JGDS

Series update

2012-02-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking of some ideas to make my stories more fun and interesting for the kids. With this technological age, I've felt that the stories are flat and are not really getting the participation from the readers as I had envisoned. So I'm talking with Heather and thinking we will go a different route for future books, so right now, new stories are on hold. I will keep you updated when I decide what route I'm going with the stories and changes as they happen. Until then, just keep reading and if you have any ideas to share that would make the series more fun for kids to read or how to incorporate the stories in your classroom, please don't hesitate to leave me a message or you can send me an email to eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com - thanks - Ma America :)

Afghan update

2012-02-16T20:32:00.000-05:00

I've had all the squares for the rows sewn together for a whlie now and had two rows sewn together and another two row section started; well, this evening I got those two rows together. I have one more section of two rows to sew together and then to put the sections together. Add a border of red, white and blue all around and then it will be completed. I'm ready to post pictures of the completed afghan but am afraid it won't look good doing the whole thing - but I'll see what I can do to get some pictures posted here soon.

Don't forget this is a raffle - one chance = $1.50; ten chances = $12 and with any state book purchase you get a chance. If you need to find the pay buttons for the chances, you can find them on the events pages of either the JGDS website or on Ms. Elysabeth's website. Drawing to be held December 1 with afghan mailed out around December 7th.

Good luck to all who enter - Ma America :)

Writers On The Move: Interactive eBooks: The Next Generation of Childre...

2012-02-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

What an interesting article. Heather, if you are reading my blog we need to talk about the possibility of going interactive "app" for my state stories - lol. I know I've been trying to think of a way to make the stories more interesting and this has come at the appropriate time.

What do you all think? Would you be willing to purchase my state stories if they were "interactive" apps or ebooks for devices instead of print copies?

If you think this is a good idea, please leave a comment here and let me know what kind of things you would like to see in interactive state stories keeping with the theme that the game is still the primary character and giving the kids the "clues" for them to guess the state. I think this may be the next wave of state books instead of print books. I'll see what Heather has to say and what we can come up with, but with her in school and all, we may not have time to dedicate getting interactive books out as opposed to print books. I wish I had a device to download the book from this article so I could really get a feel for how it works and if this would be a better fit for my state stories or not - anyway, ya'll let me know what you think - and stop over on Writers on the Move and leave a comment for Kevin - Ma America & the JGDS (Mrs. E :))

Writers On The Move: Interactive eBooks: The Next Generation of Childre...: During the past few months, I have been forsaking many of my writing related activities to explore the possible future of children’s books. ...

Afghan raffle tickets

2012-02-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

Ms. Elysabeth was at the grocery store (Bargains in another small town from where she lives) this morning and was walking up the aisle that holds all the nonfood junk stuff. Wandering the aisle on the top shelf there sat some packs of tickets. The rolls are not as big as the ones seen at Staples for like $10 or $15 but for $2.99 for a couple of hundred tickets, she picked up three rolls. So now, we have tickets for the afghan drawing. To purchase tickets, drop by Ms. Elysabeth's website or to the JGDS website. They are only $1.50 each or 10 chances for $12. - see you in the postings - JGDS

Update

2012-02-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

I've not posted here in a while so thought I'd let everyone know we are still alive and doing well. More state stories coming soon.

The red, white and blue afghan is almost completed (two rows are actually sewn together, four left to go plus the border). I have taken some pictures but haven't had a chance to post them yet.

I have to have it completed by the 17th since my first event is the 18th and I hope to do well at the Geofest, especially since I can now take credit cards at my events.

Not much going on with book sales so far (and that's all around - Ma America's short stories and YA novel or any of the JGDS series). Hopefully this will pick up soon.

More when there is news to post or at least the pictures of the afghan. Don't forget to check out the events page on the JGDS website for ways to purchase your chances for the drawing for the afghan. See you all in the postings - Ma America & the JGDS

Afghan drawing is now a raffle

2012-01-29T15:19:00.000-05:00

While sewing the rest of the third row of granny squares together, I decided that since I've had no sales so far on any of the state books and no sales really to speak of on any of the other titles I have available, I decided to do a raffle for the afghan this year. This is a pretty large afghan and I hope before the end of Wednesday to have all the rows together so I can post pictures of each row and then the completed afghan. As soon as I have the afghan completed with a border and all, I will put a raffle option button on both websites - the JGDS website and Elysabeth's other writing site. Raffle tickets will be $1.50 each or 10 for $12. Drawing will still be December 1 as I'll be selling raffle tickets at all my events for the drawing. Afghan will be sent out about the 7th of December. Good luck to you all. Ma America - E :)

Granny Square afghan update

2012-01-25T09:39:00.000-05:00

Decision to only do one drawing a year has been made. Even if I have other afghans started and/or completed. I will store them for display for the year of the drawing.

