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Visit with Amazon best-selling and award-winning author, Nancy Stewart to learn more about her illustrious writing career and background bringing her passions full circle www.nancystewartbooks.com and www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com.

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Multi Award-winning Children's Author

Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!

Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

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, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved and Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ 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

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine

Multi Award-winning Children's Author



Ignite curiosity in your child through reading!


Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

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, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Powder Monkey ~ May 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved, Reader's Favorite Five Star Review

Hockey Agony ~ January 2013 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Story Monster Approved, Reader's Farvorite 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

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I was invited by the lovely and talented C. Lee McKenzie to join in the fun for The Writing Process Blog Hop, so here we go…

What am I working on?  

With the urging of my critique group (thanks Karin and Marilyn) I have dusted off a middle grade manuscript that I've been working on and off for several years now (yes, I'm embarrassed to say so, but exhilarated that I'm back in the saddle again of fine tuning this manuscript). Thanks ladies! 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Thus far my children's books have ended up in the theme of overcoming obstacles without preaching to the reader. 

Why do I write what I do? 

I enjoy writing for children and watching the expressions on their faces of joy and wonder of escaping into an exciting book. 

How does my writing process work?

I always write my first draft in long hand with my favorite pen, Graf von Faber-Castell away from my computer and email distraction and of course my cell phone off. I then put it to the side and read through for the first time at least several hours to a day or so later giving myself a fresh set of eyes and perspective. Then I get down to task of typing it into my computer. Yes, I'm old fashioned, I then print it out for my next round of proofreading. 

I'm delighted to have tagged the following talented writers in The Writing Process and visit them May 5th...

Penelope Cole - Award Winning Author of Magical Matthew and Magical Mea  and Mágico Mateo (Spanish Version of Magical Matthew)

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It's wonderful to be getting such positive reviews for "Ava's Secret Tea Party." Everyone is raving about the beautiful artwork by Bella Sinclair, and the storyline has been embraced by every reviewer. It's so gratifying to have the book accepted and endorsed after such a long wait. Here's what Nancy has to say: Sometimes at night when stars shine bright,Visitors come to call.Snuggled

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A true story of try and try again can be found in Bella Saves the Beach by award-winning children’s author, Nancy Stewart.

Bella is sad when her beloved beach is loaded with trash. But with her best friend Britt away on vacation, it’s harder to clean up the beach than she planned. Each new idea doesn’t bring about the desired result, but Bella is determined to make the beach safe and clean for her animal friends.

To someone who loves learning, a book like Bella Saves the Beach is so wonderful. This book has two messages. There’s the environmental one about how dangerous trash is to wildlife. Then there’s the “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” message. Combining them makes for a superbly told engaging story about one girl’s determination to make a difference.

From the beginning, Stewart’s Bella and Britt series has shown young readers that their ideas matter and how they can make a difference when it comes to caring for our planet and its creatures. In this new book, the author takes that message to a new level by leaving Bella to face the challenge without her best friend Britt’s support. Now it isn’t two kids making a difference. It’s one determined young girl.

At the end of the story, the author shares information on beach trash, facts about creatures mentioned within the book’s pages, and encourages readers to have a Green Picnic on the sand, leaving behind only footprints.

One can’t forget to mention the stunning watercolor artwork of Samantha Bell. She has illustrated all three books in this series. With warm colors and rich details, she brings Bella’s story to life in pictures. A perfect complement to Stewart’s story, the artwork is so lovely you can almost hear the waves hitting the sand and the caws of the birds.

Bella Saves the Beach is a fine addition to the Bella and Britt series. I can’t wait to see what Bella and Britt are up to next.

Rating:

Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc (February 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616333715
ISBN-13: 978-1616333713

The author paid me to promote this book through a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. This fee did not include a review. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

BELLA SAVES THE BEACH TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, April 22^nd

Guest post at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

Tuesday, April 23^rd

Book trailer feature at If Books Could Talk

Wednesday, April 24^th

Book review at On Words – Opening Eyes, Opening Hearts

Thursday, April 25^th

Book spotlight and giveaway at The Busy Mom’s Daily

Book review at Shannon Hitchcock Pen and Prose

Monday, April 29^th

Book review at Hook Kids on Reading

Guest post at The Pen and Ink

Tuesday, April 30^th

Guest post at Write What Inspires You

Wednesday, May 1^st

Book review at LadyD Books

Thursday, May 2^nd

Book review at Kid Lit Reviews

Friday, May 3^rd

Guest post at Lori’s Reading Corner

Monday, May 6^th

Interview at Tribute Books Reviews and Giveaways

Tuesday, May 7^th

Book reviewed at The Picture Book Review

Wednesday, May 8^th

Book reviewed at My Devotional Thoughts

Thursday, May 9^th

Book review at It’s About Time Mamaw

Friday, May 10^th

Book review at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

Monday, May 13^th

Book review at 4 the Love of Books

Tuesday, May 14^th

Book spotlight at Review from Here

Book review at The Jenny Revolution

Wednesday, May 15^th

Guest post at Literarily Speaking

Thursday, May 16^th

Book review at Mrs. Mommy Booknerd’s Reviews

Friday, May 17^th

Book spotlight at I’m A Reader, Not A Writer

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Bella and Britt are worried about all the trash appearing on their beautiful beach. But what can they do? Britt is leaving on vacation, and Bella can’t solve the problem alone. Without adults to lend a hand, can they possibly save their beach?

