tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51157865576398568202024-03-18T00:42:20.433-07:00Chapter Book ChallengeBecky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.comBlogger260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-89835784658565651402022-02-28T16:00:00.012-08:002022-03-01T12:18:46.526-08:00Chapter Book Challenge taking a break in 2022 #ChaBooCha<p><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYXcnZIuUrBp-X3vJ8VZZFVeTSr8ySVSf81EA_ijOpm0YbGr_Vd4jmPJRNg0NoUw-gCKhfH5sq4e75zNIEju1aQ3vihFEpjcLXRH-HjJFD-GjsvyTfYEpyj6ViUjpBxrTQERWbH2hM7UO1Al-nDZzpZIc-g1QEgQ3V-4pfH6WY6dURvy8GqvLxgygD=s320" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="320" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgYXcnZIuUrBp-X3vJ8VZZFVeTSr8ySVSf81EA_ijOpm0YbGr_Vd4jmPJRNg0NoUw-gCKhfH5sq4e75zNIEju1aQ3vihFEpjcLXRH-HjJFD-GjsvyTfYEpyj6ViUjpBxrTQERWbH2hM7UO1Al-nDZzpZIc-g1QEgQ3V-4pfH6WY6dURvy8GqvLxgygD=w400-h324" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">I’m sorry to have to inform everyone, but ChaBooCha is taking a break and will not run officially in 2022. But we will be back stronger than ever in 2023, so please look forward to it!</b></p><p><b>Also, everyone is welcome to do the Chapter Book Challenge unofficially this year! Be active in the Facebook page and communicate with and inspire each other throughout.</b></p>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-887162537067155042021-03-31T14:11:00.000-07:002021-03-31T14:11:15.086-07:00Defining Progress #ChaBooCha<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROKj9_CDkfrITKD5Obd1F-xnBLXb_7pW6sX4T4DNye5QM35ErJzSaJnkfuz4Chb_6AVfki2VOZQMgFzo3qd0DYXCgmr3hsdCAS0OdRrc3QTWv7S3JfTNxVqYZDX5uZ2BOz4MeoGk3vTU/s2048/book-3512393.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="2048" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjROKj9_CDkfrITKD5Obd1F-xnBLXb_7pW6sX4T4DNye5QM35ErJzSaJnkfuz4Chb_6AVfki2VOZQMgFzo3qd0DYXCgmr3hsdCAS0OdRrc3QTWv7S3JfTNxVqYZDX5uZ2BOz4MeoGk3vTU/w400-h234/book-3512393.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Image by by Willgard Krause from Pixabay</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />The Oxford English Dictionary defines <b>progress</b> as </p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>1. <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">forward or onward movement towards a destination. (noun)<br />2. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">development towards an improved or more advanced condition. (noun & verb)<br />3. to </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">move forward or onward in space or time. (verb)</span></span></i></blockquote><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><p></p><p>As I have always believed, as long as you've even just <i>thought</i> more about the book you are writing, then you've made progress. Plotting your book out is also progress. There are lots of things you can do towards writing your book that constitute progress made. </p><p>Winning this challenge by writing your desired word count and completely the manuscript's first draft of your novel is the goal of this challenge, but it shouldn't be the only thing you take away from this writing challenge. Making friends and connections with other writers, sharing ideas and getting feedback, learning more about the writing and publishing process, and finding inspiration and motivation for writing your novel are just some of the things I hope you can take away with you from this challenge.</p><p>We have made it to the last day of the Chapter Book Challenge. I want to thank everyone who has participated in this challenge (whether or not you completed your manuscript during ChaBooCha). I really appreciate your participation in this yearly writing challenge and hope to see you all again in March 2022.</p><p>Happy writing!</p><p style="text-align: center;">***** </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">Prize Winners!</span></b><br /><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16.335px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZrtn6D64yzwxAIYG47z6pkx5DbpZZgvqF2fQGAW0aOoeQCL-s90Ur7QMNr3o51dRZRmUcZzfxNTzAJR3X8SeZBaECGlBbs-vfNDZzWie_hQGb0lHb486uRwae177IjUlUK39uEK6HDo/s1500/Writer+mug711rhaNhZbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="1500" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZrtn6D64yzwxAIYG47z6pkx5DbpZZgvqF2fQGAW0aOoeQCL-s90Ur7QMNr3o51dRZRmUcZzfxNTzAJR3X8SeZBaECGlBbs-vfNDZzWie_hQGb0lHb486uRwae177IjUlUK39uEK6HDo/w200-h170/Writer+mug711rhaNhZbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The winner of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X9X2S13/" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">mug for writers</a> is <b>Bonnie Kelso</b>! Congratulations!</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16.335px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16.335px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAPunmqJrXGN3H8IlehFmi7o2xNjzseVr_lZ5pLw9e6-Fz2HgESYKH3CiiVzq7r4kzxrHLLdE0xOJzoGusri1f3O4IVI1FySdCKSvyffHrzUSPfN7Z0DhkEJ-7iC6_3VBemW0CLM_RXo/s499/Writing+your+stories+theme.jpg" style="color: #ff2a3c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAPunmqJrXGN3H8IlehFmi7o2xNjzseVr_lZ5pLw9e6-Fz2HgESYKH3CiiVzq7r4kzxrHLLdE0xOJzoGusri1f3O4IVI1FySdCKSvyffHrzUSPfN7Z0DhkEJ-7iC6_3VBemW0CLM_RXo/w130-h200/Writing+your+stories+theme.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="130" /></a><br /><br /></div><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The winner of the copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944936114" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Writing Your Story's Theme: The Writer's Guide to Plotting Stories that Matter </a>by K. M. Weiland is <b>Natalie Cohn</b>! Congratulations!</span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkYJFAQ9KTP5AdNFpycRqYehb94LHhyphenhyphenNessKrOWUTvDyQkRqX5XhTjY49sfiS_yNsQJImZ3Oqcak-LNogCafDfo88rjMfGJJT0MxlkMmagOrs7eqsPxoity1PFMPFqnK02iLfE_sK0w/s499/Writing+Prompts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkYJFAQ9KTP5AdNFpycRqYehb94LHhyphenhyphenNessKrOWUTvDyQkRqX5XhTjY49sfiS_yNsQJImZ3Oqcak-LNogCafDfo88rjMfGJJT0MxlkMmagOrs7eqsPxoity1PFMPFqnK02iLfE_sK0w/w134-h200/Writing+Prompts.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="134" /></a></span></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The winner of the copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Genre-Writers-Writing-Prompts-Story/dp/0999777270/" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The Genre Writer's Book of Writing Prompts & Story Ideas: 540 Creative Writing Prompts in the Genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Horror & Supernatural, and Memoir</a> by the Mayday Writing Collective is <b>Linda Staszak</b>! Congratulations!</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;">Winners please contact me at my e-mail to let me know your mailing addresses. </p></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16.335px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16.335px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-44592131251757787022021-03-28T14:44:00.002-07:002021-03-28T14:44:44.839-07:00Three Questions to Ask Yourself When Writing a Chapter Book Series by Marcie Colleen #ChaBooCha<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqjgj4AGwmf__vpT8RWLxJs53pcFp01WV-oE5hYXZzksoFXbggLRFYBVcXOEyQS5DX77hD4BFwADEbUIamUIrpSxHxAU3z85UdsskRhNw4SP3Rg9HLTB_zbkcxTxcmgxIjGWeXeHky_A/s2048/write-2930025+by+press+%25F0%259F%2591%258D+and+%25E2%25AD%2590+from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqjgj4AGwmf__vpT8RWLxJs53pcFp01WV-oE5hYXZzksoFXbggLRFYBVcXOEyQS5DX77hD4BFwADEbUIamUIrpSxHxAU3z85UdsskRhNw4SP3Rg9HLTB_zbkcxTxcmgxIjGWeXeHky_A/w266-h400/write-2930025+by+press+%25F0%259F%2591%258D+and+%25E2%25AD%2590+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by <span style="color: #191b26; font-family: Open Sans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial !important; outline-width: initial !important; white-space: nowrap;">press 👍 and ⭐</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span><span style="color: #191b26; font-family: Open Sans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial !important; outline-width: initial !important; white-space: nowrap;">Pixabay</span></span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">It is true that chapter books are always </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">in</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> series.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Therefore, when starting</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">to write a chapter book it is super important to keep the long-game in mind</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. But how can you tell if your</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">chapter book </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">concept </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">has the legs needed for multiple books? Good question.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><div class="SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{204}" paraid="720223813" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{206}" paraid="2108235712" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Here are </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Three Questions to Ask Yourself </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">When Writing a </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Chapter Book Series</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">:</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{220}" paraid="1546910698" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW62054788 BCX0" role="list" start="1" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-font="Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" data-leveltext="%1." data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 24px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{224}" paraid="1364467940" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Will kids want to spend lots of time with the character(s)? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Writing a series challenges you to create characters that can be plopped into many different scenarios. Think of some of your favorite chapter book characters. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">These characters are so well-developed that we can imagine them in pretty much any plot</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and they have the series to prove it!</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Sleep-away camp? Sure. Talent show at school? Definitely. Trouble with a best friend? No problem. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Scour the titles of some popular series to see potential plots.</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ol></div></div><div class="SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{241}" paraid="1519179082" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true,"335559685":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{245}" paraid="2086314718" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Now, t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">est your own characters. Set an alarm for 30 minutes and during that time write down as many adventures or scenarios for your main character(s) that you can think of. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Once time is up, choose the four strongest ideas and write jacket copy for these strongest ideas. If you don’t have four strong ideas that can be made into possible books, consider developing your character a little more, then try this exercise again.</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true,"335559685":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{08551616-87c2-413a-ade8-4b7ded4de90c}{253}" paraid="595500889" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true,"335559685":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW62054788 BCX0" role="list" start="2" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-font="Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" data-leveltext="%1." data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 24px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{2}" paraid="977445812" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Is this a world that kids can relate to?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Once a kid starts school they begin to develop lives that are separate from home and family. Through school, their worlds expand. They know people their families don’t. They have unique experiences</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> from their families</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Often, chapter book series revolve around these new people and experiences. But this doesn’t mean that your series has to be contemporary realism. Just be aware of the size of a reader’s world</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">the issues most important to them</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and how that translates to the world you are writing into existence. I can’t tell you how many times I pitch The Super Happy Party Bears to kids and they instantly relate. Who hasn’t felt like they are living in the Grumpy Woods at one time or another when all you want to do is dance and eat doughnuts?</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ol></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{27}" paraid="1378066342" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div></div><div class="SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{31}" paraid="177459329" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Now, let’s look at the world you are writing. First, make a list of common experiences and relationships that kids ages 6-9 can relate to. Then, for each item on your list, try translating that same experience or relationship to your world. Be creative and stretch that imagination!</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> This is a surefire way to create age-appropriate-centeredness in your chapter books regardless of how wacky your world might be.</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559685":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{37}" paraid="1357101030" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ol class="NumberListStyle1 SCXW62054788 BCX0" role="list" start="3" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-font="Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" data-leveltext="%1." data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 24px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{41}" paraid="432504909" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Are there on-going conflicts, not just finite goals?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">This relies on knowing the difference between a book premise and the series premise. To help you better understand, let’s look at </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">television series</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Cheers</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">If someone asked you what </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Cheers </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">is about, you wouldn’t say, “it’s about a bunch of friends who get together for Thanksgiving and through the course of everything going wrong, they end up in a giant food fight.” That isn’t what </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Cheers </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">is about. That is what one episode in the very long series is about. Instead, you would say, “it’s about a bar in Boston and the regulars who drink and work there.” That is the series premise. And while the giant Thanksgiving food fight is a finite </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">conflict that starts and gets solved in one episode, there is tension and conflicts that span the series, mostly in regard to how each character relates to the others and the bar setting.</span><span class="TabRun IPSelectionBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: text; white-space: nowrap; width: 0px;"><span class="TabChar SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space: pre !important;"> </span><span aria-hidden="true" class="TabLeaderChars SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; display: inline-block; left: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; user-select: none; white-space: pre !important;"></span></span><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233279":true}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ol></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{76}" paraid="9014648" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{80}" paraid="816539594" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 48px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Now, look at your series concept. How would you describe the series in a sentence or two, focusing on relationships and setting? Leave all of the finite conflicts and details (science fairs, firs</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">t</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> sleepover, food fights, etc.) to your book plots, not series premise. </span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559685":720}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{88}" paraid="1314234384" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{92}" paraid="1172988467" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Now that you’ve tested your concept to make sure it’s got what it takes for a long series, it’s time to write.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">I’d love to hear if this post resonated with you or if you have anything you want to share about testing the series potential of your own concept. Share below in the comments. And SUPER HAPPY writing!</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{102}" paraid="1271273201" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{102}" paraid="1271273201" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">*****</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{104}" paraid="158007880" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LHw49Typlcv41neOhEy7FZtIgENjcSdcJs7uTAxVzG623rkweTxPqdG3z9EpZDya_Xtl8DTxRtfzQhCdtOduDCoKppXcY5ON0HbzhnmNuo68cJzFzKpwDTUnSbSpVkyNIo_02Z3NBDE/s1348/Marcie+Colleen+Headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LHw49Typlcv41neOhEy7FZtIgENjcSdcJs7uTAxVzG623rkweTxPqdG3z9EpZDya_Xtl8DTxRtfzQhCdtOduDCoKppXcY5ON0HbzhnmNuo68cJzFzKpwDTUnSbSpVkyNIo_02Z3NBDE/w134-h200/Marcie+Colleen+Headshot.jpg" width="134" /></a></span></div><p></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW62054788" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Marcie Colleen</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">is a former classroom teacher turned children’s book author. She’s the author of THE SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS chapter book series (Macmillan/Imprint), as well as several picture books.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> She</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> is a frequent presenter at conferences for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She also teaches online classes on “Crafting the Chapter Book” for The Writing Barn</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Go to </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW62054788 BCX0" href="http://thewritingbarn.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">thewritingbarn.com</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> for further information about registration</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> for the next session</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> which starts June 2</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun Superscript SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)" data-fontsize="12" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: super;">nd</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Marcie lives in San Diego, California. You can find her at </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW62054788 BCX0" href="http://www.thisismarciecolleen.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.thisismarciecolleen.com</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> or @MarcieColleen1 on Twitter.</span><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></i></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">***** </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkYJFAQ9KTP5AdNFpycRqYehb94LHhyphenhyphenNessKrOWUTvDyQkRqX5XhTjY49sfiS_yNsQJImZ3Oqcak-LNogCafDfo88rjMfGJJT0MxlkMmagOrs7eqsPxoity1PFMPFqnK02iLfE_sK0w/s499/Writing+Prompts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZkYJFAQ9KTP5AdNFpycRqYehb94LHhyphenhyphenNessKrOWUTvDyQkRqX5XhTjY49sfiS_yNsQJImZ3Oqcak-LNogCafDfo88rjMfGJJT0MxlkMmagOrs7eqsPxoity1PFMPFqnK02iLfE_sK0w/w134-h200/Writing+Prompts.jpg" width="134" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Today's giveaway is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Genre-Writers-Writing-Prompts-Story/dp/0999777270/" target="_blank">The Genre Writer's Book of Writing Prompts & Story Ideas: 540 Creative Writing Prompts in the Genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller, Horror & Supernatural, and Memoir</a> by the Mayday Writing Collective. If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, the only thing you need to do to be entered into the prize drawing is to comment on this blog post. The winner will be selected by a random number generator and announced on March 31st, 2021.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW62054788 BCX0" paraeid="{3e0cd0c1-48a0-4eb7-ba36-4dae99fb9684}{106}" paraid="1034684782" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW62054788 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"134233117":true,"134233118":true,"335559739":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-82973425250086465042021-03-25T15:05:00.004-07:002021-03-25T15:05:41.427-07:00Are you writing a Chapter Book or Middle Grade Novel? by Manju B. Howard #ChaBooCha<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx616-nDHf4nH-oZZ43Hr2b1Ryb7JWx92Aldvahdzfl4iHlXzYhH3h2MmO2xSO1ClQw87qehU4Ye8tmv_aRbY4fSp89DtVN_ShPeIorBizLapZFECG-YYt6WmDJ6Gj5a27CFoGvtGAN2E/s2048/storytelling-4203628+by+Tumisu+from+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx616-nDHf4nH-oZZ43Hr2b1Ryb7JWx92Aldvahdzfl4iHlXzYhH3h2MmO2xSO1ClQw87qehU4Ye8tmv_aRbY4fSp89DtVN_ShPeIorBizLapZFECG-YYt6WmDJ6Gj5a27CFoGvtGAN2E/w400-h225/storytelling-4203628+by+Tumisu+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">Image by </span>Tumisu<span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span>Pixabay</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Are you writing a Chapter Book or Middle Grade Novel?</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></div><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: windowtext; font-size: 12pt;">by Manju B Howard</i></div></span><p></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{f2448803-5072-45cc-8347-d4bff25d3ddd}{216}" paraid="1894007751" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Recently</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, I</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> accepted the role of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Early Reader and Chapter Book Community Lead i</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">n a</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">n</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">other</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> online</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> writing community called Inked Voices</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">We hold book chats, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">discuss publishers </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">and collectively answer member questions. One question that has popped up several times – What are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> some</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> differences between </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">writing </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">chapter book</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and middle grade</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">?</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{7}" paraid="127729475" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{11}" paraid="565026732" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">So,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> I compile</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">d</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">these </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">lists </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">to show how </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">fictional chapter book</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">defer from</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> middle grade</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{43}" paraid="1538085986" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">These are general guidelines, not unbreakable rules.</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{43}" paraid="1538085986" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span color="windowtext" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{53}" paraid="1255940978" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Chapter Books (CB) </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{59}" paraid="1404970230" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Target </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">readers </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">6 </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">9</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> years old</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{79}" paraid="157516803" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Main character (MC)</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> is usually </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">age </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">7</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, 8 or </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">9 </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">(or </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">an </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">animal)</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{105}" paraid="505556203" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Manuscripts range from 5,000 words to 20,000 words </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{115}" paraid="1007497833" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Younger themes with </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">less</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> characters</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">subplots</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{133}" paraid="1618218636" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Black and white </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">illustrations </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{145}" paraid="523996072" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Action is key</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, faster pace</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{157}" paraid="283205527" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> C</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">hapters </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">are 4-6 pages and end with a hook </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{169}" paraid="823973103" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Shorter sentences and p</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">aragraphs </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{181}" paraid="1566568105" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">•</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> C</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">lear story problem in the first chapter</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{193}" paraid="1642528723" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">•</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Characters </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> less develop</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">ed</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{209}" paraid="609027263" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">•</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">More dialogue than prose</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{221}" paraid="2060238368" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Story timeline </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">is usually</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> days or weeks</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{235}" paraid="965524493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Stakes are lower</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{245}" paraid="1472838941" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{128f9ac9-2ec1-42df-8005-a55704119f76}{249}" paraid="1500375117" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Middle Grade (MG) novel</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{2}" paraid="1620539059" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Target readers 8</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">12 years old </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{16}" paraid="101308023" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Young MC is usually</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> age</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> 9</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, 10 or</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> 1</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">1</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{38}" paraid="766617393" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Older </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">MC is usually </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">age </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">1</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">2</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> or 1</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">3</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{60}" paraid="873235152" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Manuscripts range from 20,000 </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">to</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> 60,000 words </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{74}" paraid="24110604" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> More c</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">omplex plots </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">subplots </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{88}" paraid="187231743" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Few or no</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">illustrations </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{102}" paraid="2108616672" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Action </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">description</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> important</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, pace varies</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{122}" paraid="1120808794" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">More advanced themes with longer chapters </span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{132}" paraid="300901199" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">•</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> C</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">lear story problem by the end of the third chapter</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{144}" paraid="785194865" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Character</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">’s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> journey and development </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> key</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{162}" paraid="666997545" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">•</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">More</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> prose</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> than</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> dialogue</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{180}" paraid="1211583995" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Story timeline could be </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">up to a </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">year</span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> or more</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{196}" paraid="2043387669" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">• </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Stakes are higher</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{206}" paraid="1250922350" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{e7d02488-1238-470b-b33e-81b3746dcbe4}{210}" paraid="2100123844" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">A</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">nother</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> way to </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">know whether your</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> story should be a chapter book or a middle grade novel is the </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">main character’s </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">voice. </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">By reading</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">stack</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">s</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> of </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">chapter books and middle grades</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> you’ll </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">develop</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> a sense </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">of </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">whether </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">your main character</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> acts and sounds a certain age.