The Last Post played on violin; lest we forget

Thank you to my sister who sent me the following email she had received:

I had never heard The Last Post played on a solo Violin.

AWESOME!

Having had our ANZAC Day commemorations and memorials,

this Lady felt inspired to pay her own tribute to our brave ANZAC’s,

including both of her Great Grandfather’s.

Sadly, neither of them made it home.

To those who served then and to those who serve now, thank you.

Here is her rendition of The Last Post.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NqHx1CDRQkc?rel=0

LEST WE FORGET

Any comments?

Thank you for watching, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

A champagne rejection

Hello my dear readers and friends!

Lately, I’ve been more absorbed in my own writing so haven’t been posting here on a regular basis. Gosh, it’s hard to do it all! I have an update for you today.

I’m still keeping up in the 12×12 challenge, having drafted a new story each month – January through October – a few of those drafts being very skimpy. A few months I’ve come up with more than one, and I have yet to write a new one for November.

Another part of 12×12 is revision. Each month we are to try to revise a manuscript as well, and they don’t have to be ones we’ve written during 12×12. As long as we are revising one of our stories it’s acceptable. I’ve not kept up in that department, although I have tackled a few.

An added bonus is that we receive badges when we write or revise, so I’ve kept up the monthly drafts for the fun of getting those.

Let me see … my count to date is 20 new drafts and 4 revisions! That’s better than what I did when I participated in 2012 and in 2016. When we reach the end of December we get a place on the winners’ wall if we’ve written 12 or more drafts over the twelve months, no matter in what month they were written. I’m so happy to know I’ll be on that wall this year. My thought right now is that I’ll join 12×12 in 2018 and spend much more time on the drafts I already have, working them into polished manuscripts ready for submitting.

Now, here’s the really exciting part. This week I sent my very first query to an agent I admire. Within two hours I heard back. You may be thinking I’m excited because the agent answered positively wanting to represent me, but no. The reply was full of good advice and suggestions for the story I’d included. That, my friends, is called a “champagne rejection” – and I’d received one on my first agent query ever! I am not discouraged. I’ll try again later after applying myself to the rewrite and looking over my other manuscripts, too. And, a writer friend suggested to keep an open mind because there may be other agents with whom I could have a good working relationship. Oh alright. 😉

I’m also keeping up on reading books when I can. To see my total thus far you can check my “Books I read in 2017.” After adding a book to my list I write a brief review of it in Goodreads where I have surpassed my reading challenge goal of 200 long ago, doubling it, with mostly picture books. Yep! I love to read.

Are you taking writing challenges? Or reading challenges?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂 ♥

Book Review: Kindergarten ROCKS! – by Katie Davis


Title: Kindergarten ROCKS!
Author/Illustrator: Katie Davis
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Date: June 1, 2008
Genre: picture book; age 4-7; Preschool - 3
Pages: 32
Price: hardcover: $16-$23; paperback: $8 - $10.40
My rating: enjoyable, entertaining, encouraging for children

Kindergarten ROCKS! by Katie Davis addresses the fear of many children setting off on that first day of school – the anxiety, the worry, the imagined worst-case-scenarios. Dexter has them all.

Dexter is a little boy soon to start kindergarten. Dexter knows all about kindergarten because his older sister Jessica, who is going into grade 3, told him about it. Even so, he’s nervous about it, or rather … his toy blue dog Rufus is worried about it. Jessica encourages her brother not to worry because – kindergarten rocks! Dexter keeps trying to convince himself it’ll be fine, but he takes Rufus along for moral support.

The colourful illustrations – created by the author illustrator, Katie Davis – contribute to the humour of the story. Example: “When we finally got to school, I couldn’t wait to see my classroom.” The illustrations belie what Dexter is saying because in that scene Jessica is pulling Dexter who is strongly resisting.

Much to Dexter’s relief, he discovers he has a friend from pre-school in his class and he soon forgets to be anxious. There are so many fun things to do that Dexter even forgets where he left Rufus. Then he’s worried for a totally other reason and a search ensues.

Told mostly by Dexter himself, Kindergarten ROCKS! is a story young readers and pre-readers will really enjoy. The illustrations fit well with the words to add to the humour and show the child’s angst which is quickly resolved. The images are bright, bold, uncomplicated, and look as if they were created through the use of Crayola crayons which are depicted on one page. And who doesn’t love using Crayolas?

Kindergarten ROCKS! written and illustrated by Katie Davis is a must read book for young children and the adults who read to them. It’s fun, bright, and reassuring.

You can find Kindergarten ROCKS! – written and illustrated by Katie Davis – on my BUY THE BOOK page. I also post my reviews on Goodreads, and when available on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Chapters.Indigo.

Your comments are greatly appreciated by authors, illustrators, and this blogger. ♥

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