Saturday, March 29, 2008

Writing for Children Blog Fest


If you've ever wanted to write for children, do write for children, or simply enjoy reading excerpts of newly or upcoming releases, then The Writing Jungle is the place to go.

Starting from now until April 5th you have a chance to meet 22 writers, running the gamut from picture books to young adult, all eager to meet and read your comments. You also have an opportunity to be one of our lucky random door prize winners on April 5th. How? All you have to do is leave our guest writers a comment, that's it.

Here are just some of our writers you'll have an opportunity to meet:

Beverly Stowe McClure
Margot Finke
Lori Calabrese
Vivian Zabel
Lea Schizas
Kim Chatel
Donna McDine
And many more.

You'll read everything from excerpts, reviews, why they write for children,
tips on writing for children, some of their characters will be on hand posting
their own thoughts; you can also ask writing questions if writing for children
is something you've thought about.

Come to The Writing Jungle, http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ now and
let's have some fun.

Lea Schizas
http://leaschizaseditor.com/http://museitupclub.tripod.com/

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Benefits of Reading and Writing to Our Children


Reviews for Kids by Kids invites teachers and parents
to encourage their children to participate.

A new educational website, Musing Our Children, presented
by several writers, offers the opportunity for parents and teachers
to join them. Their mission: show children the benefits of reading
and writing via classroom visits and through their review site aimed for children eighteen and under.

Teachers are encouraged to have their students read a book and then
submit a short review to “Reviews by Kids For Kids”. For guidelines
on review submissions, click here:
http://musingourchildren.tripod.com/id27.html

Musing our Children also offers a FREE online PDF download,
“Pages and Pens-your tools to imagination” for teachers to use within
their classrooms. Within each PDF, you’ll find such topics as:

-suggested reading books
-interviews with children authors
-geography info on various cities in each issue
-reading and writing tips from writers
and more.

Musing Our Children is the brainchild of Lea Schizas, founder of the
MuseitUp Club, an online critique community and a Writer’s Digest
101 Best Writing Site since 2005.

For more information on Musing Our Children, link here:
http://musingourchildren.tripod.com/

For more information on Lea Schizas, link here:
http://leaschizaseditor.com/

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Guest Author ~ Tony Robles


Children's Author, Tony Robles, will be my guest author at my blog - http://www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com/ on April 14th and be sure to come back on April 16th to read my book review of "Joey Gonzalez, Great American."


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Muse It Up Club

Join the MuseItUp Club today!

The club was created to gather together serious writers of fiction and non-fiction. The goal of the club is to match critique partners for writers who are willing to offer and revise a fellow writer's work.

All skill levels are welcome. The only prerequisite: have a genuine passion for writing.

The club is for everyone who enjoys writing anything from flash fiction to novels, all genres. If you enjoy writing and mingling with writers then The MuseItUp Club is just what you were searching for.

All stories remain the copyrighted property of the author. Our individual groups are all private, by invitation or approval by the moderator only.
The MuseItUp Club welcomes new and seasoned writers. Find out how you can JOIN.

One of the perks of being a Muser in any one of our affiliated websites is a monthly FREE Links e-book. Now, you get an opportunity to benefit, as well. Find out what our LINKS section has to offer you. That section will continue to grow so make sure to bookmark us and come back often.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Choices ~ My Secrets by Thomas Wade Bounds

Title: Choices ~ My Secrets
Written by: Thomas Wade Bounds
Hardback: 72 pages
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN: 978-1-60477-369-9
Publication: November 2007

Rachel, a fun loving and well adjusted teenager with a wonderful circle of friends finds herself drawn to a boy form the “rivalry” school. Against the “high school code” and the advice of her best friend Katherine, Rachel begins a forbidden summer romance with Gary. They both plan out their secret meetings and their growing attraction blossoms into a full fledge romance.

At the onset of her senior year and Gary’s first year away at school, Rachel finds herself up against the most challenging time of her young life. She turns her back on her family and friends. Rachel is lost in despair, until her encounter with an unexpected stranger.

“God, please direct me. Help with my life and where I have taken it to. I ask You to pick me up, carry me, and take me in the direction You want me to go. This is a walk down a path that I do not know how to handle. Lord, show me the way.”

Thomas Wade Bounds writes from the heart and soul to bring the reader into an all too well known “epidemic” of teenagers. We must, as parents, talk with and guide our children in the power of love and God.

Visit Thomas Wade bounds at http://www.heritagevalues.com/

Book review written by Donna M. McDine for Pump Up Your Book Promotion

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Guest Author ~ Thomas Wade Bounds


What inspires you to write?

My kids inspire me to write. They are so incredible, with tremendous talent, smiles, laughter and wonder within their mind that is still in the developmental stages. They are so happy, loving, kind and so curious with questions of innocents one moment and then the next they can be so bold and ready to conquer each other and attempt to topple us.