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> <br /></span><span color="windowtext" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{5}" paraid="1975283692" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">At the moment, I’m writing a </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">realistic </span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">middle grade novel. What are you writing?</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{15}" paraid="1121664443" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{19}" paraid="1768157435" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">***** <br /><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{19}" paraid="1768157435" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEa9gG4ZdSk1HoYb5rlASDFfkclR-Bcwo37XYXOTlqoCZrm7oXn_uVTmiCmoopPRePK2y_i5VdjrEAmxQE-6fejX20-qk4tLiLZ_bquzU42kekbNTa0vIsSl3WpMXkS5XWExaYuBWh1nU/s200/MBH+pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEa9gG4ZdSk1HoYb5rlASDFfkclR-Bcwo37XYXOTlqoCZrm7oXn_uVTmiCmoopPRePK2y_i5VdjrEAmxQE-6fejX20-qk4tLiLZ_bquzU42kekbNTa0vIsSl3WpMXkS5XWExaYuBWh1nU/s0/MBH+pic.jpg" /></a><span color="windowtext" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /><br /></span></div><p></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW217049026" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Manju holds degrees in communications, theater and marketing. She has worked as a bookseller, merchandiser, scheduler and graphic artist. With motherhood came </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">reading </span><span class="TextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">picture books, which led her down a path of creating stories for young readers. Now she leads writing communities within Inked Voices, SCBWI and Kidlit Creatives.</span><span class="EOP SCXW217049026 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335559740":360}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Check out <a href="https://www.authormanjuhoward.com/blog-1 " target="_blank">Manju’s blog</a> for interviews with authors, agents, editors and publishers.</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">*****</span><br /><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">Giveaway</span></b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: windowtext; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAPunmqJrXGN3H8IlehFmi7o2xNjzseVr_lZ5pLw9e6-Fz2HgESYKH3CiiVzq7r4kzxrHLLdE0xOJzoGusri1f3O4IVI1FySdCKSvyffHrzUSPfN7Z0DhkEJ-7iC6_3VBemW0CLM_RXo/s499/Writing+your+stories+theme.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAPunmqJrXGN3H8IlehFmi7o2xNjzseVr_lZ5pLw9e6-Fz2HgESYKH3CiiVzq7r4kzxrHLLdE0xOJzoGusri1f3O4IVI1FySdCKSvyffHrzUSPfN7Z0DhkEJ-7iC6_3VBemW0CLM_RXo/w130-h200/Writing+your+stories+theme.jpg" width="130" /></a><br /><br /></div><p class="Paragraph SCXW217049026 BCX0" paraeid="{23968862-b76f-4069-b8fd-7c04415b87a6}{23}" paraid="835750397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW217049026 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: Cambria, Cambria_EmbeddedFont, Cambria_MSFontService, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 28.5px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW217049026 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><i>Today's giveaway is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1944936114" target="_blank">Writing Your Story's Theme: The Writer's Guide to Plotting Stories that Matter </a>by K. M. Weiland. If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, all you need to do to enter the drawing for this prize is to leave a comment on this blog post. The winner will be selected by a random number generator on March 31st, 2021.</i></span></span></p></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-2518498799928277472021-03-21T13:51:00.003-07:002021-03-21T13:57:00.628-07:00Writing Dream Sequences Into your Story #ChaBooCha<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qrvLhyphenhyphen0QXu_nQ6mWESvvZRutisBi_RbpX5WYFOZNaNyJjibMy9Q-zJvbwlxAQfLI-Zf5k4PpH-ofosAjFPGBWTvXKOi-HZyEux3Kb2Ovt0xbRy70KLWk_M684J-RvxTi5tvtT_qi9q8/s2048/woman-3435842+Image+by+Johnny+Lindner+on+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qrvLhyphenhyphen0QXu_nQ6mWESvvZRutisBi_RbpX5WYFOZNaNyJjibMy9Q-zJvbwlxAQfLI-Zf5k4PpH-ofosAjFPGBWTvXKOi-HZyEux3Kb2Ovt0xbRy70KLWk_M684J-RvxTi5tvtT_qi9q8/w400-h266/woman-3435842+Image+by+Johnny+Lindner+on+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image by Johnny Lindner from Pixabay</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6493908654835504224" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 520px;"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Some authors will tell you to never include a dream sequence in your story, but I don't think there are any rules to writing that can't be broken if broken in a way that benefits the story.</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><span style="color: black;">There are some things to keep in mind when adding a dream sequence to your story though.</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><b style="color: black;">Does the dream sequence benefit the story in some way?</b><span style="color: black;"> Is your character having this dream important to the story? Does it advance the story at all? If you removed the dream sequence, would it harm the story in any way? Does the dream sequence inform the reader of something that can't imparted in a better way?</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><b style="color: black;">Does a dream sequence fit into the overall theme of events within the story? </b><span style="color: black;">Dream sequences can work really well in fantasy stories. Dreams can be given to a character through magic, or through an elder "wizard" figure. Dreams can be had by a character who can see glimpses of the future through them or see omens. Dreams can be had as prophecies. For non-supernatural stories, dreams can be had as a way for your character to work something out in their mind.</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><b style="color: black;">Dream sequences do not have to be rational or follow the normal laws of nature.</b><span style="color: black;"> Just as people in real life have different types of dreams, your characters can have different types of dreams too. Some dreams are very realistic, and other dreams do fantastical, magical things, some dreams make sense when remembered in the light of day, and other dreams are disjointed and jumbled, full of imagery from a mish-mash of storylines in one's head. In some dreams, you might follow a normal time-line and in other dreams you might jump from one place and time to another with no explanation of how and why.</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><b style="color: black;">Dream sequences do not have to be fully remembered by your character. </b><span style="color: black;">Just as we sometimes wake up and don't remember what we were dreaming about, your character might have the same thing happen. If your character can only remember pieces of the dream, and the dream imparted some important information to them, this can set the stage for the reader to be hoping and waiting for your character to remember. thus the dream can either be a way of foreshadowing a future event in the story or as a way to create suspense because the reader knows what is coming and the character does not.</span><br style="color: black;" /><br style="color: black;" /><b style="color: black;">Dream sequences should not be in place to trick or cheat the reader.</b><span style="color: black;"> If your story goes along the lines of the dream without the reader knowing it is a dream until several events occur, and you leave them with the idea that "it was all just a dream," your reader is going to feel cheated. If your dream sequence misleads your reader into believing something that isn't true, your reader is going to feel betrayed by the story. Be careful how you use your dream sequence. Don't use it just for an easy out. If you want to change your story from a certain point but don't want to lose the word count, setting everything back to that point by claiming it was all dreamed from there is lazy and disingenuous and your readers will not thank you for it.</span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Note: This post was previously published on <a href="https://blogyourbookin30days.blogspot.com/2019/04/writing-dream-sequences-into-your-story.html" target="_blank">Blog Your Book in 30 Days</a>.</span></i></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;">***** </span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">Giveaway</span></b></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZrtn6D64yzwxAIYG47z6pkx5DbpZZgvqF2fQGAW0aOoeQCL-s90Ur7QMNr3o51dRZRmUcZzfxNTzAJR3X8SeZBaECGlBbs-vfNDZzWie_hQGb0lHb486uRwae177IjUlUK39uEK6HDo/s1500/Writer+mug711rhaNhZbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="1500" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZrtn6D64yzwxAIYG47z6pkx5DbpZZgvqF2fQGAW0aOoeQCL-s90Ur7QMNr3o51dRZRmUcZzfxNTzAJR3X8SeZBaECGlBbs-vfNDZzWie_hQGb0lHb486uRwae177IjUlUK39uEK6HDo/w200-h170/Writer+mug711rhaNhZbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Today's giveaway prize is a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X9X2S13/" target="_blank">mug for writers</a>. If you are already signed-up for the challenge, the only thing you need to do in order to be entered into the drawing is to comment on this blog post. the winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced on March 31st, 2021. </span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">*****</span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Winners!</span></div><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_lfDHTJG7OJ0ic87s5Hm26suM_G2bEIgVMUE_-qaS_tcA3bKAwnCmVjzrxUZlys915rFEdxM0tTdleAfvCUiUvtZmqqQRb8RtY1Sc736kl_mUi81WM-XWRhnJLuGXXd_SzMtCRLktVs/s499/Writing+Soul.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="322" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio_lfDHTJG7OJ0ic87s5Hm26suM_G2bEIgVMUE_-qaS_tcA3bKAwnCmVjzrxUZlys915rFEdxM0tTdleAfvCUiUvtZmqqQRb8RtY1Sc736kl_mUi81WM-XWRhnJLuGXXd_SzMtCRLktVs/w129-h200/Writing+Soul.jpg" width="129" /></a></div><br /><div style="color: #222222; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"></p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;">The winner of a copy of </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inkwell-Simple-Writing-Practices-Restore-ebook/dp/B08VLX86YZ" style="color: #c95f5f; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Inkwell: Simple Writing Practices to Restore Your Soul </a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;">by Anne Elrod Whitney is <b>Bonnie Kelso</b>!</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;">The winner of Alayne Kay Christian's </span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px; font-variant-ligatures: none;">a 30-minute Zoom call discussion on the first three chapters of a manuscript is <b>Melissa Gijsbers</b>!</span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px; font-variant-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px; font-variant-ligatures: none;">Congratulations to Bonnie Kelso and Melissa Gijsbers! Please contact me as soon as possible.</span></div></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-19246809585192727722021-03-18T12:23:00.003-07:002021-03-21T14:00:45.569-07:00Beta Readers: A Little Help from your Friends by Alayne Kay Christian #ChaBooCha<p style="text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqIF_XQCqPaacQ8nCPCdCWy4Yt14c9xVz2OwgSurnxSB6sfm7mXR5QqrDak5kv-PH2aEvdayzbV3NW0okqQ1mqdD4KhfpMlt6b69aCq6bAyovFA7g6jJhJMt9NnBEMXvHkzyC9-czhWw/s2048/read-341027+by+Elien+Smid+from+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqIF_XQCqPaacQ8nCPCdCWy4Yt14c9xVz2OwgSurnxSB6sfm7mXR5QqrDak5kv-PH2aEvdayzbV3NW0okqQ1mqdD4KhfpMlt6b69aCq6bAyovFA7g6jJhJMt9NnBEMXvHkzyC9-czhWw/w400-h225/read-341027+by+Elien+Smid+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; margin: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">Image by <span style="cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-width: initial;">Elien Smid</span> from <span style="cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-width: initial;">Pixabay</span></span><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> </span></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: large; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">BETA READERS: A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><b> </b></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">by</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Alayne</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Kay Christian</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;"> </span></i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; user-select: text;"><br /></span></i></span></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{93ad5c71-8cc7-440c-98a7-bd9f5ad3cd32}{178}" paraid="458172798" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Whether you have critique partners or you don’t, a smart final step in writing your chapter book is to recruit beta readers. For those who may not</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> know, a beta reader is a test reader who if all goes well, will give you opinions and advice from an average reader’s perspective. But it doesn’t quite work to give the reader your book and ask</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“H</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">ow was it?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">What are your thoughts?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Any advice?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">”</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Unless, of course, that works for you.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> However, in my opinion, w</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">hat does work is to give them questions to consider while reading and to answer ultimately. </span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{93ad5c71-8cc7-440c-98a7-bd9f5ad3cd32}{216}" paraid="171397149" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{93ad5c71-8cc7-440c-98a7-bd9f5ad3cd32}{218}" paraid="906439772" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">I did this with my recent chapter book </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy: Cowboy </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Trouble</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and it was extremely helpful.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> I asked six writers to read my book and answer </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">a list of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">questions</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> I gave them</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. I chose to ask writers because I wanted feedback both from potential readers’ perspectives and from writers’ perspective. I feel like I got a good mix of feedback. I’m guessing getting some feedback from children ages 8 to 10 (the target audience age) would have been wise. But I thought it might be tricky to have them fill out the questionnaire. However</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> if you have access to a number of kids in your book’s age range and you can ask </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">them</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> questions and take notes, that would be a great way to go.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> I’m going to keep this short, but offer you </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">lots</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> more reading via other articles below. Following is the list of beta questions that I gave my beta readers. This will give you a good starting point in developing your own questions when you are ready </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">to have your book read by test readers.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{1}" paraid="1571515515" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{3}" paraid="1805838248" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">One tip about creating questions—make sure they are open ended so the reader provides you with specific and detailed comments instead of simply answering “yes” or “no.”</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{7}" paraid="48969615" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{9}" paraid="2021625765" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">SIENNA, THE COWGIRL FAIRY (book 2) COWBOY TROUBLE</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{15}" paraid="394958061" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">BETA READER QUESTIONS</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{21}" paraid="1778755593" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{25}" paraid="2069025967" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">1. Did the story hold your interest from the very beginning? If not, why not?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{29}" paraid="1513733091" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{31}" paraid="827672741" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">2. Did you get oriented </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">fairly quickly</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> at the beginning as to whose story it is, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, why not?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{39}" paraid="1103688598" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{41}" paraid="984589950" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">3. Could you relate to the main character? Did you feel her pain or excitement?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{45}" paraid="1923339244" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{47}" paraid="1423985424" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">4. Was there a point at which you felt the story started to lag or you became less than excited about finding out what was going to happen next? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Where, exactly?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{53}" paraid="218862605" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{55}" paraid="538488924" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">5. Were there any parts that confused you? Or even frustrated or annoyed you? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Which parts, and why?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{61}" paraid="237481994" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{63}" paraid="1601549270" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">6. Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in time sequences, places, character details, or other details?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{67}" paraid="1611013708" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{69}" paraid="1800458898" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">7. Were the characters believable? Are there any characters you think could be made more interesting or more likeable?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{73}" paraid="1156251036" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{75}" paraid="1750803467" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">8. Did you get confused about who’s who in the characters? Were there too many characters to keep track of? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Too few?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Are any of the names or characters too similar?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{83}" paraid="1268045221" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{85}" paraid="1611936593" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">9. Did the dialogue keep your interest and sound natural to you? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">If not, whose dialogue did you think sounded artificial or not </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">how</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> that person would speak?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{95}" paraid="1039058537" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{97}" paraid="1038805061" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">10. Did you feel there was too much description or exposition? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Not enough?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Maybe too much dialogue in parts?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Please explain.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{109}" paraid="911653291" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{111}" paraid="1498820633" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">11. Was</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> there enough conflict, tension, and intrigue to keep your interest?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{117}" paraid="1174079512" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{119}" paraid="1651897642" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">12. Was the ending satisfying? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Believable?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> If not, why?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{127}" paraid="77541835" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{129}" paraid="99546321" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">13. Did you notice any obvious, repeating grammatical, spelling, punctuation or capitalization errors? </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Examples?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{135}" paraid="1393721953" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{137}" paraid="1395529468" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">14. Do you think the writing style suits the genre? If not, why not?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{141}" paraid="1648913413" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{143}" paraid="96804506" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">15. What do you think the take away message(s) </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">is</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">/</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">are</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{155}" paraid="1090610476" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{157}" paraid="59262485" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">16. Do you notice a theme throughout the story? If so, what is the theme?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{161}" paraid="1268319598" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{163}" paraid="1750877381" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">17. Do you think a prologue is necessary to clue the reader in to Sienna’s world?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{167}" paraid="312067130" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{169}" paraid="140741168" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">18. Does this book </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">stand alone</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and make sense without the first book in the series?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{177}" paraid="1306259200" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{179}" paraid="932777363" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">19. If you read the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Trying to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Make</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> it Rain</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, does this book work well as a second book in the series?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{191}" paraid="878827385" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{193}" paraid="279083930" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">20. If you read the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Trying to </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Make</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> it Rain</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, does this book feel consistent in voice and in Sienna’s personality?</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{205}" paraid="1022548150" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{207}" paraid="52116267" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">21. Please</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> feel free to make any other comments in areas that haven’t been addressed in this questionnaire.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{213}" paraid="263684728" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{215}" paraid="1266211053" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Now that I’ve shared what I did, I will share</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> the following article</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">s that give more tips and also studies how a variety of authors approach working with beta readers</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{225}" paraid="532912453" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{227}" paraid="1366593562" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Beta Readers: Who, When, Why, and So What?</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">by</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Barbara Linn Probst</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{237}" paraid="1868590088" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://www.janefriedman.com/beta-readers/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://www.janefriedman.com/beta-readers/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{242}" paraid="90360590" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{244}" paraid="1730078799" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">I kept my post </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">fairly short</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> because there is no point in reinventing the wheel. Here are links to other articles about beta readers that you might find helpful.