Inspiration in Uniform by Dona  Mularkey is a very inspirational book. This book reflects the life of military members intermixed with life stories of Dana Mularkey.
 
The book is broken down in chapters with inspirational quotes from famous people. Each chapter ends with Internet resources dealing with the military and Veterans.
 
The chapters are not long at all. This is an “easy read” that is well worth the buy. I bought the book at the Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. conference bookstore where authors attending the conference can place their book in the store for purchase by participants of the conference.
 
Dona states in her book “Some days I realize the small blessings I receive for which I forget to give thanks. These small blessings we often take for granted and often fail to recognize we live lives with so many blessings.” (Mularkey, 2013)
 
This book was so helpful to being inspired by the many great stories of military life. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to read more about inspirational military stories.
 
Dona goes on to state that this book is “windows into every day lives of our warriors.” (Mularkey,2013). She shares her experiences as  a professor at a college dealing with the military on and off ships. Dona  taught math to the military members.
 
 Her previous experience before being a professor was in the aviation industry so when she became a professor, there was some common ground on discussions with the officers that flew some of the planes she worked on.
 
 
I would give this book a five-star rating. I highly recommend this book for military and non-military alike.

Some of the other books I am reading are:

​​MARKETING IS AN ONGOING PROCESS:
 
Many times, authors are at the risk of not knowing how an event might go. It can be risky times in which one event might be a successful time of selling your heart warming books, but the consumer has other ideas about buying a book the next time. So, to combat that, I stay busy marketing with passing out my business cards, swag, and having conversations that may lead to a sale or future reader for my books. I might even end up with a contact for a future event, school visit, daycare visit, or a previous customer who comes by to see me.
 
 
FRIDAY NIGHTS IN THE PARK
 
This was very evident in two of my Friday Nights in the Park that I have attended and at two bookstore events. These events are typically for two hours at a time.
 
 
My Friday Nights in the Park events are a terrific opportunity to have a visibility in the community that I live in. This event usually lasts from May to September.
 
Sometimes, there are also unique events held at the park that I also attend to further my mission. The event usually brings lots of crowds to the local area.
 
Visibility is so important that you need to be present at events so that your name and books can be at the forefront. The community needs to see a face with a book.
 
My relative who lives in another community passed on to me that she met a person who goes to Friday Nights in the Park. The person mentioned that they remembered meeting me at the author table I set up there.
 
I give out “pickle stickers” to represent my book, “Nicoli Picoli.” Apparently, the children like getting the stickers when they go to the Friday Nights in the Park, so they always want to go to get them from me.

​BOOKSTORES GALORE!
 
My first bookstore event this month was at a bookstore. I had a low turnout. I did read to one child though. I was also able to meet a lady who announced to me that she was pregnant. She asked me to dedicate a book to “My future baby.” I have done this dedication before in the past which I thought was kind of cool.
 
Then, I spoke with another person from Texas who had some similar interests as I do since I also used to live in Texas before who wanted to buy my book for his nephew. This happened to be my first military book, “Did You Come Home for Lunch?” The dad also worked on C-130’s which happens to be on the front cover of that book.

​During the next book event, I was participating with three other authors who have written nonfiction, romance, and mystery. Then, I was promoting my children’s book fiction book, “Eli’s Shenanigans.” The attendance of customers was low in the bookstore due to graduation activities and possible severe weather coming to the area. So, most of the time all of us authors collaborated on our writing career.

MARKETING SUCCESSES
 
 
This month like all others has been all about marketing. This month is special because I have been recorded reading “Eli’s Shenanigans,” been on a podcast called, “Trauma to Triumph” (all about military Veterans) recorded for a podcast review of the writer’s conference and am looking forward to being on a podcast next month.
 
 
I have learned from my mentor, currently reading my mentor’s book, and reading books that I got at the writer’s conference to learn more about being an author, especially about marketing. I was also in an international kids’ magazine called, “Kidlio Magazine- www.kidliomag.com. 
​

​Finally, I am currently working on a new book which hopefully will be done in June 2025. Then, the marketing for that book will be in process. This will be my 12th children’s book. After that, I have book 13 which will start with the illustrator in July 2025.
 
