It's been a couple of weeks but I have another fantastic read for you! This title from author Saloni Surah is for the slightly older reader, say 8 to 12 years old. An early chapter book, "Flora Investigates: the Case of the Missing Gold Eggs" is about a young girl named Flora who sniffs out clues in Florence, Italy. In this case, she will meet wacky characters who are all suspects in the case. There will be a dancing pirate, a flying boat, multiple suspects and Flora's nose for trouble will analyze them all. The illustrations are captivating and I expect we will see more from illustrator Lisa Williams as well. I particularly enjoyed the images that showed Flora's notebook and notes... Let's learn more about the author, shall we? Saloni is a wonderful new voice in early readers.
A coach, with a PhD in HIV and drug use, she began writing while working on her PhD. She has worked with people from all over the world and see firsthand the effects of poverty and illiteracy. This spoke to her and moved her to start writing. While working on her PhD she found the time to manage some creative space to express herself apart from the largely scientific writing necessary to her degree. When asked about her inspiration for this story, she replied,"A gold egg laying chicken has gone missing and Flora has to find out who store her and why. It's a fun book with gold eggs and a flying boat, but it has heart because it's a book about a girl who has a dream and doesn't give up." This is her first published title, but Saloni has written three others and plans to go back and tweak the others. Based in the UK, Saloni's husband is from Florence and the book is loosely based on his friends and family. Her mother-in-law had previously kept chickens, and when Saloni first met her husband, one of these chickens had gone missing. He husband joked that there had been a murder in the back yard. When she travelled to Florence with him for the first time, the story started to brew. She met people who would evolve into the characters of the book although she does say they are "obviously overdone". Who wouldn't want to meet a crazy chicken lady or a dancing pirate with a flying boat? Saloni's publisher, TAUK Publishing, drew in Lisa Williams to illustrate the tale and Saloni is quite pleased with the result, saying Lisa has done a great job. When asked about a sequel, Saloni's response was that her dragons were calling her first but absolutely, yes! You can find this book on Amazon in eBook and paperback editions, as well as on Kindle Unlimited. If you happen to be near New South Wales, look for "Get Lost in Books", an indie bookshop that carries this title. In the UK you may find it on the shelves of "WriteBlend" in Liverpool, "The Book Dragon" in Stockton-on-Tees, and "Rainforest" in Chester. If you are looking for further Middle Grade works, watch for "The Last Fairy Guardian" by Saloni Surah, which is releasing this spring. It's a book about a forbidden friendship between a fairy and a human girl. I, for one, am looking forward to it! For more about Saloni Surah, click on the link button below.
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FIRST, MY REVIEW: Meera has had a frustrating day, where she feels her friend has been bossing her around. When she gets home, her Dadaji (grandfather) gently guides her through her frustration as he engages her to help make Aloo Paratha. You can almost smell the food as they work. The author's descriptions are wonderful and the story is truly engaging. It includes the recipe so you can try it at home, making this a very well rounded way to introduce your child to another culture and new foods as well as learning to be humble and accept that sometimes we need to be taught. It also includes discussion questions and a small glossary for words that may be new to you. An excellent addition to home or classroom with wonderful content and beautiful illustrations! I was lucky enough to get to speak with the author and here is what I learned! In the author's own words: Well, I did an online course in early childhood education from Penn Foster. It was quite an experience for me. I love being around children, and I wanted to learn more about them. I have also worked on and off in preschool settings. But mostly I have been a homemaker. I discovered I loved to write stories. But I truly started writing for kids when my daughter was born. I used to make up all these stories to keep her entertained. "Meera Makes Aloo Paratha" is my first children's picture book that has been published. I also wrote a few short stories that were published in a few children's magazines in India. My inspiration has always been my children and their friends. Watching them navigate their childhood has been quite a learning experience. While watching kids around me, I notice that the most common problem they face is that everyone wants to be a leader. That is one of the biggest childhood struggles...no one wants to be the follower. Meera's problem is similar - as in she wants to be the teacher - or should I say, she doesn't always want to be the student! I started with this premise, and decided to bring in Dadaji to be the rescuer. I have watched my children interacting with their grandparents. What I found is that grandparents have both wisdom and patience to handle their grandchildren. I felt that it would set a perfect example of how the two generations can work together to solve a problem. There are definitely more Meera/Dadaji situations coming up. I never planned for this to work out as a series. But sometimes the characters speak for themselves. My editor, Aditi Wardhan Singh referred Noor to me. (Noor Alshalabi is Sangeetha's illustrator) I checked out her Instagram profile and I was hooked. Her illustration style was just what I was looking for and I trusted my instincts. But the day she sent me character sketches of Meera and Dadaji, I knew that I had made the right choice. As far as guiding her is concerned, the only thing I told her was that Meera must wear glasses. The rest she kind of gave her own spin. I wanted the story to be her true guidance. Once the illustrations came in, if I felt something seemed off, I'd communicate to her and she was prompt