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{252}" paraid="885918273" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{ae5f1c21-b804-4dd9-8f91-26c353488e56}{254}" paraid="1414659500" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">How to Find and Work with Beta Readers to Improve Your Book</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> by</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Kristen </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Kieffer</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{9}" paraid="1691678952" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://www.janefriedman.com/find-beta-readers/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://www.janefriedman.com/find-beta-readers/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{14}" paraid="1659630533" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{16}" paraid="167713632" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">To Betta or Not to Beta</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> by Joe Moore</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{22}" paraid="1125954830" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://killzoneblog.com/2011/03/to-betta-or-not-to-beta.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://killzoneblog.com/2011/03/to-betta-or-not-to-beta.html</span></span></a><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{27}" paraid="1838719275" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{29}" paraid="174535159" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Writing Feedback: The Ultimate Guide to Working with Beta Readers</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">by </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">hofner</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Alicia </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{53}" paraid="547135636" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://thewritelife.com/ultimate-guide-to-beta-readers/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://thewritelife.com/ultim</span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">a</span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">te-guide-to-beta-readers/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{62}" paraid="692509570" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{64}" paraid="1429286898" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Introducing the Beta Reading Worksheet</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> by Jami Gold</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{72}" paraid="831913316" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://jamigold.com/2014/08/introducing-the-beta-reading-worksheet/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://jamigold.com/2014/08/int</span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">r</span></span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">oducing-the-beta-reading-worksheet/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{83}" paraid="1848506460" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Worksheets are in word.</span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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-webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW180504585 BCX0" paraeid="{5e9af646-c697-4f3f-9a7f-e2c2913c31ca}{89}" paraid="1492600349" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont, Times New Roman_MSFontService, serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;">*****</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5kjuwNewAgQWLAvpgT4BOwjNHJnZRq-aZWxuR7j2YASjFDdeLsn_LssnrPtWtWNMZ1dQghGVTCkTJh-Eyw3k6Fs38jmp5hb3N2qiE1RUhP_PAvM6vsQiyn1pjrf1MCSqT5z4ty2rEzk/s1969/Alayne+DSC_0296+crop.JPG" style="font-size: 12pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1623" data-original-width="1969" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5kjuwNewAgQWLAvpgT4BOwjNHJnZRq-aZWxuR7j2YASjFDdeLsn_LssnrPtWtWNMZ1dQghGVTCkTJh-Eyw3k6Fs38jmp5hb3N2qiE1RUhP_PAvM6vsQiyn1pjrf1MCSqT5z4ty2rEzk/w200-h165/Alayne+DSC_0296+crop.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Alayne</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> Kay Christian is an award-winning children’s book author and the creator and teacher of a picture book writing course Art of Arc. She was the co-founder of Blue Whale Press</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (now an imprint of Clear Fork Publishing)</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and the acquisitions editor and art director for four years. In addition, she shares her knowledge with writers through free and affordable webinars at Writing for Children Webinars. She has been a picture book and chapter book critique professional since 2014, and she worked as a 12 X 12 critique ninja for three years. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">She has spent the last thirteen years studying under some of the top names in the children’s literature industry. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Her published works include the Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy chapter book series, and picture books BUTTERFLY KISSES FOR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA, AN OLD MAN AND HIS PENGUIN: HOW </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">DINDIM</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> MADE </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">JOÃO</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> PEREIRA DE SOUZA AN HONORARY PENGUIN, and THE WEED THAT WOKE CHRISTMAS: THE MOSTLY TRUE TALE OF THE TOLEDO CHRISTMAS WEED. Her fourth picture book, FAITH BENEATH THE BRIDGE is planned for release in the fall of 2021. Born in the Rockies, raised in Chicago, and now a true-blue Texan, </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Alayne’s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> writing shares her creative spirit and the kinship to nature and humanity that reside within her heart. To learn more about </span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Alayne</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> and her books, course, webinars, and other services</span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> visit </span><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><a class="Hyperlink SCXW180504585 BCX0" href="https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/</span></a></span></span></span></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW180504585" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Times New Roman, Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont, Times New Roman_MSFontService, serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><u><br /></u></span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW180504585 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;">This link is to the <span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/c67AfLgA6Z0" target="_blank">book trailer for <i>Cowboy Trouble</i></a>.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7o48ANTVVpCbQsAhmlqaM5S3m4xO23_0gALQqh-Bf7hZbw3q4tPQB5ZVHZpYUWPwtDrWwr_0UT4XaEGljnBtJzuXfjnbglkuzcB2sb2NabJnWYcAtQ1scX_nb6NEcXrUWxXIya24LVQ4/s771/9781732893580.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="475" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7o48ANTVVpCbQsAhmlqaM5S3m4xO23_0gALQqh-Bf7hZbw3q4tPQB5ZVHZpYUWPwtDrWwr_0UT4XaEGljnBtJzuXfjnbglkuzcB2sb2NabJnWYcAtQ1scX_nb6NEcXrUWxXIya24LVQ4/w123-h200/9781732893580.jpg" width="123" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">***** </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "Times New Roman_EmbeddedFont", "Times New Roman_MSFontService", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alayne has kindly offered the prize of</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> a 30-minute Zoom call discussion on the first three chapters of a manuscript for one lucky person. If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, all you need to do to enter the giveaway for this prize is comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a lucky number generator and announced on March 21st, 2021.</span></div></span><p style="font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-64185861271444322702021-03-14T13:33:00.005-07:002021-03-14T13:35:30.048-07:00Writing Through a Pandemic & Other Soul-Wearying Events #ChaBooCha<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LFlmmzKCivKCQ0nU6efGLE-RKWo6XfaHXuwwoddtg-khdA8L8_SflUQHNcm0fSFc4H8dKI1AjwYv177HK4rIBw0qru-4UG8eG549g2x-PZSMPl7qokm7R1Q1lRslXw1PlZ-SSpEPrv8/s2048/coronavirus-5064371+by+Engin+Akyurt+from+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_LFlmmzKCivKCQ0nU6efGLE-RKWo6XfaHXuwwoddtg-khdA8L8_SflUQHNcm0fSFc4H8dKI1AjwYv177HK4rIBw0qru-4UG8eG549g2x-PZSMPl7qokm7R1Q1lRslXw1PlZ-SSpEPrv8/w400-h266/coronavirus-5064371+by+Engin+Akyurt+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">Image by </span>Engin Akyurt<span face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span>Pixabay</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>2020 was a difficult year for most of us. Political strife and uprisings happened all over the world. A pandemic hit which led to many people dying and many others losing their jobs. People who stilled worked often were stuck working from home and those who were used to socialising with others found they had to distance themselves for the time being. Many people lost loved ones. It was an easy year for people to let themselves fall into despair.</p><p>And the feelings that this type of environment can bring about can often make writers find themselves less than inspired to write. When you're doing everything you can just to get by or trying really hard to stay optimistic, sometimes that is as much as you can do and when it comes to doing more, like planning, plotting and writing a story, it can just feel like too much.</p><p>So what can you do to keep your writing spirit alive in times that are stressful?</p><p><b>1. Write </b></p><p>Believe it or not, the writing that you may find so difficult to do in times like this is exactly what you should be doing. If writing your story and immersing yourself in this separate world you are creating isn't enough, then just try writing your feelings down. Write about your hopes and dreams. Write whatever comes to your mind. Write poetry. Writing is known to be cathartic.</p><p><b>2. Exercise</b></p><p>Aside from being good for your health, exercise increases the endorphins released into your body which can lift your mood. When your mood is lifted, inspiration is easier to find. When inspiration is easier to find, the writing process becomes easier for you.</p><p><b>3. Go outside.</b></p><p>Many of us are feeling stuck inside way too much due to the pandemic, but there is no reason you can't go for a walk (unless the weather is miserable). So if the weather allows, put a face-mask on for safety reasons and take a leisurely outdoor stroll. Take in the sounds of nature and the feel of the breeze on your skin. Let it soothe your soul and then return home and try to write.</p><p><b>4. Create a different type of art.</b></p><p>Writing is one of the arts. But there are many other art forms that can inspire. Even if you are not good at drawing, try to draw something. Or maybe you can play a musical instrument. Or maybe you are like sewing or knitting. I frequently create photo-manipulations of fairies and mermaids, since I am not good at drawing. Even so, I still try to draw from time to time. It's not important whether you are good at doing one of these things, what's important is that you enjoy doing it. And it often works with different sides of the brain and can help refresh your muse. The most important thing is that you are creating something.</p><p><b>5. Listen to music.</b></p><p>According to medical research, <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">listening to </span><span style="background-color: white;">music</span><span style="background-color: white;"> can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory. According to Plato, "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything."</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;">***** </p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium;">Winners!</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20g3DquqNPtACXDtwV3AS7H-qVedWc6ZvM66FEOjBWI6n1FDoHhdAOW0AlTd5og_AxTnuYc4ygOAmD4Oq6ozJ7_fFjGU7pxPpxCNuTD4A-fLWQJ1bBu4251t2_YKRZkpkclLwJeYXlMA/s500/Writing+Chapter+Books61ytcQK4faL._SX404_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="406" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20g3DquqNPtACXDtwV3AS7H-qVedWc6ZvM66FEOjBWI6n1FDoHhdAOW0AlTd5og_AxTnuYc4ygOAmD4Oq6ozJ7_fFjGU7pxPpxCNuTD4A-fLWQJ1bBu4251t2_YKRZkpkclLwJeYXlMA/w163-h200/Writing+Chapter+Books61ytcQK4faL._SX404_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="163" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">Today's prize winner of a copy of </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478168226" target="_blank">Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books</a> by Nancy I. Sanders, selected by a random number generator, is <b>Mysticscribe</b>!</span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPZ8CpsLBQJn6ghbJMCGgxKepgCPW6TOESxyEbC6nMcyTRYEJcJY4c_Vb6Mv1iJe-3nBHBFKdyZxJgmRa81FXPeXdNoPwmuIo1LS4_fJ0MjXCUSe7Dq_J7PybHPRqGSJud64vN7LFKrc/s499/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPZ8CpsLBQJn6ghbJMCGgxKepgCPW6TOESxyEbC6nMcyTRYEJcJY4c_Vb6Mv1iJe-3nBHBFKdyZxJgmRa81FXPeXdNoPwmuIo1LS4_fJ0MjXCUSe7Dq_J7PybHPRqGSJud64vN7LFKrc/w126-h200/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div><p><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{236}" paraid="139918626" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Today's winner of a choice of a critique (first three chapters of a chapter book) or a copy of THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION: RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND (or any of her other books - US only) is <b>Yangmama</b>!</span></span></p></div><p><span style="background-color: white;">Congratulations, Mysticscribe and Yangmama. Please e-mail me with your mailing addresses and I will get your prizes out to you immediately. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;">*****</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">Giveaway</span></b></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9dEhAe3vOGmX03Qxn6a9kXvqknlF3BqI-jM6dRHfpG-mFAPentFyouWEur54PFtnaRo_aZXNwm9r2shhjmhWio8mwRFMvndpsGf0aqNU_9ylMtqAwwKvCES8EYfBgz0OwjBCl5eEKFo/s499/Writing+Soul.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="322" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW9dEhAe3vOGmX03Qxn6a9kXvqknlF3BqI-jM6dRHfpG-mFAPentFyouWEur54PFtnaRo_aZXNwm9r2shhjmhWio8mwRFMvndpsGf0aqNU_9ylMtqAwwKvCES8EYfBgz0OwjBCl5eEKFo/w129-h200/Writing+Soul.jpg" width="129" /></a></div><p></p>Today's giveaway is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Inkwell-Simple-Writing-Practices-Restore-ebook/dp/B08VLX86YZ" target="_blank">Inkwell: Simple Writing Practices to Restore Your Soul </a>by Anne Elrod Whitney. If you are already a singed-up member of the challenge, all you have to do to be entered into the drawing for this prize is comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 21st, 2021. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-12557034711068533522021-03-11T13:28:00.037-08:002021-03-11T13:46:59.578-08:00Researching for Chapter Books by Melissa Stoller #ChaBooCha<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lWuLHitphQzv-4RlbkKKpcr1KlDSB93jf1eBYfxd2GTAPGOew31alaGdjKUd0ztrGdFaWbO6-_l1fCxSYAORNZW8UKq_H0ila3UdY-SUPBSVRw4fUqBxsNN5zUu-41siK8UH4Ac4M5A/s2048/laptop-2557571+by+StockSnap+from+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lWuLHitphQzv-4RlbkKKpcr1KlDSB93jf1eBYfxd2GTAPGOew31alaGdjKUd0ztrGdFaWbO6-_l1fCxSYAORNZW8UKq_H0ila3UdY-SUPBSVRw4fUqBxsNN5zUu-41siK8UH4Ac4M5A/w400-h266/laptop-2557571+by+StockSnap+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by StockSnap from Pixabay</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /> <b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">RESEARCHING FOR CHAPTER BOOKS</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"335551550":2,"335551620":2}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text;"> </span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"> </span></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{f7220eeb-b68c-485e-bdad-5ef2b2181c92}{244}" paraid="2074704858" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Today, I want to challenge </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">us all</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> to find research opportunities even during the pandemic. Of course it’s not easy to research in person these days. But there are many online resources available to continue the research process until we can find in-person sources and materials.</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{f7220eeb-b68c-485e-bdad-5ef2b2181c92}{252}" paraid="805396293" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{f7220eeb-b68c-485e-bdad-5ef2b2181c92}{254}" paraid="1068541010" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Here is a list of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">some </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">research resources, both in person and online</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, that might be helpful</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">:</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{13}" paraid="1989982170" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{15}" paraid="1967525061" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Resources – helpful places</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ul class="BulletListStyle2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" role="list" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; list-style-type: circle; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="1" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{19}" paraid="459592969" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">In person / phone / email / experts / field trips </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">(to gain s</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">ensory details</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="2" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{30}" paraid="105736781" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Local Librarians / Colleges / Universities</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ul class="BulletListStyle2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" role="list" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; list-style-type: circle; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="1" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{35}" paraid="1660145665" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Museums/historical societies/science </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz4KPHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iNXB4IiBoZWlnaHQ9IjNweCIgdmlld0JveD0iMCAwIDUgMyIgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4xIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHhtbG5zOnhsaW5rPSJodHRwOi8vd3d3LnczLm9yZy8xOTk5L3hsaW5rIj4KICAgIDwhLS0gR2VuZXJhdG9yOiBTa2V0Y2ggNTUuMiAoNzgxODEpIC0gaHR0cHM6Ly9za2V0Y2hhcHAuY29tIC0tPgogICAgPHRpdGxlPmdyYW1tYXJfZG91YmxlX2xpbmU8L3RpdGxlPgogICAgPGRlc2M+Q3JlYXRlZCB3aXRoIFNrZXRjaC48L2Rlc2M+CiAgICA8ZyBpZD0iZ3JhbW1hcl9kb3VibGVfbGluZSIgc3Ryb2tlPSJub25lIiBzdHJva2Utd2lkdGg9IjEiIGZpbGw9Im5vbmUiIGZpbGwtcnVsZT0iZXZlbm9kZCIgc3Ryb2tlLWxpbmVjYXA9InJvdW5kIj4KICAgICAgICA8ZyBpZD0iR3JhbW1hci1UaWxlLUNvcHkiIHN0cm9rZT0iIzMzNTVGRiI+CiAgICAgICAgICAgIDxwYXRoIGQ9Ik0wLDAuNSBMNSwwLjUiIGlkPSJMaW5lLTItQ29weS0xMCI+PC9wYXRoPgogICAgICAgICAgICA8cGF0aCBkPSJNMCwyLjUgTDUsMi41IiBpZD0iTGluZS0yLUNvcHktMTEiPjwvcGF0aD4KICAgICAgICA8L2c+CiAgICA8L2c+Cjwvc3ZnPg=="); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">centers</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">/cultural centers/workshops/classes/associations/hobby groups</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="2" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{44}" paraid="1048556510" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Books, articles, internet sources, footnotes found in internet articles, YouTube videos, podcasts, etc.</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="3" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{49}" paraid="1143222017" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Cemeteries / headstones</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="3" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="1" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{49}" paraid="1143222017" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p></li></ul></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{54}" paraid="992742825" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Websites – Helpful sites include: </span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ul class="BulletListStyle2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" role="list" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; list-style-type: circle; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{58}" paraid="605343010" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.loc.gov/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.LOC.gov</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (Library of Congress)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ul class="BulletListStyle2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" role="list" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; list-style-type: circle; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{66}" paraid="1292789963" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.si.edu/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.SI.edu</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (Smithsonian research)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{74}" paraid="1020726429" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="https://www.si.edu/openaccess" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://www.si.edu/openaccess</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (open access to photo images)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{82}" paraid="554411737" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.scholar.google.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.scholar.google.com</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (Google Scholar articles)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{90}" paraid="1460442385" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.nypl.org/collections/articles-databases</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (New York Public Library)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{98}" paraid="415210726" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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-webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (National Archives)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><div class="ListContainerWrapper SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><ul class="BulletListStyle2 SCXW3589295 BCX0" role="list" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; cursor: text; list-style-type: circle; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{106}" paraid="166907998" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.newspapers.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.Newspapers.com/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (largest online collection of newspapers)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{114}" paraid="1127238423" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="http://www.ancestry.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.Ancestry.com</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (ancestry research)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{122}" paraid="784169443" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="https://historyarchive.org/index.php" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://historyarchive.org/index.php</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (historical images)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li><li aria-setsize="-1" class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" data-aria-level="2" data-aria-posinset="18" data-font="Calibri" data-leveltext="◦" data-listid="2" role="listitem" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 0px 72px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{130}" paraid="905563318" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW3589295 BCX0" href="https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/</span></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (Ellis Island research)</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{140}" paraid="1828299964" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{142}" paraid="1077000776" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Here are a few examples of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">my </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">ancestry research online – I searched for information about my father, Harry Z. Berger</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> on the Ellis Island website and through Ancestry.com when I was writing my picture book, SADIE’S SHABBAT STORIES. Now I’m digging deeper into the </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Leopoldina</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, the ship that brought my father back home to New York, for use in a chapter book I am working on.</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW5557842 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{160}" paraid="1454300275" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW5557842 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="EOP SCXW5557842 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uPkuxAzOku3sAfRxpeO1jzcwpNRS6e5aVA82VfdZhjrJP1wnXQ8UcBMXbaS8Wg1E7q79ceHgCfEwWhgCGOfWhpBvMEWY3pK_YPL24LXQ6QFMSa8GHDI6ad0YPFwsWHtj9WX-LOcxAiQ/s1024/Stollerresearch1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="473" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uPkuxAzOku3sAfRxpeO1jzcwpNRS6e5aVA82VfdZhjrJP1wnXQ8UcBMXbaS8Wg1E7q79ceHgCfEwWhgCGOfWhpBvMEWY3pK_YPL24LXQ6QFMSa8GHDI6ad0YPFwsWHtj9WX-LOcxAiQ/w296-h640/Stollerresearch1.jpeg" width="296" /></a></div><p></p></div><br /><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW5557842" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW5557842 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{167}" paraid="849443397" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW5557842 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlfzYIOmxOVuEnHMS_LNQt308GgMszRR7lHAUZGxzie-hO5odsUe9bUkSkzsxrIkGVY9x6Y-Vg4w3KO_tS3yK-vU72dd6cChp1wEifsrHwTmQc6TdDvZ0IOeKTisWZ4F0BzkgdAT2muU/s1024/Stollerresearch2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="473" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKlfzYIOmxOVuEnHMS_LNQt308GgMszRR7lHAUZGxzie-hO5odsUe9bUkSkzsxrIkGVY9x6Y-Vg4w3KO_tS3yK-vU72dd6cChp1wEifsrHwTmQc6TdDvZ0IOeKTisWZ4F0BzkgdAT2muU/w296-h640/Stollerresearch2.jpeg" width="296" /></a></div><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><br />Another example of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">my </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">pandemic research is for a story about seals</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">. During quarantine, I have been taking lots of seal-watching walks along the coast of Long Island, New York. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">I </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">also was able to do an </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">online </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">interview </span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">with a seal specialist at the Long Island Aquarium. Here are some photos. I’m trying to work this research into both a picture book and a chapter book draft. </span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span><p></p></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{202}" paraid="1156761327" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HcwyDcTD-2UZ2YDwgrsFYY8Q68jRq8gQiM_3U5z6mrXVNF8Ik5S1zEOggoAlMnSZXd6yFG9_zd-on9lMylvsPwQn0k0hAFeF1AOxDfKjaqRjqbJ9RqDM3jmIrABgPlZTlIDdPp3cJ0M/s1024/Stollersealions.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HcwyDcTD-2UZ2YDwgrsFYY8Q68jRq8gQiM_3U5z6mrXVNF8Ik5S1zEOggoAlMnSZXd6yFG9_zd-on9lMylvsPwQn0k0hAFeF1AOxDfKjaqRjqbJ9RqDM3jmIrABgPlZTlIDdPp3cJ0M/w400-h300/Stollersealions.jpeg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span class="EOP SCXW228450161 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmeOW0qeXPyLOvAcurAnC2YDN-XUrdquHJCOIRFAjyJ9RbctEvO00xlo0PE0Eqo0AIdAf7FGfcJ4pkTBmOzhnQZKOZ9eykKhOvSIupb4ejARAHWTAO8pcDa68CwyuivDBeBJr6JuIhvI/s1024/stollersealions1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="1024" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmeOW0qeXPyLOvAcurAnC2YDN-XUrdquHJCOIRFAjyJ9RbctEvO00xlo0PE0Eqo0AIdAf7FGfcJ4pkTBmOzhnQZKOZ9eykKhOvSIupb4ejARAHWTAO8pcDa68CwyuivDBeBJr6JuIhvI/w400-h168/stollersealions1.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span><p></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW228450161" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW228450161 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{209}" paraid="1344672752" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">This year has certainly presented many challenges to us all – large and small – including staying creative and pursuing research for our stories. I hope that these ideas and resources will spark some research possibilities as you craft your own stories. Let me know in the comments.</span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{224}" paraid="1046679749" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{228}" paraid="1353608169" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><b>***** </b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{228}" paraid="1353608169" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{228}" paraid="1353608169" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="color: red;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{234}" paraid="1315878493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{234}" paraid="1315878493" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPZ8CpsLBQJn6ghbJMCGgxKepgCPW6TOESxyEbC6nMcyTRYEJcJY4c_Vb6Mv1iJe-3nBHBFKdyZxJgmRa81FXPeXdNoPwmuIo1LS4_fJ0MjXCUSe7Dq_J7PybHPRqGSJud64vN7LFKrc/s499/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidPZ8CpsLBQJn6ghbJMCGgxKepgCPW6TOESxyEbC6nMcyTRYEJcJY4c_Vb6Mv1iJe-3nBHBFKdyZxJgmRa81FXPeXdNoPwmuIo1LS4_fJ0MjXCUSe7Dq_J7PybHPRqGSJud64vN7LFKrc/w126-h200/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" width="126" /></a></div><br /><p></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{236}" paraid="139918626" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Melissa is offering a choice of a critique (first three chapters of a chapter book) or a copy of THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION: RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND (or any of her other books), United States address only.