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Tag Archives: middle grade
The Best School Author Visit Ever!
I had an incredible classroom visit this week. I’ve done school and library author appearances before, from a reading for 20 to presentations with 200 all squashed together on the cafeteria floor. They were fun and the kids got involved as we talked and created a story together. But this . . . wow. Mrs. Auten teaches a combined 4th/5th class at Brown Elementary here in Brownsburg. Through the Shimmer of Time had been recommended as a book to tie in with a visit to Conner Prairie, so she contacted me and purchased one to read aloud to the class. They finished it before Fall Break, visited Conner Prairie, and then invited me to the class for a Q & A session. Sounds good, right? And then I found out what an amazing teacher Mrs. Auten is. As she read each chapter, she asked the kids to listen for a particular thing … Continue reading
Chasing the Mailman
Friday: Waiting for the mailman is a difficult thing for an author. The postal tracking number showed that the print proof of Through the Shimmer of Time would arrive today, and the mail comes about noon. I worked hard on guest blogs in the morning so I could enjoy the moment. 11:30 – No mail yet. 12:05 – Mail! But no book package! 12:07 – Back inside, I check the USPS tracking number on the computer. “On Delivery,” it says. Is it on a package-only mail truck? Or did it go astray? We’ve had mail mis-delivered before. I sign up for text alerts and they send one immediately, telling me once again that it is “on delivery.” 12:32 – My phone chimes. The text from USPS says that the package has been delivered. 12:32 – I check the mailbox again. I check the front porch and beside the big garage … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, SHIMMER OF TIME
Tagged humor, Jennifer Jensen, middle grade, shimmer of time, through the shimmer of time, time travel, WRITING, writing life
2 Comments
Shimmer of Time: Cover Reveal
I have two new shiny things to distract you today! Well, make that one shiny and one a bit dingy. And if you get this in your email, you’ll have to click the title – the pictures only show up on the blog. The best new shiny is the official cover reveal for Through the Shimmer of Time. I’m thrilled with it, and with my cover designer, Melinda VanLone, of Book Cover Corner. The cover design comes with its own story. Because I wanted my cover characters to be the right age, and because of the 1830s period (the Civil War era would have been much easier), stock photography sites didn’t have anything we could use. So guess who turned photographer? I found two awesome young people who were very willing to be part of my book journey, set my trustworthy old Canon on “sport” so the shutter speed was … Continue reading
Calling All Time-Travelers
I promised big news in my last blog post, so here goes: my middle grade novel, Through the Shimmer of Time, will be released in exactly one month! Can you see me jumping up and down? Are you jumping up and down with me? Squee! So here’s the back blurb: A mysterious pottery shard . . . A haunted cabin . . . A shadowy stranger . . . And no way home Present Day: Jim has a talent for getting into trouble. Grounded from his model rockets, he goes exploring where he shouldn’t and gets zapped back in time. Can he find the way back home again or is he marooned in the past? 1838: Hannah’s life in her frontier village is filled with a little play and a lot of hard work. A seemingly harmless trick lures a strange, dazed boy from the old … Continue reading
Posted in WIP, WRITING
Tagged e-books, Jennifer Jensen, Kindle, middle grade, through the shimmer of time, time travel, time travel novels
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Putting on My Professional Writer’s Hat
This spring, as friends realized I was in my final semester, I was bombarded with “What are you going to do with your degree?” And with an English degree in particular, it’s a perpetual question, especially for the younger generation who have to justify why they aren’t majoring in something that leads directly to a particular career. (Although sitting nicely in our rows of black caps and gowns, watching Master’s candidates receive their hoods, three of us writing friends pondered a worse question: “What do you do with a Philosophy degree?”) My answer is always “Write, of course!” But I’ve been writing for 30 years, writing seriously for the last 15. What’s different now? I like to say I’ll be putting on my professional writer’s hat. Not just write when I feel like it, or write a little each day, or work on a short story to submit, or write … Continue reading