Keep Kids Reading This Summer with our Kid’s Fire Tablet Giveaway!

(Posted on Wednesday, May 27, 2020)

Written by Author, Misty Black

We want to help motivate kids to read this summer, so I’ve teamed up with 4 other authors to offer you a chance to win a Kid’s Kindle Fire Tablet. Plus, everyone who enters will receive all 5 eBooks FREE. Details below. ENTER TO WIN HERE

As an Amazon Associate and Amazon Influencer I earn from qualifying purchases. You can count on me only recommending products which I know and love!

Let’s learn more about the authors in this giveaway.

Misty Black is a best-selling children’s book author and mother of three. She wrote Can Quilliam Learn to Control His Temper? and Punk the Skunk Learns to Say Sorry. Her focus in her Punk and Friends Series is to help children learn the social skills needed to navigate their big emotions. You can follow Misty on social media by searching Misty Black Author. The third book in this series, Brave the Beaver Has the Worry Warts focuses on helping children deal with anxiety and worry. It will be released next month.

Lauren Mosback is both a children’s book author and a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is the award-winning author of My Sister’s Super Skills, the first in a series of books that introduces children to important coping and wellness skills that increase their self-esteem. Lauren lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three young children. She loves adventuring with her family and strives to continually learn, grow and write!

Dr. Brie is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Arizona. She specializes in strengthening the parent-child relationship. Dr. Brie has presented at numerous conferences, workshops, and conducted trainings around the US. She is the author of I Will Always Love You.

Lauren Jumrukovski is a licensed school counselor turned blogger at www.theysayparenting.com and author of They Say, Not Your Average Parenting Book.

Her book is a firmly guilt-free guide for parents and parents-to-be focused on intuitive parenting and on the emotional side of being a parent. What works for one parent may not work for another, and that’s okay. Every child is different and there is no one right way. “They Say” is full of ideas for navigating the hearsay and common parenting tough spots, but reminds parents to feel confident in the decisions they make for their families. Through heart-felt, funny, and relatable stories, readers will see that we aren’t alone in our feelings and experiences.

April Cox is an award-winning author and founder of Little Labradoodle Publishing. The Little Labradoodle series of six books include two picture books and four coloring/activity books. “My goal is to provide beautifully illustrated books with characters that kids love while re-enforcing core values in a way that is fun for the whole family. Her award-winning Puppy Pickup Day can be found here.

As you can see, this is a great line-up of authors, counselors, and mothers who truly care about your children. So don’t just enter because you want a free tablet (which I know you do😉) but join in because you want your child to grow up to be the best person they can be.

Click on the King Sumo link here and simply enter in your best email to join. Plus receive extra entries for sharing (all details included in the link).

Ends 5/29 at 5 PM EST. Awarded at 6 PM EST. Final results will be emailed. No purchase necessary. Not affiliated with Amazon.

Happy Reading!

To learn more about me and my blog, check out: About Lauren

You may also enjoy: 30+ Fun Craft and Activity Ideas for Kids with Household Items or My Author Journey: Writing My First Book

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My Author Journey: Writing My First Book

(Posted on Thursday, May 16, 2019)

Here is my journey in writing my debut parenting book, They Say, Not Your Average Parenting Book

For the full synopsis and to preorder now: Mascot Books-They Say

My Dream

Although I always knew I wanted to help people, I didn’t always imagine myself writing a book. My eagerness and passion to help was one of the main reasons I went to college and graduate school to become a school counselor. I just didn’t know that my help would one day be in the form of writing. 

When I became a mom, I felt a lot of emotions—happiness and joy but also a tremendous amount of guilt and a lack of patience. Being a new parent is beautiful, a miracle even, but it was hard. I kept hearing all of the things I SHOULD be doing—and I wasn’t doing. This made me question myself. This is where my dream was born! I felt driven to share my feelings with other parents out there. I thought, Am I the only one? Are others feeling this way too? Maybe it will help to hear that they aren’t alone.

