Writing Stories for Children - How the heck did that happen!

Writing stories for children - how the heck did that happen?

Words. Words. Words. It all their fault. They are an amazing thing - words. They can destroy people and they can keep people alive. They can make you cry or they can make you laugh and they can change your life.
The words that changed my life were:-

'If you continue to do the things you've done in your past, you'll continue to get in the future, the things you have always gotten.'

Author unknown 

If you are like me then photos
catch your eye. Isn't he cute!

Since reading those words it was as if I could see a map laid out infront of me and I didn't like where it was heading. I hadn't like the road I had been on since I was 17. I just didn't know how to get off it. Then in my late 30's those amazing words came into my life and they frightened me. It meant that if I was going to listen to them, act on them, I would have to go against everything I knew, everything I did and everyone in my life who liked me the way I was.

In my journey to today I have found out many things but one of those things is that people don't like change. They like comfort and in comfort comes complacency, boardum, apathy and a lack of understanding of people who don't want to run with the sheep any more. Hence as I deliberately experienced 'things' I had never experienced before, people who I classed as friends, who liked comfort, dropped off and new ones were picked up. It is the way of things even if it is not understood at the time.

As I tentatively, slowly experienced one brand new thing at a time it enabled me to leave that road behind and head off in a completely new direction. Now fifteen years on I am now in an amazing part of my life. A life I thought I would NEVER have and as hard as I look I can not see that old road that I thought I would never be able to leave behind.
(Click Here if you would like to read more about how I decided to start writing stories for children)
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Writing A Story - How I came up with the idea

Ths post is about writing a story and how I came up with the stories that I am writing. I'm writing two at the moment (Story 1 & Story 2). I don't actually want to go into the details of what my stories are about as they are not published yet but still I think the processes of how I came up with the ideas within them might be interesting to some.

The General Store and Me

From time to time I had come up with little ditty's that I would write down but I never took them seriously until one year (along time ago) I made a model of a General Store. (Story 1) It was created in a time when everyone had gone away on holidays and I was left to run my parents waterlily nursery. Every night I would set the log fire ablaze, put on a Miss Marple video (starring Joan Hickson, my favourite) and make my model. When I created the main character, who lives in my imaginary forest, I had to consider what did he do. How can he move within his store and his house that sat on top of it. I must admit I got a bit carried away with it all and in the end I even gave him an astronomy tower (because I like looking at the stars, the universe). It sits on the very top of his house. It even has actual miniature star charts of the southern hemisphere. I also created a vege patch and as I thought of his life I realised that he wouldn't have time to tend it so I made it overgrown with weeds. You can see the little dove coup he has standing in the middle of it by clicking onto the link How to Make Picture Tubes. which can be found on the page labeled Information for Free & Sale.
(Click Here if you would like to read more about Writig A Story - how I came up with the idea)
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Help with Blogger - How I Made My Blog

How I made my blog. I thought people might be interested just incase anyone wants to create a Blog in Blogger. I was told it is was sooo easy! You’ve got to be kidding.
I fumbled my way around for hours and some things have still not been fixed. By the time I realised I was in trouble and that I really needed to keep track of all this information I had created 'things'. I have gone over some of it so that it could be placed here but I’m sorry to say, some of it is still missing. What is here works. See LINKS  below for relevant info.
(2 July 2011 - When I have time I will be putting all this into dot form as its getting a bit busy looking. I will also add info about keywords and how to find them and use them)

FIRST BEFORE YOU START UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE DOING.
You will be creating one page called HOME that all other posts will be able to be put onto. This page WILL automaticaly, everytime you put up a new post, scroll down. Which means the first bit of informtion you posted will now be a the bottom and will continue to go down the more posts you put on it.
ALL the other pages are STATIC. They can not have 'posts' added to them they will just stay the same. 'You can keep adding information to that static page by creating a space between them and adding a new date. That is one way of getting around it.
It is important to know this so that you will not make the mistake I have just made. Fortuanetly this is very easy to fix by cuting and pasting.
Without realising it I have placed all my information on to STATIC PAGES. Now in some ways this is good. It still allows for comments which is good and at least I don't have to worry about the information any more. This is another good thing as I'm a busy person.

I have of course put information on my HOME page that I would now, as I now realsie what is going to happen to it, have on a static page as I do not want it to end up at the bottom of a lot of other posts.
(If you would like to read more about Help with Blogger - How I Made My Blog click here)
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The Mudgeeraba Show on the Gold Coast - 2011

Well I'm going to be at the Mudgeeraba Show (on the Gold Coast) this weekend. It starts today and I am hoping to give out hundreds of fliers to let everyone know about my new blog.

This will be the 4th year that I've been at the show exhibiting my miniature models. Last year I was placed inside the craft hall rather than being on the covered veranda. I had placed a display on a long thin raised platform and so this year I expected the same thing. This turned out not to be so. When I arrived I found that the stage had been enlarged. This was really a good thing from my point of view. Last year there really was not enough space for me, my model and the people who wanted to look at it. Now I've placed the table on the edge of the corner and people can stand, safely, on the floor and look in. Children will have to be picked up but I can't have everything.
This year I also have a couple of my art dolls with me, especially the one based on Van Craig which I love.

Well I've got to go and I'll let you know how it goes and put on some photos.

Well the first day is done and dusted at the Mudgeeraba Show. I had a great day at the Mudgeeraba Show. A lot of people interested in my miniature models. Lots of people taking my fliers. Some people even promising to send me stuff. Unfortunately I don't get too excited about all that as a lot of people have good intentions but it takes a lot for people to actually put that into action. This is why when people do actually give me something I send them one of the twelve gift cards that I have created out of the pictures that were taken by Boyd Luadaka (an award winning photographer and a very good musician and singer to boot).

I suppose I should see about putting those gift cards on this blog. That would be a thing to do. Um.
Anyway back to business. I had a lot of people asking if I sold my models and children asking if I would bring them to their schools.
I did actually do that once. I was asked by the Silkwood Independant School in Nerang to bring my miniature models along. The children were most amused. Each child went home with a gourd seed or two.
See you tomorrow at the Mudgeeraba Show on the Gold Coast.

The second day at the - Mudgeeraba Show.

One of my macrame hangers
(beautiful quilts in the background made by some amazing people, not me)

Well what a day. I've have met some really interesting people doing amazing things. There are so many clever people out there.
I'm pleased that lots of people like my miniature models. They asked lots of questions about gourds and how I made the models. How long they took, where did I get the ideas. I even had a couple of my dolls there. This has been my fouth year at the Mudgeeraba Gold Coast Show and I have enjoyed it as I have every other year.