Tag Archives: Vacation Hiro

Flat Stanley Visits

We had a visitor in our house this week: Flat Stanley came to visit from Holly Academy in Michigan. He was sent by my great-niece Sage, and he had a great time helping out in the yard and with our guest house. He also hung out with Kimba for a while.

Flat Stanley hung out with Kimba in her favorite spot on the dining-room table.

Flat Stanley didn’t have time to help me edit and revise “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” before he had to return home. I imagine he would have found that kind of boring, but it’s pretty much all that I’m up to these days. Book 3 should be heading out to my new editor by April 1!

The other big excitement around here is that I’m upgrading my computer and getting my own Adobe Creative Suite system so I’m able to do most if not all of the formatting for my books myself. This is the biggest expense with self-publishing, and if I can take on significant portions of the process myself it means the door is open to do more Cats in the Mirror books without ruining any profit margin. I’m grateful to everyone who has helped with the formatting along the way, but it’s time to take the next step.

I was also thrilled to have “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” listed as one of the top books about cats by Cat’s Stories web site. Check out her list right here!

Next week, I will be posting as part of a fun writer’s blog hop. I was invited to join by my excellent writer friend Jan Morrill. If you have not read her book The Red Kimono, follow the link to find it on amazon.com. Here is a link to her blog post from this week. My post in the blog hop will appear here on Monday, March 31st.

Upcoming Events

The best sign of spring around Serenity Mountain Publishing these days is how quickly our dance card is filling up with events for the spring and summer! Here are a few of our upcoming events.

On March 20th, I will be the featured author at the monthly meeting of the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow here in Eureka Springs. If you are ever looking for a writing get-away, they offer fantastic residency programs. I’ll be talking about my middle grade Cats in the Mirror series and lessons about self-publishing. Dinner is pot luck and everyone is welcome.

We are also super-excited to have gotten into the War Eagle Spring Craft Fair at the War Eagle Mill in Arkansas on May 2-4. Hundreds of vendors from all over come together to share their work, and it should be a great day to make new friends and share my first two books with new readers.

This spring I am planning to take advantage of some kindle free days for “Vacation Hiro” from April 17-19 in celebration of both Kimba and Hiro’s 7th birthdays. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you when we get closer. I am also in the process of pulling “Why Kimba Saved The World” from other internet vendors and will be focusing on the special kindle opportunities that amazon.com offers when you work with them exclusively. It takes a while to accomplish it all, so more on that later!

“Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is on schedule to come out in September. The amazing Lesley Vernon has already started work on the cover art, so watch for that reveal in a couple of months.

New copies of both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” with the updated cover art to show the Silver Mom’s Choice Award should be in my hands shortly. With nicer weather at hand, we are ready to hit Basin Park and any other local events to share them with everyone we can! Many events are closed to self-publishing authors, no matter how great your reviews are or how many awards you win, but I’m always open to new ideas. Let me know if you have an event where I would be welcome or know of something I should check out.

Here’s hoping for nicer weather in everyone’s future–though I do have friends in Michigan who are rooting for a few more inches of snow this year so they can set the all-time record. And just for fun on Throw Back Thursday, here’s my very young self and my first cat, Satan.

Hanging out in a sunbeam.

Read An Ebook Week & Freebie

Freebie of “Why Kimba Saved The World” this week! In honor of Read An Ebook Week, I have put out a coupon code at Smashwords so you can get Book 1 of the Cats in the Mirror series for free. This includes gifting it to someone else. I tested the system today, and it is beyond easy. If you have the email address, you can send a copy out for free in about 10 seconds. It’s really that easy. Share the love!

Click on this link to go to the Smashwords page and get or share a free copy of Kimba’s book right now.

With this special week going on, I also decided to leave the .99 kindle sale for both of my books up at amazon.com through March 9th. Grab a copy of the award-winning books!

Click here for “Why Kimba Saved The World”

New book cover with Mom’s Choice Award in place.

Click here for “Vacation Hiro”

New cover with Mom's Choice Award in place.

New book cover with Mom’s Choice Award in place.

In other fun news, I had an interview posted recently at Between The Covers. Thanks, Anita! You can follow her at twitter at RacePointUS.