I'm at the putting together stage on the granny square afghan. Two rows are completely sewn together with the third started and 1/3 complete. This afghan is going to be a lot larger than I anticipated but I hope it will attract some sales along the way.

I'm in search of a large ziplock storage bag. I know either Ziplock brand used to make them or one of the other brands did at one time, but I'm not finding them in the storage bag/container aisles at the grocery store. If anyone knows where I might find these large ziplock type bags (I remember seeing them advertised on TV years ago), please send me an email at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know. I did, however, find Ziplock brand 2-1/2 gallon sized baggies, but after getting just two rows sewn together, I don't think the 2-1/2 gallon sized will be large enough to hold the afghan. I do think that it will be large enough to hold the round ripple as I don't expect to go much past 15 or whatever my yarn will last through rounds on that one. These 2-1/2 gallon bags may also be just right for the Alternating V Shell stitch I'll do for the 2014 drawing.

I'll post pictures of the completed rows and the complted afghan as soon as they are together - Ma America :)

54 squares

2012-01-21T17:40:00.000-05:00

I've crocheted the last granny square for the afghan and now am in the process of putting them together. I have all my rows fixed so it's a matter of sewing them together. The first row is sewn together alreayd and 9 squares long is pretty big - I was amazed. When holding the row, it stretches exactly the length of my arms spread out straight to my sides; I know when measuring material my mother told me eons ago that usually a yard is from my outstretched arm to the tip of my nose with my head turned to the opposite side - 36 inches plus between 25 and 30 inches (I've not done the exact measurements) the dimension of the row (It's probably close to 55 inches long and will be about 40 or so inches on the short side.

I will try to take and post pictures of the individual rows as they are completed and then when the whole thing is finished. See you in the postings - Ma America

2012 Afghan drawing

2012-01-19T09:44:00.000-05:00

I've got all but five squares completed for the granny square afghan and even started a second red, white, blue one in the "round ripple" pattern. Once I get the squares completely put together I'll finish the round ripple one. Daughter thinks I should have two drawings this year but I'm still not seeing sales so probably will save the round ripple for next year and I've got a third pattern (will need to collect yarn over this year) to do for 2014. If I decide to do two drawings this year, I will let you all know. Mostly this will depend on how sales go and from the looks of it, there will only be one drawing a year. If I have an overwhelming response at my in-person events, I will change my mind.

So here are the pics of the squares. I've started sewing some together so I won't be totally overwhelmed by that task (the most time consuming part of it). No pictures of the sewn together pieces yet but these are the squares.

Enjoy. There will be pictures of the finished afghan later. - Ma America :)

Upcoming Events

2012-01-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year (really I'm behind because usually I start planning where we'll be in October and November) to let you know some events that are coming up.

January is almost over and unless I get a last minute call to do a presentation or something, there are no events scheduled. February brings Geofest and that is the official start of my selling season. This is a twice a year event and unless something comes up to conflict, I will probably continue going both times. March is the South Carolina Association of School Libraries (SCASL) conference where I'll be doing a workshop on shelving faction books, in particular the JGDS series. I'll also be an exhibitor/vendor with Sybil Nelson and Sarah Renee (we are calling ourselves the SC Author Connection). April looks to be pretty quiet and then May is a busy month. The Travel & Tourism week usually comes the first week of May but I need to check exact dates with Amos; I've tentatively put it on my calendar as the 12th. The weekend of the 18th is the SC Book Festival; again, this will be a split booth with Sybil Nelson and Sarah Renee as the SC Author Connection. We are tentatively looking at sharing a booth at the Decatur Book Festival which is in September and of course Savannah is on the agenda again this year. I'm going to try to do YALL fest which is the week before Savannah. In August, possibly the Love to Learn homeschool conference and hopefully we will be able to do the Mint Hill Sunday in the Park event again (hoping Ms. Faye will go with us again).

