I have NEWS!

I am so excited to have an opportunity to post on this blog again.  I haven't written anything for 6
years, even though much has happened in those years.  I just didn't sit down to tell it "from
my perspective".

But now, I am taking the time to tell everyone that I have published a children's Christmas storybook.
It is called "The Tale of Norman the Nutcracker and the Sour Pickle". I wrote this book a few years ago,
did photography for it and had a book printed through Shutterfly.  I thought that was the end of it.
I loved the story then, and still, it makes me smile.

Last year I decided to enter the book in a writing contest.  I did not win, but I got runner up.
The gals where the contest was held were very encouraging and said that Norman was a good
story and that it is well written.  I decided to research self publishing and see if it was feasible for
an ordinary person to get her book published. I ordered a book called “How to Self-Publish a
Children’s Book” by Yvonne Jones.  Her book walked me step by step on all the twists and turns
of ISBN’s, illustrators, setting up a publishing company, and many details that would have been
lost on me without this resource. At any rate, I made it!  I am holding my finished product and
it is ready to sell!

I should tell you about the book.  I wish I could remember why I wrote it or how it came to be,
but honestly, I don’t.  I have a large nutcracker at the store I manage and I named him
Norman the day I ordered him.  He is a delightful character and I am enamored by him. Norman
is a tall proud nutcracker and he has a task of maintaining order of the Christmas Tree.  He loves
Christmas and he takes his job very seriously.
On a side note, it is not hard for me to give inanimate objects feelings and thoughts.  I tend
to feel sorry for my Ford Escape when the sun is hot and relentless. I am happy for the floor
when it is clean.  I feel bad for the grill when the cover isn’t put on. I have an imaginative mind
that never turns off. So, the concept of Norman the Nutcracker and all the ornaments having
feelings is not a large stretch for me.

I am guessing that the story came about when I was decorating the tree that year and I
came across my pickle ornament.  The Pickle tradition is to hide it on the tree on
Christmas Eve. The person who finds the pickle first in the morning receives the right to open
the first present.  I imagine that I was feeling sorry for the pickle who only gets a few hours on
the Christmas Tree when all of the other ornaments get several weeks. It isn’t fair!

It is exciting for me to release this book.  It is available on Amazon for $11.99. I will be selling
it locally at a few downtown shops and I will be having some book signing events.  I will promote
all of this information on the Facebook Page.

 Here is the link to order my book. Thank-you to everyone who orders and reads this to the children
in their lives. I pray that you will be blessed!

 https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Norman-Nutcracker-Sour-Pickle/dp/0692103333/ref=sr_1_1?ie=
UTF8&qid=1538257500&sr=8-1&keywords=rosa+veenstra

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