We parents hold the love to guide, to discipline and to know when to let go. What comes to my mind is how to put this to rest or ask the question without worry of having I done enough? What can I do to help resolve the explosion of the moment? What if the explosion of the moment is too big for them to handle and we are not there?

What does it take to calm them and prepare them for that instant? Will they be safe and out of harms way? When do they understand the lesson from the path of which they have just traveled? Or do they get a second chance? They seem to know everything, but then ask why? Why should I do that? They ask why because their minds are still developing and gaining information for them to act on and not react to. How to make a choice right or wrong or even how to understand what is right or wrong.

Today Hollywood and the media have made life seem so unreal; you can make choices and then there are no real consequences from them. Kids accept that, then do not relate to or understand how to identify what the real right choice should be.

Only a parent holds the answers to what they want their child to do, and we must depend upon God’s Wisdom and Guidance to get that right.

To help a mind grow and achieve is wonderful and beautiful. To me watching kids learn something that was once a challenge is more than exciting; it is the impact of love you have for your child and the love your child is learning to have for you, with respect and understanding.

To give a gift of reason and wisdom is a gift that gives back trust. That leads to building a strong parent/child relationship through the years when they may have a tendency to rebel.

I was once told by a minister that he wrote down all of the mistakes that he made during his teen years and then gave it to his child and said, “These are my mistakes, read them learn them, now go make your own.” Passing knowledge on to our kids is giving them the power of an experience that can stand strong against peer pressure and other interferences. When they are preparing for a test, do they just show up and take it, and then hope for the best?

Well, kids today have tests everyday and we should stand up and prepare them for the tests of life. We never know when our kids or even other kids that we do not even know will put our kids in positions that can have serious consequences and life threatening or even fatal situations. I believe that as a parent I need to arm my kids with an experience that they can turn to and relate to when in tights spots. They will not be able to turn and ask for guidance from us when these situations are occurring, even cell phones—though good lines of communication between kids and parents—do not always work in these troubled times. Developing your kids to come up with solutions and to have wisdom of today’s issues is the best preparation for tomorrow’s troubles.

My son asked me, “Dad, why do you write these books?” Well, we then sat down to read them. He turned to me and said, “Now I know why.” He said to me, “Thanks Dad.” We have had many conversations about issues that would normally not come up.

My daughter has read the other series that I am working on that is for the younger child and parent. She has grown so much and asks questions that are truly eye opening to me. Again conversations that are wonderful and graceful allow the child and parent to connect and both can develop kindness, patience, honor, and trust with each other that builds wisdom for kids they otherwise would not have. Together a family becomes open with each other in more ways than by just saying I love you. You will be amazed at the conversations that you can have through questions that our kids long to ask.

I write to inspire my kids; to fill them with more than love; to give them solid thinking power; to open their minds to questions that can only be answered with wisdom by loving parents and power to help them find the messages that God intends for them to find and hold with understanding; to equip them, so when in trouble they are in a position to act, not react. This I pray will help others as well.

I thank God for the wisdom He teaches and provides for us to learn and pass on.

Visit Thomas Wade Bounds at: http://www.authorsden.com/wwwthomaswadebounds

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Winner Announced ~ 2008 Writing Goals and What Inspires You to Keep Writing Contest

Please join me in congratulating children's writer, Jessica Kennedy!

Her winning entry is posted below and at my website:
http://www.donnamcdine.com/newsannouncements.html

"My ultimate goal for 2008 is to get my young adult memoir and a children’s picture book published. I’m inspired to strive toward reaching these goals because it supplies me with an identity separate from my disabilities. The fact that there is little else I can do and am lucky that I do it well drives me.

In 1998 I caught spinal meningitis, had a brainstem stroke and became a ventilator dependent quadriplegic. Day after day, of therapy, melted into another. My life had little meaning and I was its unwilling prisoner. Just a thing with no purpose or worth. After six years of merely existing, I felt my old independent streak trying to break free of the bonds of complacency.

I was no longer a 26 year old idealist pursuing a legal career, children and marriage. I did not know who I was or if and what it was possible to be or become. All I knew was I had to do something. The nothingness was killing me. The need to engage my brain and exert my independence overpowered me. I began to type out my frustrations. I started to write a memoir of my stroke and rehabilitation.

There was an online class called Write Your Life Story. I enrolled. The girl in a wheelchair and on a ventilator took a backseat to the student and writer I became. I talked with other students and received and gave writing advice. This was a beginning. My life had not ended, but took a new direction

I was inspired to write, because I could write. It only required assistance from others to place my computer before me. With a keyboard and computer, I am a writer. Reliant on no one or nothing, but the muse that fills my soul to be unleashed upon the page. I am inspired to write, because it makes me who I am."