</span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> All you need to do to enter in the drawing for this prize is, if you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, is to comment on this blog post. The winner will be announced on March 14th, 2021, chosen by a random number generator.</span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{aa6adfd7-dc67-4e0a-a52c-0f487b76b74e}{244}" paraid="205107631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkDy32l0sdoQRK4ztxlMY5OzoG1JRnOZu7CXPQX0YjbA-ekNHBREKB9Z0-lARy38KaPvNUw-tqY2jOUTj5dwVC-GRMBfM89nbzU3cME1Q5GSzLAtMgXcwyLJOMoqwh52Vk-LOYaVPJPA/s2048/MelissaAuthorPhoto.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1539" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRkDy32l0sdoQRK4ztxlMY5OzoG1JRnOZu7CXPQX0YjbA-ekNHBREKB9Z0-lARy38KaPvNUw-tqY2jOUTj5dwVC-GRMBfM89nbzU3cME1Q5GSzLAtMgXcwyLJOMoqwh52Vk-LOYaVPJPA/w150-h200/MelissaAuthorPhoto.JPG" width="150" /></a></div></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{09d73dd8-1662-4347-a8be-27a66510cf10}{20}" paraid="1297700780" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW3589295 BCX0" face="WordVisiCarriageReturn_MSFontService, Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space: pre;" /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island</span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> (Clear Fork Publishing); and the picture books </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush</span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; 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background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">GOrilla</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">!</span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, and </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Meshuggenahs</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and long beach walks.</span></span><span class="LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space: pre;"> </span><br class="SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; white-space: pre;" /></span><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span></span><span class="LineBreakBlob BlobObject DragDrop SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; 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font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW3589295" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW3589295 BCX0" paraeid="{09d73dd8-1662-4347-a8be-27a66510cf10}{100}" paraid="1848600905" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="TextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW3589295 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW3589295 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 20.5042px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></p></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-46932505041435076302021-03-07T14:12:00.005-08:002021-03-07T14:12:47.713-08:00Write Outside Your Comfort Zone by Melissa Gijsbers #ChaBooCha<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIIp-ASAo5wfSXlNKfbGYGPa5nO4qzmGesIGCZhxXGIdAV3vW4xfaNzR98N4BmdOTf1C48CFVYK25ScQRdTAk2Ox84kFMAXcWsEQ0Z4wiz6U7Sll3YLwhWX2_JwQKJGUCT5wdhA9292k/s2048/hand-5816640+by+Sozavisimost+from+Pixabay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIIp-ASAo5wfSXlNKfbGYGPa5nO4qzmGesIGCZhxXGIdAV3vW4xfaNzR98N4BmdOTf1C48CFVYK25ScQRdTAk2Ox84kFMAXcWsEQ0Z4wiz6U7Sll3YLwhWX2_JwQKJGUCT5wdhA9292k/w400-h266/hand-5816640+by+Sozavisimost+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by Sozavisimost<span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from Pixabay</span></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"></span><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 44px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Write Outside Your Comfort Zone</span></span></b></div><p></p><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{158}" paraid="1102096115" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">About five years ago, I got a phone call from a friend asking if I had ever written fantasy stories. I hadn’t, mostly because fantasy hasn’t really been my genre, but said I would give it a go.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{158}" paraid="1102096115" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{164}" paraid="76421130" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">The result was </span><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">Lizzy’s Dragon</span><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">, a middle grade chapter book that has been popular among dragon-loving kids.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{164}" paraid="76421130" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{174}" paraid="217647597" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">Since then, I have made a point of playing with different styles and genre. I already wrote picture books and novels as well as chapter books, however my experience with </span><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">Lizzy’s Dragon</span><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"> has encouraged me to continue writing different stories – from fantasy to mystery, to real-life to comedy, and anything else I can come up with.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{174}" paraid="217647597" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{184}" paraid="501304479" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">There are articles that exist that say authors need to have a ‘brand’ including the sorts of stories they write. To me, this is boring and is not much of a challenge. I know that I want to be known for more than one type of book.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{184}" paraid="501304479" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{190}" paraid="945525877" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">Having a brand can be an advantage as kids will know what to expect when they pick up one of your books. On the other hand, by writing a variety of books and stories, you can introduce kids to a wide range of different styles and genre that can then introduce them to other authors and a general love of reading.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{190}" paraid="945525877" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{196}" paraid="705270185" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">The Chapter Book Challenge is the perfect time to have a play with your writing and experiment with different genre. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">You can ask questions in the group, where someone is bound to have written in the genre you are writing. There are also articles and resources to help if you are stuck with some aspect of writing in a </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">genre</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> you’re not quite so familiar with.</span></span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{196}" paraid="705270185" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{204}" paraid="341703406" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">Experimenting with a story in a different genre than you’re used to can take you to surprising places. Since writing my first fantasy book, I have started writing a few more. They still need work, but I’m having a lot of fun creating dragons and writing about unicorns and more. I never expected to be a fantasy author, but here I am.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{204}" paraid="341703406" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{210}" paraid="495224121" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="TextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU">I would like to challenge you, during the Chapter Book Challenge, work on a story in a genre that may be different to what you usually write. You never know where it will take you.</span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{210}" paraid="495224121" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{210}" paraid="495224121" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" face="Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">*****</span></p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsN2c-nIFUkYKM4CeCGskAZ47Jc91zaWOxzFL-XsXQ6zZLKRy3d8VL7ojA-b2wy-1BHpqSHmjOPrJExAJoP1wJBT3TTBJy5dYsJqWyaJf1YpqY6tbbYeeIxQZOD5af0LHeJTW5zopq0ag/s300/melissaatelearning-200.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsN2c-nIFUkYKM4CeCGskAZ47Jc91zaWOxzFL-XsXQ6zZLKRy3d8VL7ojA-b2wy-1BHpqSHmjOPrJExAJoP1wJBT3TTBJy5dYsJqWyaJf1YpqY6tbbYeeIxQZOD5af0LHeJTW5zopq0ag/w133-h200/melissaatelearning-200.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br />M<span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">elissa </span><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Gijsbers</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> is an Australian author and booklover. She currently has </span><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml;base64,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"); background-position: 0% 100%; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">three chapter</span><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> books published, all written and edited during the Chapter Book Challenge</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, and one picture book</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. She lives in Gippsland in Victoria with her two teenage sons</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">,</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> their pet blue-tongue lizard</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">, and two pet budgies</span></span><span class="TextRun Highlight SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">. You can find her online at </span></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW227165631 BCX0" href="http://www.melissagijsbers.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Highlight Underlined SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; outline: transparent solid 1px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">www.melissagijsbers.com</span></span></a><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-AU" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: none; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-AU"></span></span><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></i></span><p></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">*****</span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; text-align: center; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: #2b00fe; font-size: medium; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><b>Prize Winner</b></span></span></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m1EKfOK6AbIdNhjP9pOVexmJZbwO_Xa1-UFaxuNuzyjSw17sZvL1E6RvYWI_MBJgaQ1EDIFbON3QR-KaALpN88h9wkiDlYhMS-uywKLSoO9py9DNtgWnK46qoYEhVtJLmGa9nnoANdw/s499/Ancient+Magus+Bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #ff2a3c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="351" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m1EKfOK6AbIdNhjP9pOVexmJZbwO_Xa1-UFaxuNuzyjSw17sZvL1E6RvYWI_MBJgaQ1EDIFbON3QR-KaALpN88h9wkiDlYhMS-uywKLSoO9py9DNtgWnK46qoYEhVtJLmGa9nnoANdw/w141-h200/Ancient+Magus+Bride.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="141" /></a></span></div><p style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"></p><p class="Paragraph SCXW227165631 BCX0" paraeid="{e0273e5f-7026-4b41-ae1a-a8d0d67edbef}{216}" paraid="1497153141" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; font-kerning: none; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="EOP SCXW227165631 BCX0" color="windowtext" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; line-height: 23.7417px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today's prize winner of a copy <span style="color: #0f1111;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Magus-Bride-Vol/dp/1626921873" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">The Ancient Magus' Bride Vol. 1</a> </span>by Kore Yamazaki, selected by a random number generator, is Judy Rubin! Congratulations, Judy Rubin. Please e-mail me with your mailing address and I will get your book out to you immediately. </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20g3DquqNPtACXDtwV3AS7H-qVedWc6ZvM66FEOjBWI6n1FDoHhdAOW0AlTd5og_AxTnuYc4ygOAmD4Oq6ozJ7_fFjGU7pxPpxCNuTD4A-fLWQJ1bBu4251t2_YKRZkpkclLwJeYXlMA/s500/Writing+Chapter+Books61ytcQK4faL._SX404_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="406" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi20g3DquqNPtACXDtwV3AS7H-qVedWc6ZvM66FEOjBWI6n1FDoHhdAOW0AlTd5og_AxTnuYc4ygOAmD4Oq6ozJ7_fFjGU7pxPpxCNuTD4A-fLWQJ1bBu4251t2_YKRZkpkclLwJeYXlMA/w163-h200/Writing+Chapter+Books61ytcQK4faL._SX404_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="163" /></a></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr BCX0 SCXW227165631" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: white; clear: both; cursor: text; direction: ltr; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; user-select: text;"><br /></div><i>Today's giveaway is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1478168226" target="_blank">Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books</a> by Nancy I. Sanders. <span class="author notFaded" data-width="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All you need to do to be entered into the drawing for this prize is be a signed-up member of ChaBooCha and comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and will be announced on the 14th of March 2021. The book will be sent out as soon as I am contacted by the winner with the correct address to send it to. If this book is not available at the time of purchase, an alternative book may be sent in its place.</span></span></i><br /><p><br /></p><div class="celwidget" data-cel-widget="bylineInfo_feature_div" data-csa-c-id="xgtktg-vgvbwl-25hko5-81uy1l" data-feature-name="bylineInfo" id="bylineInfo_feature_div" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="a-section a-spacing-micro bylineHidden feature" data-cel-widget="bylineInfo" id="bylineInfo" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px;"><span class="author notFaded" data-width="" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="a-declarative" data-a-popover="{"closeButtonLabel":"Close Author Dialog Popover","name":"contributor-info-B000APYMBI","position":"triggerBottom","popoverLabel":"Author Dialog Popover","allowLinkDefault":"true"}" data-action="a-popover" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a class="a-popover-trigger a-declarative" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #007185;"><i class="a-icon a-icon-popover" style="background-image: url("https://m.media-amazon.com/images/S/sash/McBZv0ZvnbehkIx.png"); background-position: -90px -5px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 400px 900px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; height: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 0px 0.385em; opacity: 0.6; vertical-align: text-top; width: 7px;"></i></a></span></span></div></div></div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-54555443078054411672021-03-04T14:58:00.004-08:002021-03-04T14:58:51.883-08:00Alternative books and stories for reaching young and teen readers #ChaBooCha<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmmlN3w4CmXWKfGx74ADAwQmkoHEAVQqL-bX6Y7ha2cZTClmS6iDiBEeVv5q7QG7hwf8pgCd1GwdmL0RonAXDaQK0qDpIeGDTX3_bsn9JH_mHK_lpdNtcYy_m7H0M91XeAjoXUeh5L00/s2048/shelf-3327187by+Thorsten+Frenzel+from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmmlN3w4CmXWKfGx74ADAwQmkoHEAVQqL-bX6Y7ha2cZTClmS6iDiBEeVv5q7QG7hwf8pgCd1GwdmL0RonAXDaQK0qDpIeGDTX3_bsn9JH_mHK_lpdNtcYy_m7H0M91XeAjoXUeh5L00/w400-h266/shelf-3327187by+Thorsten+Frenzel+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by <span style="color: #191b26;"><span style="cursor: pointer; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial;">Thorsten Frenzel</span></span><u> </u>from Pixabay</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This past year, while not going out as much due to the pandemic, I found myself being drawn to other types of stories and other story mediums. Most of my children are avid readers, all except for one. She gets bored when reading normal length novels, even the shorter ones aimed at younger readers, and from when she was about ten years old until now, she has preferred reading manga and graphic novels. I've always been of the mindset that, as long as she's reading, no matter what format she is reading in or what genre, it's a good thing. </p><p><b>Manga</b> is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<span style="background-color: white;">a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children." (A <b>graphic novel</b> is simply defined as a novel in comic strip format.) Now, it's true that some of these manga comics have very adult themes, but there are also many aimed at younger audiences. My daughter is fifteen and has been buying herself the <i>Black Butler </i>series by Yana Toboso recently.<br /><br />Many manga comics and graphic novels get their start in <b>webtoons</b>. A webtoon is a series of comics published online. (Some of these manga comics and webtoons eventually lead to anime cartoons, but, for the sake of this challenge, we are focused on <i>writing</i> for children and teens.) There are some free sites for reading webtoons, such as <a href="http://www.webtoons.com">webtoons.com</a>. Webtoons, when they get a strong following, can often lead to publishing deals for manga books and graphic novels.<br /><br />There are also books called <b>light novels</b>. According to Wikipedia, a</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">light novel</span><span style="background-color: white;"> is "a style of Japanese young adult </span><span style="background-color: white;">novel</span><span style="background-color: white;"> primarily targeting high school and middle school students. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Light novels</span><span style="background-color: white;"> are commonly illustrated in a </span><span style="background-color: white;">manga</span><span style="background-color: white;"> art style, and are often adapted into </span><span style="background-color: white;">manga</span><span style="background-color: white;"> and anime." Light novels </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">are usually shorter and they also contain few illustrations. They also tend to be</span><span style="background-color: white;"> easier to read.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Another type of book that middle school and highschool children (as well as adults) tend to like are <b>D&D books</b>. D&D stands for Dungeons & Dragons which is a table-top fantasy role-playing game. Each player gets to create their own character to play during the game, from fantasy characters to human, including their players skill sets, magic abilities, ancestry and background. Often, the one in charge of the game, the dungeon master, has to write up an extensive story for the game with several options as to where the story may lead based on the choices and the dice-roll of the players. There are many books out there to help with the creation of characters, foes, and worlds, as well as dungeon master guides and so forth. This leads to an endless possibility of book topics to compliment game-playing.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I'm listing off some of these different book types because they are not the ones we regularly think about when we think about writing for kids and teens. As much as I would love to write some graphic novels, I have no artistic skill so, if I ever decided to do so, I'd have to find a willing artist who could work well with my vision for the stories. But I know a lot of you in this challenge are already skilled artists, so when it comes graphic novels and manga, this is a route you might think about when writing your book.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">As always, happy writing!</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">***** </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m1EKfOK6AbIdNhjP9pOVexmJZbwO_Xa1-UFaxuNuzyjSw17sZvL1E6RvYWI_MBJgaQ1EDIFbON3QR-KaALpN88h9wkiDlYhMS-uywKLSoO9py9DNtgWnK46qoYEhVtJLmGa9nnoANdw/s499/Ancient+Magus+Bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="351" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m1EKfOK6AbIdNhjP9pOVexmJZbwO_Xa1-UFaxuNuzyjSw17sZvL1E6RvYWI_MBJgaQ1EDIFbON3QR-KaALpN88h9wkiDlYhMS-uywKLSoO9py9DNtgWnK46qoYEhVtJLmGa9nnoANdw/w141-h200/Ancient+Magus+Bride.jpg" width="141" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Today's prize is a copy </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Magus-Bride-Vol/dp/1626921873" target="_blank">The Ancient Magus' Bride Vol. 1</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">by Kore Yamazaki</span><span class="author notFaded" data-width="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">. All you need to do to be entered into the drawing for this prize is be a signed-up member of ChaBooCha and comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and will be announced on the 7th of March 2021, and the book will be sent out as soon as I am contacted by the winner with the correct address to send it to. If this book is not available at the time of purchase, an alternative manga book may be sent in its place.</span></span></i></p>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-80511036303705428742021-03-03T14:05:00.001-08:002021-03-03T14:05:18.855-08:00Chapter Book Challenge 2021 Badge #ChaBooCha<p>Sorry for the delay in getting the Chapter Book Challenge badges ready for the challenge. I've had two laptops die on me this past year and we also had to replace out desktop computer. All of the machines that went kaput on us were ones that had my picture-making program on them, and none of the new ones have a DVD player for re-adding the program from our CDs. (Also, I'm not sure we still have the authorisation code for the program anymore.)<br /><br />So creating this badge was much more difficult than usual. Hope you like it anyway! I was unable to resize it, so if you use it, you may need to resize it as it is quite large. (Blogger allows me to temporarily resize your view of it, but the actual file is still large to view outside of Blogger.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7aMTN95LRzrbHG5LZz2pFw3p9FsYeRVgE_3JCgbnpxGFdh_k8wicJr4WPDVfMC07xbzja-ao0nz6QPFMT1hzBPv8b6_fiysUR0aX7rLVMAcN1op5lyUEtvHSHPcBDW2cHXzRwkzmBtI/s2048/ChaBooCha2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1707" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh7aMTN95LRzrbHG5LZz2pFw3p9FsYeRVgE_3JCgbnpxGFdh_k8wicJr4WPDVfMC07xbzja-ao0nz6QPFMT1hzBPv8b6_fiysUR0aX7rLVMAcN1op5lyUEtvHSHPcBDW2cHXzRwkzmBtI/s320/ChaBooCha2021.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">*****</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv5Y8pygQ-y5ptaXcsdK2zrVs0fgxWDEcnUci2kmbQ0pIWcKnyee2cLNYPSS3aMveBHupm-j8ct2-fvkvQNuuP72l7vVdiD3vs-gNhOvFI3qj3UNQaLIvjGh-tR13E0RSrZl8m3UiZk4/s1965/CBC2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1965" data-original-width="1456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv5Y8pygQ-y5ptaXcsdK2zrVs0fgxWDEcnUci2kmbQ0pIWcKnyee2cLNYPSS3aMveBHupm-j8ct2-fvkvQNuuP72l7vVdiD3vs-gNhOvFI3qj3UNQaLIvjGh-tR13E0RSrZl8m3UiZk4/s320/CBC2001.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-35937794628880693982021-03-01T13:24:00.003-08:002021-03-01T13:24:31.693-08:00Chapter Book Challenge 2021!!! #ChaBooCha<p>Welcome to the 2021 Chapter Book Challenge! For those of you who are new to the ChaBooCha, I will explain the details of the writing challenge.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The Chapter Book Challenge, otherwise known as </span><a href="http://www.chaboocha.com/"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ChaBooCha</span></a><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">, first ran in 2012. It runs every year in the month of March. The challenge is to write one completed first draft of an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel in the month of March, starting on the 1<sup>st</sup> of March and finishing on the 31<sup>st</sup> of March.<br /><br />During the month of March, there are helpful blog posts from published authors, agents and publishers to help members hone their craft, and there are prizes available throughout the challenge.</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">ChaBooCha has a very relaxed atmosphere where members help each other to achieve writing goals. You can sign up on the website using the <a href="http://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/p/sign-up-for-chaboocha.html" target="_blank">sign-up form</a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">, and you can also join the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/chapterbookchallenge" target="_blank">Facebook page</a> for updates and information</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;">. There is a <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ChaBooCha1" target="_blank">Twitter page</a> at</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> and members interact with one another throughout the year in the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/chapterbookchallenge" target="_blank">Facebook group</a>.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">It is completely free to join the Chapter Book Challenge. </span><br /><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br />Normally, prizes are announced at the end of the month once the challenge is ending, but this year, I have decided to announce and send out prizes throughout the month. In the last few years, my procrastination has gotten worse and I have a terrible memory, so many prizes were sent out excessively late. It will be easier for me to get prizes out in a more timely manner if I do them during the challenge itself. Prizes for the first week of the challenge will be announced on the 7th and sent out immediately upon getting the addresses to send them to. Likewise, the same will be done for the weeks ending on the 14th, 21st and 28th.<br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: small;">ChaBooCha's mascot: Nabu the badger</span></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV7Qs2eUvB5upmnT43KpdtB9QLQ4XGPbIjK9R3sud19tLJ5ri-KjEZhsu-aqWTWC9YNIFOljK-O81GjatIAj4HHS1z-75QBp_bunV0sPxixid64dYSPOElGFBzFobgXGNiK4P7ujACq4/s1600/ChaBooCha+logo+with+no+text.png" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMV7Qs2eUvB5upmnT43KpdtB9QLQ4XGPbIjK9R3sud19tLJ5ri-KjEZhsu-aqWTWC9YNIFOljK-O81GjatIAj4HHS1z-75QBp_bunV0sPxixid64dYSPOElGFBzFobgXGNiK4P7ujACq4/s320/ChaBooCha+logo+with+no+text.png" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You also might be wondering about our logo. The Chapter Book Challenge logo is all about our mascot Nabu the Badger. Nabu loves to read, and he is really looking forward to all of the new chapter books, middle grade books and YA books that are going to be written and published as a result of this year's <a href="http://www.chaboocha.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">ChaBooCha</a>. Nabu was named after the Babylonian<b> </b>patron god of scribes, wisdom and literature. Nabu became our "mascot" back in 2014, just two years into the Challenge.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.85px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white;"><div style="font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">ChaBooCha Regional Ambassadors</span></u></b></span></div><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">The Chapter Book Challenge has been growing year on year and, there are some things I cannot do because of the restrictions of my location, such as meet-ups. As a solution, in places where there are more than just one member, ChaBooCha has Regional Ambassadors. </span><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">ChaBooCha </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">regional ambassadors are the people who coordinate Chapter Book Challenge events within their region. In order to become a </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">regional ambassador, there first needs to be more members in your region than just you, and your main duties are to arrange write-ins and meet-ups with other members within your region and also to spread the word about the challenge within your region.</span><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">Promotional materials, when they are in the budget, get sent out to our Regional Ambassadors, and printable files will be sent as well. A special </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">RA badge will be created for </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">RAs to use on their blogs and websites, if they so choose. </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">Regional Ambassadors will receive a ChaBooCha RA badge to wear in their first year of joining as an RA and in their second year as an RA, they will receive a ChaBooCha keychain. </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">As things move along, there may be more perks added for </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">RAs. </span><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><br style="line-height: 20.79px;" /><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">If you think this is a role you might like to take on within your region, send me an e-mail. (There is only one </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">RA per region, but they may choose a </span><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">co-RA.)</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14.85px;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></span></span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;"></span><div style="font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;"><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Teapot Tales</i> anthologies</span></u></b></span></div><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4u0Z5oLado5eXMPeinE9Pxg4CogEL1DR9IMWKXmO_t7W0IZAfzdYJ5OnmI8VjK6PYlTPpd5DsZLjlRx67DDN1J3H9KVH69cOdZcYqLsnmR6Kr1dmOE6ifsM_DqFAPCS3BjStQkCUefw/s1600/teapot+cover.