Category Archives: General

TV Appearance on Dec. 14, 2015

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Beating-Heart-GraphicsI hope everyone is having a fabulous Holiday Season. I know some of you have been following along with my recovery from septic shock, cardiomyopathy, and the blood clot in my heart. I’ve spent the last year working so hard at physical therapy to gain strength back. I have gotten out of the critical range, and have no need to wear the vest defibrilator.

In fact, today is the anniversary of my Not-Dying-Day. A year ago today, Dec. 11, I went into septic shock and cardiac arrest. So, it’s always going to be a day that means my second chance. My second chance to be here and write more books. So, of course, I have been doing that. I have been working on the rough draft of The Lost Secret of Time. I am hoping to complete it and publish next year.

To make things extra exciting with this anniversary, I’ve been invited to appear on a local community TV show called On The Move. It’s a show that helps people tell their story on how they are living and overcoming their disability. This will be their first show on women’s heart health. I’ve learned so much about dealing with heart disease, and I’m excited to be able to share it with others. It will be live on KMVT Channel 6 at 8pm in Mt. View, CA. It also appears on other local cable channels through the Silicon Valley. I’m also noticing things might be listed differently next week due to the Holidays. So, here’s a link for the schedule on their website. Check for the show: ON THE MOVE. Here is a listing for the area:

Campbell: 1st and 3rd Wed. at 6pm Channel 34A TCI Channel

Cupertino: Thurs. at 8:30pm on TCI Channel 26

Los Altos: Thurs. at 8:30pm on TCI Channel 29

Palo Alto: 1st and 3rd Wed. at 6pm on Channel 50

San Jose: 1st and 3rd Wed. at 6pm on Channel 34A

Saratoga: Tuesday at 7:30pm on KSAR Channel 6

Sunnyvale: 1st and 3rd Wed. at 6pm on TCI Channel 29

It will also be uploaded to YouTube to be watched by people around the world. So, I’ll be adding a link to it when it is available.

This is a great way to celebrate being a survivor and spread the word about heart disease in women. There was a lot of things that would have helped me, like knowing some signs something was going on. Shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, dizziness, nausea and swelling in my ankles and hands. I’d get puffy and thought I was gaining weight. These were all signs something that was happening. I thought I was getting older. I’m a teacher. I’m always tired. I have acid reflux. So, my dizziness and nausea I thought was from that. Any angina, that feels a lot like heart burn, had to be my stomach issues.

So, I want to get the word out of what to look for and be aware of. It will be so healing for me to share what I learned and hopefully help others in dealing with their heart disease. I hope you can join me next Monday at 8pm. -Tiffany Turner

 

 

Write Your Own Spooky Story Day 5: Revision and Proofreading Your Story

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Writing Your Own Spooky Story Day 5: Revision and Proofreading

Writing Your Own Spooky Story Day 5: Revision and Proofreading

To Note: This whole activity is available online at my new “Keep On Writing” Online Writing School. It’s set up as a tutorial to allow kids to work at their own pace with more in depth instruction. For more information, LINK HERE!

Welcome to Day 5 of writing your own Spooky Story. Well, tomorrow is the big day, Halloween. And I’m sure if you’ve been working hard all week, you’ve got your rough draft done and ready to polish today. This is when you need to find a partner to listen to your story, and give you some feedback. Feedback is comments about what the person liked, what works, and what might need to be changed. They should listen to and let you know if anything is confusing or hard to understand. I’ve always taught this aspect through the writing workshop process, and often gave my students a feedback worksheet to work with. Below are the questions I would include on the sheet for them to fill out.

Your partner can be an older sibling (brother or sister), cousin, Mom or Dad, Grandparent or even Aunt or Uncle. You can also have your friends work with you as well. Writer’s call this a critique group. We often have a network of fellow writers, or betareaders, that read through our stories and give us feedback on what to improve.

You might also notice I mentioned listened. It’s best that you read your story out loud to your partner. That way, it is easier for you to hear what works, check on how dialogue flows, and how your descriptions read. You can often catch awkward and hard to understand sentences this way.

So, here is a list of questions for your betareader(partner) to answer as they listen to your story:

  1. What was your favorite part? Why?
  2. What would you want to know more about in the story?
  3. Is there anything, words or sentences, that were confusing in the story?
  4. What details in the story stood out the most?
  5. What would you want to see in the next story?

