HAVE YOU HERD? July 2017 Edition (Giveaway Video at the End) Written by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez Guardian Herd art by David McClellan |
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WINDBORN releases in paperback in ten days! July 25, 2017 |
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FEATURED FAN ART! These are two original characters as drawn by Megan R. Autumngold is on the left and Coppersnow is on the right. Coppersnow's name and coloring were imagined by one of Megan's friends, and then Megan drew the two characters together. Aren't they lovely!! 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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WHAT'S ON MY DESK? This Month's Project: I'm revising book three of the new trilogy. I wrote the first draft and went through it twice, polishing and making changes, but I'm still not happy with the final half of the book. So I decided to scrap most of it and start over. Ack! This is very disappointing, but also exciting because I know I can do better! So, after taking some time away from the book, I now see what's wrong with the ending. The main characters' weren't getting enough big moments, considering all they go through in the first two books (you know I'm not easy on my characters!!). So I'm re-writing book three with the idea that I want my readers on the edge of their seats, then standing up and cheering, and then falling down in happy exhaustion by the end. How does that sound? Good? I think so, now let's see if I can do it! |
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SHOUT OUTS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the following foals! Michael P, June 10th Sofie H. turned 12 on June 26th Taylor N. (you know her fan art) will be 16 on July 22nd Annabelle R. is had her "golden" birthday, she turned 11 on 7/11 Autumngold from Riverherd wishes one of her best friends, Aquastar (Lauren R.), a happy upcoming birthday filled with presents and golden magic! and, last but not least, Emily's brother, Brendan, is 10 today, July 15th! If you'd like a shout out, please press the button below. I'll say hello, wish you a happy birthday, or congratulate you--just let me know what's going on! |
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TRIVIA! My original title for the Guardian Herd series was THE WINGED HERDS OF ANOK. After I signed my book contract with HarperCollins, we brainstormed new, less clunky, titles. The following are all of the titles that were considered during a brainstorming session with my agent and my editor before THE GUARDIAN HERD was chosen for the series. SERIES TITLE OPTIONS (the first four were my initial favorites) SKYLORDS LORDS OF AIR SKYBORNE SKY RAIDERS The Star Chronicles The Sky Chronicles The Winged Chronicles Sky Guardians or The Sky Guardians Defenders of Destiny Winged Guardians Rulers of the Sky Reign of Wings Sky Kings Cloud Kings Empire of the Sky Empire of Wings Winged Dynasty Kings of Air Star of Destiny Wild Skies The Defenders The Chronicles of Destiny The Anok Chronicles The Chronicles of Anok Sky Tales Wardens of the Sky Wind Wardens Wardens of the Wind Defenders of the Sky Sky Defenders Guardians of the Realm Guardians of the Sky Star Guard Star Defenders Sentries of the Sky The Century Guard Star Keepers Keepers of the Star Clash of Wings Clash of Destiny Defenders of the Star The Pegasi Chronicles The Black Foal Battle Steeds Flight of Destiny Century of the Star The Sky Keepers Herds of Air Cloud Stallions Sky Stallions Sky Herders Wing Walkers As you can see, THE GUARDIAN HERD wasn't even listed as an option! But this list got us started. My agent and I created the list by free associating words related to the sky, flying, protecting, and horses, and put them together in varying combinations. This is a great way to come up with titles! We were all thrilled when my editor asked what I thought about THE GUARDIAN HERD. I thought, heck yeah! The rest is history... |
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EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER GIVEAWAY |
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I'm GIVING 25 autographed paperbacks of WINDBORN to "Have You Herd?" verified subscribers (and U.S. residents) who are willing to leave an honest review of the book on Amazon. The free signed copies are going to the FIRST 25 subscribers who email me (and they get the new trading cards too)! So hurry! Bonus story included! Remember, you must be willing to leave an honest review on Amazon. Why? Because nothing helps out a book more than WORD OF MOUTH, which means people talking about the book (or series) and sharing their opinion about it, their honest opinion. To all of you who have left me reveiws in the past, I want to THANK YOU! You are incredible and you are helping the series soar! If you've already left a review of WINDBORN, you can still enter, just let me know because there are other great places to leave reviews! If you've PRE-ORDERED WINDBORN and you're selected as a winner, please do not cancel your order or you won't be eligible to win the Pre-Order giveaway--which also includes great prizes. Instead, I will substitute a signed paperback of STARFIRE, STORMBOUND, or LANDFALL for you to review (which also include bonus stories!) and you will still receive the new trading cards. Exclusive Giveaway Details: - No purchase necessary.
