Homeschooling --- Yay I didn't ruin my kids!!

We homeschool...

Immedinatly you get either an oh cool, or do your kids have friends, look. 

When I first started out teaching at home, I used to feel the need to justify my reasons, like public school was not a good fit for my autistic son.  They thought it was a good idea to hold him back three years in a row. Or my daughter liked reading more advanced books than they thought she should. And the other biggie, we didn't like doing four hours of homework every night. Needless to say public school did not fit our family, we tried, we really tried. 

I had people telling me I was nuts, we weren't qualified, or the granddaddy of them all, our kids will be social outcasts. 

We made the leap anyways and started this incredible journey. Was it easy, heck NO. Year after year we made adjustments, fixing and tweaking things until we graduated our oldest.  Suddenly I no longer felt the need to justify my decisions because she landed a huge (Yeah $52,000) scholarship at her university. Family members who used to shake their heads at how sad our kids' lives were, now wanted to know what we did. Seems we might have done something right. The hard work we poured into them paid off. Our kids had some manners, loved learning, and actually wanted to go to church with us.

Since then our son has graduated high school. College isn't the right road for him, but he is working full time and I'm so proud of him.  Pretty awesome for a kid the school said should be in first grade for three years, apparently the school did not understand Aspergers. 

That leaves us with one at home and she's a busy bee. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us.

Are my kids perfect, NO, was I a perfect parent, a resounding NO, but our efforts have yielded some fantastic results. 

All of this got me to thinking... 

I actually didn't screw up my kids. Woooh big pressure off my back. HARD work does pay off. But more importantly all those prayers for help, God did answer! He gave me three pretty awesome kids and I'm just glad to have spent the little bit of time we had with them.   

1 Corinthians 9:26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.

***Okay clarification time, cause many of us moms can beat ourselves up over this.--- Homeschooling isn't for everyone, not everyone can and should do it.  AND there were times I sent my kids to public/or private school because I thought it best for that year. As I've said before, you know what is right for your kids! Now go be awesome parents!!!

Blurb for THE LAST STORED:

After the sudden death of her parents, making it through the day is a struggle for Amber Megan Peel. In the midst of her grief, an exquisite bird perches on her garden fence and shows her visions of a vivid landscape and a dark lord slouching upon a throne.  She thinks the visions are tied to her sorrow. But when a boy flies through her kitchen window to tell her she’s the Last Stored, she wonders if she’s just lost her mind.

Cree of Din is tasked with one job: Bring Amber home. For seven years, Cree has trained as her protector and it is the ultimate responsibility. Failure means Amber’s certain death, and that’s not an option for Cree – especially since he’s falling in love with her.

The Returning has begun. Now all Amber and Cree have to do is enter Tali, a world of unimaginable splendor and equally unimaginable horror, and defeat Lorthis. If they can’t, not only will Tali plunge into darkness, but so will Earth.

Available January 6^th 2015

You can find The Last Stored here:

Amazon

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Twitter:@SoniaPoy 

Pinterest Board for you Novel

Today I thought I would talk about Pinterest and creating a board for your book.

But before I do that, I promised I would share a little about my up and coming book The Last Stored, which will be published through Anaiah Press  January 2015. Currently I am knee deep in edits, woozier, am I enjoying myself, trying to soak it all in, learn, and apply.  I can already tell a vast improvement, and I can't wait to share it with you all!  So what is my book about?

Blurb:

On the night eighteen-year-old Amber discovers a spoken letter from her dead parents, she also didn’t expect a boy to fly through her kitchen window. Her small-town life is forever altered as Cree explains he’s a Windrider, charged as her protector and tasked to bring her home to a different world.  

Amber was one of three children stored on Earth by The Light because they held the power to control the book of secrets. They were kept safe from the evils of Lorthis, who cursed their land and turned the people into his mindless slaves. The other two children were murdered as they returned home. Cree can’t let this happen to Amber, the last Stored. Only she has the power to close the book sealing Lorthis’s fate, but to do so Amber must come face to face with his wickedness. His touch might corrupt her soul forever. If they fail, Lorthis won’t stop with the destruction of their home, his depraved disease will bleed to Earth as well. 

Okay, now let's talk about Pinterest! 

I have been using their site for a while and I love it.  I keep a board up for each of my books I am working on, keeping it secret until I am ready to share. If I see a picture that applies to my writing, I pin it.  What do I pin?

1. Book covers that I like which might work for my book.  
2. Characters - I had one character in particular who I couldn't for the life of me picture.  I scoured the web until I found just the right image and after that he leapt off the page for me.  He quickly became one of my favorite characters. 
3. Places - This is great for world building. Seldom do I find a picture which meets all my ideas, but I usually pick and choose what I like. 
4. Textures - for example, just seeing a picture of leather can cause my mind to think about how it feels, smells, or the way it looks.

So why don't you give it a try, you will be surprised how much you enjoy it and how much it really grows your writing.  If you want to check out by board you can do so here: 

The Last Stored Board

Everyone take care and Happy Writing!

Cover Reveal for In The Rearview

Maria Ann Green has been such a writing gold mine for me. We met on social media and boy I am glad we did. She has helped me out immensely and I am so excited to share her cover reveal with you today: 

Blurb: When Meagan’s secret is found out, and she realizes there is no way to outrun her habit of cutting, she tries to work through it, and her depression, before she cuts too deep, making a mistake that can never be undone.

Meagan's problems aren't like every other adolescent's no matter how much she wishes they could be. Hers are worse. They've pulled her down into the depths of a depression that is anything but normal. She begins her pattern of self-harm as her depression threatens to drown her. She starts with one cut that leads to the next, and the next. After starting, it's apparent that there's no stopping, and Meagan spirals into a dark and cruel world she doesn't understand. Meagan cuts to feel better, but that comfort doesn't last long enough, and soon life is worse than it ever was before.

While learning to quit cutting Meagan faces life-altering obstacles and grows up in the process. IN THE REARVIEW is a story of pain, loss, confusion, and hope told through Meagan’s poems, journal entries, and a splash of narrative.

Release date: August 19th, 2014 

Maria Green currently lives in Minnesota, despite its bitter winters, with her husband. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and a minor in English. When she isn’t writing, Maria loves to read with a cup of strong coffee or a glass of sweet wine, craft, and spend time with her family. This is her first published novel. 

You can find her here: www.mariaanngreen.com

Or here: www.mariaanngreen.com/blog

Way to go Maria!  I can't wait to read it!