 |
 |
| This digital slideshow customized with Smilebox |
He can be found on 4RV's bookstore.
Note: if the music irritates you or goes on too long, use the mute button under the trailer.
Showing posts with label Trockle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trockle. Show all posts
Friday, November 5, 2010
Welcome back, Trockle
Trockle is ready to go home with people for Christmas. Watch the trailer below and see if you wouldn't want him in your home.
He can be found on 4RV's bookstore.
Note: if the music irritates you or goes on too long, use the mute button under the trailer.
He can be found on 4RV's bookstore.
Note: if the music irritates you or goes on too long, use the mute button under the trailer.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Monster time - Take Trockle home with you
October is the time for goblins, ghosts, and monsters. It's also the time to begin Christmas shopping. Everyone can combine the monsters of Halloween with Christmas shopping by finding Trockle and taking him home.
Trockle is the little monster under the bed that everyone loves. Children would love to dress up like him and/or have him for a friend. A few I know won't go to bed without someone reading his story and being able to wear the Trockle t-shirt.
Of course Trockle can be found on Amazon.com or through local bookstores, but the sale price offered by 4RV Publishing can be found only on the 4RV Children's Books website. From now until Christmas, the $18.99 price is reduced to $10 plus shipping and taxes, if any.
Trockle, written by Holly Jahangiri and illustrated by Jordan Vinyard, delights children of all ages, from one year old to at least ninety.
Monday, December 7, 2009
A Puppy, Not a Guppy to visit tomorrow
Tomorrow Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap will be the first stop on 4RV Publishing's A Puppy, Not a Guppy (by Holly Jahangiri and illustrated by Ryan Shaw)virtual tour. I'll have an interview with a very interesting person, and you will miss a treat if you miss the post.
The author is holding a contest in conjunction with the blog tour. The details are below:
Contest
Prizes (two will be awarded):
One autographed copy of A Puppy, Not a Guppy.
Contest Rules
To enter: Leave a comment at http://jahangiri.us/books containing verifiable evidence that you have completed one or more of the following activities:
A link back to this blog. (For example, the link to this blog is http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com and would be the blog you would link back to if you read tomorrow's post)
A short review of http://jahangiri.us/books or http://jahangiri.us/news on Alexa.com ( http://www.alexa.com/reviews/jahangiri.us )
A question for one of the characters in Trockle or A Puppy, Not a Guppy
A question for the author, Holly Jahangiri
Answer to the question: What kind of pet do you like best, and why?
Either of the following:
o Blog about A Puppy, Not a Guppy (be sure to include, in your own blog post, a link back to http://jahangiri.us/books and a link to this blog; or
o If you already own a copy of Trockle or A Puppy, Not a Guppy, you may complete this activity by posting a new review of either book on BarnesandNoble.com or Amazon.com. (NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Previously posted book reviews are not eligible as contest entries in this contest.)
Each activity equals one (1) entry, and you may do each activity once for a possible maximum of six (6) entries per valid email address. Your comment must be entered using a valid email address so that you can be contacted for mailing info if you win! Entries that do not have a valid email address will be considered null and void.
Duration: Contest begins at 12:01 AM on December 9, 2009 and ends at 11:59 PM on December 15, 2009. Winners will be drawn on December 16, 2009.
Eligibility: Contest is open to anyone age 13 or older. Tour hosts are eligible to enter.
Winners: Two winners will be randomly chosen (numbered in the order in which they are received, with the winning number chosen at http://www.random.org/ ) from all qualifying entries, and will be required to provide a physical mailing address in order to collect a prize (one free book). Only one entrant per household is eligible to win. If a second entrant from a single household is chosen, another name will be drawn until all prizes are awarded.
Contest void where prohibited by law.
***
FYI, Holly is having DSL problems and may have limited Internet access this week. However, she will stop by when possible.
.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Eastern Oklahoma AuthorFest
The Tahlequah Daily Press didn't give but a small article on page 7 two days before the Eastern Oklahoma AuthorFest, but they had a long one on Monday after, starting on the front page.
The article is too long to copy here, but I will repeat some of it since my name appears quite often.
BETTY RIDGE
Press Special Writer
August 10, 2009 10:12 am
From Tailholt to Tahlequah and beyond, northeastern has produced a bounty of stories, and an abundance of authors with the talent to tell them.
