Book Business
The supply chain crisis has reached the publishing industry. Paper prices have risen and delivery dates aren’t assured. If you plan on giving books to children, relatives, or friends, order now. Ready, Set, Lead! would be a fantastic holiday gift for your child or grandchild. ORDER NOW if you’re interested in this beautifully illustrated hardcover book. Some ordering links:
Exciting news! The eBook versions of my forthcoming books, Daisy a Day: Hope for a Grieving Heart, a collection of 365 short readings for the bereaved, and First Steps, First Snow, a picture book for young children based on a true story, are on Amazon. Both are available for pre-order now. The print versions will be available for pre-order in mid-November. Daisy a Day would be a thoughtful gift for a bereaved friend or yourself. First Steps, First Snow shows the beauty of walking in fresh snow and animals that live in the woods.
This issue of the newsletter is a few days early and the next issue will be a few days late. My daughter and I are taking a short cruise on a Mississippi River paddleboat. We start in New Orleans and depart from Memphis. I return on December 4th, will get the newsletter out as soon as possible, and hope to have some cruise photos for you.
Reviews
A sample illustration by Carol Hill Quirk from First Steps, First Snow.
I think getting reviews for books is harder than writing them. For my two forthcoming books, First Steps, First Snow and Daisy a Day, I need to get reviews from influencers—other authors, experts, and readers. So far, I have a list of about 20 potential reviewers for each forthcoming book. From experience, I know I’ll receive about four responses to these inquiries, not many for the hours involved.
You can become a book reviewer. Write a short review of Daisy a Day or First Steps, First Snow. I’ll be glad to send you an electronic version of the book for review purposes. Your review doesn’t need to be long. One powerful sentence or a paragraph will do. When the print book is released, I’ll send you a free, autographed copy. Thanks for your help.
From My Window
Writing and illustrating Grief Doodling changed my life. My husband’s former bedroom is now my art studio, and every wall is covered with framed pictures. I’ve given doodling workshops to community groups and will soon be giving one to members of my church. Below are a few of my art doodle pictures. These pictures and others will be in a January art show.
Photo by Kathy Meyer, RN
Art doodling is a combination of ordinary doodling, comics, and folk art. My art doodles use the techniques I describe in Grief Doodling. These easy techniques enable me to create hundreds of art doodle pictures. You can too. If you haven’t tried art doodling, I recommend it highly. This art form is creative, relaxing, and fun. I think of myself as a doodle artist and another sample of my work is below. It was created with a set of elementary school watercolors and black felt-tip pen. I purposely exaggerated the size of the flower and, if you look carefully, you will see hearts, a recurring shape in art doodles. My heart and soul are in every picture.
Photo by Kathy Meyer, RN
Quote of the Month
You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer. A Child’s Garden of Verses is one of his most famous books.