This is the day in the life of a children’s book author. It is rewarding, fun, and challenging but with great determination and heartfelt stories, I will prevail with my faith always remembering that “I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me.” (Philippians 4:13). I even have a shirt that has this verse.

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES:


So, I follow the advice of many different inspirational quotes as well:
 
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. Confucius
 
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club” Jack London
 
“Only those who risk going to far can possibly find out how far one can go.” T.S. Eliot
 
“Life is a journey. When we stop, things don’t go right.”  Pope Francis
 
“Success is the sum of small efforts-repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier

Being an author since 2020 and publishing my first book in 2021, I began to think about how to distribute my books in different kinds of formats. So, I tried to begin the process of creating e-books, Kindles, Audibles, Nook, and libraries. As you may or may not know, doing an Audible and creating a Kindle can be time consuming but worthwhile.
 
Because technology is advancing so much, readers need the options to explore Audibles, e-books, and Kindles in a variety of ways. I think this really depends on how a reader likes to see the print or hear the story on Audible.
 
As you are reading a book, an Audible that goes along with the book can sometimes be helpful. If you choose not to do this, just reading it in a book or listening to an Audible is fun. I listen to many different Audibles as I am a passenger in a car a lot.
 
So, I have a variety of different ones that I like to listen to such as biblical, history, and other types of interesting Audibles that suit my fancy.  In my opinion Audible must have an outgoing personality for me to listen to or I go to sleep if the Audible is too mellow or monotone.
 
With creating my Audibles, I choose to work through parents and have a child read the books for me on Audible. Narrators charge by the number of words that are in the book so the process can take a long time with the recording, the author’s approval timeframe, and Audibles quality control process.
 
For e-books and Kindles, I believe that there are many readers who choose to go this route rather than a print copy. Through technological advances, a reader can use an app, websites, e-book readers, and digital e-book libraries on the computer with e-book to display on a screen. I also have books on Nook that can be read on those devices as well.
 
Finally, I began the process of getting some of my books approved in local and out of state libraries by contacting the developmental offices of each library system that handle purchasing the books for the library. Once approved, your books will be in the library for checkout. This is just another method of getting your book out in the library.
 
I have listed below some of where a reader can find more of my books from e-book distributors, Audibles, Kindles, and at libraries that I have books in currently. This list is not all inclusive since I am still working on creating more opportunities for readers to receive my books in different formats.
 
 
 My E-BOOK SITES:
 
SOME OF MY OTHER BOOKS IN E-BOOKS:  
 
-Babbling Betty
-Did You Come Home for Lunch?
- I Was Just About…
- Living on A Military Base
-Rules, Rules, Rules !,
-The Problem Is
-The Toilet Paper Caper of 2020.
-More to Come !
 
Distributors:
 
Amazon
Apple
Baker and Taylor
Barnes and Noble
Borrow Box
Cloud Library
Everand
Fable
Find Away Voices
Gardners
Hoopla
Libby
Odilo
Overdrive
Palace Marketplace
Rakuten Kobo
Smashwords
Tolino
Vivlio
 
AUDIBLES:
 
-Did You  Come Home for Lunch ?
-Rules, Rules, Rules !
-I Was Just About…
-The Toilet Paper Caper of 2020
 
 
Kindles:
 
-Did You Come Home for Lunch ?
-Living on A Military Base
-The Problem Is…
-Rules, Rules, Rules !
-Babbling Betty
-The Toilet Paper Caper of 2020
-I Was Just About…
 
 
Libraries:
 
LIBRARIES:
 
Florida Libraries –
Okaloosa County Library-
https://readokaloosa.org/
 
Santa Rosa County Library-
https://www.santarosa.fl.gov/975/Library-System
 
Oklahoma Library
Metropolitan Library System-
www.metrolibrary.org 

This week, I had the opportunity to relax at the Home Away From Home Community Center for Veterans. During the week, I usually go several times a week. This center caters to only Veterans of different services. While I am there, I have great opportunities for health, wellness, and personal growth. The director , Kimberly Richardson,  and her amazing staff do a great job of taking care of the Veterans.
  