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1131" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4u0Z5oLado5eXMPeinE9Pxg4CogEL1DR9IMWKXmO_t7W0IZAfzdYJ5OnmI8VjK6PYlTPpd5DsZLjlRx67DDN1J3H9KVH69cOdZcYqLsnmR6Kr1dmOE6ifsM_DqFAPCS3BjStQkCUefw/s200/teapot+cover.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="141" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">To help fund the challenge, from prizes to advertising to RA gifts, we have created a series of anthologies with stories all written and donated by members of the challenge. There are currently four <i>Teapot Tales </i>anthologies available for purchase. Proceeds from sales of the anthologies go towards funding the Chapter Book Challenge. The anthologies can be found on Amazon. There were also two themed anthologies written and contributed to by past members which also help fund ChaBooCha: <i>Ghostly Echoes</i> (Halloween-themed) and <i>Jingle Bells (winter holiday-themed)</i>.</span><span face=""arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.85px;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu61G7jQnw3zcOMH_Jm-3EIruSYphlw4S1-nXYW2DTouoFy_Tq48ijYMjMjaDb8Dml0aFagVxbHxS-zkrJkj2YJRyokzFEKllZPSTcFB2EgguFeOvYzWzvNnTcb7851Zc4U65CWv8UfJI/s1600/teapot+cover.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1131" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu61G7jQnw3zcOMH_Jm-3EIruSYphlw4S1-nXYW2DTouoFy_Tq48ijYMjMjaDb8Dml0aFagVxbHxS-zkrJkj2YJRyokzFEKllZPSTcFB2EgguFeOvYzWzvNnTcb7851Zc4U65CWv8UfJI/s200/teapot+cover.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unique-Fairy/dp/1492145173" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Volume 1</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="font-size: 14.85px;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxYV9LZWurDVIN-QzyFnjTmwMBOjTSXjXYvg2-ZFgdRMDPe9TxRK0W7I_DxOOOpD9mGmvZGCNplGXp72V3BWnPyCMD1nn5jaPp4zwUxT7ue4NCIuKdb8YM2bkLXqPc84W014B-idxGFQ/s1600/teapot+Tales+ebook+cover.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1131" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxYV9LZWurDVIN-QzyFnjTmwMBOjTSXjXYvg2-ZFgdRMDPe9TxRK0W7I_DxOOOpD9mGmvZGCNplGXp72V3BWnPyCMD1nn5jaPp4zwUxT7ue4NCIuKdb8YM2bkLXqPc84W014B-idxGFQ/s200/teapot+Tales+ebook+cover.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Pirates-Mermaids-Monsters/dp/1501005529" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Volume 2</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvqDesbOW1zY_rvoF3wJaqMDEsOjf3mXECE-PepYHckURHdbZeFmMgv_PLb2ZVko8Y-aKzjd2bK8U_NJTz4_lfz0HO2UcX83x0rQwGMTyVndqxz1wD2vU1QGmuhz00g-a9JLmD5_gAtQ/s1600/13466222_10157294663875122_7486587719280494256_n.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="622" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvqDesbOW1zY_rvoF3wJaqMDEsOjf3mXECE-PepYHckURHdbZeFmMgv_PLb2ZVko8Y-aKzjd2bK8U_NJTz4_lfz0HO2UcX83x0rQwGMTyVndqxz1wD2vU1QGmuhz00g-a9JLmD5_gAtQ/s200/13466222_10157294663875122_7486587719280494256_n.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="129" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unusual-Fairy/dp/1519452837" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Volume 3</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7PmpGSX7kObeJUQN3jQCZRQJiVj8ubr0MhU6oNc669eTkUfpH8wgI_yZDfTQShLA38gaQBd3zCkndpCkl2OFvi18GRE1XOxUpzvpTgWWu5EqQ0DNIfpePGVb9GqmIndJ7HeDxn-3z-M/s1600/512bmWDZSqL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin7PmpGSX7kObeJUQN3jQCZRQJiVj8ubr0MhU6oNc669eTkUfpH8wgI_yZDfTQShLA38gaQBd3zCkndpCkl2OFvi18GRE1XOxUpzvpTgWWu5EqQ0DNIfpePGVb9GqmIndJ7HeDxn-3z-M/s200/512bmWDZSqL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="133" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ghostly-Echoes-Spooky-Tales-Around/dp/1502377365" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Ghostly Echoes</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br style="font-size: 14.85px;" /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 4px; position: relative; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfoUfso_RW3gKIfYigPxCGlq5wjVMpE1JzLo0rB0fhyprn20tnMVMxR0CVuIWMZpHGIBaCpk1SvKruavAyUa49nHHtvYlTtxzhPFJW2LGxVKTsCni9pEeF3buDZBosAUFZQGD-8f0Uj0/s1600/1453516_611766168881492_655711_n.jpg" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="649" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfoUfso_RW3gKIfYigPxCGlq5wjVMpE1JzLo0rB0fhyprn20tnMVMxR0CVuIWMZpHGIBaCpk1SvKruavAyUa49nHHtvYlTtxzhPFJW2LGxVKTsCni9pEeF3buDZBosAUFZQGD-8f0Uj0/s200/1453516_611766168881492_655711_n.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="135" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.88px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jingle-Bells-Holiday-Spirit-Around/dp/1493739409" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Jingle Bells</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><u>Chapter Book Challenge 2020 badge</u></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Due to a computer problem on my laptop that I has my photopaint software, I am late in creating the badge for this year's challenge. I hope I can have it ready for posting tomorrow, so come have a look back then.</div>Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-12709052911010626742020-04-07T11:32:00.000-07:002020-04-08T11:32:54.247-07:00Prizes 2020 #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0og5yzI1JVWla1f5bOjd5SeeSc6f3KW39qYZIWY67iztuD8PYkRAwQKwaap9LCCcfs2OJoNe7sOg_FJYSWlf3wO04JrSWY6D4fQ63rSgqzwporW-ci72m4gIkYXPfzVBjLlO_izDgtM/s1600/box-1294153+by+OpenClipart-Vectors+from+Pixabay.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1513" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix0og5yzI1JVWla1f5bOjd5SeeSc6f3KW39qYZIWY67iztuD8PYkRAwQKwaap9LCCcfs2OJoNe7sOg_FJYSWlf3wO04JrSWY6D4fQ63rSgqzwporW-ci72m4gIkYXPfzVBjLlO_izDgtM/s320/box-1294153+by+OpenClipart-Vectors+from+Pixabay.png" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
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For the prizes that were not awarded on the 31st, I promised to do a drawing for them on the 7th, so here it is:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy71kmvuLSzt0choqg1a54zZXLaK3SZyAynJZLPs8_XZi6CvuVzjYuph1j5IlbCQ38AAOXEIxp0dFFMQ1x14oUK4181mT0VUqG6IqaIun7Z7ZZtKCAhaFS0uH0lbrm6jxEPCq5FXWOCt0/s1600/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #ff2a3c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy71kmvuLSzt0choqg1a54zZXLaK3SZyAynJZLPs8_XZi6CvuVzjYuph1j5IlbCQ38AAOXEIxp0dFFMQ1x14oUK4181mT0VUqG6IqaIun7Z7ZZtKCAhaFS0uH0lbrm6jxEPCq5FXWOCt0/s200/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="133" /></a></div>
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For a copy of <span style="font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unusual-Fairy/dp/1519452837/" style="color: #ff2a3c; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales</a><i> , </i>the winner is: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/09808348084544854414" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff2a3c; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">rimna</a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0dTMH-yST94nnZEsiy5CmWfx03BsbG_YeyZg1raZ7cZoNOpoAHUPRrRzYnLZ3aUROZOOhdpf982SN4xHerCqc_d7RndfYKo7Sw7VNlG1-EK4sDbTtGghmUvozEyiJ2G_IyG05dmwg1E/s1600/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0dTMH-yST94nnZEsiy5CmWfx03BsbG_YeyZg1raZ7cZoNOpoAHUPRrRzYnLZ3aUROZOOhdpf982SN4xHerCqc_d7RndfYKo7Sw7VNlG1-EK4sDbTtGghmUvozEyiJ2G_IyG05dmwg1E/s200/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="125" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> For a signed copy of Melissa Stoller's chapter book THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION - RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND, the winner is: </span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/14051797184062312287" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff2a3c; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">Shanah Salter</a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.85px;">For a critique from Melissa Stoller on the first three chapters of a chapter book manuscript, the winner is: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/11405817881931354334" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff2a3c; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">Yangmama</a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjsKR-8eTsCINTJJeUN4A7jTP-0WBaGdoYzTFctEIr_lmWN0vGVb0_Iu0_bFbsPzOoEYI-Qh40-ez0pzp_3XYqc4mGtvTsnC4Tj9ZVoZ8u_i4XwVQfJ3cxVYo3jEP5IeMtiL1lNbbsXM/s1600/Teapot+Tales+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #c95f5f; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="244" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjsKR-8eTsCINTJJeUN4A7jTP-0WBaGdoYzTFctEIr_lmWN0vGVb0_Iu0_bFbsPzOoEYI-Qh40-ez0pzp_3XYqc4mGtvTsnC4Tj9ZVoZ8u_i4XwVQfJ3cxVYo3jEP5IeMtiL1lNbbsXM/s200/Teapot+Tales+2.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="140" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"><i> </i>For a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Pirates-Mermaids-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00N5493FG" style="color: #c95f5f; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea</a>, the winner is: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/17922748881956462802" rel="nofollow" style="color: #ff2a3c; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">Claire Annette</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.85px;">Congratulations to those who won prizes! Please contact me through my e-mail.</span></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-73128594548532681902020-03-31T12:21:00.001-07:002020-03-31T12:21:14.000-07:00An Ending and New Beginnings #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8ZSeuaeFPG16WGqDulKjOm69i9ZWRTkL9Li3dSlnhSktT40VjBupuvPLedKby_1j6t0TM1ifHxmSF_b_ODbBa87eTwfzwvgpb9b7ZvHXyWMCY5mAx1ej5aMpCuvlNjFdWQYogDzK_X8/s1600/Chapter+Book+Challenge+badge+2020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="378" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8ZSeuaeFPG16WGqDulKjOm69i9ZWRTkL9Li3dSlnhSktT40VjBupuvPLedKby_1j6t0TM1ifHxmSF_b_ODbBa87eTwfzwvgpb9b7ZvHXyWMCY5mAx1ej5aMpCuvlNjFdWQYogDzK_X8/s400/Chapter+Book+Challenge+badge+2020.jpg" width="377" /></a></div>
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Today is the last day of the Chapter Book Challenge. We have reached the end of ChaBooCha 2020. But it might be the end, but it doesn't mean we don't have a lot of things still to do and new things to begin. Those of you who did not complete your novel can still continue your writing. Those of you who completed your novels need to begin editing and revising in order to advance on your path to publication. Some of you are already at the stage of beginning your next novels.<br />
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Wherever you are on this writing journey, I want to tell you that you have done well!<br />
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And now I get to announce the winners of this month's prizes. As usual, I am excessively slow at getting prizes out to people, and that will only be exacerbated by the fact that my country is currently in "lock-down" due to the pandemic. But I will do my best to get these prizes out to you before the next Chapter Book Challenge. (There were a few less prizes this time in order to make it easier for me to try and get them out in a more timely manner.)<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Prizes:</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebUojwfVuVTOOPzmd-JLgORpkGVh9NAm0SIZ5yOf9bium3i-31ALmzrsas2wJPPJtVdr9kSlw4hChat9Qx-ajwae90AQaOqyUVE2Piw2bdRbA9X8SB3wHcrRqmHwtggAJYWNuLcfPr0A/s1600/Books+and+Bone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebUojwfVuVTOOPzmd-JLgORpkGVh9NAm0SIZ5yOf9bium3i-31ALmzrsas2wJPPJtVdr9kSlw4hChat9Qx-ajwae90AQaOqyUVE2Piw2bdRbA9X8SB3wHcrRqmHwtggAJYWNuLcfPr0A/s200/Books+and+Bone.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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The winner of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1916100902/" style="background-color: white; color: #c95f5f; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Books and Bone</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"> by Victoria Corva is: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/09006894490671128188" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #ff2a3c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">saputnam</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjitYM13KNZB43_qcSQLMnjyvgatMyJENYGet0YFBEMnQKbknM4hGAj7XGzFjzqwseMzcQLV4BNe-o2zE5gZNFkWLQUN57XjaHzUHMuoxR7SCcx-cYNAe8BlGnhOqtj_eYwWwlM9Rtedmk/s1600/5163tDeiHDL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjitYM13KNZB43_qcSQLMnjyvgatMyJENYGet0YFBEMnQKbknM4hGAj7XGzFjzqwseMzcQLV4BNe-o2zE5gZNFkWLQUN57XjaHzUHMuoxR7SCcx-cYNAe8BlGnhOqtj_eYwWwlM9Rtedmk/s1600/5163tDeiHDL.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;">The winner of </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">"</span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Magic-Creating-Stories-that/dp/006236717X" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly</a>" by Gail Carson Levine is: </span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/12998814166048903507" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #ff2a3c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">elisa</a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sJHuNF5o2JVKvB-B5AiEoHjWc-zVj4CdZ6USk1K4XDIwxcNOvA4XrvGR4Tnd0fxn5PIlgqeeOLDHEGsOcyTWWJSXTEhvQDtmgor8wuwIvS1yZz0TVEc7y9PRUPdLot2Sa5zjgYkSI2Y/s1600/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sJHuNF5o2JVKvB-B5AiEoHjWc-zVj4CdZ6USk1K4XDIwxcNOvA4XrvGR4Tnd0fxn5PIlgqeeOLDHEGsOcyTWWJSXTEhvQDtmgor8wuwIvS1yZz0TVEc7y9PRUPdLot2Sa5zjgYkSI2Y/s1600/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" /></a></div>
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The winner of the metal charm bookmark made by me is: <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/05084445688842531143" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #ff2a3c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">Kelly Vavala</a> and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/18043840425498808764" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #ff2a3c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">Manju Howard</a> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADOg-wsYpPeAKfE-2uWzF5nwFAhGbhcpZXAKRyxVeAxULKJppQc2kB3EFjzcrHiP2tKiVDiJ4Pi5gN_v0nAyJyr7N56Hu-NkKGDGNLsIkaoPcude867yJX9oUIYaDf_hUltc8K9XQUrs/s1600/514WMvAvUPL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADOg-wsYpPeAKfE-2uWzF5nwFAhGbhcpZXAKRyxVeAxULKJppQc2kB3EFjzcrHiP2tKiVDiJ4Pi5gN_v0nAyJyr7N56Hu-NkKGDGNLsIkaoPcude867yJX9oUIYaDf_hUltc8K9XQUrs/s200/514WMvAvUPL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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The winner of a copy of <i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unique-Fairy/dp/1492145173" style="color: #ff2a3c;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales</a> is: </i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/00165844765653744328" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #ff2a3c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5px; font-weight: 700; text-align: left;">BetW</a> </div>
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<b><i>Sadly, no one entered the give-aways for these four prizes listed below, possibly because they were posts that were later in the month. If anyone wants to comment on the posts that offered these prizes within the next week (to give some more time for comments), I can do another drawing for the below prizes on April 7th. I will then announce the winners in a blog post, but it will not be e-mailed out as the e-mails only go out during the month of March.</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy71kmvuLSzt0choqg1a54zZXLaK3SZyAynJZLPs8_XZi6CvuVzjYuph1j5IlbCQ38AAOXEIxp0dFFMQ1x14oUK4181mT0VUqG6IqaIun7Z7ZZtKCAhaFS0uH0lbrm6jxEPCq5FXWOCt0/s1600/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy71kmvuLSzt0choqg1a54zZXLaK3SZyAynJZLPs8_XZi6CvuVzjYuph1j5IlbCQ38AAOXEIxp0dFFMQ1x14oUK4181mT0VUqG6IqaIun7Z7ZZtKCAhaFS0uH0lbrm6jxEPCq5FXWOCt0/s200/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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*a copy of <i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unusual-Fairy/dp/1519452837/" style="color: #ff2a3c;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales</a> </i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*a signed copy of Melissa Stoller's chapter book THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION - RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*a critique from Melissa Stoller on the first three chapters of a chapter book manuscript</span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; text-align: left;"> *a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Pirates-Mermaids-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00N5493FG" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea</a></i></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-68386711744002973572020-03-29T15:30:00.000-07:002020-03-29T15:30:04.227-07:00Top Five Reasons Why Chapter Books Are the Best by Marcie Colleen #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by StockSnap from Pixabay</i></span></td></tr>
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I set out on this crazy journey to be a kids author thinking I would be all about picture books and only picture books. But when a super fun chapter book series literally fell into my lap (The Super Happy Party Bears) I couldn’t help but fall in love with the form.<br />
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For many reasons, I have come to realize that chapter books are where it’s at. Let me explain.<br />
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Here are my <b>Top Five Reasons Why Chapter Books are the Best (to read and write!)</b><br />
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<b>1. Chapter books are like cartoon series, but in book form.</b> That’s right! I learned a lot of what I know about writing a chapter book series by studying cartoons—and I love cartoons! To read more about that, check out my ChaBooCha post from 2019, <a href="http://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/03/three-things-cartoons-taught-me-about.html" target="_blank">Three Things Cartoons Taught Me About Writing Chapter Books</a>.<br />
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<b>2. Chapter books create lifelong readers.</b> When kids are young they are read to. Often with or without making the choice themselves. But when a kid becomes of age to read chapter books, you as an author have the ability to create a lifelong reader. Statistics show that people who read have increased focus, are more reflective, have incredible writing and speaking skills, and increased memory. If you can get a child to fall in love with your books, and hence reading for pleasure, you have taken part in creating a lifelong reader.<br />
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<b>3. Chapter books create a sense of accomplishment for the reader.</b> I remember the first time I read a book that required a bookmark and multiple sittings to finish it. I would close the book at times just to look at how many pages I had read and how many were still left to go. I felt like such a grownup reading a grownup book. And then, because most chapter books are series, I would gaze upon the books on the shelf all lined up like little reading trophies. I did that. I read all of those words by myself.<br />
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<b>4. Chapter books empower their readers. </b>Want to hear something cool about chapter books? They are a low price point for a reason. Not only do they empower readers through independent reading, but often with their allowance or a little extra cash from a birthday they can afford to buy the book themselves! Therefore it is super important that the production costs of chapter books stay low enough to keep the retail price low.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEasdgXxVRJ9GptJy6v4OXHL8VRxart6gWAhgEBvrwJUKumePerTIGTnT7jHbTTgmeFAsAt7YM1qZW5fFkFP3VBaVGXx3CWhKBeDlIVUs_IT6pruDarUwPwq-42fWm3QwBTYStxeX1Ks/s1600/Fan+Letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEasdgXxVRJ9GptJy6v4OXHL8VRxart6gWAhgEBvrwJUKumePerTIGTnT7jHbTTgmeFAsAt7YM1qZW5fFkFP3VBaVGXx3CWhKBeDlIVUs_IT6pruDarUwPwq-42fWm3QwBTYStxeX1Ks/s400/Fan+Letter.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
<b>5. Chapter book readers are enthusiastic super fans.</b> I love doing school visits to second, third, and fourth grade classes for The Super Happy Party Bears series. The kids get so excited and even share ideas for future Party Bear books. They ask questions about the world and specific plot points. They quote the books. They create fan art and send fan mail. They create Halloween costumes based on my characters. They dedicate their birthday party theme to the books. Having super fans is the best!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebBcrwTkOkOVpi-ShlgrLZiQnl3_lWDlJS7S36U4wvjs86yYt8P730mzyDEAB2Fk-bNujsVgYDttaJ6RJJ7abrlwmInIDDSLOwt16K_NJ5yuaL0rTHtCbdMCx9egPHZbCp_sJ087pgR4/s1600/Lil+Puff+Fan+Art.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebBcrwTkOkOVpi-ShlgrLZiQnl3_lWDlJS7S36U4wvjs86yYt8P730mzyDEAB2Fk-bNujsVgYDttaJ6RJJ7abrlwmInIDDSLOwt16K_NJ5yuaL0rTHtCbdMCx9egPHZbCp_sJ087pgR4/s200/Lil+Puff+Fan+Art.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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So c’mon all you cool kids! Do you have anything to add about why writing and reading chapter books is the absolute best? Share in the comments below—and then go write. There are lots of super fans waiting to fall in love with your books!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8CSe7zW189tG39Y_6ltcV5jzKNq1YBsYePBsyLEdlzN0x0006-W8HZFi6_CLcim2Y2oWw4MiKSSoxRqcRYgiTcMz88F4iPIKjqZM2x-_DnmkXpIO442SuyRqmwk4jHYx43ulQV-gzCI/s1600/Marcie+Colleen+Headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8CSe7zW189tG39Y_6ltcV5jzKNq1YBsYePBsyLEdlzN0x0006-W8HZFi6_CLcim2Y2oWw4MiKSSoxRqcRYgiTcMz88F4iPIKjqZM2x-_DnmkXpIO442SuyRqmwk4jHYx43ulQV-gzCI/s200/Marcie+Colleen+Headshot.jpg" width="133" /></a><b>Marcie Colleen</b> is a former classroom teacher turned children’s book author. She’s the author of THE SUPER HAPPY PARTY BEARS chapter book series (Macmillan/Imprint), as well as several picture books. Marcie is a frequent presenter at conferences for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Additionally, she’s a faculty member for San Diego Writer’s Ink and the University of California San Diego Extension. She also teaches online classes on “Crafting the Chapter Book” for The Writing Barn and will be teaching the first 4-day Chapter Book Intensive on location at The Writing in Austin, Texas in November, 2020 with fellow chapter book author, Hannah Barnaby (Monster and Boy Holt). Go to <a href="http://thewritingbarn.com/">thewritingbarn.com</a> for further information about registration.<br />
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Marcie lives in San Diego, California. You can find her at <a href="http://www.thisismarciecolleen.com/" target="_blank">www.thisismarciecolleen.com </a><a href="http://www.twitter.com/MarcieColleen1" target="_blank">@MarcieColleen1 </a>on Twitter.<br />
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></div>
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<i>Today's giveaway is a copy of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Pirates-Mermaids-Monsters-ebook/dp/B00N5493FG" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea</a>. In order to be entered into the drawing for this prize, you must be a signed-up member of the challenge and comment on this blog post. Your comment will be assigned a number and the winner will be chosen by a random number generator at noon on March 31st, 2020 and announced later that day.</i></div>
Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-73967177852409454062020-03-28T08:15:00.000-07:002020-03-28T08:44:03.462-07:00Writing Your Chapter Book by Melissa Stoller #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>For those of you getting a late start to your ChaBooCha story or needing to start from scratch, or even those who need some new, fresh ideas to keep their story going, we have this great post from Melissa Stoller to share with you today.</i></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit;">WRITING YOUR CHAPTER BOOK</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>by Melissa Stoller</i> </span></div>
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If it’s March – it must be Chapter Book Challenge 2020! I have written several posts for the Chapter Book Challenge, including Working Your Way Through Chapter Book Challenge 2017, <a href="https://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2017/09/how-to-start-writing-your-chapter-book.html" target="_blank">How to Start Writing Your Chapter Book</a>, <a href="https://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/03/how-to-write-chapter-book-series-by.html" target="_blank">How to Write a Chapter Book Series</a>, and <a href="http://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2019/03/brainstorming-chapter-book-ideas-by.html" target="_blank">Brainstorming Ideas</a>. </div>
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In this post, I will offer some strategies for brainstorming, researching, and drafting your chapter book this month. Ready, set, CHABOOCHA! </div>
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<b>Determine the Book’s World</b> – Brainstorm some specifics about the setting of your story’s world. Is it fiction? Are there non-fiction or historical elements? What are the rules in this world? How does it all work? Writing reference points for your story setting will enable you to remain true to your story’s world, and offer enriching details in your chapter book. </div>
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<b>Draft a Character Study</b> – Know as much as possible about your characters before you write. What are their likes, dislikes, and goals? What are their favorite foods, games, books, movies, and friends? What are their quirks, fears, and embarrassments? How do they speak and relate to each other? Before I start writing, I do a character sketch and interview each main character. As I write, I refer back to these notes to ensure that my characters are interesting, relatable, and consistent throughout my books. </div>
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For example, in my chapter book series THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION, Simon loves games, especially cards, food, and adventure. His twin sister Emma loves solving puzzles, chatting with people, and taking chances. They both love Molly, their grandmother’s dog. I use these characteristics and more as I draft scenes and dialogue. </div>
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<b>Plot Your Plot</b> – Every story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. What obstacles will your characters face? How will they overcome those obstacles? What growth will take place during the story, both in the characters’ external journeys and also their internal journeys? Also, what themes are your including in your story? Think about how your plot and themes will resonate with young readers. </div>
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<b>Research</b> – While my chapter book series is fiction, the stories also include historical elements. If possible, I visit the locations where the books take place. For example, when working on the first book in the series, RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND, I visited Coney Island and the famous Cyclone roller coaster (but didn’t ride!). I also visited the Liberty Bell while writing THE LIBERTY BELL TRAIN RIDE, the second book in the series (releasing soon!). Recently, I travelled to Washington, D.C. to research at the Library of Congress while working on the third book in the series which is set there. </div>
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If you can’t research in person, you can also research online. Book Two of my series also takes place in San Francisco, which I didn’t visit, but I did extensive research online using Google Maps, Newspapers.com, the U.S. National Archives online, and other sources. </div>
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<b>Outline Your Story</b> – I start each book in my series with an outline of ten chapters, assuming each chapter will be roughly 500 words each. Even of you don’t normally outline, it might be helpful. As long as I have a detailed outline (which I often revise as I go along), I know that I’m headed in the right direction. </div>
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<b>Sit Down and Write</b> – I usually start writing chapter one first, but when I move toward the middle of the story, I find that sometimes it’s easier to write the chapters out of order. Make sure you have page-turning transitions between chapters so the reader will keep reading, and enough action to move the story forward. I often put my chapter book project away between chapters so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. As I move along, I always think about setting, characters, plot, and themes, and I use my research and my outline to write. </div>
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I hope this is a helpful framework in which to approach your chapter book project during the Chapter Book Challenge this month. </div>
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Cheers to creativity! </div>
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<b>*****</b> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKjpX2ouzJKdyCGKM1GkfG2Cr-RyrvVzL6GZjRe17JUYpiq4QEjCKjB2rWHLbWFWd1oY6ag7XZeRj2uXI4WYiKj34FIGKvUnfysD4ZCPAUdYZMTdsTDTpRH2hG75m-Xb4thZg_C5JGH8/s1600/MelissaAuthorPhoto.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKjpX2ouzJKdyCGKM1GkfG2Cr-RyrvVzL6GZjRe17JUYpiq4QEjCKjB2rWHLbWFWd1oY6ag7XZeRj2uXI4WYiKj34FIGKvUnfysD4ZCPAUdYZMTdsTDTpRH2hG75m-Xb4thZg_C5JGH8/s200/MelissaAuthorPhoto.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
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The first book in <b>Melissa Stoller</b>'s chapter book series, <i>The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection: Return to Coney Island</i> was published by Clear Fork Publishing in 2017, and Book Two: <i>The Liberty Bell Train Ride</i> releases soon! Her picture books, <i>Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush</i>, <i>Ready, Set and GOrilla!</i> were published by Clear Fork in 2018. In other chapters of her life, she has worked as a lawyer, legal research and writing instructor, and early childhood educator. Additionally, she is a volunteer with SCBWI/Metro NY, a blogger and Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Regional Ambassador for the Chapter Book Challenge, and a Moderator for the Debut Picture Book Study Group. She lives in New York City with her husband, three daughters, and their puppy Molly, who is a character in her chapter book series! <a href="http://www.melissastoller.com/" target="_blank">http://www.melissastoller.com </a></div>
