Tuesday 27 February 2018

Members only area of the Stories site

I'm working on the members only area of the Stories 4 Children site atm and I'm all out of ideas for things you want only members to have access to.

I've got a forum on there that's free for the members, they will have first access to new sofware at a reduced price, updates to the software for the entire time they are a member, but what else please?

Any and all thoughts are totally welcome - either anonymously or with your name, I honestly don't mind either way, it's your idea's that I want more than a way to identify you!

Whether or not you want to be identifiable, could you reply to this message with your ideas... keep it clean for small eyes though, please!

Thank you!

Thursday 22 February 2018

Review: Master Blacke by Pete Prown


✯✯✯✯ out of 5

There are a few spelling and grammar mistakes littered throughout this book which made me tut a bit and it takes a while for the book to really get going but stick with it and it livens up soon enough.

If you're prepared to keep reading then it's a good read, even though some of the language seems to be a bit... historical?  Victorian?  Olde Worlde?  It doesn't detract from the story but it's far from modern language in several places which might make the readers put the book down and never want to pick it up again, which is why I'm knocking a star off it - sorry!

Wednesday 21 February 2018

YES!!

Been working on my stories site for the last few hours and I did most of it myself... even, with my in-house-geeks help got my new members area navigation bar sorted too!

Just need things to put in there now!  lol

Come on, what sort of things would you want to see in the members area on your ideal writing for children site?

I've got a few ideas of my own, but I'm always looking for more!  What do you want to see more of?  Less of?  What's missing?  Any thoughts gratefully accepted!

A survey especially for boys and men!

I was smacked by inspiration to write a MS aimed specifically at boys, so I've created a survey asking the questions I need to know!

If you are a man or boy and you don't mind filling in a quick survey about weeing standing up, could you fill in this totally anonymous survey for me please?

Thank you so much!

Saturday 17 February 2018

After a bit of a tizzy this evening...

After 12 hours of constant work, I've put the sites in Google and Bing and I've updated the Stories site's navigation.

Got into a bit of an arsey mood with Steve about it, but it seems to be working now, thankfully!

It started off so well :-(

Been trying to sort out the navigation page on my stories site all day and it was going so well... I sorted out the home bit of the navigation and I was really proud of myself.

I'd have gone to bed really proud of myself if I'd just left it there.

I didn't though.

Got too far ahead of myself and screwed up.

Had to get Steve to sort out the navigation for me and apparently now the burger menu bit has disappeared again.

I'm gonna check that the div tag is closed and put replace the code at the top so that it's back again and use the primary thing for the colour, then that's it.  I've had enough for the day now.

😒

Tuesday 13 February 2018

Review: Spirit of the Wind by Yasmine Hamdi


✩✩✩✩ out of 5 

This is a good book, told from the first person viewpoint, about an American Indian tribe.

Be prepared to lose your lunch in the last few chapters when the author describes an infected wound on the leg of one of the characters though!

I could swear I'd read this book before, but I don't think I have.  If you're an MG or YA reader who is interested in Native America then have a read of this book.

It starts off slowly but ends happily ever after... just have a couple of tissues nearby if you're an emotional person and don't eat much in the last few chapters if you don't like gross descriptions of infected wounds!

Sunday 11 February 2018

And it's all planned out as of now!

Varik's parents have just disolved into purple goo that Varik and his partners are stirring with one of their limbs.

That's it until March now when I'll attempt to write the 80k words in 40 days.

5 down, 10 left to plan today!

Varik has just met his four partners and they are all going to a pizza place to talk through their concerns about the loss of all the parents so that they can create the next generation, or if they should keep the parents alive and not create a new generation.

What will Varik and his four partners decide to do?

Saturday 10 February 2018

20 chapters planned today!!

It seems to be a 'thing' with me that the later it gets, the more creative I am.  I struggled to plan 5 chapters all morning but I've done 15 since I had me lunch!

Only 15 left to plan then that's it finished and ready for me to start writing in March!

15 chapters planned today now

Apparently 100k is too long for YA, so I've cut it down to 40 chapters instead of 50, so that means I'm over half way through the planning now.

Just planned out the bit about how VarikChit was created and how come he's got a sister too as well as why nobody on Thraag has grandparents.

Gonna plan out a few more chapters then head to bed and hope that I have another creative day tomorrow.

12 chapters planned today

Considering it was a really slow start and I stopped for lunch too, I've managed to plan out 12 chapters so far today.

Gonna plan out 2 more then take me pills and any more will be a bonus after that!

In about 7 hours, I've planned out double what I'd planned out since I finished JanNo!  Not bad going by anyone's standards!

Tuesday 6 February 2018

Review: The dragon of the month club by Iain Reading


**** out of 5
O
M
G

What a truly awesome book!  I read it start to finish in 1.5 days and it quickly became a favourite when the author got into his stride.

There are a couple of typo's at the start and a couple of swear words about half way through but they just add to the character of the book.

This is the first in a series and I can't wait to read the next book.

It's fantasy, just gentle fantasy and a great introduction for 9-12 year olds who want to read something different to their usual genre.  Just be aware that you won't get your head out of the book after the first couple of chapters!

A definite must-read from me!  I'm only knocking off the star because of the first couple of chapters being slow to start and introducing characters that are only mentioned in passing throughout the rest of the book and because of the two swear words, but if you can put those to one side then this is definitely a must-read!

Sunday 4 February 2018

It's amazing what I achieve at night! lol

Been trying to work with a dooberry on my stories site that's with Namehog and I got confuzzled with it, so Steve put his geek hat on for me but it confuzzled him too.

I did a search for forms and surveys online and found a couple of free places that were easy to work with (Jot Form for the application form and Google Docs for the survey).

They are both sorted and online now so they are other things I can cross off my to do list!

Gonna have honey sarnies in celebration then head to bed I reckon!

Friday 2 February 2018

Survey's on my stories site...

I'm pondering on putting up survey's on my stories for children site and just want some feedback about what I should/shouldn't ask and where to put the survey's and stuff.

I will never ask for your name on any of the surveys or your age or anything like that.  The most identifiable info I'll ask is if you're a member of the site or not.

I've got a few questions popping up for the members area, but do I restrict the surveys to members only or do I open the surveys to the public area too?

What sort of questions do I ask on the public site and what do I restrict to the members only area?

It'll only be me that sees the survey questions unless there's a legal requirement to release the information I hold to the police or whatever but considering I won't have any of the respondent's names or ages or genders, so I don't know how I would know who had said what.

Do you want me to provide surveys asking for details of non writerly stuff too, or should I not be so nosey?

Would you want information about courses and books and things like that or not?  How about links to places I'm a member of and ways that you can get free books in exchange for a review?

Melanie has already reviewed a few books on the public site... would you want more reviews in the members area?  Links to other books for children that you can get on Amazon?

I'm totally opening this up to you... I want your ideas of things you want to see on the site and non-identifying information you would be willing to give on surveys.  What about affiliate links and stuff so that I can get a few pennies for things I've recommended?  Should I be honest about the money I'll be getting or should I just link to the things?

Come on, peeps!  I genuinely want your thoughts on how I can improve the site!!  I'd prefer you to reply to this message but you don't have to give me your name if you don't want to... just your initials are fine!

What do you want to see on the public site?  What's missing online?  What sort of thing should I put in the members area?