There are so many activities that you can get involved in like arts and crafts, bible study, dominoes, cards, and lots of other fun activities. You can play pool, Pacman, and participate in Bingo. Sometimes, the center will have a local barbershop to cut your hair. Meals are also provided for Veterans.
  
There are also special activities like Father’s Day events, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and other special day on which a party is held, and different food is prepared differently than the food on the menu. Birthdays are also celebrated with pomp and circumstance.
 
Bingo is my favorite activity. According to research on the Internet, Bingo was created in 1929 by Edwin S. Lowe, a Brooklyn toy salesman,  (The History of Bingo | Back Then History ). He was observing a game called, “Beano” when he got the idea to create the Bingo game. Beano used beans and markers making it a precursor to Bingo as far back as 1530 in Italy. (The History of Bingo | Back Then History ).
 
 I seem to be somewhat anxious when I play Bingo. I guess you could say that I am extremely competitive. Since childhood, I have always been that way, so I am trying to tone this down somewhat. I was a “high achiever” in youth with in some ways as being a “perfectionist” which is something on which I am working. When I was in high school in Composition 1, I would write compositions at home. If I made any mistakes on the paper, I would tear up the paper and start over.
  
During Bingo, we are allowed to use two cards except when we do the game of Blackout. We play straight bingo, double bingo, kite (four corners and a diagonal together forming a kite), small diamond around the free space, large and small picture window, form a lazy “T” ( form a “T” in different directions to include upside down) , pick numbers bingo, form an “X”, and Blackout. Usually, I get more chances at a Bingo on a “Blackout” since many winners can win during this time. Usually, four to five bingo winners are usually the case.
 
When you win, you get monopoly money that you can use to go shopping in the local award shop in the facility. They have all kinds of different items to choose from like snacks, hygiene supplies, electronics, and household items.

The best part of it is the social interaction. I am a social butterfly with so much of my characteristic being an extrovert. During the time I am there, I make my rounds talking to me. When I am not socializing, I participate in stretching exercises and movies. There is so much to do at this center.
 
 Many of the Veterans are from different branches of service, participants in wartime and conflicts, and from separate times of service in the military. I am truly in awe over the sacrifices and stories these people share with others. I am proud to have been part of the Air Force and Air Force Reserve.
​

This past weekend, I attended the Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. Conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The conference began with a cool skit to open the training sessions for the weekend. This skit included one opposing person reading a script of negative thoughts on the left side of the stage and one positive person on the right side of the stage all near the main narrator (author) . When the negative person reads bad thoughts, the positive person cheers the author on with pom poms and encouraging thoughts. After that, the narrator (author) introduced the weekend sessions by mixing all the instructors and sessions in songs and narration.

​​My first session on Friday I went to was “Taking Out the Mystery of Poetry.” I needed this session since I do not often write poetry. When I authored a poem, I was not sure of all the ins and outs. The instructor mentioned that poetry is an economy of expression for connecting personal to universal connections and personal growth. Poems should be accessible, meaningful, flexible, and emotional. What poetry is not is a dissertation on emotion. Also, using literary devices like metaphor, simile, and imagery is important. One of the websites that the instructor mentioned was:  https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry 
 
I was so excited when I met another author in the poetry session that remembered me as a  previous guest speaker for the Oklahoma Christian Writers. I   received some positive feedback from the author that I did an excellent job as a presenter. I mentioned this was my first author guest speaker opportunity, but I have been on author panels.

​After this session, I was interviewed by some podcasters asking a little bit about my author’s journey and how I liked the conference. I believe the clip will show up in a future podcast release.
 
Next, I went to work at Basket Wars which is where authors donate a basket of books and swag for an auction . The money from the auction helps with scholarships to the conference. I won a “one day conference” scholarship. The scholarship recipients are required to work at the Basket Wars station.

​I then attended “Improving/Creating Blurbs and Keywords.”  One thing I learned was the blurbs should be no more than 150 words on the back of your cover of your book. Then, I began to think about how my upcoming book cover description should be. So, I have some work to do on getting my next blurb ready for my upcoming book. During the keyword part of the training, the instructor said that the keywords on Amazon are designed to be about 50 words for each keyword. I mentioned to the attendees that sometimes if you put too many words in the keyword blank, it can be too much especially realizing that the reader may not want to put that many search words in the search line on the Internet as long keywords. So, limiting to a couple of words can be better in one keyword blank.
 