I am also really excited to be attending the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Workshop meeting on Saturday, March 8, in Fayetteville. Last year’s meeting was fantastic, and I got some great ideas for “blinging” up my writing. That’s hard to do with middle grade books, but I was inspired to add almost 3,000 words of bling to “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main” that made it so much better. Can’t wait to see what I take home with me this year–along with a few new books from the authors present as well, I’m sure. The conference is free, so sign up and come on down!

The only other things going on around Serenity Mountain Publishing right now are the final revisions on “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” You know, this is the time where I over-think every detail and fuss and bother with commas until I go a wee bit mad. We are snowed in once again, so there’s not much else to do anyhow. Cover art is already in process, and I can’t wait to share it all with you in a few months.

Stay warm! Spring will be here someday, even if it feels like it never will.

Look for great sales at Smashwords and other ebook sites this week. Give indie authors some love and try one for free!

Silver Mom’s Choice Awards for Cats in the Mirror Series

So exciting! We just got the news that both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” have been honored with Silver Mom’s Choice Awards in the category of Juvenile Books, Ages 9-12, Series.

The Mom’s Choice Awards pride themselves in being a respected source for “excellence in family-friendly media, products and services.” I have heard traditionally published children’s authors express great pride at being honored with one of these awards, so it makes me extra-special-over-the-moon happy to have earned one as a self-published author. It’s just the kind of pat on the back that every author needs while they are working on the next book in the series!

And you can still get both books about these alien rescue cats for only .99 cents at amazon.com! I have not taken down the Valentine’s Weekend Sale because I want the Goodreads fans to have a full chance to hear about it and pick up a copy. In celebration of this Mom’s Choice Award, I’ll leave the prices at .99 cents until Feb. 28th. Click here to share a copy with someone you love today!

New Facebook Fan Page For Kimba

Kimba has been tweeting for over a year now (click here to follow her personal twitter feed), but the time as come for her to have her own Facebook fan page. Click here to like her page and follow the silliness that is my Kimba Baby.

Over the next two years, I will be branching out into much more than my Cats in the Mirror book series, so my Facebook page will be evolving along with my published works. Kimba’s activities will move more to her own page. Just in case you didn’t know, there is already a fan page for each book in the Cats in the Mirror series: “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro.”

I’m also thankful for a review of “Vacation Hiro” that was shared by the Kidz Review Krew blog site. Eleven year old Rhiannan enjoyed this book as much as the first, and I love the fact that this site is actually kids reviewing the books themselves. Stop by and give them some traffic for their other reviews!

Here’s part of her review: “‘Vacation Hiro’ is another great book to add to the series. If you love cats and wonder why cats act a little strange sometimes, you will love this book. I now wonder if my cat is visiting an alien spaceship when he disappears sometimes!”

I hope y’all enjoy whatever plans you have for Superbowl Sunday. Football is fun, though I don’t really care who wins this game, but the food and family…and the commercials…are always the best part of the day for me. Kimba has already posed for some pregame photos.

Kimba picks the Broncos to win because she’s pretty sure even she could beat a Seahawk.

By Sunday I should also have a completed rough draft (okay, very rough draft) of “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge.” That’s more exciting than ANY football game, ever!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Author School Visits: The Branch School, Jan. 9, 2014

The Branch School

You can only imagine that I was super excited to make my first author school visit a few days ago at The Branch School in Houston, Texas. As a general rule, independently published books are not as in-demand for school events, so I don’t spend a lot of time trying to arrange this type of visit. And Houston is a long way from our home in Arkansas. But I was on vacation in Houston, and I have worked for The Branch School as a librarian and substitute teacher in the past, so we all knew each other well. The cards all fell into place at the same time to make this visit work out perfectly.

Besides the chance to visit with old friends, I was thrilled to find the students interested and attentive. The school runs from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade, so we broke up my talks into four age groups. With the older kids I could talk about writing as a career and even options they have right now for publishing and blogging. I loved sharing the This Kid Reviews Books blog of twelve year old Erik as a wonderful example of ways to share their love of reading and writing right now. With the younger groups, we talked more about finding the inspiration for writing and just letting the ideas flow. Some students were already enjoying writing stories and putting together book projects, just like I did at their age. “Keep all of it,” I told them. “You never know what it can turn into.”

Talking with the middle school students in Melcher Hall at The Branch School.

