I can't believe that it has almost been three months since "My Favorite Children's Poems" first went on sale! I would like to extend a humble and heart filled thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy and supported my work. I hope that the book will create warm and memorable moments for many years to come. "My Favorite Children's Poems" has a very special place in my heart for several reasons, one of which is to encourage parents to read to their children while creating and nurturing a strong bond which can last a lifetime. Parents' love for their children and their children's love for them are extremely important, so much so that one of the biggest driving force for me to have "My Favorite Children's Poems" published was and still is to honor my Mom who was always very supportive and proud of my written works. My Mom had encouraged me to follow my dream of becoming a writer no matter how challenging and competitive the field may be. I believe that if you write from your heart and you have faith that your work is sincere in its offering it will always reach people who will be willing to read it.

Once again, I thank you for all of your support and wish everyone all the best of health and success. God bless everyone, take care and keep well.

with warmest regards,

Samir.

My Pleasant Dr.’s Visit!

Earlier today I had an appointment to see my family physician for an ongoing bug. The darn thing has been with me for over two and a half weeks and I had finally said enough is enough, well after my Dad pushed me into making the doctor’s appointment. As it happened, the bug is a flu bug which has been literally draining me for the last two and half weeks where my muscles continued to be very sore and my body had literally been drained leaving me to frequently sleep it off. Nevertheless, after waking up I often had a pounding head ache which I tried to stave off but needed to make a compromise by taking one aspirin instead of two. My family doctor examined me and said that I was nearing the tail end of the bug and should be better within a week. Interestingly enough, he didn’t know what type of flu it was but mentioned that if it was the H1N1 aka swine flu it would be to some extent a blessing in disguise in that I would be more immune to it in the future and its effect would be less severe if I were to get it. Whatever it is I believe I will need to continue to stave it off while taking the necessary pain killers as needed to allow me to carry on with my day. After consulting with my Dr. that is when I was pleasantly taken aback by surprise—my family physician started out by saying “Samir I need to ask you a favor.” I just sat there waiting to see what he would ask and he came out asking me if I would sign a copy of “My Favorite Children’s Poems.” I had actually given him a copy (he insisted on paying me for it but I gave to him as a gift) and left another one in the waiting area about two to three weeks back when I went to see him for a prescription. I reluctantly said I wouldn’t mind because I always feel like my signature would somehow scar the book due to feeling that my printing/writing isn’t the neatest in the world. He was extremely happy and then dropped the next big surprise which I warmly welcomed and that was if he could purchase 10 copies of my book. I said absolutely it isn’t any problem and that I would be willing to give it to him at cost but he was insistent of paying more! In the end I conceded and was extremely happy to know people in the doctor’s office were requesting the book and he was buying them so that he could pass it along to them. I didn’t have the books with me during my visit but was able to come back home, pick them up and drop them off to my family physician who is only about 15 minutes away from where I live. I have to admit that I was over the moon and hope this momentum can keep rolling on!

Hello Everyone,

I am very delighted and pleased to have received my first review for "My Favorite Children's Poems," from Kelley Scarsbrook and her six year old son. Kelley Scarsbrook "is a stay at home mom, parenting columnist with Can West and founder of Enterprising Moms Network Inc. which is a resource for moms who want to work from home." You can read Kelley's columns online as well as her recent review of my book at http://www.thestayathomemother.com/ . I was (and still am) extremely touched and humbled by what Kelley and her son had to say about the book and hope that "My Favorite Children's Poems" can positively influence parents, children, and educators for a long time to come. I wish everyone great health and successes throughout your lives and warmly welcome you to share your thoughts about the book if you have picked up a copy. Take care and keep well.

with warmest regards,

Samir Goel

Hello Everyone,

Trying to create authentic ethnic character names for a children's picture book is extremely difficult because on the one hand the writer needs to keep things fairly simple for children and on the other hand the writer has to try to come up with stories and names which are genuine to the story. I have noticed that many children's writer utilize alliterations while naming their characters, something which I think is a wise decision on their part because the use of sound, poetical language and repetition are all extremely important elements when writing for children. Nevertheless, this often becomes challenging because when I have been trying to do the same many of the names that I eventually came up with may be reflective and authentic in regards to names being Americanized and not as reflective and multi-cultural as I would hope for.

Perhaps, only three sets of potential character names for characters in "My Favorite Children's Poems" (who are currently without names) can be seen as traditional and possibly common to their respective ethnic groups: Hector Hernandez (may be reflective of someone of Hispanic origin), Arvin (short for Arvinder/Arvindra) Agarwal is definitely Indian in origin (I'm East Indian), and Lim Lee (I'm not sure about the first name) but Lee when spelt like this (and referring to an Asian individual)is most likely, as to my knowledge, indicative of a person with a Korean ancestry. The other character names such as for those of John Joseph (a Native) is possible as many Natives in North America have ties to Catholic/Christian names as well as retain many Christian beliefs along with some of their traditional shamanistic practices; Wanda/Wendy (Williams/Willis) for my African American character is possible when thinking about people like Venus and Serena Williams etc. but it doesn't seem to achieve the goal of sounding more African in nature, such as those for people living in Africa. It is to this extent, and what I have tried to accomplish will fall short of my objective if I decide to keep the names as I have planned. Nevertheless, it wasn't because I didn't want to give more appropriate ethnic names to each of my characters but was because while trying to do so, I run the risk of having names which may become extremely difficult to pronounce and would complicate a children's story when they should not be. Perhaps, in my sincere and somewhat unsuccessful attempt, I should keep in mind and realize that some people may give themselves nicknames so that it would be easier for others--for example, if I notice people either struggling to remember my name or have a tough time pronouncing it, I would say to them it is ok if you call me "Sam" short for Samir.