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<b>Connect with Melissa: </b></div>
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<a href="http://www.melissastoller.com%20http//www.melissastoller.com/blog" target="_blank">Blog</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller" target="_blank">Twitter</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller" target="_blank">Instagram</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissastoller" target="_blank">LinkedIn </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller" target="_blank">Pinterest </a></div>
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***** </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfKMnWb84g3vcjXVSB0lFK2SMKUE-h_mePLLujVopn2B0HuFkbrlGw-pfJ0vhdNyeubfQrYX6xbE5RfxrziYKMbYZ5IAP_sbSm-VlyvMWWAfi94GDNbgi4bZOaecWrlf7V8NZoVPUUw0/s1600/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="313" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfKMnWb84g3vcjXVSB0lFK2SMKUE-h_mePLLujVopn2B0HuFkbrlGw-pfJ0vhdNyeubfQrYX6xbE5RfxrziYKMbYZ5IAP_sbSm-VlyvMWWAfi94GDNbgi4bZOaecWrlf7V8NZoVPUUw0/s200/Stoller+Return+to+Coney+Island.jpg" width="125" /></a> </div>
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<i>Melissa has offered, as today's two separate prizes,a signed copy of her chapter book THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION - RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND, plus a critique of the first three chapters of a chapter book manuscript. You must be a signed-up member of the challenge and comment on this post in order to be added to the drawing. The winners will be chosen by a random number generator at noon on March 31st, 2020 and announced later that day.</i></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-16039297253395294522020-03-27T14:23:00.000-07:002020-03-28T07:54:36.120-07:00What Laurie Did Right: Middle Grade Magic (And a mini-lesson in The Hero's Journey): Part 2 by Alayne Kay Christian #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by Yuri_B from Pixabay</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">WHAT LAURIE DID RIGHT: MIDDLE GRADE MAGIC</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">(And a mini-lesson in The Hero’s Journey)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">by Alayne Kay Christian</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">PART TWO OF TWO: Acts Two and Three of The Hero’s Journey</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Click on image to enlarge</span></td></tr>
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In <a href="https://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/03/what-laurie-did-right-middle-grade.html" target="_blank">part one</a> of <i>What Laurie Did Right</i>, we analyzed act one of Laurie Smollett Kutscra's
middle grade book <i>Misadventure's of a Magician's Son</i> using The Heros' Journey plot
structure as a guide. In part two, we will explore the remainder of the book. This post
covers the middle and the ending the the story and part one covers the beginning. If you
study The Hero's Journey diagram above, you will see that act two takes up about 50%
of the story, The ending and the beginning take up about 25% each. But they all flow
smoothly into each other.<br />
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The purpose of the information I’m sharing is to give you some guidelines. I offer this
structure to give you direction and a sense of pacing and to make sure that your story
has purpose and cohesiveness with a strong beginning, middle, and end. Please don’t let
this structure limit you and your creativity. In addition, I want to remind you that
chapter books can also follow most of what I’m sharing. However, for the younger
audience, the plot and sentence structures are much simpler and backstory should be
avoided, or at the very least, limited.<br />
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What Laurie did Right—ACT TWO (midpoint and rising action) </b><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b></b>In my mind, with <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, the crisis at the midpoint is almost like another inciting incident or a call to action. About midpoint in the story, without losing any continuity with the first half of the story, the tension grows and the true adventure begins. Alex’s cards end up in the hands of thugs who mistreat them. Alex must figure out who took the cards and once he does, he is challenged with how to get them back. Act two is filled with danger, adventure, action, humor, friendship, self-discovery, and more! There’s even a great chase scene.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOmVXHk6JxhwUNK7Ra1F1kR51nGFjj5YcDe1oP3r4bGujxOgUKWlM0oJpyoHUW6pjcyfXFSTrikrxozA9fHyCGdQNZNNYD3H33EA_gfb-2YJRgihUywAL5ZgszsPyb7KVJAqmZYkglaU/s1600/Theo+and+Mr.+Raymond+new+cards+final.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOmVXHk6JxhwUNK7Ra1F1kR51nGFjj5YcDe1oP3r4bGujxOgUKWlM0oJpyoHUW6pjcyfXFSTrikrxozA9fHyCGdQNZNNYD3H33EA_gfb-2YJRgihUywAL5ZgszsPyb7KVJAqmZYkglaU/s320/Theo+and+Mr.+Raymond+new+cards+final.gif" width="208" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">The second half of the story builds tension and entertains throughout—always pulling the reader forward. In addition, while Alex is making his way through obstacles, challenges, and adventures, Laurie seamlessly weaves in a very entertaining adventure for Joker and his little adopted dog Ferdinand. </span><br />
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Next, I will explain more about what typically happens using The Hero’s Journey. It is a lot of information, so I will only slip in a little bit about what Laurie did right. However, if you read the book, you will be able to use these notes to complete the analysis.<br />
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<b>Act Two, the Midpoint (Rising Action)</b><br />
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Act two of The Hero’s Journey is developed via rising action. This section is where the protagonist’s story starts to take form and tension is at its highest. Here, the reader gets to know the rest of the characters much better. It is clear who the allies and enemies are. And the obstacles and challenges keep coming. But all of this is leading to the biggest challenge of all. In the process, the protagonist begins to learn more about what lies ahead. He makes choices and decisions and then takes action. But do his plans always work? No. And this causes him to become more reactionary than proactive, which helps build tension.<br />
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At the <b>Midpoint</b>, something major happens—a crisis occurs—an event where things go horribly wrong. The stakes have never been higher. If the protagonist cannot resolve the problem that has occurred, he stands to lose everything.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">In the case of <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, the midpoint crisis is the disappearance of Alex’s precious cards. At this point, they have become like family to him. And they are his strongest connection to his father. If he can’t find the cards and get them back, he will not only be devastated and worse off than he was when he first moved to town (the point where the story began), he will also feel as though he has betrayed his father and perhaps even as though he has lost his father all over again. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">During Alex’s midpoint journey, first Alex achieves his highest, most rewarding, happiest moment in the book. And then the crisis happens. And for a time, he is totally lost. But this is what moves him from somewhat of a victim to a hero. Now he must be proactive and take control of the situation because if he doesn’t, who will? </span><br />
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A great way to strengthen the reader’s emotional connection to your hero is to build an emotional rollercoaster ride with lots of ups and downs throughout the story. A strong emotional core is a perfect way to keep readers engaged. And Laurie does a fabulous job of that.<br />
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In Act Two of the Hero’s Journey, the hero is tested and confronted with obstacles in numerous ways, and he has a turning point. There are four steps in this part of the journey:<br />
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1) Tests, Allies, and Enemies<br />
2) Approach to the Inmost Cave<br />
3) The Ordeal
4) Reward (Seizing the Sword)<br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">1. Tests, allies and enemies. </b>Circumstances, other characters, obstacles, and the events encountered by the hero all create challenges that force changes and choices along his path. Once the hero is faced with his crisis, he works to solve it. But he tries and fails several times, and the failures create new problems. Here, the hero earns allies and meets enemies who will play a role in preparing him for the challenges yet to come. This is where his skills are tested. Each obstacle he faces helps readers gain deeper insight into his character, and over time, identify with him even more.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">At this point in <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, Alex isn’t only faced with the loss of his cards, he must face scary bad guys. He must rely on a new friend (Lindsay), Joker, and eventually the cards to help him. He must believe in his ability to do magic beyond anything he has ever done before. And with each step, he meets obstacles and even danger. </span><br />
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">2. Approach to the inmost cave.</b><b> </b>The hero prepares for his biggest challenge yet. There is something he must do, somewhere he must go, someone he must meet in order to reach a resolution. The hero often finds himself at another threshold where doubts and fears resurface.
In my mind, this is another call to action—one that is even bigger than the one at the beginning of the story. It is bigger because the stakes are higher and the hero has much more to lose. At this time, in order to muster the strength, courage, and confidence to step over this threshold and onto the treacherous path ahead, the hero may take some time to reflect on his journey. During the time of the inmost cave, readers are also given a moment to take a little break and consider what has occurred and what might occur next. And the tension builds. The reader’s emotional connection to the hero grows.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Laurie does a beautiful job of giving Alex his inmost cave events. During this time Alex reflects on what has happened and what is about to happen, he practices magic, and he gets encouragement and support from Joker. But the best of the inmost cave moment is when Alex’s father comes to him in an amazing dream. </span><br />
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<b>3. The Ordeal. </b>A crisis erupts, also known as the <b>dark night of the soul</b>, or the darkest moment. Some people see it as the rock-bottom moment. The hero is confronted by his worst fear - whether literal or symbolic. He believes all is lost. Here, the hero must draw on all the knowledge, skills, experiences, and even his allies that he has gathered throughout his journey to the inmost cave. These are the things that will help him meet and overcome his most difficult challenge. If he fails, all truly is lost from his perspective. His life will never be the same again.<br />
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This is the time that the protagonist prepares for the showdown or battle. The protagonist becomes more and more aware of the antagonist’s strength. And there is some doubt in the reader’s mind, too. The reader wonders if the main character will be okay and if he will ever succeed.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">In <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, Alex and friends prepare for the showdown. At this point, I believe Alex’s biggest fear is that he will never get his cards back. He has worried about this all along, but his fear grows when the possibilities of his plan to rescue his cards are threatened when the cards are locked in a safe. But even worse, he overhears one of the bad guys threatening to destroy Alex’s precious cards. </span><br />
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<b>4. Reward (Seizing the Sword).</b> And then the battle begins. This is where the hero takes action on the choices and decisions that he has made via the <b>inner climax</b> that was driven by his <b>darkest moment</b>.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Regardless of Alex’s fears, he steps into battle. </span><br />
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I’m going to be careful here and the rest of the way through by avoiding giving away too much of the ending and spoiling the story for readers.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">After seemingly defeating the enemy and overcoming his challenges, Alex is now a stronger person, and he walks away rewarded on many levels. But his struggle isn’t over yet.</span><br />
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Wowza!!! I know that was a lot, but there is a lot that goes on in a hero’s journey, both internally and externally.<br />
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<b><i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son<i></i></i>, What Laurie did Right—ACT THREE (the road back and resolution)</b><br />
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Act three of The Hero’s Journey consists of three steps.<br />
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1) The Road Back<br />
2) Resurrection<br />
3) Return with the Elixir (Denouement)<br />
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<b>Act Three, the Road Back/Resolution</b><br />
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As I’ve said before, <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i> doesn’t follow the The Hero’s Journey perfectly but it comes close.<br />
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<b>1.The Road Back.</b> At this part of the journey, just as the hero stepped over the threshold into the special world in the beginning, he will now step through that same door to return home to his ordinary world. But he returns home with the rewards and treasures that he earned along the path of his journey. However, as I said earlier, the struggle isn’t over yet. The hero (and the story) meet one last obstacle standing between him and his ordinary world. This is where the hero may have to make one last choice, and the choice is typically a point where he must choose between his own personal goal and another cause.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">In the case of <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, Jack makes a request of Alex. And although Alex would prefer to go home and get on with his life, he can’t refuse Jack. So, he steps back into the special world one more time. And this is where that exciting chase scene comes in.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yRLSIUsHER_Ri0IfIq-4DLQN4BBK4k94qFFZLwcjaicQ5wKNP1EDgPDHTuHcSI_SpNkp-LvPkMUwPVQW1l11v7uBKjJImCMbHuzCG2-kmuc7hTZPzbLBKwjesWldLOz8HkQqxCHkXfE/s1600/Paraderevised+10-19+with+background.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yRLSIUsHER_Ri0IfIq-4DLQN4BBK4k94qFFZLwcjaicQ5wKNP1EDgPDHTuHcSI_SpNkp-LvPkMUwPVQW1l11v7uBKjJImCMbHuzCG2-kmuc7hTZPzbLBKwjesWldLOz8HkQqxCHkXfE/s320/Paraderevised+10-19+with+background.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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2. Resurrection.</b> Some would say, when the resurrection occurs, this is the true <b>climax</b>. This battle goes beyond the hero’s personal world.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">In <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, Alex is purely concerned about the wellbeing of others when he risks going back into the special world. Of course, it is because he cares about Jack that he takes action, but the prize will be Jack’s and some others some other characters’, not Alex’s. If he fails, Jack and others will suffer. Laurie does a fabulous job of bringing readers into Alex’s fears, struggles, and hopes. If Alex succeeds, he will rise from this battle a new person. He will be reborn, so to speak.</span><br />
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<b>3. Return with the Elixir (Denouement).</b> In the final step of The Hero’s Journey, all the tension built through the last push back into the ordinary world is released. All loose ends of the plot are tied together. Any promises made to the reader have been fulfilled. Lessons are learned, and although the resolution may not be what was anticipated initially, the resolution is usually clear. Having learned many things and growing as a person, the hero returns home to his ordinary world a changed person with a new perspective. This is his final reward. The reader has a sense of satisfaction from observing the hero’s self-realization, or the end of his struggling. The resolution and return to the ordinary world represents three things to the hero and the reader:<br />
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1) Change<br />
2) Success<br />
3) And proof of the hero’s journey.<br />
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And as I’ve stated before, the hero will return to where he started, but things will never be the same as they were before he stepped onto the path of his journey.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">I won’t share the final stage of <i>Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</i>, but I will tell you that Laurie wraps this story up in a beautiful and perfect bow. Alex and some of the supporting characters (especially Jack and Joker) definitely experience growth and change. And Alex’s ordinary world will never be the same again. This is his new normal. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">During this post, I’ve mostly presented what happens on the surface (or externally) via action, adventure, and humor. But I think it is really important to emphasize the personal growth we see in Alex. He overcomes his internal struggles as well as his external. And he will never be the boy he was when he first arrived in that foggy harbor town again. He has changed, in a good way, forever.</span><br />
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These are some things that Laurie Smollett Kutscera did right. And how about that beautiful art?<br />
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Thank you again for inviting me to be a guest blogger, Becky. And thank you for offering children’s novel writers the motivation to get their books written.<br />
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***** </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXH3vTbhS82lY9L8BrtBJgAwPzzAl8q2xfvv-JwNF7FM2uyylhDVI6IQMq4pclhf4q6T90V2t8hBg6Gro1VEJscbgQ1V5hJPJDaqV1aJdu9hyphenhyphen-hhYhghtmeZGQbjIHJ-4A8WoPbCpUyGY/s1600/Alayne+Kay+Christan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXH3vTbhS82lY9L8BrtBJgAwPzzAl8q2xfvv-JwNF7FM2uyylhDVI6IQMq4pclhf4q6T90V2t8hBg6Gro1VEJscbgQ1V5hJPJDaqV1aJdu9hyphenhyphen-hhYhghtmeZGQbjIHJ-4A8WoPbCpUyGY/s200/Alayne+Kay+Christan.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Alayne Kay Christian</b> is the acquisitions editor for <a href="https://www.bluewhalepress.com/" target="_blank">Blue Whale Press</a> and an award-winning children’s book author. She is the creator and teacher of a picture book writing course <i><a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/contact.html" target="_blank">Art of Arc</a></i>. In addition, she shares her knowledge with writers through free and affordable webinars, at <a href="https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/webinars" target="_blank">Writing for Children Webinars</a>. She has been a picture book and chapter book critique professional since 2014, and she worked as a 12 X 12 critique ninja for three years. Alayne has spent the last thirteen years studying under some of the top names in children’s literature. Her latest picture book, An Old Man and His Penguin: How Dindim made João Pereira de Souza an Honorary Penguin, is scheduled for release in May. It will be open for pre-orders soon. Her next picture book, <i>The Weed that Woke Christmas: The Mostly True Story of the Toledo Christmas Weed</i>, will be released later this summer. Alayne is also the author of the award-winning <i>Sienna the Cowgirl Fairy</i> chapter book series. The next <i>Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy: Cowboy Trouble</i> will be coming soon.<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><a href="https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/</a></span><br />
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-27587598579637288752020-03-26T16:25:00.000-07:002020-03-26T16:57:40.697-07:00What Laurie Did Right: Middle Grade Magic (And a mini-lesson in The Hero's Journey) by Alayne Kay Christian #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p-LC6VcRHx0Pva98n_o6UDLkbVMKpAwTCIU901y2BshJhZ8A07akV9_CslBRVZALfrhjl90KRsUMXjNnGgrIE3i51ch9pQL1g_ybV6j0mNcz5OeTp1-qSyDTIvHlqh9T2IvrwQaQkh4/s1600/portrait-4352745+by+Enrique+Meseguer+from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8p-LC6VcRHx0Pva98n_o6UDLkbVMKpAwTCIU901y2BshJhZ8A07akV9_CslBRVZALfrhjl90KRsUMXjNnGgrIE3i51ch9pQL1g_ybV6j0mNcz5OeTp1-qSyDTIvHlqh9T2IvrwQaQkh4/s320/portrait-4352745+by+Enrique+Meseguer+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Image by by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay<span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> </span></span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">WHAT LAURIE DID RIGHT: MIDDLE GRADE MAGIC</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">(And a mini-lesson in The Hero’s Journey)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">by Alayne Kay Christian</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">PART ONE OF TWO: Act One of The Hero’s Journey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Thank you, Becky, for having me back again as a guest blogger for this very </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">important event—the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Chapter Book Challenge. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I usually offer my thoughts in a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">“what NOT to do” type message. As I </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">was thinking about what I wanted to share </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">for this year’s Chapter Book Challenge, Blue Whale </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Press’s latest middle grade </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">book, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, came to mind. I thought of </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">it for two </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">reasons:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">1) Because we recently released it for pre-orders, so it’s on my mind. It will be </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> released April 1!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">2) It’s a great story.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Once that book came to mind, my thought was, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Why not focus on what to do right?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And with that a </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">blog post was about to be born. But I have a “little” quirk, which is </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">that I can easily get carried away </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">when I’m analyzing stories and discussing writing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">processes. And that’s exactly what I did here. I </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">got so carried away, that Becky and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">I decided to break my post into two parts. This post covers the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">beginning of </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> and the next one will cover the middle and </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">ending. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">If you study The Hero’s Journey diagram below, you will see that act one only takes </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">up about 25% </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">of the story.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">So, what did Laurie Smollett Kutscera do right? I have a bit of a challenge here </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">because she did so </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">many things right. Let’s see if I can put some of her middle </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">grade magic writing tricks in a logical </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">order. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’ve decided that a good way to create some sort of order is to do a brief analysis </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">using “The Hero’s </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Journey” plot structure. I have no doubt this will show, in part, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">what Laurie did right. But it’s not </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">just </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the structure that makes Laurie’s creation </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">so appealing. As the <a href="https://youtu.be/FXW7ph8lkPM" target="_blank">book trailer</a> says, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">this book has it </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">all. It has surprises and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">twists, setbacks and decisions/choices, and lots of growth on Alex’s part. I</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">t’s got </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">bad guys and good guys and funny guys. And an adorable dog. In addition to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">magic, action, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">adventure, humor, great characters, and heart, Laurie has created </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">a </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">unique world with unique </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">characters</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. And that is what made her manuscript </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">standout from all the others that Blue Whale </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Press receives. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Magician’s Son</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> doesn’t fully follow The Hero’s Journey. But it </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">comes close. The </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">purpose of plot structure formulas is to give writers guidelines, but you will find </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">that there are many books that don’t follow any of the formulas fully. The Hero’s </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Journey is just one </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">way to think about a story, so don’t let this structure limit you </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and your creativity. I offer this </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">structure to give you direction and a sense of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">pacing and to make sure that your story has purpose </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and cohesiveness with a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">strong beginning, middle, and end.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EK6o_3vo7y0xJmBcgqGjcZVaClb6_WobHgD34do3fOP_XOOJQmr1l6m66bIP_Ct19iburQEk395asieGpbGem6hwP_tZuKCA4rZD9IXWKDbcwgd9nb6_dtQ9X20LYsQHWoYi1BwCljM/s1600/Chi+and+Joker+clean.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EK6o_3vo7y0xJmBcgqGjcZVaClb6_WobHgD34do3fOP_XOOJQmr1l6m66bIP_Ct19iburQEk395asieGpbGem6hwP_tZuKCA4rZD9IXWKDbcwgd9nb6_dtQ9X20LYsQHWoYi1BwCljM/s200/Chi+and+Joker+clean.tif" width="130" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Before I move on, I want to say that chapter books can also follow most of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">what I’m about to talk </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">about. However, for the younger audience, the plot </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">sentence structures are much simpler and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">backstory should be avoided, or </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">at </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">the very least, limited. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A recent review of </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, written by Diane </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Donavan, Sr. Reviewer, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Midwest Book Review, points out some of what Laurie </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">did right. She says, in part, the following: </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“. . . </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Laurie Smollett Kutscera weaves a strong story of personal struggle </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">and achievement into a tale that takes some unusual twists and turns as </span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alex </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">continues to learn about the magic of human emotion, recovery,</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and resiliency from his unusual mentors: "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isn’t it possible everyone </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would appreciate you for who you are?”