Nearly 30 of these authors gathered Saturday at the Cherokee County Community, bringing books and stories to share. Local residents turned out to meet and visit with the authors, get copies of their books autographed, and perhaps, step a bit closer to their own dreams of becoming a member of the pantheon of published writers.
Marsha Coles of Cherokee County, who has written several books, came up with the idea for the first AuthorFest, which she hopes will become an annual event.
“A fellow author and I wanted to do a double book-signing. I thought, ‘We’re going to do a double signing, why not a triple,’ and then it grew,” she said.
One of her works is a history of the Tailholt community, so a natural question is, how did Tailholt get its name? Coles offers two answers.
“At the store, when it was called Caney Store, they had a little postcard of a little general store that said ‘Tailholt Store.’ Another was that someone had a mule or donkey by the tail,” Coles said.
Among her titles are “The Mystery of Coldstone Manor,” a regency romance mystery, and “Texas Justice,” a romance set south of the Red River. Her “Poetry and Rhythm” collection has a photo of the recently-demolished Caney Bridge on its cover.
Beginning at 10 a.m., authors read from their books and discussed their art.
Vivian Zabel of 4RV Publishing in Edmond brought five of her works, along with other books for young people. She emphasized the importance of thorough editing before submitting a book for publication.
“I don’t mean just editing for grammatical errors, I mean editing to find whether or not it’s well-written,” said Zabel, who retired with 30 years of experience as an English teacher.
She read passages from her books “Prairie Dog Cowboy,” based on her husband’s youthful experiences, and from “Midnight Hours,” a mystery about a detective who uses a scooter to get around. Both depicted suspenseful confrontations.
“Could you see that happening?” she said. “That’s the idea of a good book for the reader, to see it literally as it happens. It’s important when you’re writing action scenes for your sentences to be short, choppy. When it was reading, I kept reading faster and my tongue got tied.” (She had just read a scene in which the main character narrowly escaped death at the hands of an attacker.)
Then later in the article:
Another spectator at AuthorFest is a few years away from reading and isn’t especially verbal with strangers, but he appeared to agree. Jacob Brandon, 2, clutched a $5 bill and pointed at a book on the 4RV table, “Trockle.” The cover depicts a small creature under a bed, and a young girl covered up atop the bed. The back view shows the same characters, from the back. Zabel explained: “This is a story about the little monster under the bed who’s afraid of the big monster on top of the bed.”
And the feeling’s mutual.
Jacob went off with what possibly was his first purchase, and what definitely was his Saturday night bedtime story. The adults with him hope he’ll learn there aren’t really any scary monsters lurking under the bed.
And Zabel’s face beamed with the joy of seeing a youngster learn to love books.
“I want to see this AuthorFest go so they can have it yearly,” she said. “There just aren’t enough opportunities for people to meet authors and for authors to meet the public.”
.
The article is too long to copy here, but I will repeat some of it since my name appears quite often.
Celebrating the pen
Press Special Writer
August 10, 2009 10:12 am
From Tailholt to Tahlequah and beyond, northeastern has produced a bounty of stories, and an abundance of authors with the talent to tell them.
Nearly 30 of these authors gathered Saturday at the Cherokee County Community, bringing books and stories to share. Local residents turned out to meet and visit with the authors, get copies of their books autographed, and perhaps, step a bit closer to their own dreams of becoming a member of the pantheon of published writers.
Marsha Coles of Cherokee County, who has written several books, came up with the idea for the first AuthorFest, which she hopes will become an annual event.
“A fellow author and I wanted to do a double book-signing. I thought, ‘We’re going to do a double signing, why not a triple,’ and then it grew,” she said.
One of her works is a history of the Tailholt community, so a natural question is, how did Tailholt get its name? Coles offers two answers.
“At the store, when it was called Caney Store, they had a little postcard of a little general store that said ‘Tailholt Store.’ Another was that someone had a mule or donkey by the tail,” Coles said.
Among her titles are “The Mystery of Coldstone Manor,” a regency romance mystery, and “Texas Justice,” a romance set south of the Red River. Her “Poetry and Rhythm” collection has a photo of the recently-demolished Caney Bridge on its cover.
Beginning at 10 a.m., authors read from their books and discussed their art.
Vivian Zabel of 4RV Publishing in Edmond brought five of her works, along with other books for young people. She emphasized the importance of thorough editing before submitting a book for publication.
“I don’t mean just editing for grammatical errors, I mean editing to find whether or not it’s well-written,” said Zabel, who retired with 30 years of experience as an English teacher.