Tentatively speaking, here are the list of character names for "My Favorite Children's Poems" (cover)

Starting left to right (back row): Merlin, Wendy/Wanda (Williams/Willis), John Joseph, Jake Joseph, Julia Joseph

Starting left to right (front row): Hector Hernandez, Chloe Cline, Lim Lee

not shown on cover but is in the interior pages "One, Two...Five Wonderful Wizard" character in the red shirt and wearing glasses Arvin Agarwal

I am still mauling over whether these character names are appropriate in regards to trying to create authentic ethnic characters while trying to keep things as clear and simple for children. All of this would be far simpler to leave the characters without a name if I didn't hope and plan to write more stories with them in the future. With this said, I warmly welcome your feedback and comments to let me know what you think and if you are a writer if you found yourself having the same type of difficulty.

Hello Everyone,

yesterday I received my author's copy to "My Favorite Children's Poems." Prior to that I didn't really know what to expect in regards to the physical quality of the book although I had received a PDF file (galley interior pages) quite a long time before. I was extremely impressed by the PDF galley but still felt nervous about the physical quality of the book because I believed that the quality of the PDF file didn't necessarily guarantee the same quality of the physical book. Well, I guess you must be wondering what I think, and quite honestly, I was equally blown away by the quality of the physical book itself. I couldn't have asked for a more professional and better book! The cover is laminated and fairly durable and the interior pages are printed on acid free paper which is brilliantly inked. For anyone who has doubts about Authorhouse as a publisher to this regards, I can assure you that they can be put to rest--the quality of their work is that awesome and quite honestly speaking I don't easily give my stamp of approval to anyone!

Overall, I am extremely pleased and delighted with the book. It wouldn't have been possible without Irene Joslin who contributed to the wonderful art work which I believe can appeal to everyone who decides to pick up a copy of the book. The cover is phenomenal and extremely well rendered and can be viewed at http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=268554494&albumId=1311566, in which case there is a colored version of the front and back cover as well as a black and white image of the front cover only. I warmly encourage you to make as many copies of the black and white cover to color for yourself or pass along to anyone you might know who may enjoy coloring it!

Before I entirely forget what this post is about, "My Favorite Children's Poems" is now available for sale at http://www.authorhouse.com/ click on bookstore and then click on children's fiction where when you scroll through it is listed for $7.60 (USD)--shipping for a single book is $6.90-$7.00 (USD) as far as I've been told. I believe that if you pick up a copy you will be very pleased. For anyone who can wait another 30-45 days, the book will be available at retail outlets (i.e. Amazon.com) for a suggested retail price of $12.49 (USD--remember this is only suggested and prices may vary) and can be bought then to help save on shipping costs by combining the purchase with other orders to qualify for the free shipping. Unfortunately, I will not be able to ship the books to anyone (that is if I decided to do so) as the shipping cost wouldn't work out any cheaper from me to you even if I tried to keep the price at the $14.50/$14.60 (USD) price of Authorhouse I would be literally selling at cost which regretfully I wouldn't be able to do!

Finally, as my latest tweet says, I am hoping to sell at least 1 Million copies and cannot do it without your support. Please consider picking up a copy of the book and encourage others to do the same, I will greatly appreciate and be humbled by your willingness to do so! I wish everyone all the best with your future endeavors and thank you for taking the time to read my blogs and follow my tweets. Take care and keep well.

with warmest regards,

Samir.

Hello Everyone,

I am trying to create awareness for my first children's book titled "My Favorite Children's Poems," which is being published by Authorhouse. The book has a total of 28 pages and consists of two five paged illustrated poems with text on the opposite facing pages for a total of 2o pages. The rest of the book is rounded out with a title page, a copy right page, a dedication page, an about the author page and finally a blank page at the very end. You can find the colored front and back cover image along with a black and white cover image, illustrated by Irene Joslin at http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=268554494&albumId=1311566 and the text only version at http://www.road2discovery.ca/ click on forum and then look for the poetry and writing column and click on the thread directly to the right of it "My First Children's Book Final Manuscript."

Unfortunately, at this point in time I don't exactly know when the book will be available for sale but when I do I will let you know as soon as possible. Nevertheless, with this said, the book will be selling for $7.60 USD (excluding shipping) from Authorhouse and at a suggested retail price of $12.49 USD from retail outlets. I hope that you will consider picking up a copy when it is available for sale, but for now please feel free to visit both of the links and print out as many copies of the black and white cover as you wish to either color it yourself or pass on to anyone who would be interested in coloring it. I thank you for reading this blog and wish you all the best with your endeavors. Take care and keep well.

with warmest regards,

Samir Goel