Special Kid Lit Community $500 Holiday Giveaway

December 9, 2016December 8, 2016 / jrmilson / 1 Comment

Only One Week To Go Before Someone Wins a $500 Amazon Gift Card!

The Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway is still open if you have not had the opportunity to register and participate yet. The giveaway is sponsored by a wonderful group of talented kid lit authors working hard to promote children’s literacy.

The Giveaway closes on December 15th and we all know how time seems to speed up as we get closer and closer to the holidays. Don’t put it off, register today. Someone is going to win $500 to help with Christmas bills and goodies. Why not you?

Entering is easy —

Simply sign in to Rafflecopter, the service administering the Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway, using your email or Facebook account.
Find a list of actions that earn giveaway points to increase your chance of winning the final grand-prize of $500.00. Actions include visiting an author Facebook page (we hope you’ll ‘LIKE’ it too!) or following an author on Twitter.
You can decide which actions to take and how many. Enter just one or complete all of them at one sitting if you like. You can even enter a few actions daily, and then return at another future time to add more. It’s all up to you.
Rafflecopter keeps track of your entries and tallies them. Be sure to use the same log-in each time to access the giveaway action list.
The Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway is open now and runs thru December 15, 2016, and is open Worldwide.
Rafflecopter randomly selects and notifies the winner at the end of the event.

from-rosie-russell-to-use-1

Enter HERE to get started! Remember, the more actions completed the better your chances of winning. Little Red Bear and I strongly encourage you to enter and support this dedicated group of kid lit authors working so hard to promote children’s literacy and learning.

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

— Emilie Buchwald

Thanks as always for visiting and wishing everyone the very best of luck! The special Christmas Story for Little Red Bear — “Pine Holler Christmas” — is available NOW on Amazon for Kindle and eReaders. Check below or to the side for a link and free preview. — Jim (and Red!)

❊ Family Times — Together Times — The Best Times ❊

garden-of-bright-images-reading-children-art-by-carlton-alfred-smith

Check out the new Little Red Bear Adventure– “Pine Holler Christmas” on Amazon! Tap Here For A Free Preview!

The ‘Unbearable’ Work To Get a Simple Image

November 18, 2016 / jrmilson / 6 Comments

Sometimes we try to do something simple, and then the tech folks toss a spanner in the works and before you know it things start bouncing off the walls and we’re running for the aspirin bottle and holy water.

I purchased an online image yesterday morning for the upcoming Christmas Story featuring Little Red Bear. Now, I am just an old guy writing down stories being told to him by a bear, and not into all of the tech stuff. I still have the old Post slide rule I used in college. So that should tell you something. I merely teach myself what I need as I go along, trying to get by and overcome each new tech hurdle and challenge as I come to it. As usual, I downloaded what was indicated to be a simple ‘jpeg’ image. No big deal. It arrived, however, all wrapped up nice and neat in an ‘eps’ file.

Of course, my little computer had no idea what to do with it and refused to open the image file, approaching it with the same caution as a robot disarming a bomb. Next step, research what is an ‘eps’ file, short for Encapsulated PostScript file, which can contain text as well as graphics. Who knew? Neat, but I didn’t need or want any text, anyway. So then, how to open it? More research to find a free opening app tool, get it to download, and then teach myself how to use it in order to convert the image to the jpeg format I originally wanted in order to include it in the Christmas Story. One simple step turning into six.

But, it’s all taken care of. The sparkling new, converted ‘jpeg’ image is ready to go, and the aspirins kicked in after a while, blood pressure returned to normal and Little Red Bear and I eventually got back to work. Just please know that when you see the wonderful opening image in Little Red Bear’s upcoming Christmas story, there was a whole lot more involved in it than just a simple copy/paste.

We just try to tell stories here and not get involved in all the computer and tech stuff. I try to leave that to the much more skilled and accomplished six-year-olds in the neighborhood. But they were all in school so Red and I had to figure it out by ourselves. Anyway, the situation has been handled, and now we both know what an ‘eps’ file is and how to handle it the next time we come across one.

Remember, if you have not done so yet, be sure to enter the Special Kid Lit Community Holiday Giveaway to have a chance at winning the $500.00 Amazon Gift Card. The event closes on December 15, and your participation will go a long way to help support fellow Kid Lit authors and child literacy efforts.

Thanks as always for visiting! Best of luck in the Giveaway Contest, and please stay tuned for more updates on Little Red Bear’s upcoming Christmas Story — we’re almost there. And it will have a really cool, hard-fought and won image in it, you know. — Jim (and Red!)