Not every author school visit can be this great. There is certainly an added bonus to working with a private school where parents and students are super-vested in education and appreciate the benefits of books and reading. They were supportive in buying copies of both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro,” but more than that everyone was just welcoming and polite and involved. It certainly makes me want to take the chance on doing more school visits when the match is right. The second graders even made me a special drawing inspired by Kimba, using their pinkies to make paint prints around the frame. Priceless!

Second grade class at The Branch School and the artwork they made for me.

Art work by The Branch School 2nd grade class. Kimba looks very cool.

Talking with kindergarten and first grade. I think I was talking about how tiny Kimba and Hiro were when we found them.

Today has been a hard writing day. It can be tough to stay inspired when it is just you and the computer (and sometimes Kimba) day after day. No matter how many great reviews you get, one snarky critic can break your heart. In the end, it’s about those smiling faces who think Kimba is hilarious and enjoy reading about her imagined adventures. That is what keeps me going when I just want to chuck it all. Hitting the wall today I thought, “I should write that school visit blog and look through the pictures again. That will get me back on track.” And it has.

Signing books for students at The Branch School.

I loved watching new and old friends fall in love with Kimba and Hiro, and their stories, and I look forward to sharing Book 3 with all of them in the fall. Thank you, Branch School, for letting me share my books with your families…and for keeping me inspired to write more.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas From Kimba

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas from all of us here at Serenity Mountain Publishing. This has been an incredible year with seeing both “Why Kimba Saved The World” and “Vacation Hiro” heading out into the world. 2014 is ready and waiting, and “Miss Fatty Cat’s Revenge” is up next, but I could not do any of it without my family and all of my new friends cheering me on. Thank you for being a part of this journey!

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year to each and every one of you!

Merry Christmas From Hiro

Two New Book Reviews For “Vacation Hiro”

The official book launch is only a few hours away!! As part of the blog tour, two new book reviews for “Vacation Hiro” posted today.

The first review is from Found Between The Covers, and I’m thrilled that Sherrey enjoyed Book 2 even more than Book 1. Click here to see the whole review at her blog, but here’s my favorite part:

“When I finished reading and reviewing Why Kimba Saved the World, I couldn’t imagine Meg Dendler surpassing that story or the personification of the animals in her first book in the Cats in the Mirror Series. I. Was. Wrong!”

Thanks, Sherrey!

The second review is from The Styling Librarian, who also thoroughly enjoyed it and recommends the series to her readers. Yay! Thanks, Debbie! Click here to see the whole review all the way from Hong Kong.

Be sure to visit both of their sites and follow them on twitter and Facebook. I’ve loved following them myself.

“Vacation Hiro” hits the world Friday morning!! Watch out world!

Book 2 in the Cats in the Mirror Series

Author Interview of Meg at Missy Frye’s Web Site

One special part of my blog tour was to do an author interview with award-winning writer Missy Frye for her web site. Missy and I had connected on twitter, but we had the chance to meet and chat at the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference in October here in Eureka Springs. I love the fact that Missy asked me very specific questions about my writing life and journey (usually you just get a set of pre-fab questions). Follow this link to read the whole interview.

Here’s her fun final question:

MF: If you could jump into a book, and live in that world … which would it be?
MWD: “The Dragonriders of Pern,” without question. I’ve been reading Anne McCaffrey’s books since I was 10. I love that world and her dragons and fire lizards and heroes. I can’t believe they have not pulled off making a movie out of the first books. I have a stuffed gold dragon “Ramoth” that keeps me company when I write. Kimba has pulled it behind my computer monitor to sleep with her these days, but I know she’s there. Together, they inspire me.

Kimba with Ramoth and many others in her nest behind my monitor. I never know who she’ll drag back there.

First Book Review for “Vacation Hiro” From Arkansas Book Reviewer

What a great beginning for an exciting week!! The very first book review for “Vacation Hiro” was posted today by the Arkansas Book Reviewer, and she gave it 5 stars. That’s a great way to get things going! Please click here to read the whole review at her site, and be sure to click on the social media share links at the bottom and leave a comment for her. I loved the way she ended it: “Best of all, Vacation Hiro ends with a cliffhanger that’ll have you clawing for the next book!” Love it! Nothing like a 5 star review to start of a book launch week with a bang!

Official launch day is Friday, November 15. Getting all of my ducks and links in a row and ready to share with you.

Book 2 in the Cats in the Mirror Series