A lawyer and publishing company CEO held another session that I attended called, “All the Legal Smeagle Staff Writers Need to know” where discussions were about intellectual property, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, copyright laws, and ISBN’s- 13-digit identifiers for identifying a book and e-book. A question that was answered related to getting a copyright for your book. The question was “How long is a copyright for?” Death plus 70 years. The instructor mentioned that it is not necessary to get copyright from the copyright office, but it is necessary to have the copyright symbol on books you publish to include drafts to protect your work. For more information, go to www.copyright.gov .  Also, it is free to get a Library of Congress Control Number.
 
During the session on “Book Launch Success: Marketing Strategies for a Successful Release,” the instructor asked us to assess our strengths (what we are naturally good at), what is your target audience, and needs for authors such as a website, newsletter, and a launch community.

The night rounded out with the Famous Author’s Banquet. I was recognized for putting out a blog on the Five P’s of a Successful Author (purpose, passion, persistence, patience, and possibilities) , my published book, “Eli’s Shenanigans,”  and two published works in two anthologies called “Flights of Fantasy” (Night-Light! Night-Light poem), and “Visions” (Poor Pluto Story).

On Saturday, I learned about the “Business of Freelance Writing” which discussed keeping track of expenses and income on your business. There are a lot of programs out there for keeping track from printed ledgers to online programs like QuickBooks, Excel, and other similar programs.
 
All the sessions were great but I liked “The Art of Hustling” which really broke down the word “Hustler” as an acronym for Honing (Know your Niche), Unconventional (Think outside the box), Simplifying (Be intentional), Timing (Seize opportunities immediately), Learning (Stay in the know), Engaging (Network, Socialize, and Collaborate), and Recharging (Relax, Reflect, and Reward). I had the most fun with this presentation. The instructor later sent me a Facebook post stating, “Mark, thank you for attending the Art of Hustling ! You’re a natural!”

​Saturday night rounded out with a banquet with some authors dressing up as different characters like superhero’s, gangsters, 40’s and 50’s, and other interesting costumes. After the costume contest, the writing contest winners were announced. There were over 700 entries in 37 categories. I entered three categories but did not win. That is okay. Now, I can prepare for next year’s contest.
 
I am super excited about attending next year!

This month is called, “Month of the Military Child.” Why is it called this? It is a celebration that was established in 1986 by the Defense Secretary to recognize and celebrate the military child. According to the Dept. of Defense website (https://www.defense.gov/Spotlights/Month-of-the-Military-Child/),  “there are over 1.6 million military children.”  
 
Military children deal with issues related to self- esteem, making friends and having to leave, adjustments, living sometimes out of country, separation from one or both of their parents being deployed (being gone for long periods of time from months to even years )  and many other issues that relate to the life of a military child.
 
There are some benefits of military life for a child though in that the child has experiences that many other children never get to do like traveling around the world to new overseas bases and living on a military base (sometimes which is like a giant city with some or many amenities depending on the location).
 
Lately, I have been seeing a lot of videos about homecomings where the military parent stops at the child’s school and hug them after the parent has been gone for a long time and return from their deployment. Many times, it is a total surprise. The videos are very emotional in that they touch your heart. It goes to show you how emotional and difficult these times are for military children. The reunions though are priceless. At the same time, you begin to realize how rough life can be for a military child.
 
               As a former military member, my children had to deal with the life of a     dependent. As I was never a military child, I cannot relate to that life. I can    tell   you though as a young   boy, I did move around a lot so that part, I can   relate to.
             
               I moved to an area of Florida so many times that I went from one   elementary school to another every grade from 1st grade to 6th grade from   one city to another. It is extremely hard to make   friends when you know that    you must move. I even moved from Florida to   New Hampshire. Check out    my book, “Brains Over Brawn” (https://a.co/d/fXuGhQv)    which talks about   the issue of moving and adjustments.
 