She read passages from her books “Prairie Dog Cowboy,” based on her husband’s youthful experiences, and from “Midnight Hours,” a mystery about a detective who uses a scooter to get around. Both depicted suspenseful confrontations.
“Could you see that happening?” she said. “That’s the idea of a good book for the reader, to see it literally as it happens. It’s important when you’re writing action scenes for your sentences to be short, choppy. When it was reading, I kept reading faster and my tongue got tied.” (She had just read a scene in which the main character narrowly escaped death at the hands of an attacker.)
Then later in the article:
Another spectator at AuthorFest is a few years away from reading and isn’t especially verbal with strangers, but he appeared to agree. Jacob Brandon, 2, clutched a $5 bill and pointed at a book on the 4RV table, “Trockle.” The cover depicts a small creature under a bed, and a young girl covered up atop the bed. The back view shows the same characters, from the back. Zabel explained: “This is a story about the little monster under the bed who’s afraid of the big monster on top of the bed.”
And the feeling’s mutual.
Jacob went off with what possibly was his first purchase, and what definitely was his Saturday night bedtime story. The adults with him hope he’ll learn there aren’t really any scary monsters lurking under the bed.
And Zabel’s face beamed with the joy of seeing a youngster learn to love books.
“I want to see this AuthorFest go so they can have it yearly,” she said. “There just aren’t enough opportunities for people to meet authors and for authors to meet the public.”
.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A place to voice our questions about CPSIA
NOTE: Check out District Dispatch, including the comments. The article brings current information, but it also highlights the fact that we're beginning to compartmentalize attacks into our own narrow interests. We need to press for repealing of the law, period.
We have another place to voice our concerns about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Stephen Macquignon posted on CPSIA-Central a link to “Ask a Question Regarding the New CPSC Reauthorization Legislation." He had submitted the question, "When's the law going to be repealed?"
My question was a bit more detailed, but it essentially asked the same thing. When will the CPSIA be stopped?
I think we should inundate that site with our concerns, questions, desires to see this law nullified, repealed, halted, stopped, and otherwise erased. Another law, one well researched and written, would better protect our children.
We need to stop the tragedy from happening, and we need to keep honest people from being law breakers because, as some folks keep telling me, "the law is unenforceable so don't worry about it." Personally, I try not to disobey the law even if I think no one will catch me. I prefer to be legal, as do most people and businesses.
Another blog that discusses the CPSIA problem in a more humorous manner, but no less true one, is Trockle. Personally, I'm a bit partial to the lovable little monster and his book, published by 4RV Publishing, written by Holly Jahangiri, and illustrated by Jordan M. Vinyard. I'd like to see him, uh, his book continue to be available for children. I'd also like to see the Trockle stuffed toy become a reality and not "thrown away" before produced because of a bad law.
Discussing the CPSIA and its impact with others is a good strategy. I attended a book festival this past Saturday. I was surprised how many authors had no knowledge of the law or its impacts. I spent 80% of my time talking about the CPSIA rather than books.
In fact, The Oklahoman photographer captured me with my mouth open telling someone about the law. However, not one word appears in that same paper about the serious impacts the CPSIA will have on stores, books, libraries, schools, small home businesses, or the price everyone will pay as costs of items increase.
.
We have another place to voice our concerns about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Stephen Macquignon posted on CPSIA-Central a link to “Ask a Question Regarding the New CPSC Reauthorization Legislation." He had submitted the question, "When's the law going to be repealed?"
My question was a bit more detailed, but it essentially asked the same thing. When will the CPSIA be stopped?
I think we should inundate that site with our concerns, questions, desires to see this law nullified, repealed, halted, stopped, and otherwise erased. Another law, one well researched and written, would better protect our children.
We need to stop the tragedy from happening, and we need to keep honest people from being law breakers because, as some folks keep telling me, "the law is unenforceable so don't worry about it." Personally, I try not to disobey the law even if I think no one will catch me. I prefer to be legal, as do most people and businesses.
Another blog that discusses the CPSIA problem in a more humorous manner, but no less true one, is Trockle. Personally, I'm a bit partial to the lovable little monster and his book, published by 4RV Publishing, written by Holly Jahangiri, and illustrated by Jordan M. Vinyard. I'd like to see him, uh, his book continue to be available for children. I'd also like to see the Trockle stuffed toy become a reality and not "thrown away" before produced because of a bad law.