So I started to write about the crazy parenting experiences, the joyful experiences, and the downright hard experiences. It was therapeutic to write and get it out on paper. Many times I cried while writing, or while reading back my stories. In the end it helped me navigate the world of parenthood, and I hope my book, my end result, will help someone else in this way too.

My Process

Many people ask me, how did you write a book with three kids? Honestly, I just took my time. I mainly wrote during nap times. It took me about three years to write and another year or so to edit and publish. It’s like my fourth baby. I put my passion into it, I cried tears over it, and I believe in it.

My Hopes

My hopes for this book are that reading my story can help other parents feel less alone and to help them be confident in the way they decide to parent. After all, I strongly believe, no one knows what works for our children and families better than US! 

They Say is a guide from baby through the preschool years which provides lots of ideas, but also encourages parents to trust their instincts. I strongly believe that there is something for everyone in my book. I touch a lot on dealing with “mommy guilt,” about self-care as parents, and on staying positive and believing in ourselves, with lots of reminders that there is no such thing as perfection and this is OKAY!

My Fears and Reservations

I have personally grown as a result of writing this book. I have had fears along the way.  There are plenty of reservations when you put your whole life out there on paper for all to read, but I have learned how to push past them. Reading my stories, writing about the way I feel as a parent, and focusing on all the things I have learned has helped me grow in more ways than I could have ever imagined. This book is uncensored, honest and full of the feelings and emotions I’ve experienced so far in my parenting journey. To be fully transparent, one reservation is that I worry of what others will think of the book and about me… but, I believe in the end it’s all worth the risks if it even makes a difference for one person. If it even helps one person see they aren’t alone, if it even helps one person see they are worth it, if it even helps one person feel more confident in themselves as a parent, then I have succeeded. 

I wish I had a book like this when I was pregnant and when I had my first child. There is so much advice out there that it gets overwhelming. A book like this would have helped me see what to expect from the view of a mom and to know that even in my worst and hardest moments, I wasn’t alone.

If you are writing a book, or writing in general, and you are experiencing road blocks, fears, or reservations, remember this: 

Don’t let your surroundings define you. Don’t let what others say or think prevent you from going for your dream! There is a reason that passion landed in your heart.

Remember: You can thrive no matter your environment. Don’t ever question whether you are “good enough,” “bright enough” or whether you have enough resources to do something. If you want something bad enough, you CAN make it happen.

I leave you with a quote from Aristotle, “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”

Order They Say- Not Your Average Parenting Book today by clicking here and you’ll receive your copy as soon as it hits the warehouse—well before it’s available through Amazon and B&N!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest and subscribe to my blog to be the first to hear about book updates and events. 

Learn more about me and my blog: About Lauren

You may also enjoy: I Wrote a Book! Here’s How…

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Author Interview: James Breakwell

(Posted on Thursday, November 1, 2018)