              With the onset of technology like video calls, it has made it easier but not the   same as in person. However, it is extremely helpful. Many parents use this  form of communication but letters, post cards, and phone calls are often                                        used too. Imagine that your mom, dad, or both have been gone for a year. That    is a long time for a child to have to deal with absences.
 
 I began my journey by writing several military dependent related books. One book I wrote was “Did You Come Home for Lunch?” (https://a.co/d/858eaf1 )     which talks about what a three-year-old military   dependent says when his dad comes home.
 
Then, I authored a book called, “Living on A Military Base”   (https://a.co/d/7xZbbCk )  which is a book that    explains from a military dependent what it is like to be a military dependent. The boy is telling the story from his perspective to a non-military child what it is like to live in a foreign country as well as living on and off a military base overseas.
 
Another book that I wrote talks about moving which is “I Was Just About…”   (https://a.co/d/eoTvK1y ) . This is a story about a boy who is happy that he has friends, home, and school friends but he moves which turns his world upside down. Now, he is given encouragement that everything will be okay with new friends, new place, and lots of room in his room of his new house.
 
 One book I would highly recommend is “I Move A lot and That’s Okay “by Shermaine Perry Knights (https://a.co/d/aKjNF8y). This is about a boy whose mother is in the Army who moves to Italy and how they deal with their experiences moving overseas. I really enjoyed this book.
 
 As a former military member and now a Veteran, I love being a part of the Month of the Military Child. This is the second year that I have participated in Month of the Military Child Celebration. Last year, I was at the Proclamation Party which was so much fun with the whole room covered in purple props, purple t-shirts on staff and military dependents and families with their purple shirts on, and lots of purple items throughout the event. There was a lot of music and some fun events that the military parents and their children participated in.
 
I had the opportunity to be a part of this fun event giving out 77 books out to military children. Each parent was allowed to pick one of my books for their children that I signed for them.
 
This year, I was able to give out over 121 books to military dependents at the “Month of the Military Child- Purple Up at the Zoo” I also had the opportunity to participate in the introduction line of staff clapping for the entrance of the military families and their children as they came into the zoo. I had wonderful conversations with the children when they came to my table after they went through the zoo. My table was right inside the entrance to the zoo.
 
Since this is how I   first started in the author business as a Military Veteran and the fact that my children were military dependents, I wanted to give back to the military families. 

​I had a blast working at an author booth at Tinker Air Force Base Exchange. Since this is the Month of the Military Child, I like to celebrate this month by doing venues that relate to this theme. Like I said in previous blog posts, you must find your niche. Since I was in the military at one time, my children were also exposed to me doing my duty to the Air Force, and duty to country while having a family which included duty to my family. I have authored several books that relate to this month to include “Did You Come Home for Lunch?”, “Living on a Military Base,” and a future military book coming this year. 

​​My next venue was attending an Author Showcase at Belle Isle Library in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At this event, there were over 20 authors or more highlighting their books and genre with over 175 people attending. Another author friend, Makenzi Fox, was in attendance. We both write children’s books. I also got to meet up with many other author friends from Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, authors that I have done events with, and a publisher that I hope to sign on with this year to publish another military book.

​My next venue is Month of the Military Child event at the OKC Zoo. I look forward to participating in this event for military children. Then, this month, I will be recording “Eli’s Shenanigans” on another Indie Read Aloud, will be a guest on a podcast about trauma and triumph, and am currently collaborating with an illustrator on my newest book for this year. Finally, I will be in an upcoming magazine and another author who is also a publisher will interview me in June.

I promise that this is not an April Fool’s joke.

So, I have not been blogging lately due to sickness most of February and March but nevertheless, my mind is still whirling around with stories. I was supposed to go to a book festival but that did not happen. While I was in the emergency room, as you know you must wait a long time, I wrote some future stories and finished another half of a future story I plan on doing with another children’s book author. Why not! The hours just seemed to be forever, but I tried to make use of the time.
 
The cool thing about this trip that I could not go on due to sickness was that the coordinator, Tony Dalhous, which was nice enough to order my book for the event. This was amazing since it was only two days before the event so I was not sure the coordinator would get the book in time. This book that I was supposed to read there was “Nicoli Picoli”. The book did show up and the coordinator had an intern read my book at my normal designated time to be a reader.
 
