I just did my first ever live post on facebook! Yikes, it was super stressful because I thought I’d never get the streaming thing to to work, but finally it did. Phew! Although there are some things I need to note for next time, like turn-your-phone-onto-silent-before-you-start, and don’t-set-the-timer-to-go-off-on-the-cooker-in-the-middle! *sighs*
Anyhow, Storytime was in conjunction with the Indie Author Week 2020 Online Festival.
There are some fantastic events for both authors and readers streaming from the festival including a bedtime story from a different author every night this week, so please do go and check it out.
You can get a copy of Things Evie Eats here. Evie is free for everyone on the 14th and 15th of June, and permanently free for members of Kindle Unlimited.
Thanks for watching.
Suzie xx
Don’t forget my new series of early reading books, Read with Rhino, launches on the 16th of June.
Check out the latest book review of Things Evie Eats
It’s always exciting when you get a book review so I wanted to share the awesome review of Things Evie Eats that I received from the lovely Karen over at The Next Best Thing to Mummy.
This is a delightful book with fantastic illustrations
Especially useful to parents and carers who have a fussy eater
Reviews are like gold dust to authors. You can read the full review HERE while I do my happy dance.
Thanks, Karen.
Suzie xx
Things Evie Eats book video
Remember the trouble I had making the video for Better Buckle Up? I’m happy to report the Things Evie Eats book video went far more smoothly. (Probably only a pain point 4/10)
A video is a great way to get a feel for a book before you buy from a new author and is good for entertaining your child when you’re busy.
… I still cringe when I hear my accent though lol.
Hope you and your little ones enjoy the story.
Suzie xx
PS You can get a copy of Things Evie Eats for Kindle or in paperback … for the times when reading it yourself with snuggles are in order.
Problem with the Amazon link to “Things Evie Eats” paperbacks.
Yikes! I just discovered there’s a problem with the Amazon link to the print copy of “Things Evie Eats”. It’s disappeared. Arrrrgghhhh!!!!
I am trying to find out what has gone wrong.
In the meantime, the link to the Kindle ebook version works fine and, of course, Kindle Unlimited members can still download the book for free.
However, if you would like to buy a paperback copy of the book, please email me and I will send one out to you straight away.
Suzie xx
I’ve talked a lot about the value of reading with your child. In the early years it helps with bonding, brain development and develops empathy in forming minds. A child who can read, can learn anything it wants. It’s a vitally important skill for success in life. Not to mention reading is fun … it’s also a very difficult job for parents to get right. (Are you teaching your child NOT to read for fun?)
There’s a wonderful poem by Strickland Gillilan that sums up the importance of reading with your children.
The Reading Mother.
by Stickland Gillilan.
I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
‘Blackbirds’ stowed in the hold beneath.
I had a Mother who read me lays
Of ancient and gallant and golden days;
Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,
Which every boy has a right to know.
I had a Mother who read me tales
Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,
True to his trust till his tragic death,
Faithfulness lent with his final breath.
I had a Mother who read me the things
That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-
Stories that stir with an upward touch.
Oh, that each mother of boys were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be –
I had a Mother who read to me.
So, today I want you to meet someone who nailed the job. The person who nurtured my own love of books.
Meet my mum.
My mum talked to me, read books to me and sang to me from the moment I was born. We negotiated the murky waters of the ABC books and phonics together so that, by the time I started school, I was already an independent reader and I’ve never stopped. (Well done, Mum)
At bedtime, she made up her own stories for me. My favourite was about a cow called Twinkle. She tells me I always insisted it had a sad ending … which is a little disturbing for a pre-schooler lol.
I remember vividly a book she wrote for me; hand-written and illustrated. It was a ‘make your own adventure’ style book, where you could choose different actions for the hero at the end of each page. Depending on which option you picked, you turned to a different page. It was a triumph of book planning. (Must tackle one of those myself some-day)
I was a rather sickly child. You name it, I caught it, and held on to it for an unpleasantly long time. This meant I spent a lot of time tucked up on the sofa with a book and a glass of Lucozade (in the days when it was a drink you gave to invalids, not sports persons). It also meant Mum had to walk almost daily trips to the library. (Sorry about that, Mum.)
My mum also encouraged me to write my own stories. I’d get notebooks with pretty covers for birthdays, special ‘writing’ pens for Christmas. She read my first book (entitled My Uncle the Ostrich) and helped me design a cover and bind the first ‘print run’ for my family. (Thanks, Mum)
Photo by vintage19_something
Later, Mum bought me a typewriter (it was exactly the colour of the one in the picture) along with a book with exercises on the Querty keyboard. I didn’t appreciate the rather tedious exercises in the book much but, yes, I do type with all my fingers. (Another thank you due there 🙂 )
Mum is the reason I am a reader … and a writer. She has always encouraged my writing and been an enthusiastic beta-reader. It was a no-brainer to dedicate my first book to her.
Lillian Dawson
But Mum is also a trained artist. At over 80 years old, she still paints and sells her work.
When I said, “Let’s write a picture book”, Lillian Dawson stepped up to the mark. The illustrations in “Things Evie Eats” are hers.
I was lucky to have a truly awesome creative ‘reading mother’. What about you?
Suzie xx
Oh no! I just found out that Amazon has ‘lost’ the link to the paperback version of “Things Evie Eats.” If you would like to buy one while I sort out what’s going on with them, email me and I’ll send one to you straight away.
Win an autographed paperback copy of “Things Evie Eats” on Goodreads
My giveaway on Goodreads for you to win an autographed copy of “Things Evie Eats” ends today, 23rd August.
