A writer inspired by nature and human nature

Author Spotlight: Margo Bond Collins

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Listen LIVE on Tuesday 2/13/2014

Find out about author Margo Bond Collins and join Reviews Book Club! ~ Bette A. Stevens

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MBC

(Please join me in welcoming Rave Reviews Book Club, Author SPOTLIGHT Margo Bond Collins.)

The Joy of Online Book Clubs

by Margo Bond Collins

In addition to writing novels, I teach online courses in college English—primarily writing classes. This means that almost all of my work is done from home. I tend to be more introverted than extraverted, so generally, I’m happy with my current job situation.

But I used to teach traditional college classes, and I miss discussing books. I miss discussing the characters and their motivations, the way a plot moves, the wording an author chooses. I miss interacting with other people about the novels that I love to read.

And this is why I love belonging to online book clubs like Rave Reviews: it allows me to talk books with other people who love to read! And in this case, I love discussing books with other…

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on 02/13/2014

Share the Gift of Reading!

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Find out more at February 12, 2014

AFacebook-Cover-Image-Amazing Matildauthor Interview  http://lindaraeblairauthor.wordpress.com/author-interviews-2/authorillustrator-interview-bette-a-stevens-childrens-literature/

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on 02/12/2014

Get Fresh! Write the BEST Body Language with Margie Lawson

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Writers: A great post to check out!

~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com

writersinthestorm's avatarWriters In The Storm Blog

Margie LawsonBy Margie Lawson

 Big hugs to Laura Drake for inviting me to post at WITS today.

I love teaching writers how to create their best, best, best writing. Writing that draws the reader in so deep, that when the POV character’s heart races, the reader clutches their chest.

Best writing carries specificity and clarity. It carries nuanced power in its structure and style. It carries a compelling cadence in every sentence that drives the reader from the first word to the last.

Best writing cuts words that reader’s skim and adds words that increase power.

Writing body language and dialogue cues at the best level pushes writers beyond using at-the-ready basics and beat-fillers. Best writing doesn’t use words and phrases that are predictable, overused, clichéd. Best writing is fresh writing.

Writers Need to be Kinesics Specialists

Writers need to be experts at reading body language, experts at writing nuanced…

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on 02/12/2014

Share THE GIFT OF READING…

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Valentines-Day-Book-BucksMelissa’s got a brilliant way to share the gift of reading this Valentine’s Day!

This year, Melissa Taylor is giving her kids Valentines’ Day Book Bucks instead of stuffed animals or candy.

Melissa has made free printable book bucks you can easily download and print for your kids, too! http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/02/valentines-day-book-bucks/

Gift of Book Bucks

Post by Melissa Taylor

Like most kids, my kids love to choose their own books to read. They enjoy browsing the bookstore almost as much as me. (Which is one of my favorite things EVER.)

I think book bucks are win-win: kids get to pick out their own books, and we all get a fun outing to the bookstore.

Valentines-Day-Book-Bucks-Certificate-sm save as

– See more at: http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/02/valentines-day-book-bucks/#sthash.0AvxKsKk.dpuf

HAPPY READING & GIVING! ~ Bette A. Stevens at http://www.4writersandreaders.com

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on 02/10/2014

Book review: ‘The Flower Child – La Niña Flor’ by Deborah Eve Alastra

02 09 14

GREAT BOOK FOR KIDS! Helping children cope with losing a friend! ~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com

Joe Cortes's avatarpublicatuebook's Blog

flowerchild

The Flower Child, now available in hardback,  is about a young flower child that loses her best friend.

Did you ever lose a friend when you were a child? If you did, or if one of your children did, you can understand this can be a terrible and stressful event.

Children lose friends due to relocation, divorce, illness or even death. Some might blame themselves for the loss and they need emotional support to help them understand and deal with the loss. This is a wound that can last for many years.

In ‘The Flower Child – La Niña Flor,’ Dashi has lost her best friend, Rousseau the Rose. Rousseau is never coming back and Dashi will have to live with that fact.

The story helps young children learn to handle this type of loss and demonstrates, as hard as it seems, that life goes on and new friends…

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10 Awesome Reasons for Reading Aloud to Your Kids Whatever Their Age.

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310083_603823222966722_1762339231_nInvest in the future… READ WITH THE KIDS! ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator  http://www.4writersandreaders.comhttp://www.4writersandreaders.com

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on 02/06/2014

Priceless!

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Picture and note from a reader—priceless!

Thank you, Vida! ~ Author/Illustrator Bette A. Stevens

Thank you, Vida and Bianca! ~ Author/Illustrator Bette A. Stevens

“Hi Bette,

I thought you’d like to see this picture… My younger granddaughter Bianca and I enjoyed Amazing Matilda very much. Even though she was tired, after whole day at her daycare she still wanted to hear the whole story. Then, next day, she brought the book to me and wanted to hear it again. Thank you for such an AMAZING book.” ~ Vida Sreta Zuljevic

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on 02/06/2014

Inspiration for Writers

02 05 14

Inspirational! ~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com

jenowenby's avatarJens Thoughts

Stormy weather on a city streetWriting is hard work! When we think we’ve got it figured out an editor or trusted friend lets us know there are still plot holes. Maybe we realize we left out key elements, missed tying up a loose end, or we just put our head on our desk and stay there the rest of the day. Here’s some encouragement, keep writing and don’t give up!

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose. – Stephen King

Prose is architecture, not interior decoration. – Ernest Hemingway

It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way. – Ernest Hemingway

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. —Ernest Hemingway

A word is not the same with one writer as with another.  One tears it from his guts.  The other pulls it out of his…

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WNW Welcomes Rave Reviews Book Club 2nd “SPOTLIGHT” AUTHOR, KATIE HAYOZ!!!

02 02 14

If YOU haven’t joined Rave Reviews Book Club, right now is a great time to get started. ~ Bette A. Stevens

nonniejules's avatarWatch Nonnie Write!

That Novel Will Never Be Perfect

From Katie Hayoz

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I’m not a perfectionist.  Little mistakes don’t bother me.  But when it comes to my writing, I take pride in what I do and I want what I put out there to be not just decent, but good.  I rewrote Untethered at least eighteen times.  Literally.  And I’m talking full-on, rip-it-up and make do with the shreds kind of rewriting, not moving sentences around. What started as a five page story ended up (20 years later) to be a 340 page novel.  That novel went through so many critiquing sessions and beta readers that I was sure it would be perfection by the time it was published.

Ha.  Not quite.

Writing is art, and like all art there is a point where the person creating the work just has to stop. She just has to tell herself that particular piece…

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February, poem by Linda Pasdan

02 02 14

Lovely images for a February day! ~ Bette A. Stevens

silverbirchpress's avatarSilver Birch Press

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FEBRUARY (Excerpt from “The Months”)
by Linda Pastan

After endless
hibernation
on the windowsill,
the orchid blooms—
 
embroidered purple stitches
up and down
a slender stem.
Outside, snow
 
melts midair
to rain.
Abbreviated month.
Every kind of weather.
***
Read “The Months” in its entirety at poetryfoundation.org. Originally published in Poetry (October 1999).

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