#AmWriting, #BetaReader, #BlackSummer

On By Teri PolenIn Miscellaneous

I tried something new to sell books this past weekend – I had a table at an arts/crafts fair.  I didn’t sell many books (it turned out to be a cold, rainy day), but I met a very friendly 8-year-old boy who stole my heart.  The second he saw my books, he ventured over to check them out.  He’s really too young for YA, but I asked what he liked to read, and he said adventure stories.  He told me he was in third grade, and always hurried to finish his school assignments so he could read his books – said he’d be happy if they’d just let him read all day instead of giving tests.  I wanted to hug him!  Don’t you wish more kids had such a love of reading?

Book 3 (still no title yet) is going well, and I’ve got a beta reader waiting for me to finish it.  I met her in one of my book clubs, and she loves YA.  She’s also not afraid to give her opinion, and has a strong sense of what works and what doesn’t in books, and that’s exactly what I need in a beta reader.

Speaking of Book 3, I’m going to have a contest to name a character.  I saw another author mention this, and thought it sounded like a fantastic and fun idea.  Not only will I use the name, but the winner will also be mentioned in the acknowledgements – and I need to get this put together really soon.  Right now, I’m calling this character ‘X’ – just as creative as ‘Book 3’, don’t you think?  My creativity is astounding.

I haven’t really watched much this past week, except for a couple of episodes of Game of Thrones.  I’m almost finished with season 6.  Black Summer, a new series on Netflix, looks interesting.  All I know is it involves zombies, so you know I’ll be checking it out.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

38 thoughts on “#AmWriting, #BetaReader, #BlackSummer”

    1. I would have loved it if my sons felt that way, Yesha. One will read when he has time – he’s busy with school, so I really can’t complain. The other will only read if it’s a Sports Illustrated magazine or something related to working out.

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  4. I’m narrowing down a title for one I’m 55K words into. Sometimes the title comes first, sometimes it needs romanced out a bit. I also tend to change character names here and there. You’ll come up with something awesome, I’m sure of it.

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  5. Yes, I do wish more children were that enthusiastic about reading. Not just because I’m a children’s author either. 😉

    Hey, as long as the name and title are figured out before you publish, it’s all good. The contest to name the character sounds like a fun idea though.

    I’ve read the Game of Thrones books, but haven’t watched the TV series. I couldn’t get in to it when I tried. Although, how much I enjoyed the books makes me want to try again with the TV series.

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    1. And your books are a perfect way to get kids hooked on reading, Tori – I still think about the Vinnie the Vegetarian Zombie book you featured for Bad Moon Rising, lol.

      I have to trust my subconscious to come through with the title, I guess, and I’m excited about the contest. I would have loved to name a character in some authors’ books.

      I haven’t tried the GOT books – they’re doorstops! That’s awesome you’ve read all of them.
      Sometimes with high fantasy, I do better with movies than books. Have a great week!

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      1. My books are for older kids too, so you could always grab a copy of Vinnie the Vegetarian Zombie for yourself. 😉

        I’ve been involved in character creation in some form with other authors twice. One time I won the chance to name and create a character for an author’s book, and the other time I got a character named after me. The first was in an actual contest, and the second was an author who had several characters to name, couldn’t think of names, so posted on Facebook to ask his fans to volunteer to have a character named after themselves (you obviously had to be one of the first x number of people to jump in there to be included).

        It took me a couple of months to read those books, even with not being well at the time, so spending most of my time reading. LOL!

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      1. We read to her a lot. One day, she wanted to read to me. She did, but I assumed she had memorized the book. Then I came home with a new book and she said she wanted to read it. I was trying to explain why she wouldn’t be able to when she started reading it to me. She had just learned to recognize words and bits of words, and was reading. Never stopped.

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        1. You must have been so proud! With my youngest son, in first grade, we were told he was behind in reading. After working with him throughout the year, I had him reading at a fourth grade level. My kid behind in reading? Not happening.

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  8. Oh, I’d love chatting with that little boy. I was like that in school and wish more kids were.

    I’m looking forward to your character contest. I never did a contest, but I did polls for both characters and book titles in the past. It was a lot of fun 🙂

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  9. My older son was like that. He is 16 now and he doesn’t read much during the school term as the workload is significant. He reads a lot during the holidays, sometimes most of the day. Michael also reads but he is social and won’t put it ahead of socialising. Well done on Book 3, Teri.

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  10. My daughter was an avid reader also. She knew all the nursery rhymes before preschool. She is still reading a lot. She read to her daughter – my granddaughter from day 1. My daughter tried to record the words my granddaughter learned and recognized in the books. Se couldn’t keep up. My 18 months old granddaughter’s favorite thing to do is reading. She picks books after books and gives to us to read to her. She also reads to herself quietly and I videotaped it.

    You’ll name your character soon.

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    1. That’s wonderful, Mirium! I have a young niece who seems to be headed in the same direction. The last time I saw her, she brought me a book and plopped down in my lap – I loved it.

      And thanks for the encouragement!

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      1. You’re welcome, Teri!

        It’s great when young children love to read. We can encourage them by reading to them. It’s so easy to be busy and miss the opportunity.

        My granddaughter is doing the same thing, She pulls out a book, walks toward us when we sit Indian style. She gives us the book, turns around and sits in our laps. She does that again and again for many books.

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