Entry is free and open to people all over the world. Although you do have to be a member of Goodreads, signing up costs nothing and it’s easy too.
Find out more about “Things Evie Eats” here but this is what people are saying.
Adorable, charming, laugh out loud book for children and parents. Murboyd
Its a perfect combo of old and new styles with a delightful and funny storyline. P. Edwards
The winner will be chosen by Goodreads when the competition closes at midnight. So don’t hang about, click on the form underneath and a shiny new paperback could be winging it’s way to you very soon.
Good luck.
Suzie xx
Goodreads Book Giveaway
This is not strictly a bookish writing post. Sorry. Normal service will resume next week … whatever normal is … but this is something writers may still be interested in.
I recently signed up to Crowdfire. Crowdfire is an app with a host of handy features that help you monitor your Twitter account. And it’s insanely useful.
You can turn off your Twitter email notifications so you don’t get a message when you get a new follower. Suddenly your inbox is so much clearer.
All you do is log in from time to time to check out who followed you, and decide whether you want to follow them back. And following them is as easy as clicking a button.
Awesome, right? 🙂
2. It also has a handy feature for finding accounts you might like to follow by searching similar accounts or even keywords which is great for building an online presence.
So cool 🙂
3. You can also monitor who unfollowed you and how many accounts you follow who don’t follow you back.
I never really thought about this before. In my naive little way, I assumed I’d done something to offend anyone who unfollowed me? That my tweets were not up to their high standards? They hated me tweeting about my books? And this is where I started to make some interesting discoveries.
- There are a lot of accounts out there trying to sell twitter followers. If I didn’t follow them, they struck me off their list.
This is fair enough. They weren’t reading my tweets anyhow.
2. There are folks without profile pictures and twitter handles they appear to have chosen by dropping their mouse on the keyboard. For example, @kiubydkgf. (Is this a language from Earth or a different galaxy?) These people haven’t posted one single tweet and yet they have thousands of followers.
Why is anyone following these peeps? Why?
I’m not sure what they are achieving with this strategy but they will not get a follow back.
3. And then there are the people who have a legitimate sounding profile, have made lots of tweets and have an epic amount of followers but who follow no-one. That’s right, no-one. And I’m not talking about some faceless corporation or some mega-famous person. I’m looking at you, author-I-never-heard-of.
It appears their game plan is: follow someone, wait until they follow back, then unfollow them immediately. Now maybe in the platform-building world this is a great strategy for … something???
There are a surprising amount of people using this method. But seriously, if you don’t want to read my tweets, I’m damned sure I’m not going to read yours.
Consider yourself unfollowed, weirdo.
To conclude, Crowdfire is a great app (and no, I wasn’t paid for this post) but it has thrown up some unexpected mysteries. If you can explain any of the strange behaviours I’ve described, please tell me in the comments below because I’m dying to know.
Suzie xx
P.S. Don’t forget my giveaway on Goodreads for Things Evie Eats is still open for entries until the 23rd August.
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Goodreads Giveaway for Things Evie Eats
I’ve holding a Goodreads Giveaway for Things Evie Eats and it starts today, 26th July. You can win a brand new paperback copy of the book simply by entering on the form below and to make it even better I’ll autograph the book to you or your child.
You do have to be a member of Goodreads but joining is free and easy and you could enter lots of other giveaways too. Bonus 🙂
The winner is chosen by the Goodreads team on the 23rd of August and I’ll be posting it straight to the lucky person.
Fingers crossed for you to win.
Suzie x
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Things Evie Eats is available on Amazon
I’m sorry but this is an unashamed promotional post because my book, Things Evie Eats
, is available on Amazon and I’m super excited. Hurray!
There was going to be a lot more promotion of my book but, after last week’s attack of author overwhelm, I ran away to the seaside for a few days. I feel much better now 🙂
So, “Things Evie Eats” is the story of a little girl with very definite ideas on the things she’d like to eat, as told by her big(-ish) brother.
You can get it in paperback and also in kindle edition. And if you’re a member of Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free 🙂
Find out more about Evie’s story here.
I had so much fun writing this book and I love the gentle illustrations. I hope you’ll love Evie too.
OK, promotion over.
We’re having some super, awesome weather here in Wales. I hope the sun is shining on you too 🙂
Suzie xx
What do you do when progress on your to-do list is so slow you think you might be going backwards?
You need an escape from author overwhelm.
What did I do? Took the grandkids to the river. It’s been raining for days here in Wales and the water was wild and angry. The roaring water drowned out the to-do list in my head.
Perfect 🙂
I had so much planned to do this week. Somehow it all went wrong.
I spent last night updating my web page with the details for Things Evie Eats but then my laptop threw a wobbler and deleted the files I had taken hours sorting out.
Start again time.
I was already behind schedule sending the files for “Things Evie Eats” to the printers and then, as my hand hovered over the ‘send’ button, I noticed that, when converting the size of some image files in Photoshop, I’d put the numbers in the wrong boxes which caused them to be waaaaaay smaller than they should have been. This meant the quality was severely reduced.
It took a whole day to check and redo them. But the Kindle edition is finally uploaded and available for Pre-Order and I’m awaiting the proof from the printers for the Print edition. Yay!
I had a great Blog Post planned for this week. It was about making flower food for kids and tied in neatly with Things Evie Eats. But it took longer than anticipated to make flowers out of fruit and vegetables.
Maybe I’ll finish it next week.
Anyway, I enjoyed my time by the river. It was a perfect escape from author overwhelm. Back to that to-do list tomorrow 🙂
Suzie x