Guest Post and Giveaway with Nancy Stewart, author of Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in Nancy Stewart's Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage Virtual Book Publicity Tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.

About Nancy:

Nancy is the bestselling and award winning author of the four Bella and Britt Series books for children: One Pelican at a Time (eighteen weeks on Amazon Bestselling List), Sea Turtle Summer, Bella Saves the Beach and Mystery at Manatee Key. All are published by Guardian Angel Publishing.

One Pelican at a Time and Nancy were featured in the PBS Tampa special, GulfWatch. Pelican has won the Literary Classics Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite Five Star Award and was nominated for a Global eBook Award.

Her travels take her extensively throughout the world, most particularly Africa. She is US chair of a charity in Lamu, Kenya, that places girls in intermediate schools to allow them to further their education. Nancy is a frequent speaker at conferences, including the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

She and her husband live in Tampa and St. Louis.

CONNECT WITH NANCY ONLINE:

Website | Blog |Twitter | Facebook

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Nancy! 

Nancy has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her.

What in the World do You Authors Do All Day?

I am asked this question more times that one could imagine. For those of us who write full-time, the answer is simple and complex: We work all day long!

My day has become, by fiat really, divided into three segments. The first begins about 6:15 in the morning. Still dark. House quiet. Coffee brewing. Cat ready to jump into my lap for a hard day’s writing.

My attention turns to housekeeping issues. Emails from two accounts, facebook, Twitter, Google Circles and my blog. Several years ago, none of this existed for me but email. Today social networking has big teeth and is crucial to an author’s professional life. If I’m lucky and efficient, all this can be finished by around 8 AM—unless it’s a gym day, when things get pushed back by an hour.

The second segment of time focuses on actual writing. I am best at “being an author” if I’ve warmed up with other tasks but am not too tired. This is when being in the flow occurs. When nothing is in my mind but the story at hand. When I am squarely in my protagonist’s (or antagonist’s) head. When nothing else matters but moving the story from here to there. What a good time of day it is when the magic works. Sometimes it doesn’t. Mercifully, most of the time it does.

The third part of my professional day is decidedly not my favorite, and sometimes I skip it. That would be marketing. There was a time not long ago when authors didn’t have to do such things. Not anymore! Today one must talk with bookstores, visit schools (which actually I love), do signings at various locales (fun, too, come to think of it). Hmm. Maybe I dislike the idea more than doing it…

The evenings will find me with my laptop in front of the TV, which I usually zone out. It’s then that I’ll be sure my next blog is ready to post later that evening, my calendar is up to date and coffee’s ready to brew. Everything at the ready for 6:15, quiet, coffee, cat…You get the drift.

I can be brought out of the flow at:

Web Site
Blog Site (Love new followers)
Twitter
Facebook (Love new friends)

Thanks so much for joining us today, Nancy!

One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of children's novel, Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage.

All Katrina Simpkins longs to be is a normal girl. Because she must wear prosthesis as a leg, she feels anything but. When she meets and befriends Winter, the tailless dolphin, at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, everything changes, including Katrina’s whole life.

Buy Links:
Guardian Angel Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

To enter the giveaway, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below. 

This giveaway is open to Canada/US addresses only until 12:01 AM EST on May 31, 2012.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Tour Participants

Monday, May 14^th
Book review at The Children’s and Teens’ Book Connection

Tuesday, May 15^th
Book review at BookZone

Thursday, May 17^th
Guest blog at Writing and other ways into the heart

Friday, May 18^th
Book review at The Crypto-Capers Review
Radio interview at Stories from Unknown Authors at 1 PM Eastern

Monday, May 21^st
Book review at This Little Book of Mine

Wednesday, May 23^rd
Book review at Reviews by Molly
Book review at A Year of Jubilee Reviews

Thursday, May 24^th
Guest blog and giveaway at Darlene’s Book Nook

Friday, May 25^th
Book review at 4 the Love of Books

Friday, June 1^st
Book review at Thoughts in Progress

Monday, June 4^th
Guest blog and giveaway at Thoughts in Progress

Tuesday, June 5^th
Guest blog at The Hot Author Report

Wednesday, June 6^th
Book spotlight at Broowaha

Thursday, June 7^th
Book trailer feature at If Books Could Talk

Friday, June 8^th
Guest blog at Acting Balanced

Monday, June 11^th
Book review In the Hammock Book Reviews

Tuesday, June 12^th
Interview at Blogcritics

Wednesday, June 13^th
Book review at The Once and Future Librarian

Friday, June 15^th
Book spotlight and giveaway at The Book Loving Busy Mom’s Daily
Book review at Home School Book Review

TBD: Interview and giveaway at Café of Dreams