After you’ve had a chance to go over some revision, only then let your partner look over your story for corrections in punctuation or spelling. They are welcome to look through and catch any changes they may find. Then, it’s your turn to go back and rewrite the parts and make changes they suggested. When you’re done, show it to them again. See if they suggest anything else.

Most writers do this about 4-5 times. I know, you think, wow, that’s a lot. As a beginning writer try this at least once. Make changes, and show them to your partner one more time. In the last rewrite, they should probably be less often. That’s when you know you’re ready to copy from a revision draft to a final draft.

When you get to that point, you’re ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow, it’s all about copying into a nice final draft to read for friends and family on Halloween. You’re ALMOST there! Have fun today and tonight! You’re in the home stretch.

Meanwhile, looks like I got my phone working. So, I’m going to try the Periscope Broadcast at 3:30 pm PDT. Look for @Tiffmeister. That’s in about 1/2 hr from uploading this post. So, I’ll be going over the steps the last few days, answering questions you might have, and enjoying any comments you have for me. I would love the feedback. Again, Periscope is an app. that is available on Android and iPhone. I’m sure it’s also on iPads too since it’s in the iTunes store. Just head over to the apps section, type in Periscope, and you’re there. So, hope to hear from you. Until then, happy revising! -Tiffany Turner (Mrs. Turner)

Write Your Own Spooky Story: Day 3 Starting Your Rough Draft

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Day 3 of writing your own spooky story: Starting your rough draft

Day 3 of writing your own spooky story: Starting your rough draft

Note: This whole activity is available online at my new “Keep On Writing” Online Writing School. It’s set up as a tutorial to allow kids to work at their own pace with more in depth instruction. For more information, LINK HERE!

Welcome to Day 3 of writing your own spooky story. Today we’re going to start the rough draft. The best way to start your story is to find a quiet place, and have an idea of what activity your character is doing when we find them. It’s best to start them in the middle of an activity that is important to them, such as being at school, basketball practice, or playing in the creek near their house. Something that would be a place or thing that will lead them to the problem.

Why is this important? Because as a writer, you want to SHOW, NOT TELL your story. You want to have activities showing what your character is about or likes to do, and not just tell your readers. If you tell them, your story is nothing more than just a summary of actions. A story shows the actions and events. It puts characters into problems and lets them loose.

There are two school of thoughts on how to write the rough draft as well. The two ways to write a rough draft can be broken into two groups of people, those that write by having an idea of what the characters are and what may happen, and let the action play in their mind as they write it down. These people are called Pantsers, as they write by the seat of their pants.

The second group are more organized and like to outline or write down the order of events that they want to have happen in a story from beginning, middle to end. These people are called Plotters since they like to have events mapped out.

Either way of writing your rough draft is correct. You could even try the one way that sounds best to you, and if it doesn’t work, switch to the other. It’s good to know which you prefer since it will make it easier for you to write. Personally, I’m a Pantser. I tend to spend a lot of time knowing what my characters are like, and an idea of what they will do. But often I’ve sat down and had the story turn out different, because once I put the characters into the situation I’ve created, they choose to do something else. I love this! I call it being in the zone. I enjoy the story as much as any reader since sometimes I don’t even know what will happen in the end until I write it.

So, think of that action your main character needs to be in the middle of, find that quiet space, and start writing. Don’t worry about how it starts. You can always change it later. Just start. If it’s hard, use the phase, “There I was on a dark and stormy night.” My starting phrase for my posts this week is”Welcome to Day — to writing your own spooky story.” It might sound boring or hokey, but it gets me started. Once you get your brain flowing, the beginning can always be changed or improved.

Tomorrow, I’m planning to try something new. I’m going to be broadcasting on Periscope, a phone app. that allows you to broadcast world wide anything you might be doing from anywhere. I’ll be going through the techniques I’ve posted about the last few days, and taking any questions or comments you might have on your story in progress. Please join me @Tiffmeister on Periscope at 3:30pm-4:40pm PDT. If you don’t have the app, you can download it from the GooglePlayStore or Itunes store for your iPhone.

Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner is a Kindle Unlimited title. Free Oct. 27-31!

Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner is a Kindle Unlimited title. Free Oct. 27-31!

So, get writing! And I’ll see you tomorrow for some one-to-one help and support! -Tiffany (Mrs. Turner)

Plus, for this week only starting today, Oct. 27, my Halloween Tale, Pumper the Pumpkin will be available for free on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Pumper-Pumpkin-Tiffany-Turner-ebook/dp/B005X1CS1A

Write Your Own Spooky Story: Day 1 Free Lessons for your Class or Child

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Write your own Spooky Story this week, Oct. 26-31. Lessons posted daily!