After being sick for some time, I did have some good news. My video from Facebook from Read Across America is downloadable for me since Facebook is deleting videos after 60 days.
 
Then, I registered for an upcoming Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc Conference where I submitted all the books I have written, the stories in the anthologies I submitted, and a personal blog. This was for the Famous Author Presentation. Another part of the conference is the Writing Contest in which I entered a published book and some unpublished manuscripts for review and possible award. I just will not know until May banquet which is on the second night of the conference. I was so excited that I won a “one day conference " scholarship. I just had to pay for a second day. https://www.owfi.org/
 
Another turn of events, I did not win in the national portion of the National VA Creative Arts Festival. Only three winners won in Oklahoma City but not in Creative Arts. There were over 6,000 entries I think from Veteran’s Administration Clinics and Hospitals. The results came during late January.
 
Next, I put my book “Nicoli Picoli” in the Oklahoma Book Award through the Oklahoma Center for the Book. This was very competitive since only 38 out of 177 entries were nominated.
 
My philosophy is that I still enter contests. Of course, it is nice to win. However, If I did not, that is okay too. At least, I tried my best.
 
During this past week, I have been interviewed by Diana Kathryn Penn, a Michigan Author. The interview just came out on Facebook. The questions were fun to respond to. I really appreciate this opportunity given to me.
 
My next couple of months will be busy besides my appearances at different venues, I will be doing an Indie Read Aloud of “Eli’s Shenanigans” on YouTube, will appear in a magazine spread for kids, and was approved to be interviewed in June on a podcast by Quill Hawk Publishing. I think I have another one scheduled in August this year with a different podcast.
 
In the meantime, I am working on two children’s books with two different illustrators. One book is in the works now which is a fourth-fifth grade book through my illustrator of “It Happens”! and “Nicoli Picoli!”, Iris Davydenko. I should get some sketches back this week.
 
Then, my next book is a second-grade book which will be illustrated by Allison Vandenbosch (artful allie on Tik Tok). I hope to have both books done during the fall. For the fall, I will be hopefully working with a publisher to publish my third military story for children.
 
If it all works out, my fourth book to work on this year will be collaborated on with another children’s book author. My creative juices are still flowing since I have some other stories, I wrote that will be hot off the press between January-March 2026.
  
So, I am back in the saddle for more fun adventures and venues this year. Stay tuned for more!

 I have been contemplating the issue of literacy rates in elementary schools. There is concern that there are students who are behind in their reading levels. This is overly concerning in that literacy is important in childhood as it is in adulthood.
 
I love it when I hear or read a story about how literacy rates are doubling. This week, I just saw an article for this. It is wonderful that the school district near me has increased while in fact doubling last year’s reading scores in testing.
 
Increased awareness of this issue is the key. Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, teachers, special guest readers, book friends, and any other person who is reading with either their child, another child, or children, or relative, I say “kudos to you.” 
 
Encouraging children to read while actively participating with them will only increase their knowledge and reading levels in the future.
 
I am deeply fascinated by all the resources the library has to offer. Recently, I was at my local library realizing that there was so much information and resources that are being put out to help readers. The librarians do an amazing job of staying on top of literacy.
 
You can check out read along with the book devices, books on audio, e-books, and other neat resources. I even saw at one library, theme related plastic containers for activities that can be checked out. Check your library for kits with different themes.
 
Stopping by your local library weekly can help your child to explore the world of books. Find out what his or her reading interests are. Let the child explore so many different subjects to read about like space, mystery, history, sports, and other types of books.
 
As an author, I do send some of my books to the library. The other day, I saw several of my books in the Metro Library in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
 
When I have been to Florida in my old hometown, I did pop in to see my books in the library where I was staying during the week of the Books by the Bay Festival in Pensacola, Florida. Many of my books in the library are also e-books that can be checked out. I do not have all my books in the library, but I do plan to send in requests to put more of my books in the library. These three libraries have some of my books. So, check them out.

