Thursday, December 26, 2013

Books and more books: a chapter breather and more collateral payoff from NaNoWriMo


This last chapter of the Katz' saga was particularly apt for me to re-read and edit because we currently have a house full of relatives for the holidays. It's not a small house, but we currently have 14 persons (including those that live here) and 3 dogs in residence. It's lovely and stressful all at the same time and every year I hate it and ask for everyone to come again.

This book I wrote last year was a product of the people I know and personal experiences of my own, as well as a frustration at the lack of accurate stories out there concerning homeschoolers. Why is it that the stories involving homeschooling so often involve parents who are hippies, artistically crazy, or religiously constrictive? I don't feel this accurately reflects the truth of homeschooling today and the multiple kinds of people that do it and the multiple reasons they do so.
                                                      
                                                                                         (From The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant)

I do hope that a few people are out there enjoying this. I may follow my daughter's example and try to self publish soon (after some more edits). All the more reason I would love some constructive comments.

On that note, I should mention that my 12 year old daughter has just published her first book and I am very proud of her. Her grandmother, who edits papers for a living, was happy to edit it for her, and her dad spent a couple of days formatting it for the printers instead of doing his paying job. I'm also thankful to National Novel Writing Month for getting her to decide that her goal for this year was to actually finish a story, which she did, and to her literature teacher (a fellow wonderful homeschool mom) who introduced us to NaNoWriMo in the first place.

It's a fantasy story. Here is the introduction:

Skye is just like every other girl, except for one fact. Most girls don't have large feathery wings sprouting out of their backs. Skye was what the Government liked to call a Special Case. Her wings were an Oddity, and she was Imprisoned. Where you might ask. Where was she Imprisoned? In a special Government facility for Special Cases, where those who were less then normal were kept, so that the rest of the world would be safe. The idea was that the Human Race wasn't ready for any Oddities, and so Skye and everyone like her were Imprisoned. The truth was darker though. The Government was afraid of the power that came with each and every Oddity. Skye must break out or stay in the Facility forever. But once she gets out, where will she go? Her father had disappeared years ago, and her mother was killed by the Facility when they were trying to take her away. Skye's only got one option. Find her father.

You can actually buy her book on Amazon! Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Imprisoned-Jessica-R-Soffian/dp/1494706784/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388085167&sr=8-1&keywords=jessica+soffian


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