October 10th, 2013

   I just wanted to share a quick update I had my exam for Lesson 2 on Tuesday and I missed one question. This question was about quotation marks, where they should go for titles of songs and the movies.  I had the first part right, but the second part was wrong.  I know what is right now, and I am working through Lesson 3 which is more about the writing process and the advantages a computer has over a typewriter, and the fears that can prevent a writer from writing.  Eventually,  I will be planning a writing project, but for now I am working on the review questions , and getting ready for my next exam.

Until next time,

Take Care

 November 4th, 2013

   I just wanted to add another little update , the week before last I completed lesson three , I had a 90%, and then last week I passed my exam for lesson four and that was the final lesson for the first group.  Today I began working on reading for lesson 5, after I took a small break from studying. Now,  I am learning about picture books, concept books, and story books , how they are written etc.   The second lesson group is also where I will send in my writing to be critiqued, I am going to do my best.  I have been thinking about My Alexei and continuing it, but I also think I am going to change the female character's name back to the original, but I am keeping Jones as the last name, I don't know we shall see.  Tonight, I am going to continue telling more
about Pepper in my aquarium adventures.

I'll keep you all posted!

Take Care

November 22nd, 2013

    I just wanted to post a quick update on my studies.   I have successfully completed Lessons Five and Six in my second group of lessons. I have been learning about the picture /story books, how they are written, the ages the children are that will be viewing them . Then, in my most recent lesson I learned about the easy readers, these books are for children who are beginning to learn how to read. I did begin editing the female character's name in My Alexei , it is going to take some time for sure, but I think
I will enjoy writing it again once the editing is done, of course now I have to keep my mind on writing a story for children , but hopefully I will see where to take the story next.
I also have some job news , I finished the Online application for a position at Petco on Monday. I had a response from human resources to let me know they are reviewing my qualifications . Wish me luck.  Or say a little prayer too.

Until next time,

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 December 20th, 2013

    This week I passed Lesson 7 with 100%.   I was very happy.  I have two more lessons to go in Lesson Group 2 , then I will be writing for a critique which I am nervous about, so please say a prayer for me ,  I am also dealing with a personal health issue and I am not sleeping very well at night, could you please pray for me for me to sleep in peace?

God Bless!

Merry Christmas!

 January 20th, 2015

  Hello!   I hope that all of my visitors had a wonderful Christmas and that 2015 is the best year for all of you so far. I just wanted to share another update on how my studies are going.   I have finished all of the sections that have exams, and I was so happy to pass all of them successfully.   Now, I am in the third lesson group and I have begun to learn and work on writing a proposal . I can not talk about my story idea, because I was told in the past that any story that is posted on any website or social media  is considered published .   So, I have kept that in mind, but I will share about the proposal and its steps.

The first couple of steps that I had to take even before I came to know about the proposal, was to select a genre or type of project. I decided to follow the school's suggestion and write an Easy Reader, for children ages 5 to 9, but I may narrow that down a little more as time goes on.  I also had to think about what type of subject, well I have always loved writing fantasy and fan fiction, so I stuck with a fantasy that will have some humorous situations in the story line , and my category was called, Free Choice. 

After I had those details nailed down, I got to what I mentioned above selecting an Easy Reader.   Once, I had made that decision, I carefully read each step in the Proposal that an editor will read, and give me feed back on, as I proceed through the rest of the course.   Step 1.  I have kind of started doing, I have written down a paragraph describing why I chose my subject and genre, and I have written down the reasons for why my choices appeal to me and why I selected them. Then there was a subsection, about Targeting Your Audience, and this is the step  I am currently working on. I have done some research about the children I want to write my story for, their likes, dislikes, their ages. So on and so forth, and Step 2 is mostly about that as well.  I still have some more research to do and I plan on going to my local library as well. 

In Step 3, I have to submit three writing exercises.  In Step 4, I have to create a character sketch , basically sharing everything I can think of about my character, background, family, friends, everything in general . After my ideas are organized, I will proceed to Step 5, listing the events I want to include in my story, generate more ideas, until I make a selection.  Then, finally Step 6, I will be reviewing what I learned in Lesson 3 and write a 1 to 2 paragraph synopsis of my story and I will
use that time to address the who, what, when, where, how , and why of my story.

Once that is completed I will type everything up and prepare my proposal for mailing off to my school, and I will begin Lesson 10, while I wait to hear back from my assigned editor . 
That is where I am now, I will try to share my progress as I continue learning how to write for children.
I hope you all are having a great day!

God Bless! 

 September 22nd, 2015

   Hello again!   I hope you all had a wonderful summer, I have some updates on the progress of my school assignment. I am still working on Step 2, this summer I finally was able to go on a library trip, well there were at least 3 lol. Our first trip was about my mom and I trying to remember where the library was located.  It had been a whilesince we went there. So, we ended up getting frustrated and going home.   For our second trip, I finally had the bright idea to take ourtom tom with us, but tom tom refused to accept the directions I typed in.   Which made me quite upset , but
I looked for libraries on tom tom's list and I found another one.  We ended up going round and round in circles until we came upon a tiny library and I mean tiny.  So, we read the sign and noticed that they were closed!

I did not understand why their hours were only from a certain time on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So, our library the one I knew was no where in sight , the one we found was the wrong one. That only made me want to go home, but mom was determined to get me to a library and get some work done.  Yeah she thought I was playing too many video games .  So, I searched on tom tom once again and we found one closer to us , and we made the driveback down the other end of the road.  The only problem was that tom tom told us to go left,and the library was on the right . 

Don't gps systems make you wonder sometimes?  Anyway we navigated across the busy traffic safely.  My first impression of my new librarywas that it was HUGE.  It was, and it intimidated me , this place even had a gift shop likeplace where people could trade, or buy books.  It did have a lot of resources, and I saw children playing a game. So, I browsed their children's room and tried to listen to the children, they were older but still I just observed , and mom kind of embarrassed me when she asked a librarian if I could get a card. I was just not ready then and that was sometime in June, the latter part.  I did see their resources and even though it was the biggest library I had ever seen  I knew it was the right place.

Last month on the 13th, I went back there and applied for my library card, everyone was really nice , and now  I have cards for two counties.  I did check out some books, but after reading through them I realized they were not what I was looking for.  I am still struggling with researching the lifestyle, and the books were wonderful. Just the wrong information, so next time I think I will look for resources in child development, I do remember most of what I learned while studying that degree.  However , I want to take a second look.Right now, my family is involved in getting ready for and planning my sister's wedding, which is in October, so my energy may go into that before I focus on the proposal again .  I will get back to it as soon as I can. 
Hope all is well and that your schooling is going well if you are in school.

God Bless!