So not as busy as previous years but some bigger events this year. I'll keep you updated as events are added to the calendar. Ma America & the JGDS :)

Giveaway 2012

2012-01-09T20:40:00.002-05:00

I decided this weekend that my afghan was a pretty good deal so I'm at it again; this year's afghan will be a different design (not the mile-a-minute style, probably granny squares checkerboarded pattern). To be entered for the drawing, any purchase of any of the state books made at any event, in person, ordered directly from me via email or any purchase made online with receipt emailed to me as proof of purchase (eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com without the spaces and the correct symbols with Proof of Purchase in the subject line), will be put in the drawing. Last year from May through December, I had 20 entries. I'd like to see at least 50 or more entries this year. This will be open through the 1st of December with afghan mailed out around the 7th of December as last year. I will post pictures as soon as I have enough squares made up and done in a pattern that I'm satisfied with. Good luck to all who enter. Ma America :)

UPDATE 01/10/2012: I was sitting here trying to figure out how to make my granny squares look different than the normal open granny squares I'm used to doing. So I went on a search for granny square variations. I found an easy "solid" pattern that looks really cool and so I've made up one of the solid squares and have two of the open ones made up and now have my pattern. When I get at least one row done, which will have the sketched out pattern and figure out how to connect the squares (funny thing is the open square has 25 stitches from corner to corner and the solid only has 21 stitches - so that's 4 stitches on each connected side per square I have to figure out how to compensate for even though the squares have turned out to be the exact same size measurement wise). My pattern will be this: 1st row = R(o)W(s)B(o)R(s)W(o)B(s); 2nd row = W(s)B(o)R(s)W(o)B(s)R(o); 3rd row = B(o)R(s)W(o)B(s)R(o)W(s); 4th = colors same as 1st with alternating squares same as 2nd; 5th row = same as colors on 2nd row and alternating squares same as 1st; 6th row = colors same as 3rd with alternating squares same as 2nd (o = open square, s = solid square, r = red, w = white, b = blue). This is going to look pretty cool and I'll take some pictures of the squares as I accumulate them. Each square is 6 x 6, and I will have 9 squares on the long side and 6 squares down on the short side, so 54 x 36 (connections may add something but it may only be minimal). I really can't wait to get more squares done in each of the colors now and start putting them together - lol. Ma America

UPDATE: 01/13/2012 - One row of granny squares is completed (pictures to follow shortly); and racing thoughts about afghans. I decided last night to make this an annual giveaway but would like varying afghan patterns every year. I will also try to get a collection of the varigated red, white and blue yarn (see my bookworms under the gifts page on my website) and do some in varigated, some in the solid red, white and blue colors. As soon as I have this year's completed, I'll start on next year's. Don't forget any purchase of any state book available puts your name in the drawing for the afghan. Ma America - :)

New Year, New Goals and New Stories

2012-01-03T13:59:00.001-05:00

I set some new goals and posted on my other blog and have been concentrating a lot on my other writings. I've neglected my state stories way too much. One of my goals this year is to write the next four books in the state series so that Heather can illustrate them and do her thing on a more timely basis. I've already failed part of one goal and we are only three days into the new year, but not a complete failure. The goal to write everyday is something I need to work on more. I also need to be a more regular blogger.

I didn't really write yesterday, mostly fought with my computer but I did get some preposted blog postings ready on my other blog and last week I did start a new story, tentatively titled Imogene: Innocense Lost (you can find a brief description of the book here under the label WIPs), which I hope to get back to after writing my four state stories slated to come out this year. They are started for the most part but I need to fill in the story part. Have an idea what State of Acceleration and State of Monuments will be written like, it is just a matter of sitting down and writing them. I will keep you apprised on my progress with them as I get closer to release dates and have new covers for them.

So far I've had no requests for any of the PDF files of any of the books in exchange for reviews as posted last week. So my biggest goal is trying to find readers and followers to both my blogs since I need to boost my sales for both my print and ebooks.