Discussing the CPSIA and its impact with others is a good strategy. I attended a book festival this past Saturday. I was surprised how many authors had no knowledge of the law or its impacts. I spent 80% of my time talking about the CPSIA rather than books.
In fact, The Oklahoman photographer captured me with my mouth open telling someone about the law. However, not one word appears in that same paper about the serious impacts the CPSIA will have on stores, books, libraries, schools, small home businesses, or the price everyone will pay as costs of items increase.
.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Fabulous? My blog? Wow, thanks.
Holly Jahangiri, a dear friend/adopted daughter and 4RV Publishing author, wrote one of the best children's books I've ever read, Trockle. Over the past months, Trockle has become "real" to everyone. My grandson Aiden will not go to sleep until someone reads Trockle to him. When he talked to me on the phone after I sent him a copy and a Trockle t-shirt, he just kept saying, "Love Trockle book. Love Trockle book."
Now the lovable little monster sent my blog the "Your Blog is Fabulous" award.
However, he says two conditions are attached: 1. I have to list 5 addictions; 2. I have to send the award to 5 other blogs.
Addictions are hard, because as Holly told Trockle, there is a difference between love and addiction. However, I'll try.
1. Pepsi, I've had to give that addiction up because of diabetes, but every once in a while, I'll treat myself and have one - a real Pepsi. Diet Pepsi is nasty. *sigh*
2. Shrimp, give me a choice of a favorite meal, and I'll choose shrimp, preferably butterflied, with a tossed salad and baked potato. Yummy.
3. Writing must be an addiction because I can't stop.
4. Teaching is either an addiction or an obsession, not sure which. I "retired" from officially teaching over seven years ago, but through editing and publishing, I'm still teaching. Even my blogs have lessons. Ish.
5. My grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's ballgames are addictive. I love watching them play and feel strong withdrawals when I'm not able to go.
Now, five blogs that I think are fabulous (of course there are more than five, but ...).
1. Carolyn Howard-Johnson's blog
2. Make Mine Mystery blog
3. Harry Gilleland's blog
4. Crystalee Calderwood's blog
5. Ransom Noble's blog
Aren't those blogs a good selection? I would have added Joyce Anthony's, but she's setting up a new blog. I don't have the URL, but hopefully someone will add hers when possible.
Also, please visit Holly Jahangiri's blog.
.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Trockle toy coming
Trockle may be in a toy department near you before next Christmas, maybe.
A prototype is being made of the lovable little monster and will soon be ready. Once it's finished and passes inspection of publisher, author, and illustrator, I will start searching for a manufacturer that will give us a good deal and produce a lovable stuffed Trockle.
The prototype first produced was cute, but too "flat." The designer showed me the body of the new version, and I hugged it. Just right. Soft, cuddly, and going to be cute. I can hardly wait to see the finished model. He even has a stuffed worm to match the toy in the book.
Cross posted to Vivian's Site
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Trockle Trick-or-Treat Tour ends Monday
Where has the week gone? The Trockle Trick-or-Treat Tour just began, at least it seems as if it did, yet tomorrow Holly and Jordan will wrap up the tour.Trockle and Stephen are stuffed with treats of all kinds, including Choco-Tacos. More people have met and fell in love with Trockle. Others have learned more about him and his mom.
The book is one that children seem to love, and, even if they don't admit it, so do adults like me.
Copies of the book can be ordered from the 4RV Publishing Store, and the contest for a personalized book with Trockle is still open. So, visit the last stop on the tour, and enter the contest, on Do I Have to Spell It Out Monday .
The bubble wrap found with the experience of this blog tour is the friendliness of everyone involved.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Coming to a blog near you - Midnight Tour
The Trockle Trick-or-Treat Tour has four more days. However, another virtual tour will start October 26.
Why am I bothering people with that so early? So that everyone will be ready to greet, or, uh, hide from, Midnight. Not many people enjoy knowing they might be on her list of victims. Poor Martin, she targeted him, and after he already survived a bullet in the back and faced a struggle to regain the use of his legs, he had to fight for his life.
But not all is gloom and doom for Martin. Through the search for Midnight, he meets Lisa.
But would they be given a chance for a future? Hmmm ... Not if Midnight succeeds.
I'll post the full schedule for the Midnight Tour a bit closer to time, but Lee Lofland's Graveyard Shift will be one stop. I visit his blog often because of all the great material I find there. *reminder to self: Be nice enough to leave comments more often to let him know how much his work is appreciated*
Midnight Hours has its own website, for those who want to know more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)