Purchase from:

NANCYSTEWARTBOOKS.COM

 GUARDIAN ANGEL PUBLISHING 

AMAZON

 BARNES AND NOBLE

Earth Day—Every Human’s Responsibility
by Nancy Stewart

Ah, yes, Earth Day.  We think about it once a year.  Celebrate it?  Let’s not go overboard.  After all, aren’t the governments of the world doing something about it—whatever it is?

Earth Day, founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson, was first organized in 1970 to promote ecology and respect for life on the plane.  It has come a long way from then with one hundred forty countries around the globe participating this year.  And counting.  Earth Day, very much like Earth Hour, has taken on a life of its own.

Here is one of the most outstanding projects we should be talking about for Earth Day, 2013. It is The Canopy Project. Over the past three years, this project has planted over 1.5 million trees in 18 countries.  In the US, projects to restore urban canopies have been completed in many large cities.  In Haiti alone, where earthquakes caused landslides on deforested hillsides, leading to horrific devastation, Earth Day Network planted 500,000 trees.  In three high-poverty districts in central Uganda, they planted 350,000 trees to provide local farmers with food, fuel, fencing, and soil stability.

Climate change can seem like a remote problem for our leaders, but the fact is that it’s already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places. These Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day. What can be done about it?  Each of us, individually, can make a difference.  When we all do our share, the entire world can begin to heal itself.

I’ve pledged to not use plastic bags, to using cold water in the washing machine and to using earth friendly cleaning products.  We’ve changed all light bulbs to save electricity, and they are turned off when leaving a room.  I remind students when doing a book signing that turning off a light helps save a polar bear!

But it’s more than these things, isn’t it?  Helping save our planet is really a state of mind.  It’s being in the flow of good ecology every day, even every minute. And soon, it’s a way of life.  Living this state of mind will help save all our lives and the lives of those to come, our children and our grandchildren. What better ongoing gift can we give to anyone than a sustainable, green and whole planet?  Oh, and it’s not, of course, just April 22.  It’s every day, every minute for the rest of our lives.

 

Nancy is the bestselling and award winning author of the four Bella and Britt Series books for children:  One Pelican at a Time (eighteen weeks on Amazon Bestselling List), Sea Turtle Summer, (which won the Children’s Literary Classic Gold Award), Bella Saves the  Beach (which won the Gold)  and Mystery at Manatee Key.  The authorized biography, Katrina and Winter:  Partners in Courage, is the story of Katrina Simpkins and Winter, the dolphin. One Pelican at a Time and Nancy were featured in the PBS Tampa special, GulfWatch.   All are published by Guardian Angel Publishing.  

Nancy is a frequent speaker and presenter at writer’s conferences throughout the United States.  She conducts workshops and seminars and speaks to school children on writing and helping save their planet.  A blogger with a worldwide audience, she writes of all things pertaining to children’s literature. 

Nancy’s travels take her extensively throughout the world, most particularly Africa. She is US chair of a charity in Lamu, Kenya, that places girls in intermediate schools to allow them to further their education.   She and her husband live in Tampa and St. Louis. 

 Visit her online at www.nancystewartbooks.com and her blog at http://www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com

 

Bella Saves the Beach Tour Schedule

 

Monday, April 22^nd

Guest post at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

Tuesday, April 23^rd

Book trailer feature at If Books Could Talk

Wednesday, April 24^th

Book review at On Words – Opening Eyes, Opening Hearts

Thursday, April 25^th

Book spotlight and giveaway at The Busy Mom’s Daily

Book review at Shannon Hitchcock Pen and Prose

Monday, April 29^th

Book review at Hook Kids on Reading

Guest post at The Pen and Ink

Tuesday, April 30^th

Guest post at Write What Inspires You

Wednesday, May 1^st

Book review at LadyD Books

Thursday, May 2^nd

Book review at Kid Lit Reviews

Friday, May 3^rd

Guest post at Lori’s Reading Corner

Monday, May 6^th

Interview at Tribute Books Reviews and Giveaways

Tuesday, May 7^th

Book reviewed at The Picture Book Review

Wednesday, May 8^th

Book reviewed at My Devotional Thoughts

Thursday, May 9^th

Book review at It’s About Time Mamaw

Friday, May 10^th

Book review at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

Monday, May 13^th

Book review at 4 the Love of Books

Tuesday, May 14^th

Book spotlight at Review from Here

Book review at The Jenny Revolution

Wednesday, May 15^th

Guest post at Literarily Speaking

Thursday, May 16^th

Book review at Mrs. Mommy Booknerd’s Reviews

Friday, May 17^th

Book spotlight at I’m A Reader, Not A Writer

 

 

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Deep Point of View, sometimes called Close Third Person, can be used with First Person as well and is a writing style in great demand these days.