If you are a librarian, teacher, parent or anyone who enjoys the variety of stories I write and would like to read any or all for free in exchange for posting a review of the books, please email me at eeldering@gmail.com and let me know in the subject line which title you would like to receive to read. Your choices are State of Wilderness, State of Quarries, State of Reservations, State of Successes, State of Heights, State of Nature, Finally Home, "The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), "The Tulip Kiss" and hopefully later this week and by the end of next week "Bride-and-Seek" and "Butterfly Halves" will be available, both of which I do have the word doc files and can convert to PDF if need be but those reviews can't be posted until the stories are available on Nook and Kindle and Smashwords. Thanks everyone.

First event is the Geofest in February and then the big event of the SCASL conference in March. I'm also going to try to be a presenter at the SC Book Festival in May, but if that doesn't work out, I'll be splitting a booth with two other authors hopefully. From there, it looks like Decatur may be the next big event of the year as well as the Savannah Children's book festival and YALL fest (the last count I had was possibly 10 events total where I will be making appearances so that is something else I need to work on is scheduling events this year and posting my calendar of events on my JGDS website; so keep an eye out for that).

Of course in order to do these events, I need to sell books to help cover costs. That goal is right now to sell 15 of each title per month consistently - which I'm nowhere near at the moment. That is roughly 34 books a week for the nine titles I have available, and this week is young. Remember for any print book you order directly from me, I will sign it. For any book or order made via createspace pages (you can find those on the JGDS website) or amazon.com as well as ebooks via kindle or nook, you can get an e-signature by dropping by my kindlegraph page and requesting a free kindlegraph. These are not just for kindles as you can have the file sent to your email and then you can send that directly from your email to your nook or other device.

The author of Near Death (her blog is called Keystrokes and Word Counts) posted on her blog last week about using kindlegraphs during her blog tour, which I'm going to try. Every time I do a blog tour, I'll use the kindlegraph requests to thank my hosts as well as offer them in conjunction to the blog tour. The thing is that you the reader has to directly request the kindlegraph; I can't just go in and sign a whole lot of them and just send them out.

I hope you all will continue to follow the adventures of the JGDS as well as Ms. Elysabeth in this new year. Looking forward to great things in 2012. Ma America :)

January Giveaways in exchange for reviews

2011-12-30T15:01:00.001-05:00

I was going to post this on LibraryThing but it wouldn't let me post, so I'm going to post as a blog on both my blogs. I will start taking requests January 2. I hope that all the librarians and teachers out there will take advantage of this.

JANUARY GIVEAWAY POST
I have six titles in my state series available for review as well as three other titles available. I will offer 100 copies of each title in exchange for reviews.

The state series is geared for 3rd through 5th grade level, would make a great supplement to a US History social studies curriculum or an individual state social studies. Each book comes with its own study guide which supplements the book and should not be used without first reading the book or it makes no sense. The books are written like a handheld game that gives the kids clues (facts and trivia) about a state and the readers and characters have to guess the state being described. Each book is one state and all the clues will pertain to that specific state. There are bonus clues highlighting one of five US territories (Washington DC, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and US Samoan Islands) as well as discussion questions. The study guide takes some of the clues in the book and turns them into deeper discussion questions or research projects, either a science project or map/math skills project or social studies project or ELA project, and then there are bonus things like secret message puzzles (state motto is the secret message), a craft idea (based on clues but not in every study guide - only as the clues are fitting), and a trivia game that is designed to show that the students or child read the book.

Titles available are State of Wilderness (ID), State of Quarries (AR), State of Reservations (OK), State of Successes (SC), State of Heights (CO), and State of Nature (WY). I will send a PDF file to the 100 persons requesting any of the titles available. You can request more than one.

My other titles include Finally Home (a YA paranormal mystery), The Proposal (an April Fools Day Story, a humorous romance ebook), and The Tulip Kiss (a paranormal romance). Available in January will be Bride-and-Seek (a paranormal romance ebook) and Butterfly Halves (a YA fantasy ebook). Again, I will take 100 requests for the three titles available in exchange for reviews. Please email me at eeldering (at) gmail (dot) com with the "free books in exchange for reviews" in the subject line. In the body of the email, please list the titles you are requesting or all titles if you would like all nine available right now.

