All posts by NewEngland_Muse

I'm a traditionally and self published author. I write in the genre of children and YA at the moment but working my way up to adults. I'm a sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to my own enjoyment. I love to laugh even at myself. I am also owned by 8 birds and 2 hamsters, and yes they know it. :)

Jasper, Amazon parrot’s latest review:

I posted here recently about hearing from your readers. After that I received a review for volume one of my Jasper, Amazon parrot series. 

Woohoo! What a way to start the day.

Here is a bit of the review, followed by the link.

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Review: Jasper Amazon Parrot

I have raised birds and have talked with many owners of Amazon parrots and all express how talented their avian friends are.

I learned that the background to creating this book was the author looking around her home to see if she could locate anything to write about. She landed on her rescued Amazon parrot, Jasper, and decided to create a book series of Jasper’s adventures.

In this short children’s story, Sally’s eggs hatch. Shortly thereafter, Jasper jumps out of the nest with his brother Willie and both fall to the ground. They are separated for a short time and meet Al. Sally appears and they head back home with her. She exits and they find themselves in a precarious position when ants threaten them. With the help of their mother, the brothers survive and when fully fledged they attempt to fly and plop to the ground again. This is when they come upon a spider monkey named Charlie. 

Mom returns and reminds them of the importance of flying practice. Mom leaves to scavenge and the two brothers report in to their neighbor, Mrs. Peabody. Soon after the brothers begin a thrilling adventure with Charlie and along the way they meet a sloth named George. 

This is a wonderful story about exploration and observation of the nature of the Amazon. I feel the best thing about this detailed adventure is it may help young readers gain a greater appreciation for the most biologically diverse place on Earth.

Link:

https://lorisbookloft.blogspot.com/2024/02/a-rainforest-adventure-jasper-amazon.html

Do you hear from your readers?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Do you ever hear back from people who read your books? It could be in a review, purchasing more than one of your books, or perhaps they tell you whether they like it.

One of my favorite reviews came from a grandfather who told me about his grandson who had read the first volume of my Jasper, Amazon parrot series. He told me his grandson put down his electronic device and started to read. When he finished the first volume, he asked his grandfather where volume two was. It makes me happy.

One will not always get five-star reviews, and you might even get a one or two-star review. It happens. We need to evaluate how to keep going.

Writing for our target audience, whoever they are, must be kept at the forefront of our minds when writing our books. It is so easy to veer left or right during the writing.

Writing for children is hard, or so I have been told. You have to write in a way that is not over their heads or below their intelligence. Adults will read a book, and if they are not a fan of the book, they will still read a bit more to see if they can salvage it to finish the book. A child doesn’t give that kind of commitment. If they don’t like your book by the first few pages, they will look for another one. Parents pay attention to what their kids like.

I had a mother who wrote what her son told her about the first volume of my Jasper series.

My kid: it made me feel happy, calm, and emotional in some parts. 📗🦜🦜

 I enjoy reading this book to my kid.

That made my day, and it still does.

Kids are enjoying what I write. And I try to make sure I always write for the target audience. Insulting your readings by not doing so does no one any favors.

Here is to the next book and hopefully more happy readers.

When do you end a series?: Regardless how many volumes is out

How do you decide when it’s time to move on from a series?

At the moment, I have three volumes in my Jasper, Amazon parrot series, with the fourth one about to be published. I have my Squirrel Mafia series. One is out, while the second is about to be released.

I have many manuscripts to work on, which I know is a thing with writers. Something else in common is having a notebook of ideas to work on. The list will be long, and we will not get to them all.

It is those projects I want to work on.

I need to decide if there is more material I can expand with the series I have out. I already have a list of ideas for ten chapters for a third volume of my Squirrel Mafia series. But I need to decide if people also are interested in reading a third one.

For Jasper, I have received many great reviews and feedback from parents, teachers, and children who have read the book themselves. Do I have material for a fifth book? I am not sure. The series talks about problems with the rainforest. I need to develop a story around one if I can come up with something. For this series, that is what it comes down to.

I have discussed this topic on this site before. Apparently, I am uncertain where it lies.

Hopefully, soon, the answer will come to me.

Until then, I will continue to write.