in making those changes. There were some changes made from time to time, and Noor was pretty accommodating about it. The initial part of editing was tough for me. Just like other authors, I struggled with it. But as our editing sessions progressed, the changes were lesser and I found my story sounding so much better. My editor, Aditi Wardhan Singh was super patient with me. She encouraged me every step of the way. We actually met online and hit it off from the beginning. It helped that we both are good friends along with colleagues. As you can probably sense from the story, I am big with conversations. If there is one thing that I want my readers to take away from my book, it is that talking about things is always helpful. Talk with your friends, family, teachers or anyone else you feel comfortable with. There is no problem on earth that can't be solved with just a little bit of conversation. At least talking about it can be a good starting point. I'm currently working on a middle grade chapter book titled "According To Dhruv". I'm also working on a couple of other Meera and Dadaji related stories. Story telling is my passion. I'm constantly experimenting on my writing style. I would like to thank Sangeetha for her time and for allowing me to read and review her book in my blog. All images were used with the author's permission. Her purchase links are on the buttons below. Apologies for a prolonged silence!
I have gratefully recovered from my eye surgery and returned to my home and husband--from whom I was separated for TOO LONG! We enjoyed a quiet holiday season with good friends and phone calls to our assorted sons who are scattered around the globe. We then took a much needed "us time" break to reconnect and relax and enjoy the beautiful island of St. Lucia. I am now back and getting started on my projects for 2024. These include a couple of new books which will be releasing mid year, completing paperwork for some more award applications that have been sent to me, and working on my new project. I am going to embark in 2024 on helping to raise awareness of other children's book creators--both illustrators and authors--and have lined up some fabulous people to work with on this. Starting in February make sure you stay tuned to my social media and YouTube for some interviews, reviews, and fun reading times! I really look forward to this new project and connecting with my fellow authors. It's all about being able to introduce you and your children to new authors, and wonderful books. It's all about sharing a love of reading and making life long readers out of the next generation. So stay tuned! I will also post links and other resources as the year progresses! Welcome to 2024 and happy reading! So some, who follow me in various other social media channels, are aware that I am currently in Canada recovering from an eye surgery. Nothing that couldn't be fixed but something that has necessitated a need to stay "grounded" for 8-10 weeks. No flying. This meant that my very patient Dave returned to Barbados after my surgery and I have been not so patiently waiting my own chance to return.
But being "grounded" in an aviation sense has also left me with time to ponder and become "grounded" in other ways. Nothing "grounds" a person so much as gratitude. I have become extremely grateful for family! My sister-in-law Cheryl and brother David hosted us for an extended visit at the beginning of our travels in September due to a nasty cold. They kept us fed, warm, and entertained. Also their support in being the shipping terminus for stock of my author copies of books has been immeasurable! They rival my own very patient Dave in their quiet support! My sister Andrea and her husband Paul have been keeping me housed during my surgical recovery at their home. Paul and I have been busy playing with dolls...all right, action figures...while preparing for various Christmas festivities such as the Gingerbread Zoom I mentioned in my last post. All will be revealed in coming days as the Zoom is tomorrow! Paul has also chauffeured me around to my various appointments and errands. Andrea and I have spent hours reminiscing, took a small road trip, and I hope I've lightened her load by being available to help with meals being ready when she arrives home from work... I have become extremely grateful for friends and colleagues! Sandra in Barbados is keeping Dave busy and pestering him. Tito has been helping keep Dave and our company on track. Various others have helped in numerous ways with moral support--especially my writing friends and Hollis--and then there's Deanna! Deanna deserves her own fanfare! A former work colleague and long term friend, we gathered for lunch this week. Said lunch made it into a Facebook post on her page about a "Meet the Author" lunch, complete with photos of my books and sales material. It's already generated more traffic to my site than I have had before! So grateful! While talking to other friends about their various struggles, I have become grateful for little things. I am grateful for good health and a strong family support system. I am grateful for my wonderful sons who inspire devilish children's books even though they are in their 30s now. I am grateful for cold feet in Canada that remind me how fortunate I am to spend time in Barbados. I am grateful for a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and time to enjoy both and share them with others. I am grateful to have been able to create and share with you all the four--no, make that five--published books that I have been involved in this year. Writing for adults was a challenge but Hollis helped me pull it together! Writing for children is still my favourite. Also, VERY grateful for my eyesight! Something we all take for granted but I have a renewed respect for! How could I illustrate without it? How could I see the wonderful bugs, snails, frogs, monkeys, tropical fish, and bizarrely behaved birds who make it into my stories? Best of all, I am grateful that it sounds like I will make it back to Barbados before Christmas to spend the holidays with Dave and our good friends there. I will be missing so many people from Canada while there, but then, they know they are always