This promotion will be valid for the month of January only. Once the 100 requests per title have been met, no other requests will be taken. I will also have available the next two short stories (hopefully) by the end of the month and if you request those ("Bride-and-Seek" and "Butterfly Halves") and they are not available at the time of the request, as soon as they are available, I will send you the file - Ma America & the JGDS

Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery
"The Proposal" (an April Fools Day story), a humorous romance ebook
"The Tulip Kiss", a paranormal mystery ebook
"Bride-and-Seek", a paranormal mystery ebook (coming in Janaury)
"Butterfly Halves", a YA fantasy ebook (coming in January)
Elysabeth's other blog
Elysabeth's non-JGDS writing website

Ma America, The Travelin' Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series and "Train of Clues" (a mystery destination story and predecessor to the JGDS, state series)
Where will the adventure take you next?
JGDS blog
JGDS website

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T19:45:00.001-05:00

Christ is born. Ma America and the JGDS wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. May you be blessed no matter which event you celebrate. We will return after the first of the year with new books and contests. If you are traveling, may you have a safe journey. Keep an eye on my other blog for updates on other writings and some possible contests coming up. Ma America & the JGDS :)

Congrats to Karen

2011-12-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

I forgot to do my random draw Saturday for the dilemma question I posed last week. This morning I pulled up Random.org, put in the perimeters of 1 and 5 and the lucky number picked was 3, which is Karen. She was the third person to respond on the question. So congratulations to Karen for winning a copy of one of the state books. Ma America & the JGDS :)

Fiction vs Nonfiction Dilemma followup

2011-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

I sent an email to the librarian who does the cataloging in our local library asking her about classifying the books as fiction versus nonfiction as she has them catalogued. Her answer, though a bit surprising to me since I was not familiar with really how books were shelved in libraries, was very helpful.

She said I could share her reply with all of you since I had posted this asa dilemma question to everyone. In essence, shelving books is a subjective and depends on how the librarian feels the books should be shelved. There are about as many ways to classify a book as there are books out there. So, here is her reply:

My first email to her:

Hey Susan,

I see that you have my books listed as nonfiction. This is incorrect. I publish them as fiction since the storyline is fictional characters playing a fictational game that is giving them factual clues. I would appreciate it if you could fix this. (I also had some other concerns in the email that affect only the listings in the local library, so will not bother posting that info.)

Susan Manalli replies:

Hi, Elysabeth,

We do appreciate your gift of your clever and educational books to the ACL system, and I, for one, am convinced that children will find them delightful. Your goal of covering all 50 states and, at the same time, make learning fun, is commendable.

As for your concerns: with all due respect, you view your creations as fiction, but if you ever study the Dewey Decimal System you would see that all of fiction is really 813 (American fiction in English), but because the section becomes so large, convention has it pulled out of the 800’s (Literature), dropped the number, and put it into a section all its own called Fiction.

There are multitudinous areas within nonfiction that deal with fictionalized subjects. Consider mythology, short stories, nursery rhymes, poetry, cosmology, etc. There are even fictional Manga characters teaching algebra as a graphic story. So, although your characters are fictional, the content requires it to be NF because its main concentration is an adventure/mystery game on information, trivia, geography, and history of a state, and that is considered NF. 793.93. You state it yourself: “factual clues.”

I recall that at the beginning you were most insistent that the state not be mentioned in the subject tracings, and so I acquiesced. With this particular wish of yours in mind at that time, Donna Long, the ACL Head of Childrens, and I spoke about it, and decided not to catalog them by the state, but that 793.93 would be the most appropriate for our system to keep them on the shelf in an area where children find all sorts of literature trivia games, etc. In a more recent email, you said you didn’t mind if I now put the state in as a subject for each book. I have not yet have time to do so, but it would immensely help students who are studying a particular state find them.

A library can classify it as it chooses for their collection. Who knows but that that eventually Donna might decide to move them into the individual states classification, which would make the SC book 975.7, a Montana book 978.6, etc., because any local library system cataloger can decide, within the rules of the Dewey system and the intellectual content of the book, what to assign as a classification number so as to be the most accessible to the system’s patrons and be the most appropriate for the local system. Other libraries and other vendors can catalog them as they chose.