“It’s Unbearable” — Image by cdudak. (Available for purchase at redbubble.com. Just tap on image.)

“The Adventures of Little Red Bear” Short Stories on Amazon.

Old-fashioned, Family-friendly Stories and Fun for All Ages and Fitness Levels!

About an Uncommonly Special Bear and His Friends.

Tap Here For A Free Preview!

Special Kid Lit Community $500 Holiday Giveaway

November 16, 2016 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

November is the traditional time of year when we all pause to reflect on what is important and what we are thankful for in our lives. We have a holiday fast approaching set aside for just that purpose — Thanksgiving.

Little Red Bear and I are truly thankful for you and all you who follow along, read our stories and send us the encouragement and inspiration to keep on going. In the backwoods, $500.00 goes a long way to help put presents under the tree for loved ones during the holiday season. So we have joined together with a marvelous group of fellow Kid Lit authors to give away a $500.00 Amazon Gift Card as a special Thank You for followers.

Entering is easy —

Simply sign in to Rafflecopter, the service administering the Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway, using your email or Facebook account.
Find a list of actions that earn giveaway points to increase your chance of winning the final grand-prize of $500.00. Actions include visiting an author Facebook page (we hope you’ll ‘LIKE’ it too!) or following an author on Twitter.
You can decide which actions to take and how many. Enter just one or complete all of them at one sitting if you like. You can even enter a few actions daily, and then return at another future time to add more. It’s all up to you.
Rafflecopter keeps track of your entries and tallies them. Be sure to use the same log-in each time to access the giveaway action list.
The Special Kid Lit Community $500 Giveaway is open now and runs thru December 15, 2016, and is open Worldwide.
Rafflecopter randomly selects and notifies the winner at the end of the event.

Enter HERE to get started! Remember, the more actions completed the better your chances of winning. Little Red Bear and I strongly encourage you to enter and support this wonderful group of authors working so hard to promote children’s literacy and learning.

Thanks as always for visiting and wishing everyone the very best of luck! The special Christmas Story for Little Red Bear has passed thru the editing stage and cover design work has begun. Please watch for more updates soon! — Jim (and Red!)

“The Adventures of Little Red Bear” Short Stories on Amazon.

Old-fashioned, Family-friendly Stories and Fun for All Ages and Fitness Levels!

About an Uncommonly Special Bear and His Friends.

Tap Here For A Free Preview!

“Empathy — Walking a Mile in Their Moccasins”

August 11, 2016August 12, 2016 / jrmilson / 1 Comment

As a kid growing up, to me my Mother was a suburban housewife, no different from all the other kids’ moms. Getting me off to school in the morning, keeping up the house while dad worked, having dinner ready when he got home. Doing the shopping and all the other household tasks of a 1950’s and 60’s housewife.

Only now, can I look back to realize and appreciate the rich Southern, Country and Native American background and traditions that my mother also brought to my upbringing. She had familiar and time-worn phrases that she would repeat over and over again which have stayed with me all my life. In retrospect, she was probably the wisest person I have ever known. One of her favorite admonitions was — “Never judge someone until you have walked a mile in their moccasins,” from the 1895 poem by Mary T. Lathrap.

Everyone has a story and a chapter they are living today in that story, and we are all part of the whole. What happens to one of us happens to all of us. The world needs more Empathy. So often we toss out the well-intentioned “Hey, how ya doin’?” without pause while we keep on walking. What if we stopped our own pursuits for a minute and meaningfully asked — “Really, how are you doing?” And cared.

The following is a wonderful, heartfelt video produced by the Cleveland Clinic which can be extended beyond the hospital walls to the world outside. When you look at someone, do you observe the outward appearance of the person in front of you, or do you feel and see the story of the individual?

“Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” — Henry David Thoreau

Everyone is living their own story, facing their own struggles and battles, most of which we are not aware, and it gets lonely in the trenches sometimes. We need to take the time and make the effort to learn the stories to let someone know they are not alone.

Thanks as always for visiting! Help make the world a more caring and better place today. — Jim (and Red!)

“The Adventures of Little Red Bear” Short Stories on Amazon.

Old-fashioned, Family-friendly Stories and Fun for All Ages and Fitness Levels!

About an Uncommonly Special Bear and His Friends.

Little Red Bear Answers Reader Questions — “Cushaw What?”

April 9, 2016August 8, 2016 / jrmilson / Leave a comment

More reader questions for Little Red Bear! Here we go with another one . . . . . .