Write your own Spooky Story this week, Oct. 26-31. Lessons posted daily!

Write Your Own Spooky Story

To Note: This whole activity is available online at my new “Keep On Writing” Online Writing School. It’s set up as a tutorial to allow kids to work at their own pace with more in depth instruction. For more information, LINK HERE!

Day 1

This week I’m planning a big treat. Usually, I’d be doing this in my classroom. But I’ve been on medical leave and a sabbatical for the last few months. This leaves me without a classroom for the first time in 18 years. So, I thought I’d take some of my teaching on-line this week for one of my more popular writing projects, The Spooky Story. This week before Halloween, I’ll be posting daily steps for you or your little one to be writing their own Spooky story. I have done this in my classroom for over 15 years, and I’m happy to be able to share it with you during this special creative week when everyone has spooks and goblins on the brain.

Day 1: Build your Main Character

Day 2: Create a Sidekick and Villain/Setting/Plot

Day3: Start the Spooky Story Rough Draft

Day 4: Write your Rough Draft help and guidance

Day 5: Proofread and Revising Tips for your Spooky Story

Day 6: (Halloween) Rewrite and finalize your Spooky Story to read tonight!

Today, we’ll focus on character. Which means, you guessed it, you get to make up your very own spooky character for your story. Think of all those spooky stories you’ve read before, like Goosebumps or Scooby Doo. They all involve a girl or boy human kid that runs into monsters such as ghosts, vampires and zombies. But you don’t have to stop there. You can have your main character be a vampire, zombie or ghost if you want. The important thing is that your story will revolve around this character. They will be the center of your action. So, pick carefully.

Once you’ve decided on whom your character is, it’s time to add all the details that will come in handy while writing your story. It’s called prewriting. You can do it in a couple of ways. You can write a list answering questions about your character or you can fill in a detailed web of ideas about your character. I will include both. You can decide to do one or the other, or both ways. Get as many details as you can. They will come in handy when you work on tomorrow’s assignment, sidekicks and villians.

Questions About Your Main Character:

  • What is their name?
  • Describe what they look like. Hair color? Eye color? Age? Height? Weight?
  • How do they dress? What are their favorite things to go to school or work in?
  • What are their favorite movies, books, or TV shows?
  • Do they have a best friend? Who is it?
  • What about their family? Brothers or sisters? What do their parents do?
  • Describe their school or work.
  • Do they have special powers or abilities?
  • What is their flaw? Do they have trouble doing something?
  • What are they good at?

Special Extra Credit: Describe what is in their backpack or what they take with them always.

Idea Web for your Main Character

Idea Web for your Main Character

Tomorrow, we’ll work on a sidekick and a villain. These two types of characters are very important to help your main character and to cause trouble for them.

Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner is a Kindle Unlimited title. Free Oct. 27-31!

Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner. Treat you child with a book this Halloween.

Plus, for this week only starting Oct. 27, my Halloween Tale, Pumper the Pumpkin will be available for free on Amazon. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Pumper-Pumpkin-Tiffany-Turner-ebook/dp/B005X1CS1A

Until tomorrow, have fun making your character. I’ll see you tomorrow for creating a sidekick and villain.

-Tiffany Turner

Trick or Treat Gift For You: Pumper the Pumpkin Free Promotion Oct. 27-31

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One of my favorite holidays is coming up soon, HALLOWEEN! As a kid, I loved using my imagination to make a costume and trick or treat in the night time. It was also the time the neighborhood would come out and visit with one another. I would see many of the people once a year, and would note the changes from the previous year of trick or treating. I would also meet the new people that moved into the neighborhood. There is nothing better than Halloween to promote creativity and community.

So in the spirit of giving out treats, I’m offering Pumper the Pumpkin, my Halloween picture book free from Oct. 27-31 on Amazon. I first wrote the story when I was in Mrs. William’s class in 5th grade. The original was a path down the road of learning that writing can be fun. I was bit by the bug from then on. I had always wanted to rewrite it and make it available for people. I would get lost in the world of Pumper the Pumpkin, and carve him every year with his girlfriend. Her name changed through the years, but it has finally ended as Mirabelle. It deals with the search of finding where you belong and meeting your destiny. Every year, I would find the right pumpkin to carve and turn into Pumper. I am happy to share this tradition with you and your youngster this Halloween.

