Monday Interview Series: Humpty Dumpty

Hello everyone. I'm here in the hospital, because I've just received some exciting news in the case of Humpty Dumpty. The legendary egg called me and asked me to meet him here, so that he could share what he claims is some extraordinary news. He would not elaborate further, but I will do my best to bring to light all the facts in what promises to be a remarkable press conference.

Greg:  Hi Humpty. I rushed right over like you asked. What's the big news?

Humpty:  Well, thank you for being so prompt my good fellow. Yes indeed, I do have some splendid news. I've been notified that I qualify for a new procedure. It's been in development for quite some time, but has not been fully certified by the FDA, so it is still regarded as experimental.

Greg:  That sounds encouraging, but also a little bit risky.

Humpty:  Yes, well there are risks, but ever since that sad day when I fell off the wall, life has been touch and go. All the king's men--and his horses--were totally useless. I only managed to survive because some quick-thinking passerby got my yolk into a ziplock bag and stuck the whole caboodle into their lunch box which had a cold pack inside. 

After that, the folks at thee hospital constructed this plastic bubble which has been my home for ages. A bit claustrophobic, but much better than the alternative. Anyway, my doctor has advised me that the potential benefits far outweigh the risks involved.

Greg:  I see. Well when you put it like that, I have to agree. What is this exciting new procedure?

A Writer's Week #35: Great Feedback

I think I've mentioned before that writing is a solitary business. When I write, I have to hide myself away from the family and woe be unto them if they disturb me. It just wrecks my concentration. So for me, I'm always writing on borrowed time--time that I could (maybe should) be spending working in the yard or spending with the family.

Then there's promoting the book(s) that are already out there. You tweet, you have a Facebook page, a blog, stop in occasionally at Goodreads, make sure your Amazon author page is up to date, go on school visits. But all this, especially if you're self-published, is done on your own. I find I'm like a babe in the woods with this stuff--I'm not a marketer.

So, it's nice when you receive positive feedback. It can make you feel so good and uplift you so much in the tough promotional slog. This week, I received some fantastic feedback. Every so often I go to Book Blogs to share what's going on here at The Deliverers blog. One day, Ara, My Book and My Coffee left me a comment saying that they enjoyed my blog and were now following it. I checked out her blog and saw that she wrote some fabulous reviews, so I asked her if she'd be interested in reviewing The Deliverers.She said yes, so I sent her the book.

Earlier this week, she posted the most flattering review I could ever hope to receive. Here's a link. To give you an idea of the tone of the review, here's the lead:

“A fantastic, poignant, and flawless story. This book made me want to dream more and be a 12-year-old again, and join the main character’s next journey. Yes, I want a sequel." 

Great stuff. Here's something from the body of the review:

 "Seriously, I don’t have any complaints about this book. As in nothing. That rarely happens. It’s kinda strange to me as well, and I'm very happy about it."

Nice. Oh what the heck, here's another snippet:

" I found the writing and the flow of the story to be flawless (I know, I always thought that there’s no such thing - but then again, that’s just me). This book will purposely explain the things you will need to know to be in the loop but the author knew when to hold and give out a certain information so as to give you a chance to wonder and keep reading for more. So, there's room for guessing and proving that you're a bad guesser - well, that's just me again."

Sorry, but praise like that makes part of me blush and say "Aw shucks," while another part wants to shout it from the rooftops. Anyway, what all this comes down to is just that it's nice to be recognized. Sometimes it seems like the recognition comes all too slowly, which can raise doubts about how good your book is. Feedback like this restores my faith. Thanks Ara.

This review also came at a good time, because not much has been happening over the summer in terms of promotion or sales. I'm looking forward to resuming school visits later this year. Talking to the kids about writing, my book, and getting their feedback is the greatest morale boost you can get. I'm looking forward to getting out there and seeing everyone soon!

Oh yeah, you're probably wondering how things went on the writing front this week. I fell short of my weekly goal of 2,000. I only wrote 1,400. I'm at about 44,400 words for The Deliverers 2 so far--197 pages. Eric & Co. have run into someone that can help them, but I'm not sure if it's a little too coincidental or not. That kind of slowed me down, and I still don't have it entirely resolved in my head.

For now, I'm going to just power through and head on toward the climax and resolution. I want to get the first draft done by the middle of October. I'll save the final decision on this latest development for the editing and rewrite stage.

