Dear Reader, Love, Author Blog Post

I have posted my letter to the Dear Reader, Love, Author Blog.  Hope you enjoy it!
 
Dear Reader, 

 

Have you ever walked along a beach somewhere on this glorious planet and found instant inspiration, an epiphany of sorts?  Well, that is exactly what happened to me one glorious December day seven years ago on Clearwater Beach, Florida.  Right out of the blue, as it were.  Here’s what happened:  Strolling along on wet sand, I came across the outline of a heart.  But what was written inside stopped mine. Only one word. Bella. It became completely clear that I write a book about a beach girl called Bella. And from that bolt of insight, Bella was born.

 

As sometimes happens, an almost simultaneous incident occurred; this time a terrible one: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The entire world was inundated with wrenching photos of once blue water slicked over by deadly oil, birds drenched and weighted down with the deadly stuff, and BP executives spewing invectives about how it was not their fault. And something snapped in me.  I sat down and wrote One Pelican at a Time: A Story of the Gulf Oil Spill.  Not only was Bella the protagonist.  Her best friend Britt joined her in the effort.  And that book began the Bella and Britt beach series. 

 

My newest offering, Mystery at Manatee Key, is the fourth in the series and features Britt front and center.  It is she alone who must rescue Bella and the ranger from a ring of manatee smugglers.  By now, the series reader is familiar with the ranger, who is warm-hearted and loves all things beachy.  Dwayne Smarr is the bad guy and Britt’s nemesis throughout much of the book.  He is so bad that he’s fun to love to hate.  With kids, black and white rules, and Dwayne has no shades of gray!

 

Throughout the series, I have tried to infuse a love of and respect for nature and Mother Earth, the only home we humans have at this point in our galaxy.  Without being preachy, it is my hope that in reading the books, children will find a fun story, interesting facts, and a love of learning interwoven throughout the pages.  If all that occurs, I’ve been a successful author and have done my intended job.

On with the Tour at Reading, Writing & Ruckus

Today we travel to the Reading, Writing and Ruckus Blog. Let's find out what they think of our new Bella and Britt Series offering, Sea Turtle Summer.

Sea Turtle Summer remains on Amazon's Bestsellers for Children's List, and we are very happy about that.

The book is the second in the Bella and Britt Series. Best selling and award winning, One Pelican at a Time, was published in 2011. Bella Saves the Beach will be launched later this year, followed by Mystery at Manatee Key.

Many of my readers keep asking for a Bella and Britt dolphin book, and that may be in the offing. In the meantime, come on over to Reading, Writing & Rumpus today, and see what's being said about Sea Turtle Summer!

Mayra Calvani's Interview with me at Mayra's Secret Bookcase

Nancy is the bestselling author of the four Bella and Britt Series books for children: One Pelican at a Time (eighteen weeks on Amazon Bestselling List), Sea Turtle Summer, Bella Saves the Beach and Mystery at Manatee Key. All are published by Guardian Angel Publishing.

(The trailer for Sea Turtle Summer can be found at the end of this post.)

She and One Pelican at a Time and were featured in the PBS Tampa (WEDU) special, GulfWatch. Pelican was nominated for a Global eBook Award and has won the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.
Nancy’s travels take her extensively throughout the world, most particularly Africa. She is US chair of a charity in Lamu, Kenya, that places girls in intermediate schools to allow them to further their education. She and her husband live in Tampa and St. Louis.
I understand you were a university professor teaching classes about children’s and young adult literature before you started writing. How did the leap from teacher to author come about?

I thought fleetingly about writing for children through my years as an academic, but it never seemed the right time. After teaching children’s and young adult literature, though, the idea crystallized. The day after my granddaughter, Leah, was born, I wrote my first children’s book, I Held You on the Day You Were Born. Since then I’ve never looked back, and those pent-up books flow faster than I would ever have expected. So, in a real way, Leah (who is now five) is the true catalyst behind my writing.

What makes you passionate about writing for children?

My entire academic career has been about children, from teaching young kids to teaching pre-service teachers. It was, I think, a natural segue to begin writing for them. The combination of my love of all things books and the real joy I feel about children and their growing awareness of new ideas led me to this passion.

Congratulations on the publication of your latest children’s picture book, Sea Turtle Summer. What was your inspiration for this story?

My morning walks on Clearwater Beach provide me with so many ideas, particularly for the Bella and Britt Series. With Sea Turtle Summer, I walked by a cordoned off area of the beach that contained a sea turtle nest. The orange tape and the affixed state seal warning about the serious consequences of tampering began the process in my mind.
Clearwater Beach, always voted one of the three best beaches in the world, is a sea turtle’s nightmare if she happens to lay her eggs there. There is so very much activity—from sun worshiping, to volleyball games, to kids’ digging sandcastles (hatchlings cannot get over them), the problem became defined. The tension was set up. All we needed was a sea turtle laying her eggs in an unfortunate place, and Bella and Britt were back on the job!

