Where is God's Book? by Jenny Harp

This is a cute children's book written and illustrated by Jenny Harp.

About the book: Where is God's Book?

"We can find the blue book, and even a goat book, but where is God's book? Will we find it?" (Amazon)




To Make Your Own Children's Book:

Creatives: If you want to try your hand at making a children's book, try PowerPoint. It is a great program for making books. Also, try the free app Fotosketcher to turn your images into art. Quick tip: children's picture books are about 24 pages.

Wago by Dorothy Drulman

Click the image for more info.

Wago:

"Ben lives a charmed life in the various National Forests where his father works. He meets Wago in Homochitto National Forest in southern Mississipppi. He is awe struck with the friendly and intelligent, but shy, dog. When Ben and his buddies stumble upon trespassers on a neighbor's property, they learn why Wago is so strange. Ben carelessly puts himself in harm's way before the case is solved." (Amazon)

From the Author: 

According to Dorothy, her books "are set in national forests and my hero lives in a travel trailer with his parents because his father is a surveyor for the forest service. He has adventures in various forests and learns lessons of life.  I got the inspiration for WAGO, the first one, in Mississippi.  I saw the prototype for the dog there."

On November 7, 2015 Dorothy will be at the Winnsboro, TX  Arts museum. So, if you're in the area stop by and check out all her books!

Meet the Author Leah Hopkins

Welcome Author Leah Hopkins to Church of Christ Women Authors. I hope you will spend a few minutes reading about her and getting to know her. Leah is the author of The Glam Girl's Guide to Sex and Dash the Racecar.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I have enjoyed writing for years but a pivotal moment for me was New Years Eve 2011, after I had been studying for a couple of months to further certify myself in the medical field and realized that I was so much more passionate about writing and in particular writing for young ladies.  My husband and I talked about it and he set me loose to start.  I finished "The G.L.A.M. Girl's Guide to Sex" 6 months later.

How long does it take you to write a book?
Well, first book took me 6 months, 2nd book was a children's book called "Dash the Racecar" and the writing was done within a few hours but the artwork took a couple of months.  That being said, I have been planning a sequel to GLAM since I released it & life has gotten in the way.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?
Work schedule...haha.  Really, I am starting to figure out how to carve out some personal writing time because I stay so busy with all the other projects we have that I fall to the back. Justin told me to write for at least 30 minutes a day.  I am trying to do that...but I don't everyday. =/

Do you have an interesting writing quirk?
I need to have complete silence when I am writing.  ANY noise & I completely get thrown off.  Maybe that is why I am so late with writing sequels...  I have small children and a husband that must work with noise. =p

Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
My ideas just come from subjects I am passionate about. They are not just for young ladies, in fact, I have a long list of different books I would love to write.  I guess we will see....

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
I enjoy spending time with my family.  Playing with the boys, going on a date with my hubby.  I also enjoy cooking, reading, and looking at real estate and blue prints.

What would you tell other Christian women who want to write?
My advice is to spend time in prayer and studying God's Word, and not only if you are writing a religious book.  I also think that if there is some way in which you can use your passion and skills to spread the Gospel in some way, you should.

How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I have written two books unless you count all the writing I have done for the Compass Bible class curriculum...then a whole lot more.  My favorite is G.L.A.M.  In fact, I am working on a G.L.A.M. devotional journal right now to go along with the series.

What do you like to read? 
I like to read a variety of different genres.  I find myself drawn to some of the period historical fictions like what Jill Eileen Smith has put together (not a 1st century Christian).  It helps me put the humanity on the people I read about in the Bible.  To really see them in their possible daily struggles.  I don't know of any of these books that are written by Christians though.. I am not sure if I would be able to tackle something like this or not...

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I bounced around from nurse to actress.  When I started college I went from Pre-Med to Architecture before going to SWSBS.  =)

Fun Fact...hmmm.  I used to barrel race when I was a teenager & I love boxer dogs.

The Best Place to Lay an Egg by Emily Hopkins

The Best Place To Lay An Egg by Emily Hopkins

"Life on the farm is always busy. Every animal has work to do, and of course, the chicken’s job is the most important. Every day it is their job to lay the eggs for farmer. But today it seems like everything is going wrong! After all, you can’t lay your egg just any where. Just when a hen thinks she’s found the perfect place, trouble finds her. Something has to be done, but what? In a lively and whimsical way, Emily Hopkins takes you into the minds of a bunch of hens..." (Amazon)



Make sure to check out Emily's Meet the Author Page!