Oh my, I've rambled on quite a bit. Oh well. All in all it was a great week. Check back here next week. Depending how things work out, I may have a wonderful development to tell you about!

What's Christian Reading? How to Steal a Dragon's Sword

Christian has been reading all about dragons this week--specifically, How to Steal a Dragon's Sword by Cressida Cowell. This is book 9 in the How to Train Your Dragon series. Let's see what Christian had to say about it.

Here's what Christian says the book is about.

"It is about a boy named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third who has been waiting a year for a dragon rebellion to come. A whole bunch of dragons come to attack the Archipelago where he lives. The only one who can stop them is Hiccup.

"A witch tells them that they need a new king and that they have to find some of the king's things to defeat the dragons. Hiccup needs to find them to defeat the dragons, but he needs help. He also has to find the king's crown.

"Will they find everything in time? Will they defeat the dragons? You have to read the book--I won't tell you"

What did Christian like best about the book?

"The ending--but I can't tell you about that."

Was there anything Christian didn't like?

"I didn't like the witch, Excellinor. She wasn't nice"

So, how would Christian rate How to Steal a Dragon's Sword by Cressida Cowell?

He gives it four out of five flaming monkey heads.

"

Did You Know? Mother Goose

Yesterday, I chatted a little with the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, so today, I thought it would be fun to find out a little about Mother Goose. So that's what this week's Did You Know? is about. Without further ado, here are this week's facts.

Did You Know...

• The earliest written version of the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe appeared in 1794?
• In the earlier versions, the old lady whipped her children soundly and sent them to bed? Ouch!
• Some speculation, although no hard proof, that the identity of the old woman in the rhyme is Queen Caroline, the wife of King George II? She had eight children.
• In England, Mother Goose was a generic term to describe a country woman?
• No specific writer has been identified as the creator of the Mother Goose nursery rhymes?
• The first tale attributed to Mother Goose appeared as early as 1650?
•  Some scholars believed that Mother Goose lived in Boston in the late 1600's and was the wife of Isaac Goose? This line of thought is generally discounted today.
• In 1695, Charles Perrault published a collection of Mother Goose fairy tales? These were the first collection of fairy tales attributed to Mother Goose.
• In 1791 John Newbery published a book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes? This became the prevailing Mother Goose association until recently.

Fun stuff. Now here's a little video from Sesame Street in which Kermit the Frog meets the old woman and a couple of other people in her neighborhood.

Monday Interview Series: The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

Happy Labor Day, everybody! I hope you're all enjoying the "last" day of summer. Christian and Abigail are all set to start school tomorrow. Today we had a cookout, and a fire in the fire oit with burgers, hot dogs and s'mores, yum!

Since it's Labor Day, I figured it would be good to talk to someone who is constantly working--the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. After all, she has so many children she doesn't know what to do. Let's find out what she thinks of Labor Day and back to school.

Greg:  Thanks for taking time out to chat with us. I know you've got an extremely busy schedule.

Old Lady:  Yes, well, I just got the last one down to bed. Now I have about two minutes to chat before I start the laundry.

Greg:  Okay, I'll try to make this quick. How many children do you have, exactly?

Old Lady:  So many that I don't know what to do. To be perfectly frank, I lost count at 30, and that was quite a while ago.

Greg:  Wow. Did you give birth to all of them?

Old Lady:  No, unlike that woman down south who has 19 and is still counting, I did not. I adopted most of my little darlings. There are plenty enough young ones in the world without homes. So, I decided to open mine to as many as possible.

Greg:  Well, I must say that is very admirable. However, a shoe?

Old Lady:  Be it ever so humble, it's still a good home, and I have yet to hear any of the children complain. Still, I have to admit that it does get a bit cramped at times. Why only the other day I was speaking with Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater about renting out his pumpkin shell, but he's still got his wife in there. He keeps her very well in it, so much so that now she won't come out, so that possibility has been cut off.

Greg:  How do you manage to keep the shoe so clean. Where do you find the time?

Old Lady:  Well, you have to make the time, dear. Recently, my neighbor, the farmer in the dell, he replaced my laces with some lovely Velcro. It make it much quicker and easier to give the entire place a thorough airing out. You know how shoes can be--Odor Eaters just don't cut it honey.

Greg:  Well, that will certainly open the place up. Do your children help you?