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> What could have been a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">singular story of a boy's special talents thus evolves into an unusual </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">exploration of the roots of magic, ability, and support systems that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">come into play when loss changes one's familiar life patterns. . . .</span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Readers who choose the book anticipating a dose of magical </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">encounters will not be disappointed, while those who like interpersonal </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">relationships, intrigue, and growth as subplots in their stories will find </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Misadventures of a Magician's Son</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> holds an action-packed touch of all </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">three to keep readers guessing about Alex's future and incredible </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">adventure, right up to the end.”</span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3bDs_jdhq2GSD7MSB4ruJVF6aFErCMC_VPxRRyc1evYZVyhMP7Ekvpg-NF3LJuijy-Lf8mK2cOJwUHaM-p9JJcq9SGrSWxJW-_ri9iX1vwWrcKWUf4pAUPbZuTUP29LnPSW4B0d-6Uo/s1600/Chapter+book+hero%2527s+journey+diagram+Iinear+v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1600" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3bDs_jdhq2GSD7MSB4ruJVF6aFErCMC_VPxRRyc1evYZVyhMP7Ekvpg-NF3LJuijy-Lf8mK2cOJwUHaM-p9JJcq9SGrSWxJW-_ri9iX1vwWrcKWUf4pAUPbZuTUP29LnPSW4B0d-6Uo/s400/Chapter+book+hero%2527s+journey+diagram+Iinear+v2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Click on image to enlarge</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Act One, Set up (Exposition and Inciting Incident)</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Act one of any plot structure usually starts with setup. The setup is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">accomplished via exposition, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">which </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">introduces background information about </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">events, settings, characters, or other elements of a </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">story to readers. The </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">purpose of this exposition is to assure that the story (and the story world) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">makes sense to the reader. It’s all about setting the stage. Through exposition, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">readers should get an </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">idea of who the protagonist is, what everyday life is like, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and what’s important to the protagonist. It </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">also gives readers a sense of the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">challenges the main character is facing or is about to face. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In The Hero’s Journey, the first step in act one is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Ordinary World</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. Here, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">readers are </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">introduced </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to the hero (protagonist) and his ordinary world. It </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">demonstrates what life was like </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">before change began to happen. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son,</span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> the ordinary world is presented mostly </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">via Laurie’s skillful </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">weaving of backstory into Alex’s current-day story. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, What Laurie did Right—STRONG </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">BEGINNING and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre;">hook.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">This story starts right off with answering the question, “Who?” because the </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">very first words are </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">“Alexander Finn.” Readers also get a sense that he is a </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">middle grader. We also get a sense of </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">“Where?” because we know he has </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">moved from somewhere to Maine, and we start getting an idea </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">of the setting </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">while we envision cobblestone streets, clapboard houses, and fog from the </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">harbor. We </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">even get a sense of “What?” We know that Alex is moving into a </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">new home and that something is </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">up with his father when a bittersweet </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">memory is revealed. All of this happens on the first page. All </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">of this </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">information is offered in around eighty words! Laurie has informed readers </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">enough and </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">created enough curiosity to make them want to turn the page </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and enter the story.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">On the next pages, Laurie sets the hook by filling in Alex’s story more and </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">by creating tension. We </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">learn more about the “where”—600 miles from his </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">previous home. We learn that he has moved there </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">with his mother. We get a </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">sense of Alex’s attitude toward this life change. We sense tension between </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">him and his mother. And, already on pages 2 and 3, we start building an </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">emotional connection to </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Alex. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I won’t share what happens (you’ll have to read the book for that ;-) but on </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">pages 4 and 5 and into </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">the rest of the first chapter, Laurie keeps tension </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">going, continues to inform the reader, and creates </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">some mystery that pulls </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">curious readers forward. They are eager to turn pages and learn more. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, What Laurie did Right—THE CALL </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">TO ACTION</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Next in act one, comes the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Inciting Incident</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. In The Hero’s Journey, this is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Call to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Adventure</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Although Alex’s move to Maine is one of the incidents that removed Alex </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">from his ordinary life, </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">chapter two reveals the thing that really sets Alex’s </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">story journey into motion. The magic deck of </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">cards that his father left him </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">comes to life! Alex and readers first meet Joker, and we immediately </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">get a </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">sense of who Joker is. Why? Because Laurie created a perfect voice for </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Joker and she did a </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">wonderful job of molding this funny and quirky </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">character (he’s actually my favorite character). But </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">I digress. Alex and </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">readers meet the major-player card characters (The Queen and King of </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Hearts </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and their son Jack) and then he meets the entire clan of animated </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">cards. From there, Alex learns that </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">these cards know things about his </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">father that he doesn’t know. The chapter continues to inform the </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">reader, </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">create curiosity, and strengthen readers’ emotional connection to Alex.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Using a cliffhanger, Laurie masterfully ends chapter two with a line that is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">guaranteed to pull the </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">reader into the next chapter. We are about to learn </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">what happened to Alex’s father.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqljPaxNaAnh3b3UNUNOYknNL20Pow1dDo6PQ1wwxEVYCasQXtAFqODSMb-S6pfcwWFGa_l_m1E25F7US1AJbShOPPxyghROvM6rY9DO1y9EdLc9wSEGwBm-JtotlMTybqJ5R0VVYwbt0/s1600/New+intrograyscale.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqljPaxNaAnh3b3UNUNOYknNL20Pow1dDo6PQ1wwxEVYCasQXtAFqODSMb-S6pfcwWFGa_l_m1E25F7US1AJbShOPPxyghROvM6rY9DO1y9EdLc9wSEGwBm-JtotlMTybqJ5R0VVYwbt0/s320/New+intrograyscale.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, What Laurie did Right—REFUSING </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">AND ACCEPTING </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre;">THE CALL</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In the next chapter of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Misadventures of a Magician’s Son</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">, Laurie continues </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to inform, and the more </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">we learn, the more we want to keep reading. As the </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">readers’ emotional connection with Alex </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">develops, and their understanding </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">about Alex’s father and the cards grows, readers want to know </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">more. In this </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">chapter, Laurie didn’t even need to end it with a cliffhanger because the </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">whole </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">chapter is a cliffhanger!</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">At the risk of wearing out the phrase, I would say the next six chapters </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">have </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">it all</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">: bullies, action, </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">tension, magic, and even some humor. They carry </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">readers the slightest bit up Story Mountain and </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">closer to the crisis point. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">Here we learn more about Alex and the cards. We also learn more about </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">where Alex lives, and we experience his struggles with bullies, new </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">teachers, and performing in a </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">magic show.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Laurie gets extra points for doing it right because five out of seven chapters </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">end with cliffhanger </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">last lines. And in the two chapters that don’t have </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">cliffhanger endings, Laurie has masterfully </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">created so many unanswered </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">questions and so much curiosity in readers’ minds that they will </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">undoubtedly </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">be compelled to continue reading. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I’m trying to avoid giving away too much because you would benefit so </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">much more from reading </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">the book and studying it along with these notes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">But I thought I would take a minute to visit the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">steps in The Hero’s Journey, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">and share a little bit how Laurie fit them into her story.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The next three steps in act one of The Hero’s Journey are:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">1) Initial Refusal</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">2) Meeting with a Mentor</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">3) Crossing the Threshold</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">1.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Initial Refusal</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> means that the protagonist refuses to respond to the call to </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">adventure. This is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">usually due to things like fear, danger, and/or uncertainty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">So at this stage, the protagonist is a </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">reluctant hero.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In addition to being fully resistant to embracing his new life, when one of </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Alex’s teachers suggests </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">that he participate in a talent show as a magician, </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">his first response is to refuse the challenge. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">2.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Meeting the Mentor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> means that the story presents a source of wisdom </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and guidance, and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">sometimes tools for the journey (it isn’t always literal—it </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">can be symbolic). At this crucial turning </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">point where the hero desperately </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">needs guidance in order to begin his journey, he meets a mentor </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">figure who </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">provides something he needs. Or maybe he is given an object of great </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">importance, or </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">insight into the challenge he faces. Whatever the mentor </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">offers helps to chase away doubts and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">fears and give the protagonist the </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">strength and courage to take his step over the threshold into act </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">two.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I would say Alex’s strongest mentor is the King Anton, the King of Hearts. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But Joker, Jack, and </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">the Queen of Hearts all help him along the way.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">3.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Crossing the Threshold/Accepting the Call</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> means that the protagonist </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">is ready to step into </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">action. He steps over the threshold between his ordinary </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">world and, more or less, into the unknown </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">(or special world). No matter </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">how the new world on the other side of that threshold is presented, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">this first </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">step symbolizes the hero’s commitment to his journey and his willingness to </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">face whatever </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">the journey may bring his way.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">So, in spite of his doubts and fears, with the help of his friends (mentors), </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Alex finds himself on the </span><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">talent show stage. I will let you read the book to </span><br />
<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre;">find out what happens next.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">***** </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oqRCApVNdT7bp0eP2vQTld8UwmvV0xBbkkgWDzASJOd3euPwySc1iHzFD8Ayq1z6KFAVvC-mSqcyzFu1SHbIKVhMhli315ldFeUaiwAXZRxnEyNhHQP9ScmVR-scLv5QkAIaacSmA0g/s1600/Cover+Old+Man+and+Penguin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="635" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oqRCApVNdT7bp0eP2vQTld8UwmvV0xBbkkgWDzASJOd3euPwySc1iHzFD8Ayq1z6KFAVvC-mSqcyzFu1SHbIKVhMhli315ldFeUaiwAXZRxnEyNhHQP9ScmVR-scLv5QkAIaacSmA0g/s200/Cover+Old+Man+and+Penguin.jpg" width="145" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjKcIkeKtov7qhl53vhWw4Z5Xmhcs3o_ru0agSqomYaPEzK8m_0kHVTxsVlPdiw4m0SQ3ILYHP_WDqR4ea2ZXD_jLFzNlHt7og4jkoSwXBETFVFJdGFExRlV3IcHCfP5LcKIQz9qxJek/s1600/Cowboy+Trouble+cover+preliminary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="475" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikjKcIkeKtov7qhl53vhWw4Z5Xmhcs3o_ru0agSqomYaPEzK8m_0kHVTxsVlPdiw4m0SQ3ILYHP_WDqR4ea2ZXD_jLFzNlHt7og4jkoSwXBETFVFJdGFExRlV3IcHCfP5LcKIQz9qxJek/s200/Cowboy+Trouble+cover+preliminary.jpg" width="123" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Alayne Kay Christian is the acquisitions editor for <a href="https://www.bluewhalepress.com/" target="_blank">Blue Whale Press</a> and an award-winning children’s book author. She is the creator and teacher of a picture book writing course </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/contact.html" target="_blank">Art of Arc</a>.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> In addition, she shares her knowledge with writers through free and affordable webinars at </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/webinars" target="_blank">Writing for Children Webinars</a></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">. She has been a picture book and chapter book critique professional since 2014, and she worked as a 12 X 12 critique ninja for three years. Alayne has spent the last thirteen years studying under some of the top names in children’s literature. Her latest picture book, </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">An Old Man and His Penguin:</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">How Dindim made João Pereira de Souza an Honorary Penguin</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">, is scheduled for release in May. It will be open for pre-orders very soon! Her next picture book, </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Weed that Woke Christmas: The Mostly True Story of the Toledo Christmas Weed,</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> will be released later this summer. Alayne is also the author of the award-winning </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Sienna the Cowgirl Fairy</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> chapter book series. The next </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Sienna, the Cowgirl Fairy</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> title, </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Cowboy Trouble</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">, will be coming soon.</span></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://alaynekaychristianauthor.com/</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.bluewhalepress.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">https://www.bluewhalepress.com/</a> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">*****</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_0lOscO0meB_tObtgIZoF9N0i8NCFsy8EKXY9H4ShJLhXssg6GmQIQ4gyIjo06l4vIRgWRlpDmv5fSreJpO5tv9KbWdw0FA6WdXmFpdf9Xd3Og_atxJgFw10mX9qLPqBX8sv_MXvfAA/s1600/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_0lOscO0meB_tObtgIZoF9N0i8NCFsy8EKXY9H4ShJLhXssg6GmQIQ4gyIjo06l4vIRgWRlpDmv5fSreJpO5tv9KbWdw0FA6WdXmFpdf9Xd3Og_atxJgFw10mX9qLPqBX8sv_MXvfAA/s200/5185QRo8w2L._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;">Today's prize is a copy of the first in our series of Teapot Tales anthologies, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unusual-Fairy/dp/1519452837/" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unusual Fairy Tales</a>. To enter, you must be a signed-up member of the challenge and comment on <a href="https://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-to-write-when-world-feels-crazy.html" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">this blog post</a>. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced after noon on March 31st, 2020.</i></span></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-58493265020536728502020-03-24T15:48:00.006-07:002020-03-24T15:58:25.913-07:00How (and Why) to Write When the World Feels Crazy #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYt_Ho-GbS_HJuZFoRi3XT-BXWE1e6GA1SHls3CVjo6pLzyayOimlCBHLBVQlcHy4I7kxi4uXNYZDATHWLRcjWeeAVLwQV16iuuV802bdyzOdaruj3FNqRJTbMr3elc2LQX3XQ91T0FNQ/s1600/take-532097+by+ThePixelman+from+Pixabay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYt_Ho-GbS_HJuZFoRi3XT-BXWE1e6GA1SHls3CVjo6pLzyayOimlCBHLBVQlcHy4I7kxi4uXNYZDATHWLRcjWeeAVLwQV16iuuV802bdyzOdaruj3FNqRJTbMr3elc2LQX3XQ91T0FNQ/s400/take-532097+by+ThePixelman+from+Pixabay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Image by ThePixelman<span style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span>Pixabay</span></i></td></tr>
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<br />
There is a lot going on in the world today, much of which is depressing and/or stressful. We are living through a time full of corrupt politicians, a pandemic that endangers many of our loved ones and some of us as well, world financial crisis, and other worrying issues. How are we supposed to cope with all of the stress the world throws at us and continue to complete projects, go to work, take care of our loved ones, maintain our health and write stories?<br />
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It might seem like everything is just too much to take right now. But in troubled times, more than ever, this is when the world needs stories. We need to write stories because the act of writing helps us create something beautiful. And others need our stories to read because our stories can transport them to different worlds.<br />
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Writing, as I've said many times before, is magic. And right now, the world we live in and the people in this world need magic more than ever.<br />
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This is especially true when writing for children. Children need to see that no matter what trials our protagonists go through, they survive it and, usually, get a happy ending. They need our stories to escape into right now.<br />
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So I'm challenging each and every one of you to keep writing. Take your words and your imagination and create something beautiful, something fascinating, something entertaining and something profound for your readers to escape to and enjoy. You are capable of this, and you are the only one who can write your story.<br />
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***** </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Giveaway</b></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAFxUB6341E9CuxPY5P3WY76lyPdKKd4gRYLgqyQso88m7udw5C-dqNmHFBucI4-cpk41eGA6DAJQRbpB2-1_ndkr9YC8DiUFnbMzg4qyCDN5jhuv4VVoE5cnp9SGiDb2p6CeXtLlpxw/s1600/514WMvAvUPL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbAFxUB6341E9CuxPY5P3WY76lyPdKKd4gRYLgqyQso88m7udw5C-dqNmHFBucI4-cpk41eGA6DAJQRbpB2-1_ndkr9YC8DiUFnbMzg4qyCDN5jhuv4VVoE5cnp9SGiDb2p6CeXtLlpxw/s200/514WMvAvUPL._SX331_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
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<i>Today's prize is a copy of the first in our series of Teapot Tales anthologies, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Teapot-Tales-Collection-Unique-Fairy/dp/1492145173" target="_blank">Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales.</a> To enter, you must be a signed-up member of the challenge and comment on <a href="https://chapterbookchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/03/how-to-write-when-world-feels-crazy.html" target="_blank">this blog post</a>. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced after noon on March 31st, 2020.</i></div>
Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-48614212739559057602020-03-21T08:43:00.000-07:002020-03-22T08:44:44.224-07:00Keep Going with your Writing #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by Gerd Altmann on Pixabay</span></i></td></tr>
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We have now completed three weeks of the Chapter Book Challenge. I hope everyone's writing is going well. I'm just writing this quick post to urge you all to keep going. Even if it's getting more difficult to continue, keep going.<br />
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My children's schools have all closed down due to the Coronavirus, so I now have an extra 25 hours a week to write because I no longer have to spend that time getting my kids to and from school. I intend to use this extra time to full advantage and get lots of extra writing done.<br />
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I hope all of you remain healthy and take care of yourselves during this time. I am looking forward to hearing about the stories you are working on, so if you, like me, have some extra time right now, please share in the comments below a brief synopsis of the story you are writing.<br />
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Happy writing!</div>
Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-90690681661893208342020-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:002020-03-20T16:27:48.597-07:00Breaking Down Your Writing by Melissa Gijsbers #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">Image by by Pexels from Pixabay</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Breaking Down Your Writing</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>by Melissa Gijsbers</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing a chapter book in a month can seem like a daunting task, no matter what word goal you are aiming for. It doesn’t matter whether you plan your story before you write or if you just sit down to write, it can still seem like a monumental task.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As someone who has participated in the Chapter Book Challenge since the beginning, I have found that breaking down my manuscript into chapters is one of the best ways to get the writing done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My usual plan is to write a chapter a day and I set a word count for the chapter based on the sort of book I’m writing. I then have a goal for the number of chapters for the book. If my chapters are shorter, I may write two chapters a day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking at the word counts on publisher’s websites can be a great starting point, however I use that as a rough guide for my first draft as I know that during the rewriting and editing process I will add scenes and descriptions, or take them out, as needed. I also use the number of chapters as a starting point as there are some stories that will need extra chapters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your writing plan could look something like this:</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10 chapters at 750 words each</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">20 chapters at 1000 words each</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><div dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.295; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">15 chapters at 500 words each</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10 chapters at 100 words each (early reader)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As well as looking at the story, I also look at what else is happening during the month so I can plan my writing time to set me up for success in writing my manuscript.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Breaking down your chapter book into smaller, manageable pieces will help set you up to complete your manuscript with some days to spare to add extra chapters or start a rewrite before the end of the month.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The biggest thing to remember is to enjoy your story and enjoy the process of writing your chapter book.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-2e9867e9-7fff-60d0-74be-5dfc5815fa18"><span style="font-family: inherit;">***** </span></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirs2d5K25coD2JJJsFGCVpTnTl3qZxqO8WgcmgmhSLdatxTGpgE-GguY5lWbLB1DTn6ZjG3ayEm3STMD4chG3YDY5z1djHiDZuffuzd9Z55CF8wBPVr3UsSowzrpfB7RmSN2lh32v5RE/s1600/Lizzys-Dragon-frontCover-600x916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirs2d5K25coD2JJJsFGCVpTnTl3qZxqO8WgcmgmhSLdatxTGpgE-GguY5lWbLB1DTn6ZjG3ayEm3STMD4chG3YDY5z1djHiDZuffuzd9Z55CF8wBPVr3UsSowzrpfB7RmSN2lh32v5RE/s200/Lizzys-Dragon-frontCover-600x916.jpg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lp9dlUKRKDhkzmwlhDUQ8m4CTUIBgZH8MReWgFaRCiRyeaDio0EyOm0-5i-vVOZkqC9U4rBtaqrm9GXpDLRKrIa7VufeziMqolUINAhUA6MD5eOGoNb00iOVlcqCAXFuhsNEPuXE99Y/s1600/melissaatelearning-200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4Lp9dlUKRKDhkzmwlhDUQ8m4CTUIBgZH8MReWgFaRCiRyeaDio0EyOm0-5i-vVOZkqC9U4rBtaqrm9GXpDLRKrIa7VufeziMqolUINAhUA6MD5eOGoNb00iOVlcqCAXFuhsNEPuXE99Y/s200/melissaatelearning-200.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Melissa Gijsbers is an Australian author and booklover. She currently has three chapter books published, all written and edited during the Chapter Book Challenge. She lives in Gippsland in Victoria with her two teenage sons and their pet blue-tongue lizard. You can find her online at </span><a href="http://www.melissagijsbers.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.melissagijsbers.com</span></a><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*****
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<span style="color: red; font-size: small;"><b>Give-away</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQvy0tk-Ho00o-MPLLyQMQSGoO2A6OvbIN6Vt75wT-C6Sr7s0TAhqPU_3azaI6mnu6yR2zoqW3bh5EcHRyvLKl-bJRiKDj9XNT2thAaLQ0_HkWKPEbjCq-JKBh4uP0oeQCPQW5SJ0Rbs/s1600/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #ff2a3c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQvy0tk-Ho00o-MPLLyQMQSGoO2A6OvbIN6Vt75wT-C6Sr7s0TAhqPU_3azaI6mnu6yR2zoqW3bh5EcHRyvLKl-bJRiKDj9XNT2thAaLQ0_HkWKPEbjCq-JKBh4uP0oeQCPQW5SJ0Rbs/s200/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;"><i><br />I (Becky) make metal charm bookmarks. The above picture is just one example of one of my bookmarks. Today's give-away is one of these charm bookmarks. It will not necessarily be the same as the one above as I make them from different charms and different bases on a frequent basis. (I also do themed-ones for specific books.)If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, all you have to do to be entered into the drawing for today's prize is comment on this blog post. </i></span></span></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-2626363663901534692020-03-17T14:38:00.000-07:002020-03-17T14:40:16.164-07:00How NOT to Write a Historical Fiction Story by Donna L Martin #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #191b26; margin: 0px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Image by Виктория Бородинова from Pixabay</i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>How NOT To Write A Historical Fiction Story
</b></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 16pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>by Donna L Martin</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was so happy when Becky Fyfe invited me to write another guest post for this year’s ChaBooCha! T</span><span style="background-color: white; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">o write one completed first draft of an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel in the month of March is my kind of challenge. My current series, HISTORY’S MYSTERIES, is based on little known historical events, mysteries, and legends. Since I’m in the middle of book three, “Hunting Gris-Gris”, I wanted to share some of the things I try to keep in mind when sitting down to write my chapter books. While I’m focusing on historical fiction, these tips could easily apply to any type of story you might create. I must have been </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">channeling</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <i>Goldilocks and the Three Bears</i> when I was wrote this!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>TOO MUCH</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While there is quite a bit of “fiction” in my story, it’s the “history” part of my books people are interested in when they buy them. I typically research for at least four to six months before I even think about writing. In “Hunting Gris-Gris”, Emma is having to deal with World War II at home, a father serving oversea, a British refugee staying in her home, AND the Cajun legend of a swamp monster called a gris-gris. That’s a lot of info to weave into my 11,000-word manuscript and all of it had to be historically accurate. Using Google, movies, my local library and bookstores, I ended up with more than 300 index cards full of information I could use. Like Goldilocks’ plight, it was a case of TOO MUCH and I had to filter through all the research to make sure only the info crucial to my story was used and I didn’t end up with just a lot of info dumping.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>TOO SOON</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Once I had all the research completed and outlined the general story idea, I had to plot out Emma’s trials and adventures. Life was challenging during World War II in the bayous of southern Louisiana, so I couldn’t allow her to resolve her problems in the first couple of chapters. My readers needed to see her disappoint, frustration, and even anger with events she has little control over. It’s my job as a storyteller to take my readers on that roller coaster ride with me until the very end. What kind of story would it have been if Goldilocks walked into the bears’ home, had a cup of lovely tea and scones, took a quick nap in a comfortable bed, and sashayed home refreshed from her walk? I’m pretty sure THAT story would never have been published.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>TOO COMMON</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While I watch how much research I dump into my story and make sure I’m not making life too easy for Emma, I also had to consider how many other KidLit books focusing on life in America during World War II have been written. For example, book one of HISTORY’S MYSTERIES was about the Titanic. My research found HUNDREDS of books published about that particular topic. If I would have followed what every other author did, “Ship of Dreams” might have gotten lost in a sea of other Titanic books. Luckily, I found an angle which had NEVER been done before, and the little-known historical event tied to that ship has allowed my book to stand out. Now I’m doing the same thing for Emma’s story by challenging myself to find something most of my readers would not know about this time in history.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>JUST RIGHT</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">By paying attention to every aspect of writing in the historical fiction genre, a writer can elevate an average story into something a reader doesn’t want to put down. Just look at adventurous Goldilocks. She didn’t settle for mediocre, but kept searching, kept tweaking until she found something JUST RIGHT for her. Good luck with this month’s writing challenge and remember Goldilocks. If she can do it, so can you!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*****</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__cppAU250HOzI_iCRK6WD0lx5oG-w3Q0vh9uOPXBS7HkFTY-61BWu1KcfqgdJp9447Rdau9gIGFTrWjkwLgmPZdTbbgdzMtqHhXhbC7Av3caIMmJUTVIkvenf2mSRQvIRs1kBY0pFdc/s1600/donna+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="152" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__cppAU250HOzI_iCRK6WD0lx5oG-w3Q0vh9uOPXBS7HkFTY-61BWu1KcfqgdJp9447Rdau9gIGFTrWjkwLgmPZdTbbgdzMtqHhXhbC7Av3caIMmJUTVIkvenf2mSRQvIRs1kBY0pFdc/s200/donna+-+Copy.jpg" width="142" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">KidLit author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a ‘ninja’ writer of flash fiction, children’s picture books, chapter books, young adult novels and inspirational essays by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> books, and the host of WRITERLY WISDOM, a resource series for writers. Donna is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators and Children’s Book Insider. She is a lover of dark chocolate, going to the beach and adding to her growing book collection.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Contact info:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Email: </span><a href="mailto:www.donasdays@gmail.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.donasdays@gmail.com</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amazon: </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/author/donnalmartin" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.amazon.com/author/donnalmartin</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook: </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/donasdays" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.facebook.com/donasdays</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/donasdays" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.twitter.com/donasdays</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">LinkedIn: Donna L Martin/Story Catcher Publishing</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Book blurb:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-SbQQHe8gxiASsZxmEngVdSIWeCHcBAJteX53jWWKcM0HQ4haRc2vbxfs2vlKoypoiKJK-pp4YwOPyyQknM0y_nk8wdlAJ4mStnppYwji-9kA3NVLRERjRN9NFMj_pZ75ODm4qpfxeo/s1600/HM+Hunting+Gris-Gris+Epub+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="593" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-SbQQHe8gxiASsZxmEngVdSIWeCHcBAJteX53jWWKcM0HQ4haRc2vbxfs2vlKoypoiKJK-pp4YwOPyyQknM0y_nk8wdlAJ4mStnppYwji-9kA3NVLRERjRN9NFMj_pZ75ODm4qpfxeo/s200/HM+Hunting+Gris-Gris+Epub+cover.jpg" width="123" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Amelia Earmouse travels back through time to uncover little known events. You may THINK you know your history but wait until you see what Amelia uncovers in book three of HISTORYS MYSTERIES.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eleven-year-old Emma misses her father who's serving in Europe during World War II. He left behind a treasure box with six secret compartments to be opened during her birthday week. He also told her to watch out for the gris-gris while he was gone. Looking out for swamp creatures and dealing with wartime rationing was hard enough, but now there's a British refugee coming to stay at the house! How will Emma enjoy her birthday and keep her decision to hunt for the gris-gris a secret with a stranger hanging around?
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt;">*****</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>Give-away</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQvy0tk-Ho00o-MPLLyQMQSGoO2A6OvbIN6Vt75wT-C6Sr7s0TAhqPU_3azaI6mnu6yR2zoqW3bh5EcHRyvLKl-bJRiKDj9XNT2thAaLQ0_HkWKPEbjCq-JKBh4uP0oeQCPQW5SJ0Rbs/s1600/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" imageanchor="1" style="color: #ff2a3c; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQvy0tk-Ho00o-MPLLyQMQSGoO2A6OvbIN6Vt75wT-C6Sr7s0TAhqPU_3azaI6mnu6yR2zoqW3bh5EcHRyvLKl-bJRiKDj9XNT2thAaLQ0_HkWKPEbjCq-JKBh4uP0oeQCPQW5SJ0Rbs/s200/Cat+charm+bookmark.png" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="white-space: normal;"><i><br />I (Becky) make metal charm bookmarks. The above picture is just one example of one of my bookmarks. Today's give-away is one of these charm bookmarks. It will not necessarily be the same as the one above as I make them from different charms and different bases on a frequent basis. (I also do themed-ones for specific books.)If you are already a signed-up member of the challenge, all you have to do to be entered into the drawing for today's prize is comment on this blog post. </i></span></span></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-33018788430049217412020-03-14T15:11:00.000-07:002020-03-14T15:11:19.165-07:00Keep Writing Even When It's Difficult #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by Welcome to all and thank you for your visit ! ツ from Pixabay</span></i></td></tr>
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We are finishing up with the second week of writing and moving into our third week now. Writing your story might be getting trickier for you now as you begin to write out the middle of your story. Many writers find this part of writing difficult because the freshness and excitement of starting a new story has passed and they now are having to build more of the flesh of the story.<br />
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What happens if you get stuck once you reach the middle of your story? How can you get past this?<br />
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One way to help you keep going as you reach the middle of your story is to take a short break. Go out for a walk in nature. Visit someone you haven't seen in a while. Go to a park with your family or a local concert. Do something that takes your mind off of your story, just for a little while, and it can have the effect of refreshing your mind and spirit enough to boost your creativity when you return to your writing.<br />
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Another act that can help with your writing when you get to this part of writing your story is to talk about it with someone else. Do you have a friend who writes or reads a lot? Or do you have a partner who will listen as you discuss your story and where you want to go with it? Sometimes just talking about it can help give your muse a fresh injection of ideas. And sometimes, if the person you are talking to tries to brainstorm ideas with you, you can come up with new and novel ways of writing your next scene. I found that, even when I didn't use any of the suggestions someone else gave me, just the fact that I talked about it with them and they tried to help with some of their own ideas helped inspire me with new ideas of my own.<br />
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Another way to help bring you fresh ideas for your story is to write a separate scene for one of your characters. This scene should be a scene that will not be included in the finished story and probably should have nothing to do with the story itself, but it can be a slice of life or some sort of event that happened in your character's past. Sometimes, just writing out this seemingly useless piece of background can help inspire new ideas for that character, either for their motivation or for something that will happen later in the story.<br />
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You can also try and get into the mind of your main protagonist or your antagonist. Answer some questions about them and write the answers down. What are they most worried about right now? What motivates them the most? What bad habits are they struggling to overcome? What do they fear the most? Maybe you can come up with even more interesting questions to ask your characters.<br />
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Good luck with your writing as you continue your stories.<br />
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Happy writing!</div>
Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-66582960922626056722020-03-12T13:37:00.000-07:002020-03-12T14:00:37.909-07:00School Visits as an Author by Adam Wallace #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="color: #191b26; font-size: x-small; white-space: nowrap;">Image by emmaws4s from Pixabay</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">SCHOOL VISITS AS AN AUTHOR!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Writing chapter books involves so many things. Writing them, for starters, it’s kinda important to get that done.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Either you or someone else will illustrate them, maybe, or not, but a cover will be designed, at least.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then the book is created and published and out in the world in some sort of hard copy and/or electronic version.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And this is where the fun begins. Because now it’s time to not only get kids excited about your book, but excited about reading and writing and drawing and books in general! And so it’s time for … drum roll please … school visits!!!!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I mean, you don’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">have</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to do them, but hopefully after reading this you will see that here are 72 gazillion benefits to an author or illustrator doing school visits. I’m not going to list all of them. Just five. We can chat about the rest.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here we go then! </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Adam Wallace’s Top Five Reasons Why School Visits Are Awesome!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. You get to entertain and inspire children</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is number one for so many reasons. This, for me, is why I write children’s books. It’s about the kids. Yes, lots of other people are involved – writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, book sellers, book buyers, dogs that eat books – but in the end it’s about the kids, and what better way is there to get kids pumped about books and reading than to be in front of them bursting with enthusiasm? I can’t think of any. Bribery, maybe?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Your writing will improve</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, it seems kind of strange that presenting will help your writing, but it really will. For example, you get to see which bits of your book work and which bits don’t, and sometimes this can surprise you! You will also get inspired by the energy of the children you present to, which will make you want to get home and write … after you nap, school visits are tiring!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. You get to sell books</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you have self-published, there is a chance there are one or two boxes of books in your house/garage/under your bed/being used as a dining table. The single best way I have found to move books is via school visits. I always give a set of books to the school as a thank you, and then I leave order forms for the children to buy signed copies of the books. Other authors have different methods, but this is the one that has worked best for me.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the years I have sold thousands of books to thousands of kids in schools, and it not only moved books out of my bedroom, but also allowed me to be an author and also also started to generate a following and also also also meant kids were reading which is brilliant and awesome!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. The kids get to meet a real-life author or illustrator</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you’re already their favourite, or maybe they have never heard of you. It doesn’t matter. They get to meet you, ask you questions, hear your stories, create something with you, and get your autograph. Maybe the fact they met you is the one thing that sparks them wanting to read more. Maybe you become their new favourite author. Authors and illustrators in schools get treated like rock stars, because the kids are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SO</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> excited!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">5. You get to entertain and inspire children</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yes, we already talked about this, but it’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SO</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> important. The more great books and the more great presenters and the more great sessions we do, the more kids love reading and creating and using their brains and that can only be a great thing for now and future generations. As authors, we can change a child’s life. Seriously. Our books can do it, but we can do it as well, and when you do a school visit, you’re right there in the coalface. </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">So dig in, and let’s get children pumped about books!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(As a little side/end note, if the world of school visits is confusing and strange and overwhelming and the thought of standing in front of a crowd of kids is terrifying, never fear! I am creating an online course on school visits – How to plan them, get them, and be awesome at them! It will be released around mid-2020 and all details will be on my website at </span><a href="http://www.adam-wallace-books.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.adam-wallace-books.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and on Facebook at </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/adamwallacebooks" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.facebook.com/adamwallacebooks</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> )</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: medium;"><b>About the Author</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeOm0nf06WhClwgVMmyN4gX3Wwqm3_mDPzgRjJmNuFUBm3CrcR8T4O6k_uytF-1Y2Nfy_s_DpmMQuX9DnVxV2pCXwXclg5_mbSwyO4GAwzXc7PPZnrZ2DCLuTWR9KEuWt4uI3sLU9UAI/s1600/Adam+Wallace+Chapter+Book+Author.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; color: #c95f5f; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeOm0nf06WhClwgVMmyN4gX3Wwqm3_mDPzgRjJmNuFUBm3CrcR8T4O6k_uytF-1Y2Nfy_s_DpmMQuX9DnVxV2pCXwXclg5_mbSwyO4GAwzXc7PPZnrZ2DCLuTWR9KEuWt4uI3sLU9UAI/s1600/Adam+Wallace+Chapter+Book+Author.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="143" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px;"><br /></i></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;"><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px;">A qualified Engineer and Primary School Teacher, <b>Adam Wallace</b> settled on <b></b>writing books for children as his career of choice. With more than 20 published, including Better Out Than In and the How to Draw series, Adam is fast becoming a well-known name in the world of children’s books.</i><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px;"> You can find Adam's books at </i><a href="http://www.adam-wallace-books.com/" style="color: #c95f5f; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>Adam Wallace Books</i></a><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px;"> and his Facebook author page </i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/wallysbooks" style="color: #c95f5f; font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><i>here</i></a><i style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20.79px;">.</i></span></span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20.79px;">*****</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20.79px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20.79px;"><b>Give-away</b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; line-height: 20.79px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkF_hyphenhyphenwnZkrcECTHJFJwM6erQcdsIGQCjCEDyUnLps85GMKHIvy8Vaz_wVK_h6HTZ5TxNYEqUlLrpKiHGmcecbUok9MEo0_XJxFTYltPjBlRVKTehCbMMM_duBW2bHcv0kvbBwz5ObKg/s1600/5163tDeiHDL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; color: #c95f5f; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="336" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkkF_hyphenhyphenwnZkrcECTHJFJwM6erQcdsIGQCjCEDyUnLps85GMKHIvy8Vaz_wVK_h6HTZ5TxNYEqUlLrpKiHGmcecbUok9MEo0_XJxFTYltPjBlRVKTehCbMMM_duBW2bHcv0kvbBwz5ObKg/s200/5163tDeiHDL.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="134" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14.85px; white-space: normal;" /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background-color: white; white-space: normal;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;"></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 20.79px;">All you need to do, as a signed-up member of the Chapter Book Challenge, to enter into the drawing for "</span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Magic-Creating-Stories-that/dp/006236717X" style="color: #c95f5f; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly</a>" by Gail Carson Levine </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">is to comment on this blog post. (If you are reading this in your e-mail, you will need to click on the link that will take you to the actual post and then comment.) Winners will be selected by a random number generator at noon on March 31st, 2020 and announced the same day.</span></span></span></span></div>
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5115786557639856820.post-52642412264489195932020-03-07T10:34:00.000-08:002020-03-07T10:49:46.089-08:00When Writing: Use What You Know but Imagine More #ChaBooCha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhI6p5ZEujoQHYBGrp-_PmD3WE4N2Ih3QI6bldbelz-0OzN9SdZ_IfRcewY1e3jycTGEwxL97YqJRSRhrqysGFyz4PTmV20b7N_OYGKzAnX60b0jvjDYWdWhBMvIQuLggQ_59PMK60wE/s1600/writing-3209899+by+mohamed+Hassan+from+Pixabay+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1600" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFhI6p5ZEujoQHYBGrp-_PmD3WE4N2Ih3QI6bldbelz-0OzN9SdZ_IfRcewY1e3jycTGEwxL97YqJRSRhrqysGFyz4PTmV20b7N_OYGKzAnX60b0jvjDYWdWhBMvIQuLggQ_59PMK60wE/s400/writing-3209899+by+mohamed+Hassan+from+Pixabay+.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay</span></i></td></tr>
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<i><br />We are one week into the writing challenge now. I hope everyone is making progress on their stories. I've been thinking about a popular piece of advice that is given out to authors and thought I'd let you in on a little bit of my ruminations on the subject.</i></div>
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<b>As writers, we've all heard the advice to "write what you know."</b> But if you only write what you know about, you'd never have fantasy stories, and mysteries would only be written by detectives. Adding elements of experiences you've lived through or making a character have the same career as yourself, because you know all about how to write about that particular career, seems to make sense. But if you only write about the things you know about, unless you've lived an unusually exciting life, your stories may become bland.<br />
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<b>Using your experiences, which includes events you've lived through and emotions you've felt, can make writing about those things easier for you. But not having gone through a certain event or felt a certain emotion does not mean you can't write about it.</b> If you've been through a heartbreak, you may find writing about it easier than someone who has never experienced heartbreak. But just because you've never experienced heartbreak doesn't mean you can't imagine and empathise with what it would feel like and accurately portray it.<br />
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<b>Although you shouldn't limit yourself to <i>only </i>writing what you know, it <i>can</i> be <i>helpful</i> in your writing. </b>For example, in writing fantasy, you use your imagination to invent entire worlds, so everything is new. But having lived in the real world for some amount of time, you should already know a little about human nature, about interactions between people, about human emotions and about how people can sometimes treat those who are different. Those are all bits of knowledge that can help you as you create your fantasy world.<br />
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<b>What happens if you are writing about something you have no experience with and are not sure how to portray? That's when research comes into play.</b> The Internet is great source for researching about all sorts of things. For example, when my characters are in a city that I've personally never been to, I can use the Internet to search up different things about the city, and I can use Google maps to virtually "roam" about the city and get a grasp on the layout and feel for the place.<br />
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<b>In order to make "writing what you know" easier, you also should read a lot of books. If you read a lot of stories, you will naturally "know" more than someone who doesn't read. </b>Our minds may not be great at retaining minute details about what we've read, but we do retain some general knowledge from what we've been reading, and that includes learning about emotions. For example, all of your children might be alive and healthy, or maybe you don't even have children, but you've read some stories that include grieving parents; if the writing was well done, you've felt the pain those parents experienced while you were reading about it, because we, as humans, have the ability to empathise even with things we have not been through ourselves.<br />
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<b>Writing what you know can help you move your story along, but don't limit yourself to writing only about what you know; imagine more. </b>Human beings have an incredible ability to use their imaginations to create. We can create entire universes within our imaginations. You can imagine more than what you know and write more than what you know, all while letting some of the things you <i>do</i> know feed into what you are only imagining.<br />
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Happy writing!<br />
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Becky Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01595020500346331076noreply@blogger.com10