but there is a reason for that which I will reveal at a later date (and in another book).

While it’s not the book I planned on releasing by the end of the year, this one spoke to me on our recent trip to Vancouver and back on VIA Rail’s Canadian. Four days and four nights on the train in each direction.

 

Buddy

Here are the boys looking out the window in the dome car on our way to Vancouver.

It wasn’t until the return trip that we added to our little “family.” The first addition was Butterscotch the moose. She’s VIA’s little travel buddy. One of the employees on the train had one with her in the Park car, and I fell in love with it. Suffice it to say; it wasn’t long until the golden-brown moose became one of us.

At our stop in Jasper, we picked up two more ‘kids.’ This time bears joined the group. Jasper (aptly named considering where we picked him up), the black bear, and Banff the brown one who is quite likely a grizzly bear, given his colour.

 

Buddy

All five are in the window of the Park car watching the world go by.

One morning when we returned to our cabin after breakfast, as usual, the bed was put away, and the room back in its ‘daytime’ configuration, and all five of the ‘kiddies’ were arranged on the sofa.

Buddy

This note from Hollie, in our Prestige Travel Journal, was on our coffee table.

It was late when we arrived in Edmonton, like about four hours late. We put the kids to bed and got off the train for a breath of fresh air long enough to take this picture of them looking out the window. I think they’re looking worried, especially Buddy.

Buddy

We left them on their own again one more time when we arrived in Saskatoon.

Overall, they behaved well, although Hollie had to put Jasper and Banff on a time-out once.

A children’s picture book was never in the plan when we first booked the train trip earlier this year. Even on the way to Vancouver, it never crossed my mind. I planned to work on my novella, the second book in the ‘It Happened’ series set in the Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver.

At some point on the way home, the light went on, and in the space of one afternoon, I had the children’s book plotted and partially written. That, in itself, was quite the feat as we were hurtling across the prairies at breakneck speed at the time. Wendy H. Jones, I salute you for being able to write on the train. I could tune out the people around me, but trying to type and keep my MacBook Air from escaping from me was easier said than done.

If all goes to plan, by the end of this year, yes 2019, I’ll have an illustrated children’s book featuring the five stuffed animals which came home from Vancouver with me on the train. I’ve contracted the gal who is going to do the artwork for me through Fiverr. Her name is Aria Jones. I’m impressed with her work.  I know the size and format I want for the print version, so it’s a matter of adding the illustrations and finding a printer. I know, sometimes that’ s easier said than done.

The plan for this year also includes having Book Two of the It Happened series published. That means, head down, bum in chair, and fingers burning up the keyboard.

 

 

Warm welcome to Joan Y. Edwards, author, illustrator and motivational speaker

It’s my great pleasure to welcome author, illustrator, and motivational speaker Joan Y. Edwards to Celtic Connexions.

joan y. edwards

I’m dying to know, when were you first bitten by the writing bug?

When I was five years old, My parents bought the 12 book collection called MY BOOK HOUSE edited by Olive Beaupre Miller and a Grimm’s Fairy Tales Book. Mother read me stories. Babysitters told me stories. I made up stories. I started reading these stories at four years old. I made up a folktale about a little duck, Flip Flap Floodle, who never gives up on his song. I told it to everyone who would listen: my sister, my baby brother in the crib, my cousins, and neighbours.

Flip Flap Floodle came to fruition. Can you tell us about it?

In 1967, when I was married and expecting my first child, I wrote the story down I tried for many years to get publishers to publish this book, but it didn’t happen. When I retired from teaching in 1998, I promised myself that I would illustrate Flip Flap Floodle and publish it in five years if no one said, “Yes. We will publish your book.”  So, in 2004, I self-published Flip Flap Floodle.

Flip Flap Floodle is a little duck who is on his way to play a song on his new flute for his grandmother. His mother warns him to watch out for Mr. Fox. Flip believes his song will keep him safe from Mr. Fox. However, when Mr. Fox doesn’t even like his song, Flip finds himself in deep trouble.

joan y. edwards

What prompted you to write your elder care guide?

When I started taking care of my Mother in 1995, there were no books and the only local resource was Social Services in the county where we lived in North Carolina. I learned through personal experience that the most essential thing for a caregiver is to have time away from caregiving responsibility. With that, it is doubly essential to leave plans for the person taking your place. They must know what the usual routine is and what your elder can and cannot do. Before Mother died in 2009, I thought maybe other people would like to have resources to help them take care of their elder and take care of themselves, too.

joan y. edwards

Was it difficult to make the jump from writing a picture book to a non-fiction guide for adults?

Going from 1,000 words to more than 150,000 words was very different. There were many subjects and many words and many ways to organize them.  Karen Cioffi-Ventrice, the second-editor 4RV Publishing assigned to me, helped me immensely with organizing it into a very helpful resource for caregivers.

Are you working on a book now? Can you tell us about it?

I am working on the second of a series of three Gospel-based crossword puzzles books to use with Children’s Liturgy, Children’s Church, Sunday School, or Home Bible Study. I am working on the illustrations for a chapter book, Larry, the Terrifying Turkey. I am reformatting a screenplay comedy, The Perfect Couple.

What advice do you have for writers beginning their author journe

My advice for beginning writers:

Read 100 books in your favourite genre.
Make note of your 10 favourite first lines.
Make note of your 10 favourite ending paragraphs.
Make note of 10 of the best setups and payoffs authors used to create a need for change in the main character.

In September 2018, I published the first of three Gospel-Based Crossword Puzzle books to use with Children’s Liturgy, Children’s Church, Sunday School, or Home Bible Study.

Anything else you care to share about Joan Y. Edwards that isn’t already included in your bio?

I worked one year and two summers for the Department of the Army at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. to earn money to pay my tuition for my last 3 years of college. I had a job as a typist. My boss, Lt. Col. Solossi, said you aren’t sweet enough to call you, “Sugar.” You’re not sour enough to call you, “Sour.” You are a little spicy, so we’ll call you, “Ginger.”

I received the Best Character Actress at Western Carolina University in 1961 for my role as Mommy in the Sandbox by Edward Albee.

Joan Y. Edwards is a motivational speaker, author, and illustrator who informs, inspires, and helps others to laugh and never give up. Her blog, joanyedwards.com/ has more than 521,000 views. She is the author of three books: Flip Flap Floodle, Joan’s Elder Care Guide and 80 Gospel-Based Crossword Puzzles for Year B

Edwards has a Master of Arts in Education. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and the Charlotte Writers Club. She and her husband, Carl enjoy humorous mysteries, like Columbo and Monk. They love being with family and friends at home, in the mountains, and on the beach.

I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Joan’s Elder Care Guide. This is my review.

Must have resource!

An invaluable resource for anyone who finds themselves looking after an elder. I wish it were available when I looked after my mother. While specifically written for a US audience, the same principles apply anywhere, maybe even some of the organizations exist in other countries – just under a different name.