Celebrating My Children's Book!

Even though today is the Celebrate the Small Things hop, I'm actually celebrating a BIG thing for me and I'm thrilled to death! I'm so excited, because I officially have a contract for my children's book and it will be published this fall! I've been doing all kinds of happy dances all week.

The book is called Baby Moo's Great Escape and features the animals of Sunrise Sanctuary in Marysville, Ohio. This handsome steer is the title character.

Source: Sunrise Sanctuary 

In the story, Baby Moo is an ambitious guy who dreams of a traveling the world as a famous singer. He finds himself in quite a mess as a result.

I'm so excited about this book I haven't been able to think of much else all week. I can't wait to see it come to life. When I was a kid all of my favorite books were those with animals as the main characters. So it's surreal and amazing to think that now I will have a book just like that out in the world with my name on it.

The Celebrate the Small Things hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

Happy Friday, all! :)

Celebrating an author event, Instagram, and The Dark Tower

It's Friday and time to Celebrate the Small Things. This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

First up, the author event and my attempt to make lemonade out of the lemons that got tossed at me this week. I received an invitation to an event honoring local authors and I was absolutely THRILLED when I got the invite. For one thing, the event is held downtown and has the potential for media coverage, so that alone could be a great opportunity. Plus, this is the first time I've ever been invited to something that I didn't have to apply for first. All great, right? As it turned out, no, because the event is being held on the same weekend I am going to be out of state for a family wedding! I couldn't believe the luck, or lack thereof. It killed me to have to decline. But I decided to still celebrate this because it was an honor to be invited and I'm happy that I was, so there's my lemonade. I'm trying to focus on that and not go into a corner and sob because I can't go.

Last week I mentioned that I was celebrating the new love of my life - my iPhone. As a direct result, I'm now also celebrating Instagram. I've been trying to expand my social media presence a bit but it's not something that comes naturally to me at all since at heart I am still an introvert to the core. I signed up for Instagram a while ago but never used it because I just didn't feel comfortable with it. But now I decided to give it a try and it's been a pleasant surprise because I really like it! I've only posted a few times but I can understand the appeal and I'm getting a kick out of it. I have tried following all my blogger pals but if you are on there and I'm not following you please connect with me there! https://www.instagram.com/julesflanders/

Finally, I'm squealing like a silly teenager and celebrating the casting for the upcoming movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Even though the books have been out for years I'd never read them until the end of last year. I started the first one around Christmas and I haven't been able to stop reading them since. I LOVE the series. I'm on the last one now and can't wait to see how it all ends. I have been reading about the on-again, off-again movie plans, and this week when it was made official that Idris Elba is going to be the Gunslinger and Matthew McConnaughey the Man in Black I nearly did a little happy dance. I've been a huge fan of Elba's since he played Stringer Bell on The Wire, one of my all-time favorite shows. I wasn't a fan of McConnaughey until True Detective but he sure won me over with that and I think he'll be perfect as The Man in Black. Stephen King, Elba, and McConnaughey? That's a dream team as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait for the movie.

I hope you all had lots to celebrate this week. Happy Weekend and Happy March!

IWSG & The Galactic Empires Boxed Set

Today's the day for the March meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, which means it's time for us to share our insecurities, fears, or anxieties with supportive and understanding friends. The IWSG is hosted by founder Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Alex's co-hosts for this month are Lauren Hennessy, Lisa Buie-Collard, Lidy, Christine Rains, and Mary Aalgard. If you'd like to join the group, visit the list of members here and add your name!

I had trouble coming up with a topic for today's post, which I realized is a very good thing! For most of my life I would have been able to fill book after book after book with my various insecurities. One blog post would hardly be sufficient. But I've noticed that as each month passes and the first Wednesday rolls around again, I don't really feel that way anymore. That's an amazing feeling and something I never would have expected to be able to say with any degree of honesty. I credit this encouraging group with helping me to grow in that regard!

So instead of sharing insecurities today, I am helping to spread the word about a new boxed set featuring my friend M. Pax and her terrific book The Backworlds.

