Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Debra Beck - My Feet Aren't Ugly: A Girl's Guide to Loving Herself from the Inside Out

Debra Beck, author of "My Feet Aren't Ugly: A Girl's Guide to Loving Herself from the Inside Out," will be my guest author on November 30th. Be sure to check back for her post on What Inspires Her.

Be sure to visit The Muse Book Reviews - http://themusebookreviews.tripod.com/ on December 7th to view my book review.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Announcing New Website!

With my inspiration still riding high from the 2007 Muse Online Conference held two weeks ago I am thrilled to announce my new website.
Surf on over to take a look at: http://www.donnamcdine.com/

My site includes information on my writing career, Book Reviews, News & Announcements, and School Visit information.

Friday, October 19, 2007

School Visit to Haverstraw Middle School, Haverstraw, New York



HUGE SUCCESS!

In conjunction with Musing Our Children (http://musingourchildren.tripod.com/), I conducted my first ever school visit at Haverstraw Middle School today. I met with two sixth grade classes.



The first was with an ELA (English Language Arts) class. After a brief introduction by teacher, Mrs. Debra Brennan, I immediately drew the students in with tidbits of my youth and briefly explained to the students about my background.

A fictional short story was read out loud to the students. They were then broken into groups of four to brainstorm and develop a 3-4 sentence paragraph regarding the last sentence of the story: “Hey, wait up. Let me tell you how I scared the last new kid. You’ll laugh your head off.”

It was also shared with them that their brainstorms and paragraphs do not need to be perfect. The concept of the activity was to have fun and to get their creativity going.

The second group was a Science class. Again a brief introduction was conducted by the teacher and myself.

Before beginning to read the non-fiction article on jellyfish, I engaged the students in conversation about different species of the ocean. The article was read out loud to the students and then broke up into groups of four to develop a graphic organizer of eight characteristics of jellyfish.

Even though this age group is use to working independently the teacher and I walked around to the groups to check on their progress and to see if they needed guidance. Both classes jumped right into their tasks without hesitation and produced fine results.

The enthusiasm, creativity, and group work of the students was quite the rewarding experience!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

L. Diane Wolfe - Guest Post

I'm thrilled to have author & speaker, L. Diane Wolfe visiting today! She shares with us what inspires her to write. Read on for her insightful words:




What inspires me?

In contemplating the topic of writing young adult fiction, I have to ask the question – why do I write what I write? What is my true motivation for the words I put on paper? What impact do I want them to have on the world?

Sadly, I don’t think enough authors and writers ask those questions of themselves!

You have to believe in the story you are creating. You have to know the subject matter, hold convictions in the storyline, and love your characters with all your heart. And you also have to be responsible for how others will view your work and what message they will take from your story.

The temptation for YA writers is to conform to the flavor of the moment. Currently dark fantasy and horror, steeped heavily in the macabre, is very common. Also at the top of the popular list are several salacious series following rich, spoiled teens partaking in all sorts of deviant behavior. Controversy sells, and these books move quickly off the shelves. But is their message really representing the heart of the writers?

When I began writing my series, The Circle of Friends, I had one purpose in mind – to inspire others to achieve. I had spent several years in a motivational training system and learned the principals of goal setting, people skills, and maintaining a positive attitude. Armed with this training, I began seeking a vehicle through which I could encourage others. There were already plenty of non-fiction books available on the subject, so I decided to pour the knowledge into a fictional book series. Portraying healthy relationship dynamics and entertaining readers at the same time appealed to me, and my series rapidly took shape.

The underlying theme of overcoming flows through each book. LORI follows a swimmer with Olympic dreams and focuses on setting goals and a positive attitude. SARAH portrays a character lacking in self-esteem and desperate to find belief in herself. JAMES focuses on a young man trying to overcome past abuse and make something of his life. MIKE tells the story of a young man who can’t forgive himself for a past mistake and ultimately questions his own beliefs. HEATHER, the one I am currently writing, portrays a headstrong character that must learn to accept others as they are and not be so selfish.

My inspiration now comes from another source as well. Letters and emails from fans, proclaiming that my books have restored their confidence and encouraged them to pursue their goals, keep me writing! My purpose was to motivate others and knowing The Circle of Friends has done just that is true success to me.

Now that you know what inspires me, I have to pose the questions – what inspires YOU?

-Author & Speaker, L. Diane Wolfe http://www.thecircleoffriends.net/


This Virtual Book Tour has been brought to you by:

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Muse Online Conference 2007


I had the privilege to attend the The Muse Online Conference 2007 last week, organized by Lea Schizas of:

MuseItUp Club http://museitupclub.tripod.com/
Apollo's Lyre http://www.apollos-lyre.com/
Meet Lea: http://leaschizaseditor.tripod.com/

and Carolyn Howard-Johnson award-winning author of the HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers. http://www.howtodoitfrugally./ Also find her blogs at: http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/
http://www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/
http://www.authorscoalition.blogspot.com/

This is an amazing opportunity to attend week long workshops and author chats held by an enormous amount of speakers all from the comfort of you own home!

The Muse Online Writers Conference was created out of a need to make certain as many writers as possible have the opportunity to be involved and get to meet other like writers and professional figures in the writing world. There are far too many writers who either don’t have the monetary means to attend a ‘real face-to-face’ conference, are situated too far away, or have some sort of a disability causing them to refrain from attending.

The Muse Goldbar offers snippets and whole workshop lessons presented in our 2006 Conference for you to enjoy. If you want to check out what you missed click the below link to learn more: http://museonlineconference.tripod.com/id23.html

I cannot not stress enough that this is a golden opportunity that you cannot miss for 2008.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

So B. It by Sarah Weeks - Middle Grade Book Review

My middle grade book review of So B. It by Sarah Weeks is posted at the Stories for Children Magazine - http://storiesforchildren.tripod.com/id3.html

Stop on over and check it out...plus the magazine has many wonderful stories from fellow children's writers!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Middle Grade Book Review - A Crooked Kind of Perfect

My middle grade book review of A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban is up for reviewing at The National Writing for Children Center - http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com/.

Cruise on by and view the article and the many other exciting writing for children articles.

Additional exciting news: I sent a personal email to author Linda Urban and she contacted me to receive a copy of the book review.

My networking contacts continue to grow by putting myself outside there on a constant basis.

I want to extend my appreciation of all that I have come in contact with over the past two years for their openness to discuss their writing careers and their encouraging words of support!

Friday, October 5, 2007

Guest Bloggers thru Pump Up Your Promotion

October and November will be a busy time with several guest bloggers. The following authors will be visiting, "Write What Inspires You":

L. Diane Wolfe, author of The Circle of Friends - October 18th - Visit her at: http://www.thecircleoffriends.net/ - currently posted. Book review will come at a later date.

Dyan Garris, author of Voice of the Angels Cookbook - Talk to Your Food: Intuitive Cooking - My book review: November 13th and her guest post: November 26th - Visit her at http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/

Sheila Roberts, author of On Strike for Christmas - Guest post: November 14th - Visit her at: http://www.sheilasplace.com/

Darrell Bain - Savage Survival - Guest post: November 19th - Visit him at: http://www.darrellbain.com/

At the time of their visits I will also be posting my reviews of their book...unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going - Book Review

Please click on the below link to read my book review on "The Garden of Eve," by K.L. Going:

http://klgoing.com/reviews.htm

The link brings you directly to K.L. Going's website.

The book review was completed for the National Writing for Children Center and author, K.L. Going personally requested permission to post it on her website.

I am truly honored!