welcome. Gratitude. Grounded. Good grief. Today's blog has been brought to you by the letter G... Photo below is me with my sister Andrea on our brief road trip to Victoria BC. Ah! Christmas is coming, and with it my family's notoriously crazy gingerbread house competition. I come from a very creative family and the entries are always interesting! There have been log cabins made of pretzels, brick houses made from Nibs, cereal treat castles and, of course, traditional (ish) cookie houses. There have been ponds made from blue gummy candies, sidewalks made out of dog biscuits, and, my personal favourite--a gingerbread biffy. (*our family vernacular for privy, outhouse, or rustic "facilities") Two years ago, I concocted a chocolate cookie house from a kit but placed Hershey chocolate bar minis on the roof as solar panels and made up a tale of Santa going "green" at the North Pole. It's a bit heavy on Elon Musk and Tesla references, but it made my family laugh. I'll upload it to the end of this blog post for those who wish to read it... Last year, in Barbados, I discovered gingerbread houses are not part of the local Christmas culture. Ants, presumably, being the reason. I ordered all sorts of bits and bobs in and managed to create an entry that I stored in the microwave to prevent ants finding it until the big reveal. It had blue fondant water, and icing pears for seafoam on the shore. Coarse, locally sourced, Barbados brown sugar provided sandy beaches. My "chattel house" was bright yellow with cereal shingles, fondant shutters and doors, and there was a very typical fruit stand out front full of tiny candy fruit. Gummy frogs provided the whistling frogs of Barbados to my scene and I modelled a fondant gecko of slightly larger than scale proportions to perch on the roof. Fruit-loop cereal tree trunks and edible corn starch palm fronds created palm trees. It was a hoot! Although it was tough not to eat the frog gummies... This year, I am temporarily located with my sister and her husband in British Columbia, recovering from an eye surgery. This means, I am assisting with entries here as well as planning my own. I can't give away the plans but will post an update when the competition (which, really, everyone wins...) is over! In the meantime, I created this little video for fun. Warning (tongue in cheek) that this may contain scenes of violence which some viewers may find disturbing. I found them quite delicious! And before I sign off today, here's my "Green" Christmas tale from 2021:
It’s been very busy At the North Pole this year Amid Covid pandemics and Climate change fears. Santa’s team is assessing And doing their part To reduce their emissions While not losing heart. The sleigh’s eco friendly, Thanks to the reindeer, But the lights and the workshop Must revamp I hear. So they called Elon Musk (Santa’s favourite lad) They said, “You’ve been busy Making Tesla go ‘Plaid’” “Can you help us?” They asked, “To make this Christmas Green?” Elon said “Yes!” and he Worked with the team. Assessing their assets He soon found a way By setting up Santa’s New solar array. On the roof of the workshop It soaks up the sun During 24 hour daylight While the elves have some fun. Storing the power In the New power wall, When it’s time for work, well, It powers it all! So remember dear children That Satan’s gone green As you enjoy looking at This holiday scene! (Below you will find two galleries...2021 and 2022!) Stumpy, Griffith and Flash greatly enjoyed a recent trip to Scotland. Our journey began on the East Coast of Scotland where we explored Old Aberdeen while my husbandattended a conference. The geckos were somewhat surprised that there weren't any geckos in the area but made the acquaintance of a few lovely local people who provided directions and historical tidbits on the area. The little guys particularly enjoyed hiking along the River Don and finding the Brig Of Balgownie, as well as exploring some graveyards, St. Machar's Cathedral and of course exploring King's College.... I also did my best to boost the gecko's bank accounts by marketing my book to everyone I met. This gentleman in particular was quite pleased to know he could order the books from Amazon.co.uk making it easy to ship to his home in Aberdeen. Next stop was up at Culloden near Iverness. We explored Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns although a case of the sniffles made it less than enjoyable for small geckos. Thankfully the gracious and comforting surroundings of the Culloden House Hotel made a lovely place to have the sniffles and staff provided a terrific platter of fresh fruit to speed along their recovery. Of course, a little hot tea and Scottish Shortbread helped as well... Now, Stumpy informed me he had sent a letter to his cousin Nessie in the Highlands before leaving Barbados and that she was expecting us to meet her near Castle Urquhart. There were severe rain warnings in effect, but our very patient Dave (who guiltily admitted to mailing Stumpy's letter without telling me) agreed to make the stop. We looked everywhere, including the dungeons, but did not find Stumpy's cousin Nessie anywhere. Perhaps she was kept at home in bed by the sniffles? Or she could have been avoiding the tourists, who were still hanging about in crowds. She's had to let go some of her personal security due to rising costs, and may move somewhere where she is less "known" to the general public. Stumpy thinks we should invite her to the Caribbean where it's warm and there's lots of open water to hide in! We warmed up with hot chocolate, tea and crisps. (That's what they call potato chips in Scotland. They also refer to french fries as chips...so silly really!) Our final stop was on the shores of Loch Linnhe near Appin and Glencoe. We spent about a week here, where we visited Dave's father and left behind some copies of Geckos in the Garden for some young relatives. We were also able to share our stories about our friends Bunny, Teddy and McDuff the Cat! If you haven't read them, don't forget to order them. We visited Castle Stalker, and walked along the shores of the Loch. We played with Harris the Dog. And we found the loveliest little book exchange in an old public phone box.
