Earth Day Guest Post at The Children's and Teen's Book Connection (Book Giveaway!)

Happy Earth Day to all of you around our wonderful planet who follow this blog.  From Austria to Hungary to Iran and beyond, we know this is not only an important day but symbolically, a crucial one.

To that end, I've written an Earth Day Guest Post on a wonderful and intelligent blog.  It is by Cheryl Malandrinos and is called, The Children's and Teen's Book Connection.

On behalf of Earth Day, Cheryl has organized a giveaway of my bestselling children's book, One Pelican at a Time:  A Story of the Gulf Oil Spill.

Simply stop by her blog and register, so we know where to find you if you are the winner.  It is our distinct pleasure that one of you have the book, enjoy it and use its message, one person at a time.

Blogging About Blogging

It's difficult to determine what topics interest our blog followers and what will make people want to read them. For instance, people cannot seem to get enough of the Gulf oil spill.  Yet, I feel as if I'm overloading everyone with the topic.  On the other hand, when I move to another subject, readership falls off a bit.  What's a blogger to do? 

An interest in the oil spill is particularly high in the rest of the world, judging from the stats coming in from other countries.  When I blog about the spill, I hear from many people in countries such as  Russia, the UK, Germany, Hungary and the Philippines, just to mention a few.

Another topic of high interest is anything about marine animals, most notably Winter, the tailless dolphin who now wears a prosthetic tail and lives at the Clearwater Beach Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida.   Of course, she's a great interest of mine, too! 

Certainly both of these topics are germane to my series of Bella and Britt books relating the girls' adventures while living at the beach.  But there should be something more as well. There should be a common human bond between blogger and reader.  There should be that spark of, "Aha, we're on the same page."  Or, "I don't agree, but I understand where she's coming from with this."

If we are able to reach a modicum of understanding with each other, we've both accomplished something pretty special.  Of that, I am convinced.

So, Dear Reader, please send me your serious suggestions for a worthwhile blog within the parameters of children's books, conservation and other worthy and timely topics.  I'll even mention your name if you'd like, no matter where in the world you are.  

Blogging with a view to making our planet a better place is a tall order, indeed, but such a worthy one.  To that end, I'll keep in mind readers' interests and concerns.  Oh, and I'll try to have a little fun with it, too.