Write What Inspires You! ~ Donna M. McDine: #writingmuse

Showing posts with label #writingmuse. Show all posts

Monday, June 1, 2020

Marketing Tips and Inspiration - Rivertown Magazine Interviews, Donna McDine

To follow-up on my blog post about the importance of cultivating relationships with your local media, I'm delighted to share my recent interview with Rivertown Magazine...

Thank you for your time and interest!

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Opt-in today to the Write What Inspires You! Newsletter and join parents, teachers, and colleagues who receive Donna’s newsletter and receive two FREE e-Books: “The Story Behind the Books” and “Marketing Tips”

#rivertownmagazine
#authorinterview
#donnamcdine
#writingmuse
#writewhatinspiresyounewsletter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author
Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Angel's Forever Home ~ March 2019 ~ Mascot Books ~ 2019 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Six and Older

Dee and Deb Off They Go Kindergarten First Day Jitters ~ December 2015 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2016 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Five and Under and Story Monster Approved

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014 and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Historical Fiction 1st Place, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Honorable Mention Picture Books 6+, New England Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Friday, March 20, 2020

My Writing Muse: Behind the Scenes of The Golden Pathway by Donna McDine

Welcome to today's edition of My Writing Muse. Today I'm taking you behind the scenes of the creation of The Golden Pathway, my historical fiction early reader picture book about the Underground Railroad.

I have always had a fascination for American History and living in the historical hamlet of Tappan, New York is a constant reminder of the rich history of our country. And when the opportunity arose at the end of the Institute of Children’s Literature Writing for Children and Teenagers course to create an outline for a book idea I naturally gravitated toward the Underground Railroad.

I initially visited my local library and researched both children’s and adult books on the Underground Railroad. The wealth of information was endless, but once I focused on the central character being the son of a slave owner the story flowed. From start to finish after research it took about a year to edit and fine tune the manuscript to feel confident enough to submit to the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. After placing 12th in the Children’s/Young Adult category I then met Lynda Burch of Guardian Angel Publishing and submitted. After several more edits and expansion of the story, Ms. Burch offered me my first children’s book contract, adding about another two years to the process. It may seem like a long time, but it’s all worth it.

Where does your writing muse take you? I’d enjoy hearing about your journey.

#thegoldenpathway

#historicalfiction

#theundergroundrailroad

#donnamcdine

#writersdigest

#guardianangelpublishing

#writingmuse

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author
Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Angel's Forever Home ~ March 2019 ~ Mascot Books ~ 2019 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Six and Older

Dee and Deb Off They Go Kindergarten First Day Jitters ~ December 2015 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2016 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Five and Under and Story Monster Approved

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014 and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Historical Fiction 1st Place, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Honorable Mention Picture Books 6+, New England Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Friday, March 6, 2020

Where My Writing Muse Takes Me - Behind the Scenes of Creating A Sandy Grave by Donna McDine

Welcome to today's Where My Writing Muse Takes Me. One can never talk about the warmer weather approaching, so today I'm focusing on my award-winning children's early reader picture book, A Sandy Grave.

Beyond the enjoyment of a beach vacation I never gave much thought to marine life. Sure we’ve gone on the typical whale or dolphin watching tours and were always delighted to see these creatures come up out of the ocean. But I never truly paid attention to what some humans do to marine life, until the day I read a news article about a dead whale that washed up on shore of a California beach. What fascinated me about this article was the police needed to guard the whale, until the local marine biology institute could arrive to determine what the whale died from. The reasoning for guarding astounded me. Apparently, poachers would take the opportunity to steal the whale’s teeth to sell for artists to create scrimshaw on the teeth and then sell for a profit.

This particular article pumped up my creative writing juices and before I knew it, I was researching marine biology, Endangered Species Act, and the Mammal Protection Act. Then came the creation of the fictional storyline and characters. Once I knew how I wanted the characters to be instrumental in propelling the story along with my research, the two blended into a beach adventure with a learning aspect without preaching to the reader. Hence, A Sandy Grave was born. The title was created from points in the article and research.