Encouraging your child to not always read the same books over and over so as not to memorize them is a good start. Choosing a variety of books and resources is much better.
 
Experiences at home to encourage literacy are a good start as well. For instance, have your child read a recipe card with you, game instructions, looking at a list, or even asking your child to look at an ad in the paper to see if your child can tell you some key details like “What is the phone number to contact?” Where is the business located? What kind of ad is this?
 
Another idea is to have your child, look up movie times online to find out when a particular movie is showing at a theater. Having your child look at shopping lists or any kind of lists will help with their literacy skills. Real world experiences are the best.
 
Find an old phone book or address book for your child to locate an address for a business and phone number or a friend’s number and address in your address book.
 
When you go to the library, use the online library catalog to find a subject, then have your child write down the Dewey Decimal information and locate the book on the shelf.
 
If you are working on sight words, there are so many activities that can increase your child in knowing the sight words. Usually, a school will choose the Dolch List or the Fry List.
 
Children will have fun with activities that help them with these words rather than just memorizing. For example, you could buy a sight word bingo game, flashcards, scrabble game using the list to make words, drawing the word in the sand activity, sight word games online, and picking a few sight words and perusing through a book to several pages to look for those sight words.
 
In addition, try highlighting with sticky notes every sight word you see on one page while noticing duplicates of the word. There are so many other activities that the teacher has, or the internet has. In the past, I have used Teachers Pay: www.teacherspayteachers.com. Sometimes, I do buy resources from here too. 

​Being a former elementary education teacher, I am sharing this information so that it will help you with encouraging literacy and learning. Then, you will leave a lasting legacy that will last a long time and be generational.
 
So, what is going on with literacy and me as an author? I have participated this year with the OKCPS Book Bus and Facebook Live Read Across American Read-A-Thon.
 
I have also been busy working on a new book with my illustrator to hopefully be out by April or May, and coordinating reading events at venues, schools, daycares, and bookstore. I also had to take a sickness respite so I was not able to do some of what I would have liked to.
 
Remember, my mantra is “literacy, learning, and legacy.” I will continue to reach out to children to share my books, themes, and encourage the children to read more.

Metro Library: Oklahoma
https://catalog.metrolibrary.org/Union/Search?view=list&lookfor=Mark%20McCraw

Okaloosa County Library System, Florida
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Santa Rosa County Library System, Florida
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​As I was thinking about some of the precious moments in the past, I came to think about all the children that I have worked with in the past.
 
As early as age 13, I was working with children and youth as a Camp Counselor and working with the Y.M.C.A. summer programs. This was the start of my journey to give back to other children in my area.
 
As I got older and, in the military, I worked with Little League as a baseball coach and Scouting in between the time of working in my military job. I even went to play with Korean orphans when I was stationed in Korea.
 
In addition, I always liked to participate in the Korean children’s festivals that were held outside the base. I also participated in the Special Olympics programs.
 
Of course, as I ended up getting married, I also had my own children later in life as well as working with other youth organizations, Migrant Head Start as an Infant/Toddler Teacher,  Daycare Teacher, Awana’s Leader, Sunday School Children’s Church Leader,  Vacation Bible School Teacher, Elementary School  Aged Teacher, Summer School Teacher, and even as a Before/After School Tutor with a school and tutoring company.
 
This all led me up to becoming a children’s book author. It is so rewarding having the opportunity and blessing to attend author visits both virtually and in-person with school aged children at elementary schools and daycares. So far, I have read to over 1,000 children and hope to read more to share theme- based books with literary elements included.
 
In my office, I have a notebook that has every letter, birthday cards, handmade thank you notes, and other projects that children so diligently made for me so much for over the last 40 years. I love to pull the book out while wondering how each child that I had contact with in my various roles as a volunteer or in paid positions is doing these days. The book helps me to realize the “preciousness of the moment “in time. I could have thrown all of this away, but I keep this notebook of the great memories I had with these children. As I age, it makes me realize why I do what I do as a children’s book author now.
 
Last year, I read to a school virtually in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. I was blessed to have received these kind letters in the mail. They were written before I did the Virtual Visit. This is why I do what I do ensuring I can “make a difference in the lives of children.”