Friday, September 12, 2014

But Wait...There's More! Vicki Hendricks "How to Get Your Story Off to a Fast Start"

Florida Heritage Book Festival - St. Augustine, Florida - Book Sales - Workshops

Get ready for the Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writer's Conference happening late September 2014. This is a super chance for literary lovers - both authors and readers. There will be tons of books for sale, plenty of educational opportunities, and the privilege to visit the one and only, beautiful Flagler College. 

Being that JLB Creatives Publishing will be an active part of the festival, we'll be listing a festival "nugget" from the line-up every Tuesday and Friday right here on the blog.

-----------------------------------


September 26, 2014
1:30p – 2:30p 

Vicki Hendricks ­– “How to Get Your Story Off to a Fast Start”
Writers know the importance of getting their books off to a fast start and hooking the reader. Novelist Vicki Hendricks shares some of her secrets, including the importance of creating a protagonist with a need and a goal, choosing point of view, verb tense, and more. She demonstrates the keys to a fast start with first pages from classic stories. Gamache-Koger Theater







Thursday, September 11, 2014

Thursday Prompt: Unexpected

Imagine your character finding a gift that has been left outside their door. (home, office, car, you choose the setting) Once the box is open your character gazes into it and says, "That isn't what I expected."

Write this story with a minimum of 1000 words in any genre or mix thereof. Good luck!

Don't forget to post a link to your story in the comments or a small excerpt!

Visit JLB Creatives.com to discover great books or submit your manuscript for consideration.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

WEDNESDAY FEATURE "Spark Your Creativity"


#Butterflies #Butterfly #Flower #Spring
This week's photo takes us to Disney Epcot Flower and Garden Show  
Janet has titled this photo, "Wonderful Wings"





Happy Creating!

On Wednesdays we're posting a photo taken by our CEO, author Janet Beasley to help inspire authors, painters, musicians, and other awesome artists. We've titled the new feature, "Spark Your Creativity." How did we come up with this? Read on...

When Janet isn't hard at work in the literary world, you'll find her and her husband kayaking the crystal clear, spring fed rivers of Florida. Janet's second passion next to writing is photographing nature as they glide through the serene settings these rivers have to offer. She and her husband also enjoy traveling the US, so you'll also be seeing some of Janet's
photos taken from hikes and journeys she and her husband have done nationwide. She has used her photos time and again for her own inspiration when it comes to many of her stories, and decided she would like to share the same inspiration with the literary and arts world.

And not to worry if you're not inspired this week, come back each Wednesday to catch a glimpse of what could "spark" your next amazing piece of work. And if you don't want to wait until next Wednesday, we'd like to invite you to visit our JLB Creatives Photo Gallery on Flickr where the photos are always free to download and use as book covers, business cards, wallpaper, etc. All we ask is that you give credit where credit is due - perhaps by something as simple as adding a credit link to the JLB Creatives/Janet Beasley Flickr site in your book or on your presentation. 

We hope you enjoy our new Wednesday feature, "Spark Your Creativity." And we want to let you know, if a photo inspires you to write a story that you would like to have considered for publication by JLB Creatives Publishing, be sure to visit our website at http://www.JLBCreatives.com where you'll find our company's history, be introduced to the publishing team, discover our Submission Guidelines, and may submit your work for consideration.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

You Won't Want to Miss...

Florida Heritage Book Festival - St. Augustine, Florida - Book Sales - Workshops

Get ready for the Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writer's Conference happening late September 2014. This is a super chance for literary lovers - both authors and readers. There will be tons of books for sale, plenty of educational opportunities, and the privilege to visit the one and only, beautiful Flagler College. 

Being that JLB Creatives Publishing will be an active part of the festival, we'll be listing a festival "nugget" from the line-up every Tuesday and Friday right here on the blog.

-----------------------------------

September 26, 2014
12:00p – 1:15p 

Luncheon with Keynoter Lisa Black  

“My Path to Publication” Lisa Black talks about her writing journey, her books, and how they relate to her day job as a Florida crime scene investigator, including a question-and-answer session with the audience. Virginia Room

Monday, September 8, 2014

Cats & Mice Twice as Nice! earns 5 Stars from Readers' Favorite

About Cats & Mice Twice as Nice!
“Miss Amy's Rhyme Time” collection and is full of whimsical original rhymes and art by the multi-talented Amy Sellers. This book will delight the entire family; it’s one you'll love to read again and again with kids and grandkids.

There are four books in “Miss Amy’s Rhyme Time” collection.

Book one: Snorts, Paws, Tails & Claws! 
Book two: Cats & Mice, Twice as Nice! 
Book three: Can Angels Do Loop Dee Loops? 
Book four: Whooo's Coming to Dinner?