Then we packed our bags and boarded a plane to head home...kind of. But that's the subject of another blog... A book tour it is not, but we are travelling nonetheless. Work and family needs mean my husband and I are travelling through Canada and then Scotland for approximately a month. It turns out, it's quite hard to get gecko sitters, even in Barbados, so of course we had to bring Stumpy, Gryffyth and Flash along. The initial excitement was contagious and even I found it hard to sit still as we waited for the plane. Once on board, the geckos were very hard to contain. Fortunately other passengers and the flight attendants were quite understanding. A brief hiccup in travel plans caused us to overnight in Toronto, but we eventually made it to our first stop in Vancouver, BC. Stumpy was very keen to see everything, and Gryffyth and Flash were along for the ride it seems. We explored some of my old haunts in North Vancouver, including Lonsdale Quay and some of the walking trails. Below is a gallery of North Vancouver highlights, as seen through the eyes of a gecko (or three)... So, ladies, gentlemen, children of all ages, assorted bugs and creatures great and small. I address you today on the subject of using my adult voice, and using it for the greater good as well. Several months ago, I engaged with Ms. Hollis Gross-Citron of Express Yourself Publishing. She had several projects on the go and I opted into two of them. The first is the topic of today's blog. SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS: POWERFUL STORIES THAT TRANSFORM LIVES The burning topic for this project? What would I want to shout from the rooftops? What life lesson or realization would I like to share with the world, to empower them and save them some of the trial and error I have gone through? Well...that provided a plethora of topic ideas. I am the first to admit that if there was a direct line to get from where I started to where I am now...I missed it! I hit potholes. I broke axles. I travelled by stage coach and was hit by bandits. Where on earth would I start. So I started with the obvious spoiler alert: Not to spoil the ending, but everything is going to be okay. And I won't spoil the ending. You will have to buy the book and learn the hard way...reading it. It's the first chapter because we went alphabetically by author, but you won't want to stop there. I have read my advanced copy cover to cover TWICE now. Each time I learned so much more about the amazing women I have been writing and interacting with for over six months. There are 15 incredible stories here including mine. What did I learn from writing this book? That while I was taking my creative route, I should have been waving to all the people who were on the same, or similar path. It's really more of an eight-lane motorway. That's right, everyone. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! We have all been there or some reasonable facsimile of there. I describe it as "Chicken Soup for the Soul" meets a cup of coffee with your best friend or favourite aunt. You will go in feeling okay but leave feeling energized, empowered and encouraged. Offered for only $0.99 (US$) on release day, this Friday, September 15th. Releasing to Amazon Kindle only on this day. Paperback to follow. Proceeds go to Tappan Consulting to assist with their work, related to Human Trafficking. Click the Tappan Consulting button below to learn more about this great cause! Empower yourself and Empower others. Best $0.99 you will ever spend! Another way to contribute to this great cause would be to share this post, and make sure to leave a review of the book when you are done reading it. Shout it from the rooftops--it's a revelation! Creativity is something that comes more naturally to me than breathing. Making things to hopefully make people smile brings me great joy! Writing a story to make some small person giggle? Amazing! But even then, it's not always as simple as you think. For example...Oscar. An orange and white tabby tom in our neighbourhood who simply moved in and won't leave. (We could probably stop feeding him but then, he's a lovely puss-puss, isn't he?) He's even started worming his way onto...AND into...some of the illustrations. You'll want to watch for him in some upcoming titles... Another example? Squeak. Her real name is Luna, and she belongs to a neighbour but seems to think that it's more fun to poke around and walk on my painted creations than to stay home. She even naps in the cubby on my desk while I write. Cats. Seriously. But she's beautiful and "squeaky" when she talks. Then there are the escapades of certain geckos...Gryffyth, Stumpy, Flash and their live gecko counterparts! Nothing can disrupt the day more than discovering, while preparing your cereal, that there is a certain four-legged, fast-moving neighbour who has popped by for breakfast and wants to explore the kitchen in detail...Or you go to take a shower and there's a gecko in there. You can ignore them of course. Or take multiple pictures, create a poem, write a script and film a TikTok video...(please see the link button below) These things create issues when you have a work deadline. Or a writing deadline. But they also create endless story idea files, illustration ideas, and plot lines, which is why it is simply NOT that simple! So, if you take the time to watch the slide show above, you will note the various stages of creation for me as it regards illustration.
