HAVE YOU HERD? October 2017 Edition (Giveaway Video at the End) Written by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez Guardian Herd art by David McClellan |
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COVER REVEAL & ARC GIVEAWAY TOMORROW! Jen at Pop Goes the Reader will reveal the cover of ACROSS THE DARK WATER, the first book in the new RIDERS OF THE REALM trilogy! She's also giving away an autographed ARC (advance reader copy) of book #1. How to participate: - Visit Pop Goes the Reader to Enter
- Please leave a comment on the post
- Please share the cover on social media
- Use hashtag #ROTR
Date: October 16, 2017 Time: 9AM (EST) Place: Pop Goes the Reader | | |
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FEATURED FAN ART! Fan Art comes in many forms! I've noticed that readers enjoy making their own pegasus toys (and who can blame them since toymakers have a sad inventory of these fantastic creatures!). These beautiful pegasi were created by 9 year-old Faryn R. from Michigan. Well done! | | |
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Please follow my new Instagram account @guardianherdfanart, to see more! The Fan Art of the Month is chosen at random. To be considered, email your art to jennifer@theguardianherd(dot)com Please write "Fan Art" or "Giveaway Entry" in the subject line. Both will be considered for the Fan Art Feature, but only emails marked "Giveaway Entry" will also be entered in the monthly drawings. |
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NaNoWriMo Junior November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This is when writers around the country try and write a novel in 30 days (to "win" you must write 50,000 words). Guess what? NaNoWriMo has a Young Writer's program! You get to set your own word count goal (average 5,000-10,000 words). You can write a short story, a novella, or a novel. There are fantastic tools available on the site and it is KID SAFE. It's fun and meant to encourage you. You can do it on your own or involve your teacher and maybe get some extra credit. Please check it out! It's FREE. | | |
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WHAT'S ON MY DESK? This Month's Project: I finished the latest round of edits on book #3 in the new RIDERS OF THE REALM trilogy, but I'm still not finished. I'm letting the book rest and then I'll make another pass through it. In the meantime, due to some last minute changes I made to Book One, I took Book Two back from editor. I will seamlessly integrate the new material into the story. I am currently way ahead of my deadlines, and I'm enjoying that luxury the way a lazy cat enjoys a patch of sunshine! |
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SHOUT OUTS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY and CONGRATULATIONS to the following colts and fillies! Emily S. had a birthday on October 7th!! Angela B. had a birthday on on September 30th! Julia P. just completed her 12th horse show--let's cheer her on! Happy Upcoming Birthdays to my relatives: Bob Fox (10/25) and Larry Brown (10/26)! Congratulations to Madeline who learned to trot on a difficult horse! And a special birthday wish: Autumngold from River Herd wishes one of her besties, Coppersnow, a happy soon-to-be birthday filled with fluffy kittens and delicious birthday cake! If you'd like a shout out, please press the button below. I'll say hello, wish you a happy birthday, or congratulate you in my monthly video and newsletter--just let me know what's going on! |
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TRIVIA! Word Count A lot of readers ask me how many words I write per day. My average is 600 words per hour, and I write 2-3 hours per day. So that's 1200-1800 words a day, or as one high school kid put it--one "final essay" per day! To give you some persepctive, my books are between 55,000-80,000 words (you may notice they keep getting longer--I can't explain that!). Readers also ask how many pages I write a day. To give you an idea, my formatting is 12pt. Times New Roman font with double line spacing. The number of words per page averages 250 words. So 1200-1800 words equals 5-7 pages a day, which doesn't seem like a lot! But when you sit down and do it five days a week, you make fast progress towards a completed novel! For instance, let's average my output to 1500 words per day (or 6 pages per day). In 45 days, I'll have written 67, 500 words (or 270 pages). Guess what folks, that's a good length for a middle-grade book! Of course it's not finished, it's a first draft, but it feels wonderful. Once I've trapped the story on paper, I take my time editing it. Whew, for an English major, this post involved a lot of Math! |
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WINGBEATS BOOK CLUB A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle This is our book for October and November. It's easy to find at school and public libraries--and it's going to be a movie! Discussion on The Message Board beginning October 15, 2017 | | |
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Book suggestions have been pouring in. Please feel free to suggest a book for the club. Let's stick with children's fiction and non-fiction. I'm so excited to DISCUSS this with you! |
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HERD NERD PETS Meet Balto! He is a husky bulldog mix owned by Viveka C. Balto enjoys long night sleeps and pizza nights--who doesn't!! To have your pet featured, email a photo and write a few sentences about what makes him/her special! (The actual month your pet appears will depend on how many readers respond) Email your pet's pic to jennifer@theguardianherd(dot)com | | |
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JEN'S WRITING TIPS (photo by Nick Alvarez) |
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Today I'm going to give you another writing prompt! Choose the worst villain from one of your favorite stories and write about how they became evil. This is your "Anakin" story. If you don't know who Anakin is, he is the boy who grew up to be Darth Vader in Star Wars, but Anakin wasn't born evil. His prequel story explains what drove him to the dark side. In this exercise, you will write a prequel story for an existing villain, exploring how they turned bad, what they want, what they believe, and how they are hurting. Walk a mile in their "shoes" and you will understand them much better. You might even start to like them. Have fun with it! |
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
I am an author, but I'm also a wife, mother, volunteer, and friend. Some days or weeks, I can't be a writer--like this week.
My husband and I have been protecting our kids, animals, and home from the Sonoma County fires, the closest one being the Tubbs fire. It appeared as a wall of flames on the eastern horizon early Monday morning and threw me into a state of pure terror. We packed up to evacuate. We wet the roof and surrounding grass. We gassed up all the vehicles and hitched up the horse trailer. We are incredibly blessed that we had time to do this! So many of our friends did not, and they lost their homes full of irreplacable treasures. We are grateful that everyone we know saved their lives and pets' lives, and we're terribly sad for those who did not survive. But like I said in this month's video, I'm seeing the best side of humanity and it's encouraging! People do care about one another in spite of our differences. And I don't believe God causes these diasters, I believe He sees us through them. We live on a living, breathing planet, and this year in particular, we're experiencing its awesome power. |
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