Blog Feature, and Give-Away

Today, this blog is being featured on April Shower's website (she is the designer who did my Incredible Women blog!). I'm doing a SWEET give-away for my feature over there.


Here's what you'll get if you win:

$57 Value Storybook Kit
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"When I Was Little" Story Starter
"Looking Back" Mini Story Starter
"Recipe" Mini Story Starter
All in a Sassy Binder!

Along with this story kit, you'll get a free lifetime customer account, plus a $29 coupon for publishing!!

With this package, you'd be able to do a beautiful book about your childhood, OR even help your parents do a book about theirs! Don't miss a chance to win this fun give-away. Head over to April's blog and do what she says!

And just to get you in the mood for creating your new book, here's a sneak preview - a couple of questions from the "Looking Back" Mini-Story Starter:

"What was your first time away from your home or family?"
"What was the first time you were scared - and what were you scared of?"

CHALLENGE: Try this...

1. Using one of the questions above, for three minutes, brainstorm. Write down everything that comes to mind - names, dates, places, etc. Everything you can think of about the question.

2. For the next 3 minutes, using the stuff you wrote down, flesh out those ideas - make those ideas and words into complete sentences, and then a full paragraph.

Believe me, ANYONE can write for just 3 minutes. Here's mine:

"What was the first time you were scared?"

Brainstorming: me, my friend (probably Alicia), my little sis, Kristin, parents playing cards, movie, Jack Nicholson, bat, ax, hotel, "Red Rum", running up the stairs, Rick teasing me, scariest movie ever!

My Story:

"Well, I don't remember if this was the first time, but it left a huge impression on my memory. I remember quite clearly watching a movie with one of my friends, and my little sister, Kris. My parents used to invite their friends over to play cards. On one of those occasions, the adults were playing upstairs and we were downstairs, watching Jack Nicholson, in "The Shining" - a movie based on a Stephen King novel. We were lying on the floor, cuddled underneath a giant blanket, and every few minutes we would SCREAM our heads off. You know the part in the movie, where Jack is advancing up the stairs toward his wife, who has a bat in her hands? Very calmly, he says, "Give me the bat", as he's stalking her. The screams that came out of our mouths would have made the dead wake up. And the part where he is hacking through the wooden door with an ax, trying to get to his wife, who has locked herself in the bathroom?! Pure terror! I've remembered that all my life. There is nothing that freaks me out more than when my husband teasingly looks at me and says, "Give me the bat, Kara." (!) I'm always thinking about that scene when I'm running up the stairs, too, and I always trip. Looking back, I can't believe that my parents let us watch that movie! They must not have known what is was like."

See? That's not hard AT ALL. It's actually quite fun. Try it! And then, comment on this post, and let me know how it went. (By-the-way, this is what we do in a Story Workshop - we just take questions, one by one, and write about them. It's really fun. If you want to schedule a workshop - either at your home OR as an online party, let me know.)