Saturday, May 5, 2012

Youth Tube Has Launched!


Hello fans! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. We’re starting today and running through the months of May & June, we’ll be taking a break from Blast From the Past and bringing you a few fresh new goodies!

Here’s the calendar of upcoming posts:

May 5 – 6: Launch of Youth Tube – something great for kids!

May 7 – June 3: Maycly will be on a Blog Tour featured by Orangeberry Tours. You will be able to stop by the JLB Creatives Blog and catch the weekly stops and dates.  

June 4 - 10: Author Splash featuring the dynamic horror duo Betty Dravis and Barbara Watkins.





So let’s get started!

Today and tomorrow, May 5 & 6, we’ll be featuring The Plum Tree’s latest creation: YouthTube! A place on the web where children artists can have the work posted, grown-ups present cool kid stuff like books and videos, and so much more!

In celebration of YouthTube, many of us have chipped in and are bringing you child related stories. You’ll find Janet Beasley’s story below



Kids CAN Make a Difference
(The child's name is fictitious, but the story remains a true event.)

Being an author means so much more than just putting words on a page and publishing your books. As an author, I was recently enlightened in a very special way. My novel, Hidden Earth, Volume 1, MAYCLY, Parts 1, 2, and 3, was released in February, 2012. I took pre-release-date orders for the 744-page collector’s edition paperback. Sales went well, and I could not have been happier, or so I thought. I hadn’t really considered what my fans were doing with the autographed copies they received in mid March. Much to my surprise, a rare opportunity to find out presented itself.

It was a normal day in my small town. I headed over to the local diner to have lunch and catch up on the latest news. I grabbed the last remaining seat and joined the already established conversation. A lady who had ordered a pre-release-date copy of MAYCLY was sitting with her friend at one of the other five tables in the restaurant. She waved.

I smiled and said, “How ya doin’?”

She replied with a big grin, “I’m doin’ great, but Johnny’s doin’ better!”

With a polite smile I nodded, all the while wondering who Johnny was. “That’s great!”

There wasn’t much of a pause before she continued. “I gave my copy of MAYCLY to Johnny, my grandson. He loves your book. He’s already halfway through it. He just turned eleven.” She beamed. “AND that was the book he chose to take on vacation with him this week to the nation’s capital. It fit right in his back pack, and he made a point of letting me know he’d be reading it on the plane.”

The only thing I could recall ever hearing about her grandson was that he had read the complete Harry Potter series. Not only that, but he knew everything about every character, place, and animal. As this fact crept its way to the forefront of my memory, my heart skipped a beat. I’m up against Rowling, and this kid’s enjoying my book? The woman continued to tell me that he already knew my characters up to the point he had reached in the story—how old they were, what they wore, how their voices sounded, and so on.

Opting out of a “deer in the headlights” stare, I squealed like a teenager, “That’s amazing!”

Before I could utter another word, the woman said, “Yeah. He came to me and said, ‘Grandma, this book should be on the AR (Accelerated Reading) list.’” She paused and smiled back at what I’m certain was an excited yet puzzled look on my face, then continued. “I’m not sure how you get your books on that list, but I’ll do some research for you.”

“OK.” What else could I say? Finally I closed my gaping mouth and asked, “Do you suppose Johnny would want to write a review for me? I’ll be happy to put it on my website and post it along with the novel where it’s for sale online. I promise only to mention that he’s an 11-year-old from the US.”

She glowed like any proud grandmother would. “I’ll surely ask him.”

In a few days I received an email stating that Johnny would be honored to do the review; he’d never been asked by a real author to do something like that and was thrilled.

This kid has totally stolen my heart, and I’ve never even met him. The numerous hours I spent searching for the right words, constructing sentences, creating a new world, and developing a new language over the last eight years, along with establishing my own style and suffering through sleepless nights as ideas invaded my brain, were well worth the effort.

For several days I forgot about the nerve-wracking moment when I realized that, for this kid at least, I was up against Rowling’s series. I forgot about all the hard work facing me in writing the next five novels in my series and trying to get MAYCLY onto the AR list. All I could think about was...if nothing else happens with this novel series, who cares? It has made a child smile. Speaking from firsthand experience, that’s the greatest success any author could ask for. It is truly an unforgettable moment in my career. 

 This story and others will be appearing in the next Plum Tree Anthology
~   ~   ~

If you're wondering what Maycly is all about - hop on over to Janet Beasley's Author Page.



Maycly is a three part novel. It is available in both
a 744 collector's edition paperback complete with all three parts, black and white illustrations, 10 maps, family trees, and so much more!

Each part is offered in an ebook, each sold separately, and include color illustrations, and corresponding back matter. 





Tell your friends and family!

Be sure to watch for the Author Splash post 
featuring Mark Miller
coming Monday May 7, 2012!


Monday, April 30, 2012

Ebook or Hard Copy

Photo by
Janet Beasley
Always make time for a sunset



Hello everyone! So great to see you here.
Regular blog posts are still appearing on Mondays - but with a little bit of a twist. 



