A writer inspired by nature and human nature

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SENSATIONAL SUMMER: A Monarch Butterfly Poem by Bette A. Stevens

Illustrations for Sensational Summer are from Bette's award-winning children's picure book, AMAZING MATILDA.

Illustrations for the poem “Sensational Summer” are from Bette’s award-winning children’s picture book, AMAZING MATILDA.

Much like a Monarch butterfly, the summer is quickly flying past us here at The Farmstead in Central Maine. In fact, it won’t be long before these amazing butterflies begin their great southern migration to Mexico, where they’ll aggregate (cluster in dense tree cover) to keep warm, enabling this generation of monarchs to winter over before they mate and begin the next generation’s migration north for the 2017 season. Matilda (a Monarch butterfly and the main character in my picture book AMAZING MATILDA) and I wish you and yours a sensational summer! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator

We invite you to take a look inside AMAZING MATILDA, A Monarch’s Tale and check out other books by Bette A. Stevens

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Written

on 07/31/2016

Pure Trash

“This work was recommended to me by my editor, and now I know why… Most enjoyable!” ~ Kev Cooper
(Read all about it and grab a copy of PURE TRASH by Bette A. Stevens at YOUR AMAZON today! http://bit.ly/1BMrqbL )

Category:

#IndieBooksBeSeen, Fiction, Inspirational Fiction, Literature, Maine Author, My Books, PURE TRASH by Bette A. Stevens, Recommended Reads, Short Stories, Uncategorized

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DOG BONE SOUP—ONLY 99¢ thru MAY 31st!

“Adventures and misadventures to the likes of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry…”

DOG BONE SOUP by Bette A. Stevens
ONLY 99¢ for 7 days: May 25–31, 2016
Grab a copy today on YOUR AMAZON!

SUMMARY

DOG BONE SOUP is not only the title of Bette A. Stevens’s debut novel; it ranks high among the paltry meals that the book’s protagonist, Shawn Daniels, wants to forget. Plodding through mounting snow and battling howling winds, Shawn is ready to leave it all behind—living in poverty, Dad’s drinking, life in foster care, the divorce, the bullies—it’s a story about survival, struggle and the human spirit—rising about it all.

Travel with Shawn Daniels through the guts and the glories of life. You’ll find them all in DOG BONE SOUP—a Boomer’s coming-of-age saga.

5✰ REVIEW

“DOG BONE SOUP is a fascinating literary study of poverty and family dysfunctional in the 1950 & 1960s. It is written in a fast-flowing, entertaining style that kept my turning pages, one after another.

“Despite the odds stacked against them, two brothers—Shawn Daniels and Willie—manage to survive, escaping the rants of a drunken abusive father and the hardships of rural life, cutting out on daily adventures and misadventures to the likes of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry. DOG BONE SOUP is about making the best of what you have. It’s a story about survival, struggle, and the human spirit—rising above it all. As with all great literature, it is underscored with life lessons particularly memorable to this generation.

“This is true-to-life Americana; a story any Baby Boomer, rich or poor, can connect with and enjoy.” ~ Frank Scozzari, author

Tell your friends all about it…

And don’t forget to grab a copy of DOG BONE SOUP for yourself—only 99¢ at YOUR AMAZON today!

About the author

Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies—an endangered species (and milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).

Stevens is the author of AMAZING MATILDA, an award-winning picture book; The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too!, a home/school resource incorporating hands-on math and writing; and PURE TRASH, the short story prequel to her début novel, DOG BONE SOUP, a Boomer’s coming of age story.

DOG BONE SOUP by Bette A. Stevens
“Rising above it all!”
ONLY 99¢ for 7 days: May 25–31, 2016

Grab a copy today on YOUR AMAZON!

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#IndieBooksBeSeen, Books, DOG BONE SOUP by Bette A. Stevens, Fiction, History, Indie Authors, Literature, Maine Author, My Books, Parenting, Reading with Children

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PURE TRASH by Bette A. Stevens and it’s #FREE May 19–23

It’s PURE TRASH (Historical Fiction/short story) by Bette A. Stevens—a “Compelling Prequel” to the novel DOG BONE SOUP and the eBook version is #FREE at YOUR AMAZON http://bit.ly/1BMrqbL from May 19th through May 23rd.