Reader Question from Doubting Thomas in Bristly Barbs, South Dakota – “Dear Little Red Bear — I enjoyed your adventures very much and realize they are listed under fiction, but tell the truth for once . . . you’re making all of this stuff up, aren’t you? A ‘Cushaw Pie’ mentioned in “The Storm” story?!? I have never heard of a cushaw anything and I have heard of a lot. So be honest. You and that writer guy Jim are just pulling our legs on that one, right?”

Answer— That is a very good question, Thomas! And we are happy that you took notice and the time to write us about it. As you pointed out, the stories are listed under the ‘Fiction’ category, but that’s only because when Little Red Bear was having all of his adventures, people video taping everything and taking selfies had not really come into fashion yet, so having no photographic record Amazon made us list them as fiction, even though every one really, truly did happen just as they are written. Word for word. More or less.

Now, to the Cushaw Pie concern. Yes, Thomas, there really is such a thing as a Cushaw Pie made from a Cushaw Squash. Maybe it would help for you to think of it as a Pumpkin with a different name. And shape. And color. With stripes. But the rest is very similar.

Cushaw Squash

Green and Orange Striped Cushaw Squash

A Cushaw Pie is made from a Cushaw Squash, an heirloom crookneck squash, and is a Southern Appalachian tradition. The cushaw is sometimes referred to as a “Tennessee Sweet Potato.” It does very well when grown, is resistant to pesky vine borers, and because it hails from the Caribbean tends to grow well in hot, dry climates. The inner flesh is light yellowish, with a mild, sweet flavor.

Cushaw Squash, Sliced To Show Interior

Cushaw Squash Interior

Cushaw Squash and Pumpkins

You have probably seen them used in autumn decorations, along with pumpkins, hay bales, scarecrows and such, but just didn’t know the name. And while so many folks use them for Autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations, few realize that they are not only edible but make up into a fantastic pie. Just like a pumpkin.

Cushaw Pie, via Jamie Grill/Tetra/Getty Images

Cushaw Pie Slice, via blindpigandtheacorn.com

Cushaw Pie, via University of Kentucky College of Agriculture

Here is a Cushaw Pie recipe to get you started the next time you see one, along with some links to some more cushaw recipes on our Pinterest Boards — Cushaw Pie Recipe, Kentucky Proud Cushaw Pie Recipe, Best Cushaw Pie Recipe, Cushaw Squash Soup Recipe, Cranberry Cushaw Bread.

Cushaw Pie Recipe, via Kentucky Proud

Hope that answers your question about the Cushaw Pie in “The Storm” story, Thomas. As you can see, it is a real thing. Happy reading and cooking, and thanks for writing in and being such an involved fan of Little Red Bear!

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Please keep those questions and letters coming. We’ll get to them as best we can here for you. Happy reading, and thanks as always for stopping by! And remember folks, cushaws can be pretty heavy, but it don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge. – Jim (and Red!)

Cushaw Squash with Pumpkin Decoration

“The Adventures of Little Red Bear” Short Stories on Amazon.

Old-fashioned, Family-friendly Stories and Fun for All Ages and Fitness Levels!

About an Uncommonly Special Bear and His Friends.

Happiness — It’s An Inside Job!

April 2, 2016April 1, 2016 / jrmilson / 6 Comments

Most of us have goals, intended to keep us moving progressively forward in a positive way, and frequently aimed at improving our life and happiness. To-Do lists of progressive, sequentially timed steps. Frequently aimed at acquiring bigger and better “things.” But examining our lives today at this moment and looking back, how many completed goals and fulfilled ambitions produced a lasting and enduring sense of joy and happiness? Or was that fleeting feeling gone upon setting the next “Happiness Target?”

Quote- Happiness Starts With You

Constant striving and yearning for “more and better”, along with unfulfilled desires create their own anxieties, stresses, competitiveness, anger and discord. This is not a prescription for laziness, but rather a realization that happiness is an inside job. It is not to be found in the world outside, achieved with the acquisition of more and more and more bigger and better things, recognition, awards or accolades, or arrived at as a destination, because it is a constantly moving target. A very important lesson to be imparted to our children.

“Most people are searching for happiness outside of themselves. That’s a fundamental mistake. Happiness is something that you are, and it comes from the way that you think. Bring happiness to every encounter in life, instead of expecting external events to produce joy.” ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer

We must remind ourselves daily that there is no magic way to happiness. Happiness is the way. Don’t wait for happiness to happen or to arrive at a scheduled date and time. Decide to be happy today. And watch what happens.

Quote- Happy Today