Due to the enormous success we have had with Maycly - I need to get busy on the next 5 novels...you read right...5 more novels! For this reason, every Monday we're going to head to the archives and the postings will be some of the coolest and most helpful blog posts I made throughout 2011 and early 2012. This will allow me the much time needed to let my creativity run wild and write, and write, and write. ;-)

Not to worry, I'm not abandoning my fans - I'll still be at your fingertips through comments here on the blog, email, Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, and other social media. 

So, without any further ado - welcome to the past!

Original Post Date:
3 / 24 / 11



Welcome to WEEK 5 here on the JLB Creatives Blog. So glad to see you back and joining in the fun. Also - Welcome  to all of you who have just joined us for the first time. I'm sure you'll find  the blog to be informative, interactive, and fun for the whole family!


VIDEO
Ebooks or Hard Copies?

TOPIC POST:
     So - are you typing the word "SMILE" or are you gonna "ROCK-ON" with the hard copies? I'll be you'll bet surprised to find out which I like best...BOTH! Here's why.

     Ebooks have become a part of my regular day now. Personally I love them! Especially those that include their illustrations and other fun things. I like the way I can have my entire "current" library on hand without the bulkiness of numerous paperbacks and hard cover novels. I'm usually reading 3-4 books at a time, so you can see where the convenience comes in for someone like me. 

     My first e-reader was a gift from my wonderful husband at Christmas time. He was smart enough to know how much I enjoyed being online, surfing, catching up on network sites, posting news on the blog, etc. With all of that in mind, he chose an inexpensive e-reader for me that was also wifi and internet compatible. He said he started small to see if it was something I'd use. Long story short - it's only been 3 months and with the use I've put on it, I'm already set on moving up to something that moves faster with the page turns, holds more apps, connects faster, etc. 

     But does this mean I'm ready to completely burn my hard copy books? Not by any means! And there's some books I still enjoy holding in my hands as a tangible item, not a digital one. For instance..."coffee table" books filled with beautiful photos and illustrations are some I will always buy in hard copy. Yes, I love having the digital illustrations in the novels, but I also L-O-V-E having my gorgeous photo/illustration books that accompany so many successful novels.

     Good news...my novel "Maycly" will be no different! There will be ebooks of the novel itself complete with illustrations, but there will also be hard copy "coffee table" style books available for purchase containing Dar Bagby's illustrations, in depth descriptions, and more. 

     By being a member on this blog, you'll be among the first to know when both the ebook version AND the hard copy illustration books hit the market. If you haven't become a "Follower" as of yet, I encourage you to do, simply by clicking the "FOLLOW" button at the top of the blog page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email at jlbcreatives@gmail.com
Pic n' Thought
by: Janet
It takes time for a rose to come into full bloom,
but they're always worth the wait.
Your talents and dreams are no different.

LINK OF THE WEEK:
     Since we're looking at a rose, do you know how many different types of roses there are? I had no idea until I began to research the information. And you know what I found out? WOW! There's a lot out there! 

     There are plenty of flowers on "Maycly" but none as beautiful as a rose. My favorite color rose is a purple rose - just like Iona's. (Who's Iona, you ask? In time, it will be revealed who Iona is as we get closer to the debut of my novel. So stay tuned to the JLB Creatives Blog so you don't miss her introduction.) I carried purple roses at my wedding (30 years ago this July) and they have remained on my all time favorites list of flowers, right under the Bird of Paradise - proper name: Strelitzia, and Plumerias - to me, the best smelling flowers around. (see BONUS LINKS for additional flowers!)

     I stumbled across the LINK OF THE WEEK while doing some research, and thought you might find it interesting...with it being Spring time and all. 

     I by no means endorse this site. I don't receive any compensation for numbers of clicks, etc. I strictly found a cool site I wanted to share with my JLB Creative bloggers if they're interested in learning about roses.


And here's a couple of BONUS LINKS for you to enjoy as well.
Again - I do not endorse them nor make anything by you clicking on them. 
They're strictly there for you to enjoy and learn...yeah, really! :)

BONUS LINKS:

And if you're interested in taking a look at my "best of the best" flower photos, you may do so by visiting
JLB Creatives Flower Gallery
                                            

SUMMARY:
     Well, that about wraps it up for WEEK 5. Remember, The Comment Game: Type the word "SMILE" if you're into ebooks, or type "ROCK ON" if you're into hard copies. If you're into both - be sure to "SMILE" as you "ROCK ON!" Let me know why you chose the one you did!

     Also, if you haven't had a chance to do so, be sure and "LIKE" us on FB to stay in tune even more with Janet and her creativity. Simply click and Like: JLB Creatives on Facebook

     Have a great week - remember to invite your friends and family. JLB Creatives Blog is always "kid safe" - NO profanity, nudity, pornography, vulgarity, etc. will be tolerated!

Your creative genius...
~Janet~
URL: www.jlbcreatives.com
Email: jlbcreatives@gmail.com






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JLB Creatives Editor Dar Bagby (L) and JLB Creatives CEO Janet Beasley (R)