Where does your writing muse take you? I'd enjoy hearing about your experiences.

Thank you for your time and interest.

#behindthescenes

#writingmuse

#asandygrave

#whalepoachers

#earlyreaderpicturebook

#picturebook

#donnamcdine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author
Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Angel's Forever Home ~ March 2019 ~ Mascot Books ~ 2019 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Six and Older

Dee and Deb Off They Go Kindergarten First Day Jitters ~ December 2015 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2016 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Five and Under and Story Monster Approved

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014 and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Historical Fiction 1st Place, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Honorable Mention Picture Books 6+, New England Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Friday, February 21, 2020

Where My Writing Must Takes Me with Award-winning children's author, Donna McDine

Happy Friday one and all!

Today, I'm taking you to a behind the scenes glimpse as to where my inspiration and muse came for my early reader picture book, Hockey Agony.

My writing muse sprouts up from many different directions. For Hockey Agony my inspiration came from watching my nieces, nephews and my own children compete in one sport or another. Over time it became concerning how some coaches, teammates and parents thought the almighty win was the most important outcome to a game. Sometimes even encouraging children to cheat or inflict bodily harm to an opponent to win. In today’s day and age it’s more important than ever to teach our children that “honesty is the best policy” and good sportsmanship is imperative. It may sound like a cliché to some, but without honesty and staying true to one’s self we would all self-destruct.

I used the backdrop of hockey since several of my nephews and a niece are avid hockey players and I wanted to pay tribute to them since I chose different names for the characters.

For Hockey Agony, even though the story of honesty and peer pressure is based around the sport of hockey, it’s important to overcome peer pressure in any circumstance that presents itself.

I’d enjoy hearing where your writing muse comes from.

Thank you for visiting!

#peerpressure

#honesty

#hockeyagony

#hockey

#goodsportsmanship

#donnamcdine

#writingmuse

Monday, February 3, 2020

Write What Inspires You! Blog Themes with Award-winning Children's Author, Donna McDine

I am delighted to be kicking off the week of February 9, 2020 my weekly blog themes for Write What Inspires You!

As with my Energy Serenity Reiki Services practice, focus continues to be my theme of 2020, rather than allowing distractions to sway me from blogging and visiting blogs on a regular basis. I've missed the personal connection with visitors and visiting colleagues in the industry.

I've created three weekly post themes....

Mondays = Marketing and Inspiration

Monday's I will focus on marketing tips or what inspires me to write.

Wednesdays = Feature of the Week: Book Reviews, Recommended Books or Author or Illustrator Interviews.

If you are an author or illustrator and would like to be featured at Write What Inspires You! please feel free to leave a comment or email me at donna@donnamcdine.com. Not only will your interview be featured right here, I will feature your interview in my Write What Inspires You! Newsletter and throughout my social media channels.

Fridays = Where My Writing Muse Takes Me

Friday's may be a glimpse into the world of one of my six children's books, a literary calendar book fans focus or what sparks my muse at the given moment.

I look forward to lively engagement.

Thank you for your time and interest!

#donnamcdine
#authorinterviews
#bookreviews
#awardwinningchildrensauthor
#writingmuse

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author
Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Angel's Forever Home ~ March 2019 ~ Mascot Books ~ 2019 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Six and Older

Dee and Deb Off They Go Kindergarten First Day Jitters ~ December 2015 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2016 Purple Dragonfly Honorable Mention Picture Books Five and Under and Story Monster Approved

A Sandy Grave ~ January 2014 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2014 Purple Dragonfly 1st Place Picture Books 6+, Story Monster Approved, Beach Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014 and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Historical Fiction 1st Place, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 2015 Purple Dragonfly Book Award Honorable Mention Picture Books 6+, New England Book Festival Honorable Mention 2014, Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist