MISSING IN ACTION

My apologies

for my extremely long absence from this blog. 

If you have found this with a Google search, I just want you to know that I now have another blog which I am trying to keep up-to-date. I would like to invite you to come on over and browse my posts and photos there. I think you will enjoy your visits. And please click on the "Follow" button to receive updates on my "Success b Mine" site.

A NEW LOCATION

Praise the Lord! It is a beautiful day today  - the sun is shining, trees are beginning to bud and blossom and the birds are singing. 

I just want to inform you, my readers, that I have a new location for my blog and I would like to invite you to visit me there. This Blogger site will remain intact, but there will be no more new posts here.I look forward to interacting with you there. Thank you for your support. 

I'll 'see' you there! 

Susan Ross, Storyteller and Author

Susan Ross, former storyteller at Fanshawe Pioneer Village and London International Children's Festival is an author of books for children. Born in Toronto, Ontario she now lives in London with her husband Nathan and her menagerie of pets.

People used to tell Susan that she should write down her stories for her grandchildren (which she doesn't have yet). She spoke with David Carruthers, another children's author from London, about self-publishing. But then she laid her stories aside for some years. Finally she decided to "just do it". 

"It took me six months to find an artist who could do the illustrations the way I wanted," Susan told me. Then she found the perfect match in a graduate of BealArt here in London. Megan Stiver is currently at Sheridan College studying Illustration.

Susan's first book, "The Great Bellybutton Cover-Up" (ages 2-8), was published in 2008. She is currently producing one book per year. She published "The Kit Kat Caper" in 2009 and "'Say Please to the Honeybees" in 2010.

Look for her next book, a fairytale called "The Rose and the Lily" (ages 4-10) which will be available in 2011.

Check out Susan's new blog.    

THE TRAIN MAN

Long-time London resident Fred Zaza needed something to keep him occupied after he retired. So he built a workshop in his basement and started to make trains out of scrap materials. I spoke with Fred and his wife Donna at a small show a few weeks ago. Fred has made close to 100 trains since he began his hobby. He shows and sells them locally. Fred has taken part in the St. Thomas Model Railway Show and he made his largest model for the North American Railway Museum in St. Thomas. 

Fred says it takes him a couple of weeks to make one train engine. Discarded shredders from Office Depot provide some of the items he needs along with various car parts and anything else he can put to use for one of his creations. For one engine he used a small air purifier (see photo at bottom). Some even have working headlights.

Fred told me an interesting story about one show he did a while back. He had a number of trains on display when someone came along and started a conversation about the trains. Fred did not know then who he was speaking with. This man ended up purchasing all of the trains. When he asked who this man was he discovered it was the owner of  Farhi Holdings Corporation which owns much of downtown London. Founded in 1988 by Mr. Shmuel Farhi, Farhi Holdings Corporation currently owns and manages more than 4 million square feet of office, retail, industrial and residential space throughout Ontario. 

A few months later, Fred, curious as to what Mr. Farhi had wanted the trains for, went to his office in downtown London. There he discovered that the trains were simply sitting where they had been placed after Mr. Farhi purchased them. He didn't buy them for any particular purpose - simply to own them.  Just because he could.

Traffic from Social Media

Check out the latest recording of the TalkShoe program on getting traffic from social media. Chuck Bartok hosts this interactive call with members of Beginners Marketing Class.  Join us live every Wednesday evening at 6:30 PST, 9:30 EST. Ask questions on the current topic, offer your suggestions, share your experiences in building your business. Timely topics every week.
Phone number: 1-724-444-7444
Call ID 13372#
Hope to "see" you on the next call.

Canadian school board brings back ‘Christmas’ holidays | LifeSiteNews.com

Canadian school board brings back ‘Christmas’ holidays | LifeSiteNews.com

The Story of Jonah

This is the best story of Jonah I have ever heard. I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Gestapo government orders family farm to commit financial suicide by destroying 50,000 pounds of cheese

Gestapo government orders family farm to commit financial suicide by destroying 50,000 pounds of cheese

Scouts Canada Hosts Annual Christmas Show

Yesterday I manned a table for David Carruthers in the gym at Spencer Hall, the Scouts Canada headquarters for London.
There were numerous vendors selling hand-crafted items from knitting to cards to jewelery to trains. There were wood products, home-made preserves and Christmas decorations as well as another children's author, Susan Ross, selling her picture books. (I will be highlighting Susan in another post.) For a $3.00 entrance fee you also received a lunch of sandwiches, veggies and sweets as well as tea and coffee.

It was great to meet and chat with other vendors and to speak with people as they stopped by David's table to browse. I was able to tell quite a few people about David's books and about his school and day care presentations. Of course I also sold some of his books to eager parents and grandparents.

CDs containing
all 17 of David's books.

David also has CDs on which all 17 of his stories are narrated.

Imaginative story about a boy
who wonders what it's like to
"hug an octopus","ride an octopus"
or "kiss a giraffe".

David's books are enthusiastically spoken of by all who have purchased them--children, teachers and parents all love them.

Rhyming picture book just for fun.

All about the letter "A"
to teach children
about the letter itself
and many words
beginning with it.
The purpose is to
enlarge their vocabulary
in a fun way.
A "Colour-Me" book

Along with David's books I also had some of my own children's books on display. These are books I published in 1988 but since I have been out of the craft show venue for so long they have been boxed up in my apartment. David was good enough to suggest I sell my books at his shows as well.

One of the Biggest Book Opportunities Ever!

We are currently looking for affiliates to participate in one of the biggest book opportunities ever. Bigger than Harry Potter. Get In as an affiliate now...

Buy the novel for yourself and see what all the buzz is about.

Littluns and The Book Of Darkness

A DIFFERENT READING EXPERIENCE

Littluns’ hard cover, 411 page book

includes 63 full color illustrations.

Littluns is a book for the entire family

Imagine innocence of Light, the meek and good among us being unexpectedly consumed into a void of darkness.

Imagine a world gone wrong as darkness overwhelms the Light - offering little hope in a world gone wrong.

Imagine circumstances beyond your control from which your life will inexplicably never ever be the same.

Imagine  being stripped of your identity with no past, present, or future while wandering misplaced with a tortured disability and terrifying existence, within an empty space of nothingness.

What could you do - where would you go - how might you survive – can there be any hope in hopelessness?

Imagine being in such a dark place and how you might find ANY truth, peace, love, hope, joy, enlightenment, and your heart’s desire in the face of such adversity?

Author Mark Glamack

First and foremost, Never, Ever Give Up...

Beyond that can only be found in "Littluns."

Signup As An Affiliate

Own the Hard Cover Novel

 

The Candy Dragon Man

David reading book
"What sound does a giraffe make?".

Canadian Children's Author/Entertainer David Carruthers Reads to a Group of Children
Introducing David Carruthers, an author from London, to those who don't know him. David writes books for children and has published 17 books to date with several more in the works. "The Candy Dragon" is one of his books that the children really love.

I have been working with David for a few weeks booking school and day care presentations for him. He does magic tricks, basketball tricks, interactive story telling, an anti-bullying presentation, "The Cool Ghoul" one-man show, writing workshops etc. His main goal is to instill positive life skills in the children.

I Wanna Be Cool!

I attended one of his day care presentations towards the end of October, so I thought I would share some of the photos with you.  

As you can see, David involves the children in his story-telling. They have a great time with him.

The Cool Ghoul

 I'm hoping to check out part of his full-day presentations in the elementary schools as well. He has been in over 800 schools to date. 

Taken at a Gordie the Golfball Mini-Golf  Fundraiser

One of David's dreams is to give back to the community in greater measure than he has done so far. He is constantly looking ahead to greater things and is full of energy and optimism. He loves to do fundraisers, and one of his projects is to help the London Food Bank and, eventually, food banks across Canada.
                               

 Above are just some of David's books. If you are interested in learning more about David, please visit his web site.                                             

Lemon Madeleines With Raspberry Sauce & Whipped Cream - WAHM.com

Lemon Madeleines With Raspberry Sauce & Whipped Cream - WAHM.com
I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds delicious.

Molly is a Friend of Mine

MOLLY IS A FRIEND OF MINE
© Copyright 2010 by Diane Stephenson

Molly is a friend of mine. Actually, she is my roommate’s friend and came with the package. Molly is very fickle in her attentions and allegiance. More and more she demands my time. I think she has a built-in clock. Every morning at about the same time (too early) she waits for me to get up. Some days I don’t want to get up, but she is determined. She makes this characteristic little noise in her throat to announce her presence.
This morning I am determined she is not going to disturb me. I turn over on my side with my back to her. But that doesn’t discourage her. There she is, hanging over my shoulders, nose almost in my eye, hair tickling my face. Then it comes, with no warning: the sneeze, complete with spray, about an inch from my eye. Thank heaven my eyes are still closed.
The purring, louder and louder, vibrates into my ear. Next she climbs off my shoulder and plunks herself between the pillows beside my head, on top of the box of tissues. I can’t understand how she can fit herself in that small space. Molly is 10 pounds of long-haired tortoiseshell cat, and generally takes up a much larger space. The purring accelerates and Molly begins to knead the pillow.
After wiping my eye I turn over on my right side, but she doesn’t go away until she hears her original friend in the hall. She’s gone. But now I’m awake. I might as well get up. I grab a tissue and now I have fur up my nose. Great!
Oh, oh! She’s back again. Now she wants a proper cuddle, face to face, nose to nose, feet planted firmly on my neck, the sharp tips of her claws gently kneading into my skin. She butts her head against me indicating that she wants me to pet her head. She loves to have her eyes rubbed. One leg slowly stretches out, the paw rests on my cheek momentarily. It reminds me of a baby when it reaches its hand out to touch your face. Molly’s eyes look so affectionately into mine. How can I resist this soft bundle of love?
Suddenly she’s gone again. I’m left alone, still feeling the warmth of her body. Yes, Molly is a friend of mine.

Stand Up for the Champions

Most Common Virtual Event Mistakes to Avoid, Part 1

Most Common Virtual Event Mistakes to Avoid, Part 1

Free Starter Kit Your Book is Your Hook

Thank You

Click on the link if you want to learn more about writing and publishing your work. Free Starter Kit "Your Book is Your Hook" with workshop recording.

This little light of mine

GREAT NEW APPLICATION - AND FUN, TOO!

I just downloaded this great application. It's a virtual piano. I haven't got the knack of it yet, but I'll keep playing around with it and have fun while I'm doing it. It's on my new toolbar from ThumbVu - http://thumbvu.com/blog/?p=206


ButtonBeats.com 

Check it out.

ON THE GO WOMEN - The Osteoporosis Campaign

How much do you know about osteoporosis? Are you at risk? On the Go Women is a campaign which aims to encourage conversation between people with osteoporosis and their healthcare providers about the disease, the importance of compliance and the available treatment options that are most suitable for their health and lifestyle.

Since my mother suffered from osteoporosis, I am at a higher risk of developing it. But I have done some things that will reduce that risk. One thing is a healthy diet - a healthy lifestyle. Eating calcium-rich foods is a good place to start. I drink almond milk on a daily basis and sometimes snack on raw almonds. 15 almonds provide up to 40-50 mg of calcium. Besides, they are oh-so good! 

Sesame seeds are also a good addition to your diet. Before I discovered how delicious almond milk is, I drank soy milk and ate other soy products. I love yogurt, and the best one I have found is Astro Balkan Style. Half a cup contains 15% of the recommended daily allowance. Cereals, whole grains and leafy green vegetables are also a good source of calcium. I only eat whole grain breads - the more variety of grains in it the better. Steamed salmon fillet is on my menu at least once a week. Also add some blackstrap molasses, papaya and oranges to your meals or for a snack.

Fruit is a favorite part of my diet. I make smoothies with four or five kinds of fruit and add almond milk, carrot juice and yogurt. Add a good barley leaf powder to boost the nutrition. You can make it with your favorite fruits and add vegetable juices if desired. There are many ways to boost your calcium intake.

One thing I did many years ago was eliminate soda pop from my diet. I never did drink a lot of it, but when I discovered that the phosphorus in pop - all carbonated beverages - leeches the calcium out of the bones, I stopped drinking it. I would rather eliminate something from my diet than have what I take into my body eliminate calcium from my bones.

Check out what your risk is for osteoporosis.

Have a healthy, calcium-rich week.

Six Mistakes We Make When Setting Goals (Part One)

Six Mistakes We Make When Setting Goals (Part One)