I had the true pleasure of interviewing James Breakwell, comedy writer, father, and author. His new book, Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child, is coming out next week! You may be one of his combined 1.5 million followers on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If not, check out his pages. He’s totally relatable in this parenting world… and hilarious too! I am so excited to share this interview with you. Tell us about your family. I have four kids, ages eight and under, one wife, age don’t ask, and one pig, age two. How did you end up with a pig for a pet? My dad used to be a pig farmer, so for years pig ownership was my highest goal in life. My wife forbid me from buying a pig, but I found a breeder who would give me a pig for free if I could get them enough likes on social media. I asked the internet to help me exploit that loophole and endanger my marriage, and a week later I had a pig. We’d love to hear about your journey which led you to your social media platform. I started out blogging, but I could never gain a following. After years of futility, I switched to Twitter and things finally took off. It turns out people like me, just in much shorter bursts. Too bad I write books. Is this something you always wanted to do or did your plans change somewhere along the way? I always wanted to write comedy books, but I ran into a lot of dead ends before I got there. I thought I would work my way up through journalism, but I quit almost right away. Then I tried blogging off and on for years, but that also lead nowhere, which seems to be my favorite destination. Finally, in 2012, I joined Twitter and started to gain some traction. I wasted years of my life there until I went viral and landed some book deals. Mission accomplished, I guess. What are the goals behind your brand/ platform? Now that I’ve already written books, my only other goal is to steal the Declaration of Independence. Don’t tell Nicolas Cage. How do you consistently come up with content? I’m unable to cope with the world like an adult, so I turn everything into a joke. Also, disasters are good for material, and my kids give me an infinite supply of those. What do you like to do when you’re not on social media? Eat. Sleep. Think of ways to steal the Declaration of Independence. What is something not many people know about you? I once ran 43 miles in a day. Now I prefer to sit. My life is better for it. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? If I had to do it all over again and pick something other than writing, I’d be a web designer. Or Godzilla. Maybe both. What made you decide to write parenting books? I built up an audience with parenting jokes. It seemed like a bad time to pivot to a book of yodelling lyrics. Tell us about your first book. My first book was Only Dead on the Inside: A Parent’s Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse. So far, no one who read it has died in a zombie attack. The book really works. You have a new book coming soon, Bare Minimum Parenting: The Ultimate Guide to Not Quite Ruining Your Child. What inspired you to write this one? Can you tell us a little bit about it? I kept seeing news articles about books teaching parents how to overachieve, so I felt like there needed to be a counterpoint. No matter how hard you push your kids, most of them end up being mediocre adults. Super moms and dads are working themselves to death for no reason. It’s okay for parents to take it easy. Laziness saves the day. Was there a chapter which was harder than the rest to write? The whole book was hard to write because it’s 50,000 words of jokes that had to make a coherent point. My first book was much easier to write. For that one, I just took regular parenting and added zombies. But for my new book, I actually had to think. It hurt. A lot. What motivates you/ inspires you? I’d love to be able to support myself solely off books. That’s a hard point to get to in 2018. But if everyone who reads this interview buys 100 copies of my book, I could be there tomorrow. No pressure. Who is your mentor? I’d like for it to be Nicholas Cage, but he won’t return my emails. I guess he wants the Declaration of Independence for himself. Does your family support your career as a writer? My kids are generally unimpressed by anything I do, but that’s just part of being a dad. My wife is on board because it keeps me out of trouble. Every hour I spend writing is an hour I’m not stealing national historic documents in elaborate heists. Did you face any challenges when you were just starting out in this world? Did you ever question yourself? I question myself every second of every day. But I don’t answer myself, so I just keep going. As for challenges, it’s hard to get noticed on the internet. Success and failure can seem entirely random. And sometimes they are. Are you feeling inspired yet? How long does it take you to write a book? The total process from the day I write the first word to the day it shows up in stores is about a year and a half. But only about six months of that is intense writing. The rest is revisions, marketing, and researching the security measures at the National Archives where the Declaration of Independence is held. How do you manage to get it all done (Being a parent, a writer, managing your social media accounts, your webcomics, your YouTube channel)? What did I miss? Any secrets you can share with us? You know that time-turner Hermione Granger uses to go back in time and take two classes at the same time? Well, it’s not real. The only secret is to cut out other things in your life to make room for writing. I cut out fun. And sleep. Do you have any advice for new authors, aspiring writers, bloggers? Write. You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t put words out where other people can see them. You better love writing because you will likely do it for years for free before you make any money at it. Also, don’t steal the Declaration of Independence. It belongs to me. What are common traps for aspiring writers? Procrastination. Too much time dreaming and not enough time writing. The laser grid that surrounds the Declaration of Independence. If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be? Don’t write jokes about stealing the Declaration of Independence. It will get old after the first few questions, but by then it will be too late to turn back. What has been your favorite part of your journey so far? Getting to the point where people actually pay to read my jokes. There were many, many years where I couldn’t get people to read them for free. When and where will your new book be available? The book is available November 6th at most major internet and brick-and-mortar retailers. You can also find it here: http://explodingunicorn.com/bare-minimum-parenting/   If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy: What Does It Mean to Be a Parent? or I Wrote a Book! Here’s How… To learn more about me and my blog, check out: About Lauren

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