To everyone this year, may you have a happy and safe Halloween!

Note: Pumper the Pumpkin is also a Kindle Unlimited title.

LINK TO PUMPER THE PUMPKIN ON AMAZON–Also a Kindle Unlimited title.

World Teacher Day! Share Appreciation With A Teacher Today!

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This year it is difficult for me since I’m not able to teach. I’m spending the year working on getting my health back and writing after a serious health issue in December last year. But I can at least support my fellow educators especially on a day like today. It is World Teacher Day! It’s time to show appreciation for teachers around the world. I know on some days words of appreciation were small gifts to help combat the constant exhaustion, stress and politics that accompany teaching. So, give a shout out for your favorite teacher today. Here is a graphic to show why we need to support teachers courtesy of Grammarly.com:

World-Teacher-Day-infographic

#ISTANDWITHAMED: My Thoughts On The Fear of Violence in School Culture

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How about a new School Culture that is a World School?

How about a new School Culture that is a World School?

I have to say, I don’t usually talk about something so political on my blog. But this story has got me so fired up and thinking, I have to write something. There are so many points of view that affect what happened to the Muslim student, Ahmed Mohamed, that it’s hitting a big nerve with people. In fact, I’m reading so many points of views and opinions, it’s time I threw mine into the ring. Because I seem to be adding to the conversation of many Twitter and newspaper article comments about School Culture. That is a big part of this. It’s the reason the officials treated the clock project with caution. Any school in our country would. That I think is as equally sad as taking it to the levels they did with arresting, finger printing, and questioning Ahmed without his parents.

The fact that school officials and police have to deal with the threat is outrageous in American society to begin with. That is clearly an outrage in itself. I know. I’ve had to deal with teaching children for all most two decades of Lock Down Drills, watching for people that might shoot kids on the playground from hills that surrounded my school, or think of what I’d do if someone should come through the school with a gun. These are things that, when it comes down to it, are more acceptable than the fact Ahmed is a Muslim and a student of color.

School Culture isn’t what it was when I started teaching in 1997. The innocence of American schools has been destroyed. It started with Columbine, when two kids could change the make up of American schools by deciding that their enemies needed to be destroyed instead of dealing with high school in the usual way kids had in the past. Then, Sept. 11 happened. Terrorists won by causing a rooted fear in American society. Distrust is connected with Muslim and Islamic people. This incident shows the 20 years of progression of what American Schools have become.

Who do we blame? I want to say ourselves. But that wouldn’t be right. There were events that living through them, caused the fear. But I do know the progression of the School Culture. And the way the rules are set by politicians and adminstrators following laws to prevent these things from happening again. Truly, Ahmed is not a victim of this alone. We are all victims from the things we are losing from the youth who are affected by it.

I’m an 80s kid. I remember the rebel and radical images portrayed of kids back in the 80s. Heavy metal was going to rot everyone’s brains. Warning stickers were put on albums to protect the innocence of youth. D & D was children devil worshipping. What was to become of society? It’s almost laughable now to what the current young generation has to deal with. Some of those things that were considered bad actually made my generation strong. Maybe with all of this being put into light, the School Culture will be reexamined. But what happens when one kid slips through the cracks, sets off a bomb, and the authorities are blamed for not being tough?

We got to approach this different. But how? I’m at a loss here. It’s hard to suggest a solution with 20 years of attacks on the school system, violence, and terrorist fears haunting most of America. I don’t know if there is a clear answer. But there has to be a start. Maybe what happened to Ahmed could be the start of that; the healing this country needs. I look forward to seeing what this young man will do with his opportunities from this, and maybe it will help future school officials and police to take a step back and think before assuming someone is something by how they look. If they had taken a close look at him, he was so geeked out, with glasses and a NASA t-shirt, he could have been on the “King Of The Nerds” reality show. And talking to his parents would have been a perfect way to handle it than cuffing and fingerprinting him. The fear can’t take us over or the real terrorists will have won. Taking a step back and looking at this situation will hopefully bring change that is so needed in our schools today; looking at kids again as kids.

2015 Back To School Blog Tour Winners: All four giveaway winners announced!

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2015 Back to School Blog Tour: Giveaway Winners Announced

2015 Back to School Blog Tour: Giveaway Winners Announced

I want to thank everyone that stopped by last week for the Back to School Blog Tour. I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback on how everyone enjoyed finding out about new Indie Children’s authors and their books. Now, it’s time to announce the winners of the giveaways. Before I do, thank you to everyone for entering and making this blog tour the best so far. It’s because of you stopping by that made it such great fun.