The reader climbs into their protagonist's skin—tasting, feeling, hearing, smelling what they do.  Deep POV is a skill that must be learned, like anything else. But the four tips below are a great place to start.

Tip 1: Delete the phrase "s/he saw.

Obviously not every use of the word saw (observed, noticed, wondered etc.) will be slashed. But go through your manuscript looking for lines like these:

Tip 2: What words would you say in the manuscript?

Use realistic internal dialogue. What you would say to yourself if you were living the scene, then replace the pronouns with "s/he" (unless you're writing in first person, of course.)

Tip 3: Don't label emotions

This is classic show vs. tell but is vital to Deep POV. Delete from your mind the name we give to an emotion and force yourself to describe it.  What physical movements would show the emotion without naming it?

Tip 4: Physiological responses     
                                                            
I invite you to visit Nancy at to learn more about her personally and her illustrious writing career - http://nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com/.

Nancy, thank you for visiting with me today and my readers. It is always a true pleasure and wonderful learning experience.

Warmest regards,
Donna

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

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

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

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From a conversation I had with Lucia yesterday evening:Me: Nancy Stewart is coming to the Madrona Library on July 1. Do you want to go, or are you too old for Nancy concerts?Lucia: I'm still young enough. [Pause.] I will never be too old for Nancy concerts. I will be one hundred and two.

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Today I'm sharing with you two videos taken from Nancy Stewart's concert at the Crossroads Shopping Center last night. The first one is Bee-Boppin' Bugs: The second one is Sadie the Slimy Slug:

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Sherman Alexie is  brilliant.  But you probably already knew that.

This week, I finally got to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Wow.  Just wow.

I won’t write a traditional review here, because plenty of other people have praised this book up and down, and there was that whole award thing, too….  What I do want to talk about is how this book impressed me by nailing some aspects of poverty that are rarely addressed in YA novels.

As a teacher in a small city school district, I know that about a third of my students are living in poverty, carrying with them each day the baggage that goes along with it.  We have breakfast programs and free lunch and a good library, and that helps.  Some.  What we can’t always do, no matter how hard we try, is provide that new way of thinking that Junior figured out in Alexie’s book – that moment when living in poverty becomes so unbearable that a person has to make the painful choice to leave.  In Junior’s case, it’s the decision to leave his reservation school to attend a more privileged white school in a nearby town.



There’s a scene in Part-Time Indian where Junior gives a lengthy and funny-but-true list of rules for fighting.  His rules.  The rules of the reservation.  Among them…

• If somebody insults you, then you have to fight him.
• If you think somebody is thinking about insulting you, then you have to fight him.
• If somebody beats up your father or your mother, then you have to fight the son and/or daughter of the person who beat up your mother or father.

When Junior starts at the white school, one of the big guys insults him, and sure enough, Junior punches him.  He’s stunned when the guy doesn’t fight back but walks off with his posse, all of them staring at Junior as if he were a monster...


I was absolutely confused.

I had followed the rules of fighting.  I had behaved exactly the way I was supposed to behave.  But these white boys had ignored the rules.  In fact, they had followed a whole other set of mysterious rules where people apparently DID NOT GET INTO FISTFIGHTS.

“Wait,” I called after Roger.

“What do you want?” Roger asked.

“What are the rules?”

“What rules?”

I didn’t know what to say, so I just stood there red and mute like a stop sign.  Roger and his friends disappeared.

I felt like somebody had shoved me into a rocket ship and blasted me to a new planet.  I was a freaky alien and there was absolutely no way to get home.


The whole concept of different sets of rules is inherent to any study of the impact of poverty on learning.  Some of my middle school colleagues and I participated in a study group focused on that topic last year, using Ruby Payne’s book A Framework for Understanding Poverty.   It’s a fantastic book – one that should be required reading for anyone who works with kids in poverty, and especially for those of us who enjoyed more privileged middle class upbringings.  The rules are different.  Payne, like Sherman Alexie, does a great job demystifying this aspect of poverty and helping us to understand why it’s not so easy for Junior – or anyone – to just walk away.

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