Galactic Empires

Eight Novels of Deep Space Adventure

Blurb:

Eight full-length novels of adventure, war, intrigue and survival in the far reaches of space.

The Backworlds by M. Pax
A man struggles to survive in the harsh world of humanity's outer settlements and prove his father wrong.
Ambassador 1: Seeing Red by Patty Jansen
To look an alien superior in the eye is a deadly offense. To accuse him of a political murder…
Alien Hunters by Daniel Arenson
A scruffy alien pest controller faces an alien threat the likes of which the universe has never seen.
Hard Duty by Mark E. Cooper
Hostile aliens nearly eradicated humanity. Will the next encounter finish the job?
Bypass Gemini by Joseph Lallo
A disgraced racer pilot gets mixed up with a mega-corporation. Now he has to stop them.
Sky Hunter by Chris Reher
Sent to a human outpost to investigate sabotage, a pilot finds more trouble than she bargained for.
The Galapagos Incident by Felix Savage
A genocidal AI attacks the solar system, and a Space Corps agent has one chance of saving a bunch of asteroid squatters she was sent to evict.
First Conquest by David VanDyke
To find a home and keep humanity safe from hostile aliens, Task Force Conquest must fight to seize a new star system.

Buy Links: Amazon / iBook / B&N / Kobo / Googleplay / AmazonUK / 

AmazonCA / AmazonAU / AmazonDE /

AmazonFR / AmazonIT /AmazonES

Library Lovers & Celebrate the Small Things

As it's still Library Lovers Month I thought I would share another library I happen to love. This is the Thompson Library at Ohio State University. I worked there throughout my college career and I loved both my job and the place in equal measure.

I mentioned in my post about the Bexley Library that I like interesting doors and the Thompson doors fit that bill. There are three evenly spaced identical doors at the entrance, behind the statue of Mr. Thompson in the above picture.

Once I walked inside that door though, nothing about the library looked the same as when I worked there. The building was renovated from 2007-2009, and the inside is now unrecognizable to me.

But that doesn't make it a bad thing. The atrium is airy and open, and the floors of books are enclosed in glass.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The first floor houses special collections from the University archives, and I found this fun display of paper dresses from the 1960s. I had no idea that paper dresses were ever popular, but my mom assured me they definitely were, especially the Campbell's Soup style. Bizarre!

The Thompson Library may not be the library I remember, but I love it just the same. I'd like to go back sometime when I have more time to explore.

And now to Celebrate the Small Things! This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

This week I'm celebrating:

1) My new iPhone. I love it!! I loved my old Samsung phone for a long time but it was now close to giving up the ghost and I knew I needed something new. I decided to go with the iPhone and I can see now why they are so popular. I am totally addicted to the phone, which may not be something to celebrate after all. ;)

2) I had a great time at the Sisters In Crime writer's group meeting I mentioned last week. The guest speaker was an author who loved writing about history and ghosts, When I heard that, I knew I was going to enjoy this talk. :D

3) I've been inspired to get back to an old story idea I'd left sitting for over a year and I'm really excited about it. It's historical and includes a ghost! :D

Happy weekend, all!

FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS by A.L. Brown

I'm excited to help spread the word about the latest release from my friend and fellow Untethered Realms member Angela Brown. FABLE RANGER:SUMMONS is now available! This is Angela's debut MIDDLE GRADE title, which makes it all the more exciting. Congratulations, Angela!

About the book: 

Take care of what you wish for. You just might get it.

Twelve-year-old Casey doesn’t think life could get anymore unfair. Plans for her special basketball tournament are tossed aside by her sister’s change in wedding plans. She even has to be a bridesmaid now, with all the lace and silk and - oh the horror! All she wants is an escape, but she never imagined she’d be swept away to a world of Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, stories of Arabian Nights, and oh, by the way, all but one fairy godmother is kidnapped.

Casey learns she’s been summoned as the Fable Ranger to lead the search and rescue of the missing wish-makers. She also discovers she isn’t the hero they would accept. In the world of fairy tales, damsels aren't meant to swoop in to save the day.