Now, here they are, the winners:

  1. Tiffany Turner’s Giveaway: Grand Prize $25 Amazon Gift Card

Winner of the $25 Amazon Gift Card: Connie S.

Winner of the Crystal Keeper Chronicle 3 book set: Jo Anne P.

Winner of the Back to School Writing Projects Book:  Carol L.

2) Marilyn Peake’s The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy Giveaway

Winner: Christina R.

3) Lee Winters’s Giveaway: $20 Amazon Gift Card

Winner: Connie S.

4) Rachel Elizabeth Cole’s Rabbit Ate My Homework Book Giveaway

Winner Pending

Thank you everyone for stopping by and joining the blog tour this year. Look for more of the same fun again next year. Same blog channel, same blog station. Until then, take care!

Back to School Blog Tour: Day 5 I’m SO Glad We Had This Time Together & 9/11 School Memory

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2015 Back to School Blog Tour: DAY FIVE

2015 Back to School Blog Tour: DAY FIVE

Welcome to day 5 of the blog tour. I wanted to have a day to wrap up and thank all of the participating authors this week. Here they are again so you can stop by and say a big thank you on their websites. They took the time out of their busy schedules to let me interview them, and for that I’m thankful.

Participating Authors:

Plus, the giveaways are still open. Many will be open on Saturday or the whole weekend. Here they are for you.

Here is a list of the giveaway links for the tour:

  1. Back To School Blog Tour Grand Prize Giveaway: $25 Amazon Gift Card
  2. Marilyn Peake’s Giveaway for The Fisherman’s Son Trilogy
  3. Rachel Elizabeth Cole’s Giveaway for The Rabbit Ate My Homework
  4. Lee Winter’s Giveaway for $20 Amazon Gift Car
New from Tiffany Turner, Writing Projects for the New Common Core. The first 6 weeks of school to start your own writing program.

New from Tiffany Turner, Writing Projects for the New Common Core. The first 6 weeks of school to start your own writing program.

Today is also the day I wanted to reveal my new writing venture. As some of you know from following my blog, I’ve been taking medical leave from teaching due to a heart blood clot and septic shock that occurred last December. I have since had a lot of time to rest my body, but my mind is super active and needs to come out and play. Since I couldn’t teach this year, I’ve decided to start writing down what I would be teaching for writing. I’ve come up with a pretty awesome writing program over my 18 years of teaching. I’ve been trained in Six Traits, the Writing Workshop Format, and was on a writing curriculum planning committee for my district in preparation for the Common Core. So, instead of being upset that I can’t teach, I’m writing all my lesson plans to assist others so they can teach fun writing.

I’ve put together my first ebook, and it is available on Teacherspayteachers.com. It’s on sale now for 20% off regular price through tomorrow. It’s called:

Back to School and September Writing Projects for Common Core

***All lessons are in the Five Step Lesson format with grading rubrics and needed graphic organizers for each lesson. Lessons include the introductory to writing process, paragraph parts, opinion paragraphs, and a final Book Review 3 paragraph essay. With this PDF book, you’ll get all your students on the track for Common Core. It is the first 6 weeks of school to start your own writing program.

***Sentence Frames included in lessons for ELD Support.
***Written to fit a workshop teaching format to differentiate instruction.

neverforget

Many authors have shared their School Memories. Today, Sept. 11, I always think of what it was like to teach school on that day, and the days after.

I remember going to work on Sept. 11, because that’s what those people were doing in the Two Towers. Going to work for the day. I wasn’t going to let terrorists stop me from teaching the children of America, though I admit for days after I watched airplanes flying over cautiously. I had the kids journal about their feelings about what was happening, and told them it would be OK. The authorities had things under control, the airports were closed, and everyone was on the alert. Many drew flags. Many drew the Towers on fire as they had seen on TV in the morning. We’d all seen it. It naturally started as a comfort symbol. Some of the students stayed home that day.

The next day, everyone was in class. Most everyone had been seeing the images. Some of the kids saw images that have been blocked now. I know because it’s the second day that they drew bodies falling from the towers, instead of just the towers burning. We talked about what we wanted to see happen. Many wanted to see the Two Towers rebuilt.