In addition to the books, the rhyming stories from each book have been put to music and recorded on CDs. All songs are composed and performed by Amy’s son, Asa Sellers. They are available for sale in Amy Sellers’ Art Gallery or through her website amysellersart.com.



Review!
Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite

Cats & Mice, Twice as Nice! by Amy Sellers is a delightful and colorful book for children. The book has poems in rhymes made more effective and visual with Amy's artwork that breathes life and movement into her words. All the poems will entertain children with their charming verses and pictures. It is a perfect book for parents, teachers and grandparents to read aloud to kids, students and grand-kids. The sing-along CD that comes with each rhyming verse is helpful to children because listening to the poems makes it more interesting and easier to understand.


All the poems are cute; whether it is 'Kitten Kare Clan' or 'The Fishing Bowl' or 'Queen Cat,' children will simply adore the rhymes and the original artwork from the author. It introduces them to new concepts, words and ideas. The book will make a good bedtime story book and will be perfect for school libraries for their read-aloud sessions. The theme in the poems revolves around the cat, giving it different kinds of images and personalities, thereby stimulating the imagination of young readers. I really liked the author's idea of having the sing-along CDs for these poems because it is useful. The illustrations complement the words beautifully. The verses are fluid and the rhymes are not forced at all. On the whole, reading this book will be a learning experience for many reasons because it introduces kids to new words, rhymes and pictures.

Where to buy Cats & Mice Twice as Nice!

About Amy Sellers 
Amy has been inspired to create art her entire life. She graduated from the University of South Florida in  Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. In 2002 Amy became interested in creating children's books. She was inspired to help her son and many other children diagnosed with Autism. In October 2011 she opened her first retail art gallery, Amy Sellers Art Gallery in Mount Dora, Florida
1987 with a

She can still be found in her gallery creating realistic, impressionistic, or whimsical art for all to see. The Amy Sellers Art Gallery is located in The Renaissance Building at 411 N. Donnelly Street, Mount Dora, Florida

Where to find Amy on the web
Facebook

Discover more great books and authors or submit your manuscript at JLB Creatives Publishing 

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Snorts, Paws, Tails and Claws! gets 5 Stars from Readers's Favorite!

About Snorts, Paws, Tails, and Claws! 
“Miss Amy's Rhyme Time” collection and is full of whimsical original rhymes and art by the multi-talented Amy Sellers. This book will delight the entire family; it’s one you'll love to read again and again with kids and grandkids.

There are four books in “Miss Amy’s Rhyme Time” collection.

Book one: Snorts, Paws, Tails & Claws! 
Book two: Cats & Mice, Twice as Nice!
Book three: Can Angels Do Loop Dee Loops? 
Book four: Whooo's Coming to Dinner?

In addition to the books, the rhyming stories from each book have been put to music and recorded on CDs. All songs are composed and performed by Amy’s son, Asa Sellers. They are available for sale in Amy Sellers’ Art Gallery or through her website amysellersart.com. Listen to one of the songs below!

Review!
Snorts, Paws, Tails & Claws! by Amy Sellers is a cute little story book for kids. Children will adore this
collection of poems that touch upon diverse topics that children will enjoy reading and parents will enjoy reading to their kids. They are simple poems with a lot of whimsy and magic complemented by beautiful and colorful illustrations. This collection of rhyming poems is showcased with the author's original pieces of art. Readers can also obtain sing-along CDs of these rhymes, put together by the author’s son, who has both composed and performed the music.

This book is perfect for little kids because of the rhymes and the colorful, eye-catching pictures. It also introduces them to new rhyming words, new words and ideas. It is perfect for parents and grandparents to read out loud to their kids and grand-kids as a bedtime story book. I would recommend it for school libraries as well because it can be used for read-aloud sessions in classrooms and for interactive sessions in the library. The idea of having sing-along CDs for these rhymes is excellent because listening to these rhymes make it more exciting for kids. Books like these always leave a lasting impression in a young mind because of the words used and the colors and the educational concept conveyed. The author's creativity is displayed not only through words, but also through the artworks that go with each poem.

 Reviewed By Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite


Where to buy Snorts, Paws, Tails, and Claws!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million

About author Amy Sellers 
Amy has been inspired to create art her entire life. She graduated from the University of South Florida in 1987 with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts. In 2002 Amy became interested in creating children's books. She was inspired to help her son and many other children diagnosed with Autism. In October 2011 she opened her first retail art gallery, Amy Sellers Art Gallery in Mount Dora, Florida


She can still be found in her gallery creating realistic, impressionistic, or whimsical art for all to see. The Amy Sellers Art Gallery is located in The Renaissance Building at 411 N. Donnelly Street, Mount Dora, Florida
       
Where to find Amy on the web
 Website  
Facebook  
                   

To discover more great books and authors, or submit your manuscript visit JLB Creatives Publishing 

JLB Creatives

JLB Creatives Blog Hosts

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