I understand you get up at dawn everyday and by 6am are already pounding away at your keyboard on the balcony of your beautiful, gulf-view Clearwater apartment. Tell us more about your writing schedule and writing process, especially for Sea Turtle Summer.

It is true that I’m at my computer around six each morning and has become a joke with friends who always look at the time I send or answer emails! I do find that time to be more productive for me than any other.
I’ve learned to parcel my days into bunches of hours, each bunch dealing with one area. For instance, my best creative writing is early in the morning. About mid-morning, I turn to marketing and do that several hours. Later in the day, I go back to writing, many times on a different manuscript. I tend to finish about 5 PM, but my computer is sometimes on my lap in the evening as well.

My blog does take some time almost daily. I publish new posts three times a week. I try to write them in groups and usually have seven or eight ready to go. I enjoy blogging and find writing for adults helps keep my mind focused in a different way. In that regard, it’s a worthwhile exercise.

What do you do when the words ‘just won’t come out’? Do you stay and force it until something begins happening on the page?
Free Association is the name of that game for me. I don’t fight writer’s block anymore. Rather, exercise or running errands or doing anything not related to writing helps greatly. When I’m disengaged from writing is usually when engagement happens. An idea, a notion, a nugget of a thought will pop into my consciousness and, as if by magic, the block is finished.

Do you have any tips for aspiring children’s authors?

Yes! Don’t write in a vacuum! Join a writer’s group—immediately. It is the best thing you can do for yourself. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is beyond valuable for the new writer, and local groups are everywhere.

Realize you have to promote your own book, and you must do it constantly. The days of sitting back and letting your publishing house do it are over! I have a friend whose name you’d recognize here. She’s had thirty two books children’s books published. Recently she told me that she still gives one day a month to marketing.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

I’d be delighted to share my web and blog addresses and tell them where my books can be purchased.
Web site: http://www.nancystewartbooks.com
Blog site: http://www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com  

The books are sold at: Guardian Angel Publishing, amazon.com, barnes & noble.com,Fictionwise and my web and blog sites, where you can obtain a personalized, autographed copy.
Thank you, Nancy!

Thank you so much, Mayra, for hosting me. I enjoyed being with you and your guests.

Mayra's Secret Bookcase is a marvelous blog, and it is my hope you will take a look at it!

Internet Bookfair Blogfest Featuring the Bella and Britt Series

One Pelican at a Time:  A Story of the Gulf Oil Spill, the first US children's picture book about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, was on Amazon's Bestselling Book List for Children for 18 weeks.  It is published by Guardian Angel Publishing, and the illustrator is Samantha Bell.


(Please see the PBS Tampa (WEDU) feature of my writing One Pelican at a Time at bottom of post and the Pelican trailer.)

Pelican is the first of the Bella and Britt Series.  Bella and Britt love living by the beach.  When they find oil washing to shore from a gulf spill, they want to help but are told there is nothing for kids to do.  But when their friend, the old crooked beak pelican becomes covered with oil, they help save his life by their quick thinking and action.  This is a kid empowering book that has the message, "little hands can help, too."

Sea Turtle Summer, the second book in the series, finds the girls discovering a sea turtle's nest in immediate danger from beach goers, volleyball nets and dune buggy traffic.  They go into action, but can their bravery and quick thinking save the baby sea turtles?  The book also contains some great sea turtle facts kids should love.  Sea Turtle Summer will be published in time for Christmas, 2011!

The third book in the series is Bella Saves the Beach and will be released in early 2012.  In this book, the girls tackle trash left by beach goers. 

They realize they can't do it alone, so how do they get the beach cleaned and how do they educate people about not leaving trash behind?

Mystery at Manatee Key will be released in 2012.  The girls find themselves in real danger when they discover a manatee poaching ring.  Britt finds it's up to her to rescue Bella and the ranger.  But can she do it?  (No cover is available as yet.)

Read what reviewers say about of One Pelican at a Time:

“If you are a concerned parent or teacher in search of a good book that will help children learn about caring for the planet, I highly recommend One Pelican at a Time.”            
                                                            Turning the Clock Back Blog

One Pelican at a Time can be bought in hard cover, paperback and Kindle at:
Guardian Angel Publishing
http://www.amazon.com/
Barnes & Noble.com

Trailer of One Pelican at a Time

PBS video of the writing of One Pelican at a Time