On Friday, there was a moment of silence by the whole school for those that had been lost. In a moment of emotion, I grabbed the class flag and gave it to my line leader to hold as we walked to the center of the school for the moment of silence. Many other classes had done the same. I remember watching him hold it high, proudly for all the kids to see, as we silently remembered what had happened on Tuesday.

And now, I think silently, with a tear welling, about that whole week I taught for this country. It sad to think I can’t do it now from what happened last December. And as I’m writing this the tears are coming. But I’m so thankful I was able to teach that day, and unite with the students in my class for the first moment of silence. It’s a school memory I’ll cherish, always.

To those lost, the firemen and police officers that tried to save them, and to the innocence of the many kids I had to teach in the 5 years after that had memories of the whole event.  I dedicate this whole blog tour. For the education of the future Americans. That’s what we stand for.

Back to School Blog Tour 2015: Day 4 Featured Author Lee Winter

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2015 Back to School Blog Tour: DAY FOUR

2015 Back to School Blog Tour: DAY FOUR

Welcome to Day 4 of the Back to School Blog Tour 2015! If you haven’t signed up for the giveaways, they are all listed on the Back to School Blog Tour page. Plus, there are freebie ebooks available for download listed on the Blog Tour page as well.  Each day, new fabulous items are being added. So keep coming back each day.

Today’s featured author is Lee Winter. 

Lee Winter has just released her first novel in the Free-Range Kids Mysteries series, “Angus Adams: the adventures of a free-range kid”, for kids 9-12. Lee is the mother of two boys who keep her on her toes and provide plenty of material to write about. In addition to writing, Lee enjoys painting and cooking. Of course, she also loves to read but this doesn’t usually happen until she falls into bed in an exhausted heap each evening. Oh…and she somehow manages to squeeze in a day job as a research psychologist in parenting and child behavior.

Lee shares her school memories, writing inspirations, and what she’ll be up to with future projects.

Lee Winter is the author of the novel, Angus Adams: Adventures of a Free Range Kid

Lee Winter is the author of the novel, Angus Adams: Adventures of a Free Range Kid

1) Who was your favorite author, and how did they influence your writing?

Lee: When I was very young my mother would read Enid Blyton books to us at bedtime. I was completely hooked on the Magic Faraway Tree, the Famous Five, and the Secret Seven books. Reading those books allowed for escape into other worlds where adventures could and did happen. I’m now reading those same books to my 7 year old and am quite struck by how normal ‘free-range’ was in days gone by. This really was an inspiration for Angus. So much easier for a free-range kid to have an adventure!

 2) What is your most remembered Back to School memory?

Lee: I still remember my first day at school. Shiny new shoes and bag, clutching my mother’s hand as we all waited our turn for the teacher to greet us and invite us into the classroom. Around me, some children were crying and not wanting their mothers to leave. Me? I just couldn’t wait to get at the books!

 3) Did you have any subjects that were difficult for you in school?

Lee: I was lucky, I loved school and was quite academic so didn’t really encounter many difficulties. That said, once at high school I did find mathematics challenging. Perseverance, setting achievable goals and seeking support when necessary saw me through and I now encourage my kids to do the same.

 4) Do you have a writing routine?

Lee: When I’m not in the office, the kids are at school and hubby’s at work – I write. Housework, errands, and catch-ups with friends are all put on hold. I can do all of those things with the kids around but for writing I need solitude, so I don’t waste a minute of it. Either that or have to get up at 3am for writing time, which is not fun L

5) How would you summarize how writing is for you in one sentence?

 Lee: Writing is challenging, rewarding, terrifying, exhilarating, painful, and completely necessary all at the same time.

 6) What other projects or books are you working on right now?

Lee: I’ve just started the second Free-Range Kid Mystery – “Angus Adams and the Missing Pro Surfer”. I’ve also made the short list for a writing competition which involved submitting the synopsis and first chapter for a kids’ chapter book series (Lochie and the Magic Animal Doctor). Now I have to finish the book!

To find out more about Lee Winter, visit her at:

Her blog: http://leewinter.net/index.php/blog/

Her facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/LeeWinterAuthor

Angus Adams: Adventures of a Free Range Kid is the debut novel for Lee Winters available at Amazon.

Angus Adams: Adventures of a Free Range Kid is the debut novel for Lee Winters available at Amazon.

Lee Winter’s is giving away a $20 Amazon Gift card during the blog tour.
Angus Adams: The Adventures of a Free Range Kid is available for purchase on Amazon. On discount promo for $0.99 until Sept. 15.