Kiwanis and Me: Making a Difference in the Lives of Children

What a crazy couple of weeks! Due to health issues, I had to cancel my book festival in South Carolina. I was not too happy but when health comes, you must answer. I was supposed to be in Greer, S.C. for a Fall Book Festival and at Hub City in Spartanburg, S.C. In addition, I was going to do some genealogy in the area where my ancestors came from, and some relatives live there.

Then, I had the opportunity to participate in an author visit to Jones Elementary in Jones, OK. I had the pleasure of reading to four Kindergarten classes. During the visit, it was a day where the children would dress up like their favorite character. I was dressed up like a composition notebook with a giant pencil attached to the costume. I read to four Kindergarten classes throughout the morning.

I read many different types of books like Did You Come Home for Lunch?, (book about military and military dependents, Rules, Rules, Rules! (about rules), I Was Just About… (about moving}, and It Happens!  (how adults and children have accidents). You can find these books on my website.

I was truly blessed to be a part of Kiwanis as a member and for them working with Jones Elementary to allow me to conduct an author visit. To find out more about Kiwanis, check out their website: https://www.kiwanis.org/ . This is the school where my books are in a vending machine where the children who reach their goal get a token to visit the vending machine to pick a book up.

This leads up to the National Author’s Day! which is a perfect lead in promoting being a children’s book author. So, what projects have I got going on?

My fun, bookish Halloween Costume for 2025!

I am working with an illustrator on a book on bullying with another author, MaKenzi Fox. The rough sketches are very close to being completed. They look like they are having fun. We just are adding some parts to the sketches. Our illustrator is Artful Allie on Tik Tok and You Tube.

Another project I am working on is getting a video trailer out for Anna’s Amazing Alaskan Adventure. I will be excited to see the outcome of the video coming soon.

Then, there is a new Facebook group called Children’s Book Author’s Unite, in which we are working on an upcoming sale in December, author streaming, and much more. All of this is in the works.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1040974811354742. We meet weekly as a group on Zoom.

My episode with Edith from Book Lover’s Companion was just released. I was so excited to be interviewed by a host from Austria. That was a fun interview:  https://book-lovers-companion.com/podcast/book-lovers-companion-the-english-version/

I hope to be on another interview during November. Unfortunately, due to sickness, I also had to cancel my November events leaving only my December event this year.

So, what is next for 2026? I plan on getting some new books out in the first three months of 2026 and hopefully some audio books and e-books. I have about five stories in the pre-writing stage to work from. Did I say I love producing children’s books more? I DO. I also would like to be on more podcasts for interviews.

Finally, I hope to be in another anthology if we get enough authors to participate in it. We will have to see in the next couple of months if there is enough content.