A New Tour of VBT: Writers on the Move Starts Sept. 1st!

VBT: Writers on the Move starts their next round of promotion on September 1st! Each month, a group of talented, award-winning writers set aside their blogs on the 1st and the 3rd to promote each other's latest books and projects. This month, we start the VBT: Writers on the Move Mystery Site Give-away. Each month, the winner will have the choice of receiving the Mystery Site Host's book or a guest spot on VBT Writers on the Move blog. So, go visit all our blogs and see what we've been up to, and you could also be a winner!

VBT Writers on the Move September Schedule

Dianne Sagan hosts Crystalee Calderwood- That's me!

Harry Gilleland hosts Steve Tremp (Author of Breakthrough)

'Karen Cioffi hosts Vivian Zabel (Author or Case of the Missing Coach, Midnight Hours, and many more, and publisher at 4rv Publishing)

Kathy Stemke hosts Heather Paye (15 year old author of A Gift from Above)

Lea Schizas hosts Nancy Famalari (author of Summer's Story)

Nancy Famalari hosts Carolyn Howard-Johnson (Author of The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Book Promoter)

Vivian Zabel hosts Kathy Stemke (Author of Moving Through all Seven Days)

Margaret Fieland hosts Dianne Sagan (Author of Rebekah Redeemed)

Crystalee Calderwood -that's me! hosts Deborah Weed (Author of The Luckiest Penny)

Katie Hines hosts Marvin Wilson (Author of I Romanced the Stone, Between the Storm and the Rainbow, and more.)

Helena Harper hosts Mayra Calvani (Author of Crash!)

Dorothy Massey hosts Harry Gilleland (Author of numerous books of poetry)

Liana Metal hosts Lea Schizas (Author of Bubba and Giganto- Odds Against Us and founder of the Muse Online Writer's Conference)

Carolyn Howard-Johnson hosts Gayle Trent (mystery author)

Gayle Trent hosts Karen Cioffi (Author of Day's End Lullaby)

Mayra Calvani hosts Katie Hines (Author of upcoming book Guardian)

Marvin Wilson hosts Liana Metal (Author of Storytime)

Anita Yasuda hosts Dorothy Massey (her work appears in the Mini Mysteries and Spooky Stories anthology for kids)

Linda Asato hosts Helena Harper (Author of It's a Teacher's Life!: A Collection of Poems Set in a Girl's Private School)


Heather Paye hosts Anita Yasuda (Author of numerous books for both adults and children)

Steve Tremp hosts Margaret Fieland (Author of Moving Through All Seven Days)

Deboran Weed hosts Linda Asato (Author of the 4RV book Spider in Our Mailbox)

Guest Blog Article by Mayra Calvani

On Inspiration, Allergies, and Dog Books
By Mayra Calvani

One of the questions I’m asked the most on school visits is “Where do you get your ideas?”
Ideas come from all around: TV, magazines, memories, grandmothers’tales, dreams, and even nightmares. In the case of my children’s picture book, Crash! about a little boy and his first golden retriever puppy, I was inspired by a sad personal experience. Years ago, we got a golden retriever puppy, which we named Crash. Crash was a sweet, smart, assertive dog, and he stole our hearts from day One. Unfortunately, he was with us only three weeks. Though we didn’t know it at the time, my daughter, who was only four back then, was allergic to dogs. She fell sick almost immediately with a bronchitis that wouldn’t go away and was quickly turning to pneumonia. The antibioticsweren’t working. Finally, the doctor’s words crushed us: “You have toget rid of your dog.” Believe me, those are horrible words to have to hear. It broke our hearts, but only three weeks after we had got him,we had to give Crash up.

It’s amazing what the loss of a pet can do to you. The one who was struck the hardest was my son, who was about eleven back then. He felt betrayed by all of us, but especially by his sister who in his eyes was the criminal. After all, it was because of her that Crash had to go away. Tears were abundant that first month after we gave him up. To top it all, it was December, Christmas time!

The good side of this story is, we found a wonderful home for Crash. The last I heard about them is that ‘They love him to death’.

Right away we knew we had to do something if we were going to have adog in the future, so we took my daughter to an allergy specialist who put her on a three-year treatment. Three years seemed daunting,especially at that time; but, as you know, time passes quickly and patience pays off. In the end, the treatment worked like a charm and we were able to get another golden retriever puppy. We named him Amigo. Three years old now, he’s our darling, the bell of our hearts. He keeps himself busy chasing the rabbits and interviewing authors for his blog, Pets and Their Authors. You can visit him at http://www.petsandauthors.blogspot.com/.

But to get back to inspiration… I wanted to immortalize Crash. Ineeded to ‘let him know’ that we would never forget him—and what better way than with a book? I dedicated the story to my son, the one who was struck the hardest by his departure.

Writing is a form of healing. A book is a very powerful thing. For me,it was the only way to put closure to a heartbreaking experience.

All about Mayra Calvani's Book Crash!

Crash! A new picture book by Mayra Calvani

As a lover of Golden Retrievers, it is my pleasure to share with you today Crash! a sweet and cute picture book by Mayra Calvani.

The story is about a young boy named Marcelo, who receives a golden retriever puppy for his fifth birthday. He takes excellent care of the puppy; feeding, bathing, brushing and walking him, but he can’t decide on a name for his furry four-legged friend. Mom and Dad offer a few suggestions, however, Marcelo doesn’t like any of them. So he waited and watched, enjoying time with his puppy and then it happened…he would call the puppy….

Crash!

Tomorrow, author Mayra Calvani will do a special guest blog article about the moving inspiration behind the book.

Pick up your copy at:

Amazon.com
Guardian Angel Publishing

Now available in Spanish, too!

Meet Author Mayra Calvani

Multi-genre author, reviewer and animal advocate Mayra Calvani hails from San Juan, Puerto Rico. A regular contributor to Blogcritics Magazine and Suite101, she's a member of SCBWI and Broad Universe. She keeps two blogs, Mayra's Secret Bookcase and The Dark Phantom Review. Additionally, she's the co-author of the nonfiction work, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing. Visit her newest, fun blog, Pets and Their Authors, where her golden retriever interviews authors' pets. Mayra does Spanish translations of children's picture books, is co-editor of Voice in the Dark newsletter, and the National Latino Books Examiner for Examiner.com.

In 2008, Mayra published her first picture book, Crash! Crash! is the story of a little boy, Marcelo, and his new Golden Retriever puppy. You can watch the book trailer for Crash! at the Crash the Puppy Blog. And stay tuned tomorrow to learn all about the book!

Coming Tomorrow- Crash! by Mayra Calvani

Starting tomorrow, I will have three days of information about a great children's book Crash! by Mayra Calvani.

Crash! is the story of an adorable Golden Retriever puppy and his boy, who struggles to give him a name. Until, suddenly, it all becomes obvious. . .

Crash! is a great picture book for dog lovers of all ages. Please stop by to say hi and leave your comments and questions for Mayra!

**VBT - Writers on the Move now has a monthly mystery site give-away feature. During the tours, a lucky commenter on the mystery site will win a book, ebook or other prize from that author. See schedule in previous post. Comment on the right post and you can win!**