She has also received the winning logo of the contest to post on her blog and/or website.

For more information on Jessica please visit her at:
Jessica Kennedy

Friday, March 7, 2008

Book Review - Money and Manifesting by Dyan Garris

Welcome back to Dyan Garris!

She will be joining me again today to answer any questions that you may have.

Once again walk away feeling inspired!

Below is my book review of Money and Manifesting ~ a must read!




Title: Money and Manifesting
Written by: Dyan Garris
Hardback: 175 pages
Publisher: Journeymakers, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-9776140-6-6
Publication: February 2008

To learn how to open the energy pathways and balance the mind, body, and spirit is instrumental in manifestation. Positive thoughts are important, but along with the teachings of Dyan Garris, she provides guidance in adding chakras into your thought process so that you can achieve your dreams.

Written in direct terms with excerpts of fictional characters to better visualize how the energies work the reader will learn the meanings and locations of each chakra and how to balance them to achieve wealth, prosperity, and transformation.

To be able to clear the pathways of each chakra you need to learn and institute in your daily life the Breathing and Relaxation Techniques, Prana Breathing, Grounding Centering, and Create a Sanctuary.

“In order to effect any change we first have to be WILLING to DO something differently. The mind must be in alignment with the will. We can then use change as a catalyst to freeing up the energy of money.”

All of this takes the “Integration of Mind, Body, and Spirit.”

Read, “Money and Manifesting,” and learn how to implement all that Dyan teaches and practices herself. These teachings will help guide you to the life you so richly deserve.

Dyan Garris is a clairvoyant, clairsentient, and clairaudient. To learn more about Dyan and her powerful teachings please visit her at http://www.dyangarris.com/.

Book review written by Donna M. McDine for Pump Up Your Book Promotion

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Guest Author, Dyan Garris ~ Beyond The Secret



Join me today along with Guest Author, Dyan Garris ~

You will walk away feeling inspired!


I’ve spent a lifetime helping people unblock what’s in their way so they can move forward on the path. And in late 2005 I began building an entire CD series of music and meditation to help people do exactly that in an easy and enjoyable way. So when The Secret came out, I chuckled to myself, shrugged my shoulders and said, “This isn’t a secret.”

The power of positive thinking and the laws of attraction are valid truths that have been around for years. What The Secret did was get these truths into the lives of millions, setting the stage for real and necessary transformation. Because of that, positive thinking and the laws of attraction now resonate as truth in collective consciousness. It’s a good start.


As important as that is, many have recently discovered that these are not enough to create what they really desire. The Secret has left many disillusioned and as unhappy as before they came in contact with it. There are missing pieces of the puzzle. So, as part of the next logical step to the building of a set of tools for people to use for real transformation, I wrote Money and Manifesting. It isn’t just about manifesting money. It’s definitely about money, but also about manifesting all of your desires.


Now I will let you in on a little secret. While positive thinking and the laws of attraction are part of the equation, we must learn to integrate them into our daily lives. The positive thoughts must resonate as truth, not only in our minds but also in our root chakra, because that is where the power of creation lives. If you are blocked there in your base, you won’t be able to create much of anything. And if you do manage to create something, you’ll have trouble keeping it unless you heal and unblock whatever it is that is blocking you in your very core.


I can hear some of you asking, “What is a root chakra?” Because not everyone knows what that is, I’ve fictionalized parts of the book with characters that each have root chakra blocks. These are interesting people that everyone can relate with. There is a story here as well as information on what stands in your way and how exactly to create what you desire. If we can identify with something or someone, if we can see ourselves reflected, we have an opportunity for change and subsequent transformation.


What I’m really excited about is that simply by virtue of the way this is written you’re engaging both your left brain and right brain, and you’re already learning to integrate. When you get done reading you’ve already taken the first step toward manifesting. You will feel the shift immediately.


If you want to go way beyond The Secret, you need to learn how energy works and how it flows. You need to learn exactly how to unblock the energy of money and how to create something out of nothing. You need to learn how to not only clear your limiting belief systems but how to implement and integrate this learning. You need the real secrets.

Dyan Garris is the author of "Money and Manifesting," "Voice of the Angels – A Healing Journey Spiritual Cards," "The Book of Daily Channeled Messages," "Talk To Your Food! Intuitive Cooking," and "Fish Tale of Woe – Lost At Sea." She publishes a Daily Channeled Message at http://www.voiceoftheangels.com/


In 2005 she created a series of music and meditation CDs for healing, Automatic Chakra Balance,™ help in sleeping, relaxation, and vibrational attunement of mind, body, and spirit.

Don't forget to surf on back on Friday, March 7th ~ when I post my review of, "Money and Manifesting"