Now all Casey wants is to go home, a wish easy to grant if the veil between worlds weren’t on lockdown. Taking fate into her own hands, she embarks on an airship flight to find the phoenix tears that can help open her way home. Her journey would’ve gone as smooth as the perfect layup if it weren’t for that pesky bounty the evil Dovetail placed on her head. Casey refuses to fail knowing it would allow the legends of Arabian Nights to disappear forever and leave her trapped in a world unraveling one fairy tale at a time.

Buy link: Amazon

About the author: 

Born and raised in Little Rock, AR, A.L. Brown now calls Central Texas home. She's a lover of Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate/chocolate covered delicious-ness. Steampunk, fantasy, and paranormal to contemporary — mostly young adult — fill her growing library of books. Mother to a rambunctious darling girl aptly nicknamed Chipmunk, her life stays busy. Her favorite quote keeps her moving: “You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

She is the author of the upper young adult paranormal Neverlove and its new adult follow up They All Fall Down of the Shadow Jumpers series, Frailties of the Bond and Atone of the NEO Chronicles: Characters Revealed series, and Beacon, the first action-packed title in the young adult urban fantasy series, Ripped Ties. Her debut MG (middle grade) title is coming soon from Dingbat Publishing: FABLE RANGER: SUMMONS.

You can find her on her blog, Dingbat author page, and Facebook.

Celebrating the Small Things

Here we are at another Friday, which means it's once again time for another Celebrate the Small Things hop. This fun weekly hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to find out how join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

There wasn't much going on here this week, but I'm celebrating that I have a three day weekend ahead. The college where I work is closed today so I am off for three days. Always something to celebrate, right?

I'm also celebrating the return of The Walking Dead! I love this show and was so anxious for it to return for the second half of its 6th season. The premiere episode didn't disappoint! It was shocking and scary and so tense I thought I would have a heart attack more than once. In other words, it was everything I love about TWD. My Sunday nights are once again complete. :D

Finally, I'm celebrating that I'm heading up to Columbus, Ohio tomorrow for a meeting with a writing group I belong to, the regional chapter of Sisters in Crime. I always enjoy these meetings and feel fortunate to belong to such a great group. Plus the weather is supposed to be beautiful so it should be a nice day for a drive. I actually like driving when the weather is nice and I'm not fighting traffic so I'm looking forward to the trip.

I hope everyone had a week filled with lots of things to celebrate, and has a great weekend coming up.

Library Lovers' Month & The Bexley Public Library

February is Library Lovers' Month, which has inspired me to start a blog series celebrating some of the libraries I love. Some of my very earliest memories are of going to the library with my parents and getting to pick out my own books, which nearly always included at least one Beatrix Potter title. I've loved libraries ever since so I figured what better time to celebrate that than during Library Lovers' Month?

The first library I'm spotlighting is the Bexley Public Library. Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and a charming little village in its own right. The library definitely adds to that charm.

I have been there twice in the past year for meetings with the Sisters in Crime regional chapter, of which I am a member. Maybe it helps that I've really enjoyed these meetings, but for whatever reason I am totally enchanted with the Bexley library.

I love the building itself, especially the gold door. The library was built in 1929 by architects O.C. Miller and R.R. Reeves, who were influenced by 17th century French and Italian architecture for the design, and I love that the original building is still in use. I love old buildings and the history they bring with them, and it often seems like we are all too quick to tear down and rebuild in this country.

When you first walk into the library, there is a reading room off to your right that is a book lover's dream. I didn't get a picture of it, but found this from the State Library of Ohio site. The room is gorgeous!

Source: State Library of Ohio

The basement holds the brightly colored children's area, and I have no doubt I would have loved exploring these shelves as a kid.

Source: State Library of Ohio

Right outside the library sits this statue. I couldn't make out the inscription on it, but I like it just the same.

To me the Bexley library has the feel of an old-fashioned library in an era when those are becoming increasingly uncommon. Both times I have been there I've felt like I was returning to the libraries of my childhood when I entered the building. That alone is reason to love it.

I hope to share more libraries I love even after Library Lover's Month has ended. Do you have a favorite library?