- Must be a verified subscriber to "Have You Herd?"
- Open to U.S. residents only
- Books ship within 2-4 weeks
If you aren't a subscriber, join now at the bottom of this letter. Welcome to the herd! | | |
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WINGBEATS Book Club-Ask me Anything! THE PRINCESS AND THE FOAL by Stacy Gregg Meet me on the Fan Herd Message Board (Guardian Herd website) on July 16th to discuss this awesome book. You can also ask me questions about the Guardian Herd series or about being a writer. So ask away! Discussion ends at 5PM PST. Discussion on July 16, 2017 (tomorrow) 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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PRE-ORDER GIVEAWAY-ENDS 08/01/2017 If you're planning on purchasing the paperback of WINDBORN, you might as well enter to win some GH swag! Email a scan or picture of your receipt and I'll enter you for a chance to win. EMAIL jennifer@theguardianherd(dot)com *UPDATE--EVERYONE WHO ENTERS WILL RECEIVE THE NEW SET OF TRADING CARDS (pictured left)! THE GRAND PRIZE TO ONE RANDOM WINNER *A WINDBORN book bag *The latest set of character trading cards *A book mark *And an autographed paperback of STARFIRE The bonus story in WINDBORN introduces the ancient Lake Herd pegasi. Find out what happened to them after they all mysteriously vanished! Readers will also meet the legendary stallion Spiderwing! PRE-ORDER WINDBORN HERE Amazon Barnes & Noble Books a Million Find in Bookstore |
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HERD NERD PETS Meet Cinders! This royal cat, owned by Sophia, is commonly referred to as "Stinky" and "Queenie-poo". She's happily spoiled and her meow sounds like a creaky door. Cinders dislikes being kissed and she bites Sophia's nose when she's angry. What Cinders likes! She adores playing with red crafting pom poms, throwing them around, talking to them, and carrying them around in her mouth (which makes her look like she has a clown nose)! Disclaimer: Cinders denies all claims about the clown nose. She'd like it made clear that she is "the boss". 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) View the new FAN PET page HERE! 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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Do you ever get stuck writing a story and wonder, "What should happen next?" Here is one way to get unstuck fast! Instead of wondering what should happen next, ask yourself this question: "What is the worst thing that could happen next?" Now the answer to that question is not universal. It is quite specific to your character. While we might all agree that getting run over by a car, mauled by bear, failing a test, or losing a friend are terrible occurances--those aren't necessarily the worst things that can happen to your character in your story? So how do you figure out what the worst thing is? Well first, you must know your character. What does he or she desire and what does he or she value? Does she want to save the world, make a new friend, or rescue a lost dog? Then block her from accomplishing that! Make success diffcult. What is most important to her? Is it her reputation, winning, or keeping a secret? Then destroy her reputation, make her lose, or reveal her secret! When you know your character--what they need and what they want--then you can throw obstacles in their path. This is what makes a story exciting! Success should be hard won and not accomplished on the first try. You have my permission to crush and devastate your character until they wake up and realize that perhaps they are going about things all wrong! Then, once you've got your character on the edge of giving up, toss them some help (and fast). Send new friends, new ideas, a new plan. By the end of your story, your readers will be cheering! So remember, whenever you get stuck, imagine the worst thing that can happen to your character in that moment--and then make it so! I hope this helps! |
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A DAY IN THE LIFE Authors these days wear many hats! They often use social media, YouTube, and blogs to interact with their readers. They may also appear in person at bookstores and conferences, give commencement speeches, Skype with schools and bookclubs, and throw assemblies. But authors aren't necessarily trained for all these social activities and many of us are not extroverts. But we want to get the word out about our books so that we can keep writing them! So we proceed. Out of the above list, I'm least comfortable with YouTube. It was my agent's idea to start a channel (thanks Jacquie!), so I figured I'd give it a go. This is how I make my videos: - I set my iphone 6 on a chair or a stack of books in a spot that I believe has decent lighting.
- I put on make-up because I think my freckles are distracting
- I set up my "props" (books and whatnot)
- I press play and then sit in front of the iphone, hoping I'm in frame.
- I ramble on for 10 to 15 minutes and know that it will take longer to edit the video than it will take to make it
- Next, I edit using imovie
- Sometimes I add bloopers
- And then I upload to YouTube
It appears simple, but it's not always easy. I make these by myself and perhaps I could do it better. If you have any tips or suggestions on how I can improve my videos, please email them to me. I'd appreciate it!! | | |
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You can also enter to win a signed paperback of WINDBORN on GOODREADS! |
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HAVE YOU HERD? Subscribe now! |
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