Free Books Alert on Kindle by Susan Elliott and Arwen Chandler

I wanted to let you know that there will be more free books on Amazon Kindle this week. Make sure to check them out!

-Susan







These books will be free September 8-10th.

Hai!

"Hai! introduces children to a beautiful culture through food. Hai! features brilliant watercolor images and a Japanese word list defining unfamiliar terms. This picture book is great for young children, and for anyone who has a love for sushi."

God's Creation

"God's Creation is a full color picture book full of watercolor images of plants, animals, birds and scenery. It is a great book for a small child who is learning to read, or for a child who likes to look at pictures of animals"

Steal My Heart: The Greatest Love Poems of Days Gone By

"Steal My Heart: The Greatest Love Poems of Days Gone by is a collection of beautiful romantic poetry. This collection spans the centuries and features poetry from Shakespeare, Keats, Browning, Poe, Byron and many, many more. The end of the book also includes poetry written by Susan Elliott."

Odds & Ends: A Collection of Short Fiction

"Arwen Chandler lures readers into a world of crime, murder and intrigue with her latest collection of short fiction. Arwen Chandler's "Odds & Ends" collection of short fiction leaves nothing off the table. Step into this wild ride of short fiction at its finest."

Blue Springs, Kansas

"Laura had followed Clark on the rodeo circuit for years. She was his photographer, girlfriend, and biggest supporter. He was her life. But what will she do when she finds herself abandoned at the bus depot in Blue Springs, Kansas in the middle of the night? Arwen Chandler's first piece of short fiction is a gripping ride."






Amazon.com - Read eBooks using the FREE Kindle Reading App on Most Devices


Don't forget to download the copies and write a review!

Have you reviewed a book today?

God's Creation (A Picture Book) by Susan Elliott

God's Creation is a full color picture book full of watercolor images of plants, animals, birds and scenery. It is a great book for a small child who is learning to read, or for a child who likes to look at pictures of animals.

God's Creation is currently only available in Ebook form, but it will be available in print. As soon as it is, I will add a link to the print book.

Have you thought about making your own picture book? 

It's not hard. Yesterday, I shared a YouTube tutorial that gives a step-by-step process for making a picture book. Believe me it is so easy. In fact, the one I have here, God's Creation , was made in just a few hours. Most of that time included finding the pictures and transferring them to watercolor.

The author in the video recommended an app to change pictures from standard images to painted or watercolor images. I found a free program that works great. It's called FotoSketcher. You can adapt pictures into watercolor, oil paintings, pencil sketches and more!

Finding Images:

Linda from Around Mom's Kitchen Table posted a great article titled, Public Domain Images and Photos to Improve Your Blog. Within the article she lists several places to find public domain images. (I would like to add Wikimedia Commons to the list. I use it all the time.) Always read the licensing of the images. It must say public domain for it to be used freely.


Now it's time to put your ideas for picture books into action!


What picture books are going to make?

Hai! by Susan Elliott

Hai!

This short read is about a family going to eat sushi -- one of my family's favorite things to do.

I first wrote this poem when I was attending Northwest Arkansas Community College in 2005. I remember sitting in my professor's office telling him how much I wanted to turn this poem into a children's book. He was encouraging, but had no idea how to get into the business of picture book writing.


How the times have changed the publishing and printing world! Today anyone with a dream can write an publish.

I worked on the original edition of Hai! for a long time (I think about a year.) It was the first time I'd ever illustrated anything, and it turned out pretty cool; however, I was never truly satisfied with it.

Since then I've learned much more about illustrating books, and have recently created a new version of Hai! with brilliant watercolor images, and I love it! I hope you'll love it, too!

The poem Hai! has been published in Visions, on Every Writer's Resource, and of course on Susan's Poetic Blogosphere!


Don't forget to check out Susan Elliott's Meet the Author Page!



Have you ever written a children's book?

Welcome to Church of Christ Women Authors!

Susan Elliott: Sunflowers

      There are a growing number of Christian women authors among the churches of Christ who have been both traditionally published and published through the Indie market. We finally have a presence on Facebook and are working hard to help each other learn tricks of the trade and writing tips through our own experiences. If you're a church of Christ woman author don't hesitate to comment and join us on Facebook. If you're just looking for a good read, you've come to the right place.

Since one of our major goals is to get our material into your hands, where possible there will be links to Amazon, Author's Pages, blogs, and other places where materials can be purchased. Please feel free to check out the books. Here and there I may sneak in a few of my favorite Bible study helps along the way as well.

Thanks for stopping by.

--Susan