Review blurbs

“Amazing prose!” ~ JC

“A powerful short story” ~ Nicholas C. Rossis

“A Window into a Baby Boomer’s Saturday” ~ Kristina Steiner

Book Summary

The year is 1955. Remember the Good Old Days? You know, the 1950s and ‘60s, when America was flying high. The All American Family lived a life filled with hopes and dreams and life’s necessities too. Shawn Daniels isn’t your typical American Boomer Boy. No, Shawn is a poor boy. He can’t join Boy Scouts or sports teams. There’s not even enough money for necessities. Besides, Shawn doesn’t have time for that. But when chores are done, there’s always fishing! In this short story, Shawn and Willie Daniels are off on a Saturday adventure in search of trash to turn into treasure. It’s going to be a great day. Shawn is sure of it. No school and no bullies to remind him that he’s not one of the crowd. This is a story about bullies and what it’s like to be bullied (and not just by kids). It may redefine your definition of bullying. If you were a child who was thought of as “different” in some way, you know what bullying is about: torment, persecution, intimidation, to name a few of its synonyms. For Shawn and Willie, their difference was defined by the social status of their dysfunctional family and the alcoholism and abject poverty in which they grew up.

PURE TRASH is the must-read prequel to the author’s novel DOG BONE SOUP, A Boomer’s (coming-of-age) story. Download PURE TRASH for #FREE today (May 19-23) http://bit.ly/1BMrqbL

About the author

Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies—an endangered species (and for milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).

Find out more about the author and purchase her books at http://viewauthor.at/BetteAStevens

[Explore Bette’s Blog]

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#IndieBooksBeSeen, About the Author, Fiction, Inspirational, Inspirational Fiction, Literature, My Books, PURE TRASH by Bette A. Stevens

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Pure Trash… Free Book Promo

PURE TRASH, a short story prequel to DOG BONE SOUP #FREE at your Amazon MAY 19-23. Already have a copy? Please share the good news. Thanks, Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com

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Book Picks, Fiction, History, Maine Author, My Books, PURE TRASH by Bette A. Stevens, Recommended Reads, Uncategorized

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Get Caught Reading with Bette A. Stevens

YOU’RE INVITED

Friday, May 20th at 1:30 p.m. It’s GET CAUGHT READING MONTH and Annette Rochelle Aben will be interviewing me on The Magic Happens Radio Network. Come join us! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator

Category:

About the Author, AMAZING MATILDA by Bette A. Stevens, author interview, Author Interviews, Book Picks, Books, Inspirational Fiction, Maine Author, Video

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Amazing Matilda

Another AMAZING 5✰ REVIEW for MATILDA! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator http://www.4writersandreaders.com

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AMAZING MATILDA by Bette A. Stevens, Children's Literature, Children's Picture Book, Education, Fiction, Maine Author, My Books, Nature, Reading with Children

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Season of Blossoms a Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

Inspired by nature

Spring has sprung and apple trees are shouting about it here at the farmstead in Central Maine. After a long winter’s nap their branches are bursting into bloom. With temperatures in the 70s and sunshine in full array (Oh, but rain predicted to be on its way…), this writer is shouting about it too. Inspired by another of nature’s wonders ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author illustrator

What’s inspiring you this spring?

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Written

on 05/13/2016

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Wishing everyone a Happy & Blessed Mother’s Day.
~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator

Author Bio

Inspired by nature and human nature, author Bette A. Stevens is a retired elementary and middle school teacher, a wife, mother of two and grandmother of five. Stevens lives in Central Maine with her husband on their 37-acre farmstead where she enjoys reading, writing, gardening, walking and reveling in the beauty of nature. She advocates for children and families, for childhood literacy and for the conservation of monarch butterflies (milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat).

Stevens’s children’s book, THE TANGRAM ZOO and WORD PUZZLES TOO! was first published in 1997 by Windswept House Publishing, Mt. Desert, ME; a second edition was self-published by the author in 2012. AMAZING MATILDA , Stevens’s second children’s book, self-published in 2012 won a 2013 Purple Dragonfly Book Award (Honorable Mention for Excellence in Children’s Literature – Ages 6 and older category) and also placed #9 on The 2013 Gittle List for Self-published Children’s Picture Books. Stevens has written articles for ECHOES, The Northern Maine Journal of Rural Culture based in Caribou, Maine. In 2013, the author published her first book for the YA/Adult audience: PURE TRASH, a short story of a boy growing up in rural New England in a family whose poverty and alcoholism mark him as a target for bullying by young and old alike. This short story is a prequel to Stevens’s début novel DOG BONE SOUP released January 2015.

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Written

on 05/07/2016

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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Mama I Miss You… (poem by Bette A. Stevens)

Wishing everyone a “Happy Mother’s Day” and sharing a poem written in 2014 to celebrate my beautiful mother on her birthday. ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator

It will be nine years ago on August 8, 2007, when I called Mama to wish her a Happy Birthday and, as usual, we talked for hours. It was the last birthday we got to ‘celebrate’ together. Mama left us for her heavenly home the following April and there hasn’t been a day since that I haven’t thought about her and missed her. Mama’s strength of character, her poise, wit and unconditional love live on within all those whose lives she touched. The photograph (circa 1951) of Mama and me was taken in California.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mama. I miss you.