Christmas shopping at your local Holiday Bazaar!

 

 Selling at Christmastime has always been a favorite of mine. It could be the possibility of finding new readers or the excitement of getting another book from an author you've read before. I love Christmas Bazaars at local schools. Everyone is in a good mood and, for once, I don't have to worry about the wind or rain terrorizing my books! I really appreciate inside events. I don't do nearly enough of them.

  

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.com

I did a bazaar at a local YMCA this weekend. We had a pretty decent crowd and lots of different vendors. I met a retired schoolteacher who sold homemade candles. After learning the process of making the candles, I think I'll stick with writing. Way too much patience is needed for my liking.

Across the aisle, I met a woman and her son (fresh out of high school) that began a pottery making business. She had the coolest designs and the prettiest covers. On the other side of me, a grandma and her two grandchildren were selling homemade relish and other condiments.

And, of course, the requisite Paparazzi, Avon and Pampered Chef were present.

This is just a reminder that nice, thoughtful gifts can be found at your local craft fair and holiday bazaar. You never know what you're going to find (magic wallets, included!!)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day!

Angie

New chapter book series coming!

 Heading into the holiday season, I'm heading into a new chapter book series: Barn Cat Rescues. Granted, I only have 2 books in the works, as I only have 2 barn cat rescues but I'm excited about them. Currently I have Misty's Wish available in picture book and coloring book form, but at selling events I realized older kids might want a weightier read, so I created a chapter book out of the kitten's stories.

Misty's Wish: Chapter Book

The book is told by Misty as she finds herself and her sister adopted out to be barn kittens. Her sister loves her new home, but Misty is scared of everything. She's not sure if the barn is where she should be. This chapter book lets me flesh out the story more and go more in depth into Misty's story. It was fun to write and flowed quickly onto the page.

I hope the kiddos will like the newest edition to my early reader chapter book collection!

Happy holidays and happy reading!

Angie

Surviving another 1 star review

 Nothing can bring me down quite so quickly as a 1 star review. The worst is when it has no accompanying worded review. Why didn't they like it??? All other reviews received have been 5 stars. So now I'm second guessing everything that makes me an author. I liked the book. The kids that read it liked the book. 

 

It's like my baby. And that baby just won the Ugly Baby contest. Deep down, a part of me asks, Is the book really that bad? Did they mean to click 5 stars and accidentally hit 1? Yeah, probably not. 

BUT... if you're going to hit someone with 1 star, have the decency to back it up with some detail.

Because 1 star sits like a brick in the pit of my stomach.

 So, if you as a reader feel the need for some reason to deliver the worst review possible, at least make the effort to inform the public what you didn't like about the work. Because I'm open to criticism and I'm not saying I'm the perfect writer. I'm far from it. The thing is, I have no idea what's wrong with my book.

Self doubt has been my enemy. And I worry about how I can sell my book to the public this weekend. But I will lift my chin, take a deep breath to calm the nervous butterflies and present the work to the best of my ability.

Please be kind to each other.

Write on!

Angie

Imaginarium Convention 2021 - Louisville

It was nice to be back in Louisville, Kentucky for the Imaginarium Convention. Almost for a moment, we could forget COVID didn’t happen. Happily vaccinated authors, gamers and film makers filled the rooms at Holiday Inn. Old friends got to re-acquaint with each other and new friendships grew.

Panels and workshops were plentiful and informative. I had 3 panels to sit on: Young Adult, Paranormal, and Children’s Lit. The events were so well-attended, I chose to sit out of the Paranormal panel – already 5 panelists; so for the sake of social distancing, I sat out.

Great questions were asked and the panelists readily imparted their wisdom. Almost ever table in the Vendors Hall and Creative’s Alley was occupied with a merchant.

On Saturday after hours, an awards banquet was held to honor 2020 and 2021 winners in various categories. I had the honor to accept Best Children’s Book for 2020 for My Mom Is Sick and It’s Okay.

Imaginarium is such a great event for networking and creating new alliances. The event serves to boost confidence in everyone.

Now that Imaginarium has concluded, it leaves a feeling of excitement for what next year will bring!

June Book Selling Events!

 I have June events scheduled to sell books! It's been one year and seven months since I've been to such an event. For some reason, I'm terribly nervous! And really excited, too. I have eight new books to debut that include several children's books (and corresponding coloring books).

Now that I'm fully vaccinated, I feel a little more comfortable going out in public. Unfortunately my daughter's age hasn't been called for the vaccine yet, but we're still wearing masks when we go to stores. Outdoor events we feel more comfortable now.

My first two events in June are all outdoors. I have masks ready and hand sanitizer on the ready to place on my selling tables. July is my one and only event that is indoors, but it's usually pretty small and I'll be fully masked.

Now is the time where I need to remember what my pitch is for each book I have. It's been so long, I've forgotten how to quickly tell someone interested a little bit about my book without stumbling over words.

Everyone stay healthy and write on!

Angie

Designing covers is hard! COVER reveal

 I usually delegate the job of cover designer to my husband - the computer guru. I took for granted how hard it was. I decided with the next two books in my young readers series, Hay Days, that I would do all the work. I used Krita to produce my cover. There are so many buttons to click and so many things to learn with this program. After a brief tutorial (and several re-visits to my husband to explain again) I managed to complete 2 covers. 

When I did my first cover - a coloring book named Amazing Horses, I used Publisher. And it was easy and simple. But I learned it was very limited or impossible, if I wanted to make any changes. Soon, it became evident that I needed a more advanced program for future book covers. A program that used layers to make a more well-rounded design. 

 

So this was the photo that would be the main subject for my cover. Meet Mindy, my 27 year old Quarter Horse. She's turned out to be an excellent cover model. (She'll work for carrots.)

Thirteen layers four days later, this is the cover design courtesy of Krita:

Designing covers will get easier with every cover I do. It only takes time and patience (lots of patience). I'm looking forward to finishing more books so I can jump back onto Krita and get my creative juices flowing.

I'm so looking forward to bringing my two new books to summer book events! I'm hoping the kids like my cover and book idea as much as I do!

Dream big and write on!

Angie McPherson

New barn kittens become newest book muse! Misty's Wish

 2020 was such a rough year, but one of the bright spots was in late summer we adopted 2 barn kittens to bring to our horse barn. We had 2 aging barn cats (more than 12 years with us) but the brother cat, Nooshy, went away to pass on. That left Lucy and we thought it a good time to bring in a couple of new kittens. The plan wasn't to give Lucy a replacement, but we thought Lucy might be a good teacher to the new kittens. At first, she didn't like them at all. Months later, she still barely tolerates them, but the kittens don't seem to mind.

The kittens came from a Barn Cat Program from our local Southern Indiana animal shelter. They were both tortoiseshell females. Very shy at first, but now they won't let you leave the barn without some quality petting time.

Misty

Pumpkin

 

So, with the new additions came a new book and a matching coloring book! Misty's Wish is a story about a barn kitten that feels out of place in the barn and wishes for something more. The story emulates the new kittens life - including interaction with a skunk and Misty's excessively vocalizations. In other words, she's got something to say and she's letting everyone know!

Misty's Wish: Picture Book

 

 

Misty's Wish: Coloring Book

 

 

I had a lot of fun writing this story and was excited to work with Asiri Kulathunga,  I worked with for My Mom Is Sick and It's Okay again for all the illustrations.

So, if you're looking for a cute book about a kitten that wished for more, please check out my books on Amazon! And if the stars line up later this year, I'll have them on hand at some book events. (I'm going to keep thinking positive about this!)

Happy reading to all!

Angie