(more info on the second issue not necessary to this dilemma of classifying my books as fiction or nonfiction)

My reply:

This helps tremendously as I had posted this question on my blog for teachers and librarians to respond to and the general consensus was that the books were fiction with state facts and they were similar to The Magic Treehouse books - fictional characters exploring real history or events that have occurred or they have even likened them to Historical Fiction - again using the real history but fictional characters and the author's creative licensure to embellish on the actual facts or real persons used in the books.

Do you mind if I post part of your response on my blog as an answer to my posting? I guess not being a librarian and not really knowing how you all catalog books it has put me in a different mindset.

When I publish them, should I change the books to nonfiction to be consistent with your classifications? The other two libraries that I know have copies of some of the books also have them classified as nonfiction and here I was listing them as fiction and selling them as fiction. This may help more librarians along the way. (just to let you know the other two libraries have the copies in the 910 and 913 numbers, so from your explanation, they are in the state section but not by individual states?) - anyway - I just need all the classifications to be consistent because whatever I list them as on createspace is how they get processed in the listings for Baker & Taylor and Ingrams and createspace's distribution - (some other information concerning "publisher listing" - not necessary for this posting)

Susan replies again, clarifying the dilemma even more:

Hi, Elysabeth,
Feel free to quote my response!

Are you required to provide a specific Dewey classification on your postings with vendors? Can you provide several suggested Dewey numbers?

These are general possibilities for your books:
793.93 [Mystery games]
910 [Geography and travel]
913 [Geography of and travel in specific continents, countries, localities]
Each state in the 970s has its own Dewey number, which places it first in a US region and then provides a number for the state after the decimal. Attached is a Word document (I've printed it out and the states go from 976.1 - Alabama through 978.7 - Wyoming, and everything in between those numbers) of the states with their Dewey numbers which may be of some help to you. Of course these would all have subjects subdivided as “Juvenile literature.”

I did send Susan one more reply to which she responded but not directly answering my questions:

When I publish the books, I have to classify them from a drop down menu - fiction, nonfiction, et cetera and then each of those categories has subcategories - I try to put them out as far as I can to make sure that all bases are covered. I don't know how libraries and schools place orders for books and that is where my concern is. If they order from Baker & Taylor or Ingrams when they go looking for my stories, they are right now listed under fiction, children's, mystery & detectives and I add other tags - geography, games and puzzles, et cetera -

If the libraries who actually have copies on hand are listing them as nonfiction therein lies my dilemma - either I'm misclassifying my books or the libraries are. But since receiving your explanation, I feel maybe it is on my shoulders to make sure that I list them in the correct place. I don't want any confusion - lol. Now I know a little bit more about the Dewey classification, that also helps. I will post these two email explanations on my blog - http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com - giving credit to you and will share with other librarians and teachers on my social network so that we all will be on the same page. I'm doing a presentation at the SCASL conference in March and this may be my new presentation - classifying books such as mine. I guess there is no definite way to shelf books like mine, and that it is a subjective thing - each will put them on the shelf where they feel best suited? - You really have given me a good bit of helpful information. I appreciate it and I'll double check my print copies to make sure they have the line that says published by Elysabeth Eldering with the correct listing so that I can get those to Cheryl for ya'll to have copies that reflect that 4RV is no longer the publisher of the books (except the copies of State of Wilderness, State of Quarries and State of Reservations you have - those are published by 4RV with State of Wilderness having been republished since it went out of contract, so there is a second printing of that out - new cover, new illustrations, et cetera). Thank you so much for taking the time to explain to me why the books are classified as they are in the three different libraries - E :)

To which Susan sent this very brief answer:

My pleasure, Elysabeth. That’s why, although I have a Masters in Library Science MA/LS, it is from the Liberal Arts Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cataloging is not just a science; it is an art.

Susan Manalli, Head of Technical Services
Anderson County Library
300 N. McDuffie Street
Anderson, SC 29621
864-260-4500 ext. 169
smanalli@andersonlibrary.org

Susan and I were on the spelling bee team together this past March, which I hope to be able to participate on again this coming March. I've enjoyed it and Susan is very knowledgeable and someone I feel I can take these questions to.

So, now, how do you all feel about the ways my books are being classified in the different libraries that have them on their shelves? E :)

Fiction versus nonfiction dilemma

2011-12-09T16:56:00.001-05:00

Here is a question and problem for all you librarians out there. My state books are now listed in three libraries, two in South Carolina (Anderson County and Pickens County) and one in Georgia (Live Oaks Library system in Savannah).

