Saturday, June 18, 2016

Curious World - HMH

There's an app called "Curious World" from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It's for the iPhone and iPad.
https://www.curiousworld.com/

Here's the the link to the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/curious-world-early-learning/id994556645?mt=8


Description

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a leader in classroom education for over 100 years - start your child’s learning journey with a FREE TRIAL and get unlimited access to nearly 1,000 fun and educational books, games, and videos, perfect for your child’s discovery or family time! Designed for kids ages 2-7, Curious World brings you: 

• Over 500 fun and educational games, videos and books
• Favorite characters like Curious George and Gossie
• New activities added every week
• A safe and ad-free environment
• Content curated by early learning experts across key learning areas
• A personalized experience based on your child’s age

Games, videos and books are curated by early learning experts across the following key learning areas:

• Science
• Math
• Literacy
• Executive Function
• Creative Expression
• Social & Emotional
• Family & Community
• Health & Wellbeing

Subscription details:

Curious World is free to download with access to select content and features.

With a Curious World subscription, you will receive:

• Exclusive access to unlimited games, videos and books – new content added weekly!
• A personalized experience for your child
• Ability to create up to 5 child profiles
• Access to the Parent Dashboard to track your child’s activities
• A safe and ad-free learning environment

FREE 7-DAY TRIAL

Friday, June 17, 2016

Updates and such...

Hey there!

It's June and school has officially been out for two weeks. That means I get to sleep in (for an extra hour or so) and spend a lot of time with my boys. I'm working on a setting up a steady writing schedule this summer. This has been difficult in the past because MY CHILDREN ARE AT HOME. Even if I put the "Writer Cave" sign on my door, they still knock. And I answer. Because parenting and being present for my kids is more important than writing. So...I need to find a way to write AND keep them occupied.

Fortunately, we have an awesome public library in city. I can bring my laptop into the children's library and write while my sons play "learning games" on the computers, gather up books, do them summer reading program fun, and READ. It's a win-win.

Here's a recap of some favorite things that I've read/watched/done these last few months.

AUTHOR PANEL
I was part of the "B-Fest" at Barnes and Noble, Fullerton. I was on a panel with Meadow Griffin (author of LEGENDS OF ERIN) and Valerie Noble (author of THE ENERGY CRUSADES). Thank you to Jen Loomis for making this an awesome event!



WATCHING ON AMAZON PRIME
"Doctor Thorne" - produced by Julian Fellowes. It's a four episode mini-series, similar to BBC adaptations of Jane Austen novels. My sister-in-law told me about this show and I'm SO happy! It was fantastic.

"Doctor Who" - seasons 4, 5. I'm rewatching "Doctor Who" with my teenager. It used to be on Netflix but left! Sad day. But we found it on Amazon Prime! Yes!

"Lark Rise to Candleford" - I just started this series and I like it already. It's fairly obvious that I'm a Angliophile. I don't think about it until I'm saying things like, "These earbuds are rubbish. Throw them in the bin." I've been reading a fair amount of British novels, too.


MOVIE THEATRE
"Captain America: Civil War" - Of course. Cap is my favorite Avenger. This movie. AMAZING.

"Love and Friendship" - The movie adaptation of Jane Austen's story "Lady Susan." I saw this with a friend who is also a Janeite. It was so funny and perfect. Austen's wit was sharp when she was young.


BOOKS
HOLIDAYS WITH JANE: Summer of Love - We have another short story collection out! It's wonderful to read the stories that my fellow authors have written. Jennifer Becton started to do a read/tweet along with the stories. I joined in. Hang out with us on Twitter! #holidayswithjane


An assortment of books. Now that's it's summer, I'm starting to read books for the next school year. (A teacher's work is never done!) I'm considering adding FRANKENSTEIN to the AP English 12 class. I would also like to teach FAHRENHEIT 451 this year. I'm also looking at my "To Be Read" pile that has stacked up over the last school year. I need to do some fun reading. :-)


WRITING
I'm still formatting Book 3, THE CURSED BLESSING, to be in paperback. I thought I had it all done...and then discovered that all of the italics were stripped out. HOW?! I have no idea. So, I've had to go back and read the whole book again and add italics to all of the thoughts my main character has. THERE ARE A LOT OF THOUGHTS. I will *hopefully* be done today. Then I will be able to get it to CreateSpace and work on all the other aspects of publishing it.

New writing? Yes, I hope to have something new. And soon! I have a finished story that I need to revisit. I have a fairy tale that I need to finish outlining. I have another fairy tale that is just an idea right now. Perhaps while I am on vacation this summer...

Enjoy your time this summer! I know that I will.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Holidays With Jane: Summer of Love

A new book is out in the wild! The fourth book from Indie Jane Press is now available:
Available on Kindle (and Kindle app) now. Paperback will be out soon.

For all of the blog posts about it, visit the IndieJane.org site. We're hosting a giveaway and have a music playlist for you.

Holidays With Jane on Facebook

Giveaway on Rafflecopter

Happy summer, friends!