"Fowl" #kidlit picture books for #BlackFriday @BravestSquirrel

This is the time of year when my muse rebels and decides the do something so far off the beaten path that I wander into never-explored lands. No one even imagined a goose and duck plastic decoy picture book genre, complete with "live action" photographs, but I'm building a vacation home in the middle of this land!

I'll be back home in romanceland next month. In the meantime, these "fowl" picture books make a perfect holiday gift--for adults, children, coworkers and your impossible-to-buy-for Uncle Ned! Bonus: buy it online and avoid those nasty Black Friday lines!!

A New Home for Goose

Goose sits on a shelf all year. Now, it's Christmas, which means it's time for Goose to go to a new home. But Goose is scared! 

Join the fun as Goose sets off on an epic adventure. What happens when a plastic goose rebels? Will Goose be able to overcome her fears?

Illustrated with actual photographs of Goose, this short picture book is fun for all ages.

Amazon
Createspace

A Fashion Makeover for Duck

Duck wears her cheese hat all the time. But she is ready for a change. She wants a fashion makeover.

Join the fun as Duck tries out the latest fashion styles. But what happens when Baby Blue wants to wear Duck’s old hat? Can Duck really give up her beloved cheese hat?

Illustrated with actual photographs of Duck (and Baby Blue), this short picture book is fun for all ages.

 

Amazon

Createspace

Tuesday Toolbox - Listen to Your Muse @HolleyTrent's Muse Likes #Cowboys

My Muse Like Cowboys
by Holley Trent

Last fall, I was on Colorado’s 287 driving south to a meeting—doing my usual in-car sing-along to…oh, I want to say "Panic! at the Disco." Suddenly, with the mountains of the Front Range in view, my muse plopped her mouthy self into the front passenger seat and said, “Hey, you need write a cowboy romance.”

Naturally, I scoffed. I’m a Carolina girl (lapsed, but still). We didn’t have ranchers back east. We just had farmers. What do I know about cowboys (beyond the fact they tend to wear their jeans quite well)?

Muse said, “You’re thinking too literally. You can tell a cowboy story without it being a treatise on ranch management.”

And I said, “Oh yeah? You want to tell me what, precisely, this story should be about? ’Cause I’m plenty busy already.”

Muse said, “Picture it. A single dad workaholic living in the middle of the Wyoming boonies.”

I said: “Wyoming?”

Muse said: “Yeah? Remember that road trip through southeastern Wyoming and that never-ending dirt road that tested the mettle of your marriage?”

I said, “Oh. That. That was…educational.”

Muse said: “Now imagine a community so sparsely populated because of the size of the ranches that most of the kids are home-schooled.”

Me: “Uh…”

Muse said: “And because few people are really qualified to home-school those kids, a couple of those ranchers have to hire a tutor from a service.”

Me: “Ah. I see where you’re going here.”

Muse: “Fish out of water. Carolina beauty queen intellectual versus stubborn Wyoming rancher.”

Me: “Hmm. I might could work it. Can I have a big cast?”

Muse: “The biggest. Grey’s Anatomy didn’t have a cast this big.”

Me: “So I can write in some insane secondaries. Can I make it snarky?”

Muse: “The snarkiest, babe. I’ve got an idea for a sidekick named Phil. He can be this book’s resident misanthrope. Oh! And a bossy mother. You can have one of those, too.”

Me: “Okay. I’m tempted. Maybe after NaNoWriMo.”

Muse: “No. NOW. You don’t want to ignore me. Remember what happened last time?”

Me: *glowers*

Muse: “Oh. Since it’s going to be a doorstopper of a book, anyway, why not just go on ahead and add in a secret baby?”

Me: “Leave.”

Muse: “Fine. Be back next week. I have an idea for a—”

Me: “LALALALALALA.”

And, that’s how the story of Ronnie and John came to be. It’s called Teaching the Cowboy and will be trotting into e-readers sometime this fall. Watch the TtC page my blog to learn more.

Holley Trent writes contemporary and paranormal romances with Southern sass. Her previous Musa releases are the chick-litty Executive Decision and Her Resident Jester. Holley's comedic paranormals Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas and Love by Premonition.

Learn more about Holley and her upcoming works on her website and blog. Stay in touch with Twitter.