When I publish my books and I have to categorize them, I choose Juvenile fiction/mysteries and detective stories. The characters are fictional, the storyline of them playing the game is fictional but the clues given by the game are factual (the facts and trivia leading to the characters guessing the state).

I checked the library listings and all three are saying the books are nonfiction. Savannah Library has my books in the 910 section; Pickens has my book in the 917 section and Anderson Library has me in the J 793 section.

So now my dilemma comes as to who is correct in classifying the books. Are they really nonfiction because they contain facts about the states or are the fiction because the storyline is fictional? Which section do they really belong in? 790s, 910 or 913? Is categorizing per each individual library system or is there a rhyme and reason for the way the books get shelved?

I know there is a term for the type of books my state stories are and that is "faction" (a book that is part fiction and part fact) but there isn't a category in the publishing industry for these types of books nor is there is a library shelf dedicated to faction books that I'm aware of. So where does the Junior Geography Detective Squad fit in?

I'd appreciate all my librarian and teacher friends out there to leave a comment on this subject, so for the week ending next Saturday, December 17, I will have a drawing for a copy of one of the six states completed and published to all who leave a comment. For every 25 persons commenting, a drawing will be done for a copy of one of the books. That means that if 50 of you comment, I'll do two drawings; 75 comments three drawings, et cetera. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this topic. - Ma America & the JGDS :)

Afghan Drawing

2011-12-01T20:33:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Karen S. from Davidson, NC for winning the afghan. The afghan will either be mailed out tomorrow or next week when I get paid. Hope you enjoy your lap throw, Karen. - Mrs. E :)

Afghan drawing reminder

2011-11-25T15:33:00.000-05:00

Just reminding everyone who has purchased any of the state books since the end of May through next Tuesday that the drawing will be on December 1. If you met me at any events and were going to check the books out on my website, you still have a few days to place your order. So far, I have 20 entries. Good luck to everyone entered.

Savannah Children's Book Festival

2011-11-19T23:39:00.000-05:00

The day started a bit rough with being woke up by either a TV or radio at about 5:30 but once that got taken care of the rest of the day was gorgeous. Many kids at the book festival today; I probably handed out 250 bookmarks today - so yay me. I did sell four state books (I think I sold three of Successes and 1 of Wilderness), one of my YA paranormal mystery and 42 bookworms - yes I started with 59 and ended with 17 - totally was so worth making up those bookmarks. I had started with 72 Wednesday morning and in just three days - sold almost out. I took Benjamin out for supper and we went to the movies tonight (I saw Happy Feet Two; Benjamin saw In Time) and afterwards stopped by Walmart to pick up some more yarn - couldn't find the colors I had used for winter previously, so that will be changed and I wasn't really liking what I had started with for spring so got something different for spring. I'll post those changes when I've made some new bookworms. All in all, a good weekend - see you all in the postings - Mrs. E :)

Largo-Tibet Elementary School visit

2011-11-18T19:51:00.000-05:00

I'm in Savannah for the Savannah Children's book festival this weekend. This morning I had a school visit with seven, yes you read that correctly, seven, third grade classes at Largo-Tibet (thankfully the librarian divided them into 2 groups - 4 classes for the first hour and 3 classes the second hour). I read them my story - Train of Clues - and they had a great time trying to figure out where the train ended up. In the first group, I think a couple of them guessed or got close - I did get them to say a Mountain or that mountain with faces on it. The second group had a bit harder time guessing but they did get close as well. They all were like, "Yeah, that's what I was thinking" when I told them it was Mt. Rushmore. Benjamin took pictures but since I'm at the hotel, I can't upload them to the computer, so they will have to wait until I return home Sunday. Overall, I think the school visit was a success. I hope a good many of the kids show up tomorrow. I actually had one of the students ask me if I would be selling my YA tomorrow and he said he was definitely going to get a copy.

They all loved the fact that my illustrator, Heather, was only 17 and that she wants to work for Disney/Pixar. So maybe we have some future illustrators come out of the group of kids. Heather, you may have been an inspiration without being here -lol. Good job - see you all tomorrow in the postings after the event. Hoping to see lots of kids and lots of sales tomorrow. (I hope that the librarian will add my state books to her library collection although I couldn't sell anything to the school today but did let her know that my books are all available through B&T which is where most schools order their books from so she might check into it at least.)

