Tag Archives: Books

Author Sharon C. Williams, Bird, Jasper Amazon Parrot

Jasper’s bio

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JasperI have had a lot of people ask about Jasper, http://tinyurl.com/p34thhb, prior and after purchasing my book. So I have come up with a small bio that I hand out to them concerning his royal greenness.

Jasper T. Williams was adopted in 1999 at the age of five. His first owner, an army soldier, either did not properly research how to take care of a parrot or her time in the service kept her from doing so. Jasper was held in a cage the size meant for cockatiels for the first five years of his life.

When he came home it took him 3-4 months before he would even come out. We made a promise to him that he would never been locked up in his new home. He would have the freedom to come and go as he please in reference to his cage.

Jasper is a yellow cheek Amazon, or the more popular term a Red Lored. They are native to the tropical regions of the Americas. They can live up to 80 years old.

The song that is written in my first book, “Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure” is one I wrote for Jasper. As of today he has four songs written especially for him by me.

His favorite foods are any kind of potato. This can include the French fries, hash browns, mash or broiled. He loves spaghetti and if it is a green vegetable he will love it forever. If it is a fruit he will try it. His favorite is watermelon.

His favorite shows are Spongebob,Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo. He has the good sense to not like Scrappy Do. His favorite channels are Discovery, Nat Geo and Cartoon Network. He loves when his dad plays the harmonica and loves to sing with us and at us. He loves it when my mom speaks French to him. He hates squirrels and small bugs.

Here is the link to our channel on Youtube.

http://tinyurl.com/qxz8769

One of the videos list his song and how it should be sung.

Author, Author's showcase, Sharon C. Williams

Authors showcase

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Two days after I arrived back from Maine was an authors showcase at the headquarters library in my area. It was something you had to apply for however the librarians asked me to join and so they kept me a spot. Nice to know people, right?

I made sure my items were ready prior to leaving on my trip so that way I wouldn’t be in such a rush when I got back. There were 37 authors that showed up with the thunderstorm that made its way for this event. Consider it was pouring heavily, the amount of people who showed up to support us was impressive. Readers rock, we really do.

With my last name starting with a W, I was the last in the row. Fortunately, my table mate was a sweet retired history teacher and we talked during the event. I did sell a couple of actual books. But what I really enjoyed was being able to talk about my book, Jasper and how it came about.

When I told a particular lady about how half of my birds are rescued she grasped my hands firmly and said thank you and said again thank you with tears in her eyes. She gets it. There were so many bird lovers in the crowd that I got lost in the moment and forgot that I was there to showcase my works.

For a free event I received the following:

-I made a new friend

-Sold some of my books in print and digital

-Hung out with bird lovers

-Practicing being out to show my works( Something I need practice in)

-Added some people to my newsletter

-I am sure I am leaving some stuff out

This is a yearly event, my first one, and it went very well. I had a great time and I believe my husband did as well as he talked to most of the writers and took loads of pictures. In fact someone said to him, “You look like someone who has stories to tell.” After which the man said he would like to collaborate with him on a book. I thought that was awesome.

Next year I see me doing this again, perhaps with a better understanding of what I should do. I suspect I will still be at the end, Steve will still be my table mate and we will have two hours talking about writing.

What a great win.

 

Authors, Reading, Writing

Defending my authors

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jamesPatterson

I read a lot of books and will collect them from authors I adore. The list includes James Patterson, Stephen King, Bentley Little and Agatha Christie. I am always on the lookout for a “new” author to discover and enjoy. At the moment it is Jason Pinter. My bookcases are pretty tight. I have six bookcases, four in my office, one in the sun room and one in the garage that I have to make room for. I won’t even bring up how many my husband has.

And while I love the authors above, it goes beyond that. I will defend them against people who belittle them. They and I have a loving relationship as I refer to them as James, Stephen, Bentley and Ms. Agatha. As many as I own, some the entire collection, I feel I have earned it.

Not everyone agrees with the choices of books I treasure. That is okay, everyone has different taste. However there are a few writers in my writing groups that have sneered at Patterson and King. My friends know, even if they agree with the sneers, to not bring this up with me. I will stop mid-step and look at them. They know I am gearing up for an argument.

The remarks have been that they are relics and they are not great writers. This last reference was to James. I explained that his style was more along the lines of story telling which is not an easy thing to do successfully. But my words have always fallen by the waste side.

I tried a different approach now. With them being writers who are trying to make it big, I say this instead, “When you become as successful as King and Patterson, then we will talk. When you can command the contracts they have, I will sit down with you and we can compare notes. But until then, I don’t want, no that isn’t right, I won’t hear of it.”

That tends to slow people down. I try my best to not belittle authors that are out there. Whether I like their writings or not is really a moot point. They are doing what they love and being a success at it. Who am I to toss darts? They are doing what I am trying to do. For me, I say more power to them. Congratulations. Hopefully I will get there where we can have a round table discussion on the writing. Until then to the writers who belittle the ones doing it well, I say back off. And only come back when you are in a position to talk.