If you want to learn more about the steps of creating illustrations, or at least my method, send me your questions and comments in the "Contact Me" form and I will prepare an upcoming blog on the topic. Now, Oscar wants fed and a gecko just ran into the laundry room so I have some photography to work on...chat soon! Apologies everyone, for it has been a few weeks since I posted anything to my blog. It has been a busy few weeks as I am now engaged in saving the planet in multiple ways--inspiring a love of reading and therefore helping to increase the cognitive faculties of my fellow humans, and working for a renewable energy company to help save us from ourselves and global warming. It is time consuming, but I digress... I woke up this morning and two thoughts immediately sprang to mind. The first was that on this day two years ago, my mother passed away. The second was that I needed to do a blog post, and some work on this book business I have started. I started with the book business. Emails sent, forms completed, proofs approved (watch for things coming soon!), and had some lunch. While I was eating on the patio, and watching the butterflies hovering in the hibiscus and allamanda blossoms, I thought of mom. Mom was everything gardening. She would have loved to see photos of the plants down here in Barbados--things that would never grow on her farm north of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She was also everything story. When I was in the Arctic, she loved my emails and sent back questions and reactions. She liked the tales of giant siksik and cheeky snow buntings. She laughed at the Arctic Robins (seagulls) arriving in the spring. She listened on the phone as I told her Inuit legends I was learning. She often told me I should write a book. She would have loved the tales of cheeky grackles performing their organized crime routines on the birdfeeder while the general public, a.k.a. bullfinches, stay out of the line of fire. She would have laughed at the story of the giant moth tapping at the window. She would have likewise laughed at my tales of another late night visitor, a cane toad, that sneaks out to eat the cat food local strays leave untouched. She would have told me I should write a book. She would have visited and helped me hunt for geckos and snails. She would have made a squidgy face over some of the creepy crawlies, like milipedes, but watched them with fascination. She would have been happy that I finally wrote a book! She always read to us as kids. She encouraged reading and sometimes you could even dodge chores if it was a particularly good bit and you promised to someone else's chores the next day. Books were Christmas and birthday gifts. Books were shared around the family. Each time we moved, she would get us library cards in the new town and we would find new books to devour as each community had different collections. A chair placed in the sun, mom with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee or apple juice in the other. This is how lazy days were passed. In the living room where she could see outside, or on the deck surrounded by flowers and the buzzing of bees, a book close to hand. She introduced me to Laura Ingalls. She bought me every new "Black Stallion" novel as they came out. She showed us James Herriott's humour and love of animals. She showed us Little Women and Little Men. Anne of Green Gables and friends lined the shelves. There were tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. She helped introduce my siblings and I to worlds beyond. In one home, I would be in my treehouse reading while mom worked in the garden below, occasional offerings of freshly pulled carrots flying up into my hideaway to rouse me into action and helping. As an adult, books arrived in the mail with crumbs between the pages, sticky notes saying "you'll LOVE this bit" or "get a tissue box, this next bit is tricky". She would tell me a book she enjoyed and I would find a copy. I would send her the same. Books and story became a big thing. I like to think that, whatever your belief system may be, mom is somewhere quietly reading in a garden. Maybe she used her newest library card to check out one of my books. Maybe she had a copy shipped to her Express Post. I like to think that she is smiling and enjoying it. I like to think she's telling her friends..."Ruthie finally wrote a book!" |
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May 2024
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