See you all in the postings - Mrs. E & the JGDS :)

GIS Day and the Scavanger Hunt

2011-11-16T20:29:00.000-05:00

We were asked to participate in a scavanger hunt for GIS day - We had to provide questions for the kids to find the answers to - My questions were - Find Ma America. Who is she? What does she do? The kids had to find my table and then ask the questions and interact with me or read my signage to get who I am and what I do sort of - Author wasn't all it was - they had to tell what kind of books I wrote as well. Anyway - to reward them for finding me, I gave them all a bookmark (my printed series bookmarks) and their choice of an Idaho pin (the little potato pins I received when I first started the series) or a Minnesota bookmark. Most chose the Idaho pin, but a few did select the bookmark.

I must have talked to 100 kids and teachers throughout the day; they ranged in groups from 3rd grade to high school seniors. Plus, I had a few adults just come to my table and show a serious interest in my books. The biggest problem I have with sales right now is that I have a Square (to take credit cards) but no device to use the Square with (need an ipod touch, ipad, iphone, smartphone, or any other device that can download the app for the Square, which I can't afford right now). I'm guess if I had had the ability to take credit cards today I would have probably sold several copies of books. I do hope that the folks who showed an interest will place their orders tonight or tomorrow morning so I can put their books in the mail before heading to Savannah tomorrow. I really need some book sales tonight to help fund the trip to Savannah - what with taking a $31.70 loss today (had to pay for parking - $16, had to purchase some snacks - $2.75; had to purchase a late lunch/early dinner on my way home - $6.55; and had to put some gas in the van before getting home - $20; and only selling 13 bookworms - $10.50) - hurts big time.

I'm glad for the opportunity to get my name out there and hope in the future that things work out like they should so I'm not stressed out about upcoming events and how to pay for them. I hope to do GIS day again next year - we shall see - Ma America & the JGDS - :)

Geography Awareness Week - GIS Day 2011

2011-11-16T06:00:00.002-05:00

Today, I'm in Charlotte doing presentations to teachers and students to help bring the JGDS series and geography awareness together. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area stop by and say hello. For more information, check out the GIS Day page.

Geography Awareness Week

2011-11-13T19:16:00.000-05:00

Today is the official start of GAweek - the theme this year is "adventure in your community." What are you doing around your community to become more aware of the geography around you? Are you exploring? Taking any of the challenges I've posted? Joined any geography type groups?

This week, Ma America & the JGDS will be exploring the geography of other areas, outside of the immediate community. Wednesday, they will be traveling to Charlotte, NC, for GIS day (posting to follow on GIS day on Wednesday). The word is that there will be about 200 to 300 students participating in the activities for GIS Day; we can only hope to have a few of those teachers buy a couple of books and bookworms throughout the day. Thursday, we are heading to Savannah for the Children's Book Festival and there are several other authors Ms. Elysabeth had recommended who will be there, some old acquaintances and some new ones. Ma America will make an appearance at Largo-Tibet Elementary School and will do a reading of her book, Train of Clues, to seven, yes you read the correctly, seven 3rd grade classes. The group will be split into two groups so as not to be overwhelming all at once. If regular work isn't too overwhelming after the school visit, Ma America is hoping to be able to explore Savannah a bit as this will be her third year there and she has yet to do any sightseeing.

So, what adventure is going on in your community for GAweek? How about telling us about some of them here - see you all in the postings - Ma America & the JGDS :)

Bookworms 3

2011-11-08T00:53:00.000-05:00

I was in Walmart again today and picked up my yarn for the spring bookworms. I also liked the one that is labeled "primary" so picked up a skein of that. My autumn colored ones sold well last Friday at the teachers' conference so I picked up one more skein of that color and was going to get another one of the Christmas colors but they were sold out. Anyway, here are my spring and primary colored bookworms:

Spring bookworm

primary bookworm

I do like how the spring one is really the pastel looking colors and does remind me of springtime. I don't know why I like the primary colored one so much but I do. So what do you all think? Which is your favorite? Leave a comment and let me know.

All six choices side by side - :)

See you all in the postings - Mrs. E & the JGDS