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book reviews |
Multi-volume, children’s author, Cameron Kincaid, introduces us to book 1 of the Animalobs series, "Windowpottamus": A series of charming and illustrated tales following the adventures of a variety of characters. I love this book! With its colorful illustrations and simple, rhyming text, it’s a real pleasure to read to a child. I read this to my two, younger granddaughters, 4 ½ and 6 ½ and they both loved the story and the illustrations. I give this book 5 stars! It is delightful. The author has several other books in the series and they appear to be just as wonderful. You can buy this book:
https://smile.amazon.com/Windowpottamus-Animalobs-Book-1-ebook https://www.goodreads.com/-the-windowpottamus You can follow the author: https://twitter.com/Animalobs https://www.cameronkincaid.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/Animalobs https://www.instagram.com/the_animalobs Tags: children’s book and literature Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz, except for the author’s introduction
54 Comments
Mark
4/11/2020 09:51:41 am
You are very welcome.
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I live in the UK just outside of London. I've got 2 kids and a dog, who's a rescued German Shepherd / Rottweiler cross of unknown age, called Hublot. I'm a big fan of travelling and always have visions of sitting in the middle of nowhere with a pen and paper writing a masterpiece. But the reality seems to be falling asleep with my kindle! When I'm not reading / writing I spend my time playing guitar, running my animal health-supplement business and, more recently, learning programming for web design
Mark
4/11/2020 12:11:49 pm
Traveling is a lot of fun! It can be very eye-opening also. During my college days, pre-internet, I backpacked around western Europe for several months. Since getting married, we have been to England and Europe three times.
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There are some nice places in Europe but I'm a big fan of the US. We've done a few fly drives and spent some time camping in the Grand Canyon a few years ago. Although I really dislike boats, and the cold, Antarctica is top of my list of places to go.
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Mark
4/11/2020 01:29:48 pm
Online business is different in some ways from brick and mortar, no doubt about that. If you are asleep, nothing can be done until you wake.
Rocco Spanò
4/29/2024 05:22:57 am
Hi, would you like to read my book?
That's one thing I love about the US, there's so much of it!! All of the illustrations are remastered versions of my original pencil drawings. I hired a freelance illustrator, in Canada, to digitise them but they are all my designs. The illustrations were all quite rushed as I lacked any sense of planning, finishing the stories on Christmas Eve after the kids had gone to bed and then had to get drawing which lasted late in to the night.
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Mark
4/12/2020 09:34:54 am
The USA is a pretty large chunk of land. Where I live in Portland, Oregon, almost every possible outdoor activity is no more than three hours away, most are under two hours. It's a paradise for the person who loves outdoor activities.
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Yes you are right, I probably should (and will!) add details of the illustrators. The first 3 books didn't benefit from any planning, the pressure of having to get them done on Christmas Eve seemed to help with some creativity. Although, this does also mean that they weren't as refined from the first draft which could have developed the stories further. The latest edition, The Gold Frogspector, wasn't written for my kids specifucally so I spent a bit more time with putting it together and didn't get involved with the illustrations. I worked with a freelance artist who matched the pictures to the story and did a great job. I'd like to keep adding to the collection and will add as many stories as I can think of good names. I have about 10 in the pipeline at the moment so that should keep me busy for a while. The age range for the books can be quite wide. I like the idea of really young kids enjoying them for the pictures and being read to by their parents. But some of the words and rhymes can be helpful to older kids with expanding their vocabulary. The Kindle Unlimited feature is really great, I have all 4 books available in there at the moment.
Mark
4/13/2020 11:16:41 am
Considering how many animals and occupations available, I would think that well is quite deep. Having ten more story ideas will likely grow into more. I love the concept.
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Yes for sure, it's hard to sit and think of an idea for a character, they tend to just spring to mind when I'm doing something totally unrelated. Then it's a mad dash to find a pen before I forget what it was! Making them easy to read is the main point so I'll definitely take the font comment on board.
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Mark
4/13/2020 12:12:26 pm
There is information on my website about contests and publishing. I have posted many blogs from Anne R. Allen on the Highly Regarded Blogs page of my website, including one devoted to how to avoid scam contests. Every blog she writes includes a list of honorable contests.
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That will be really useful, it will be great to get some impartial advice on who is trustworthy!
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Mark
4/13/2020 02:41:21 pm
It does take a lot of work to write a book or novel. It's not bad to use a family member as an alpha reader, but after the rewriting, beta readers should be brought on board, then critique partners. Writing the first draft or two is a solitary project, after that at least a dozen people should be involved, probably more.
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It's a shame that you have to cautious about who to work with, it's the same in all industries though, some people just have no morals when it comes to taking other people's money. I find reading to be almost meditative, instead of getting absorbed into your own mind and thoughts you're transferred into somebody else's world. I think that's what makes the difference between a good and a great author. Sometimes you read a great story which isn't written in a way that can engage, and other times a fairly bland story can be written so well it draws you in. Especially when you feel a connection with the emotions of the characters, you really get a sense of them coming to life as you read.
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Mark
4/13/2020 03:07:06 pm
The old buyer beware thing is still relevant now as it was thousands of years ago.
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When I've written work with actual characters, as opposed to children's books, I find it easier to base it on people I know and my own experiences. I think developing a wholly fictitious character and bringing them to life, allowing the reader to really engage with them and believe in them emotionally is an incredible talent. In my opinion this is what separates the great writers from everybody else. I don't have that skill yet but I hope I can develop that ability in the future. With routines for writing, I'm a bit of a workaholic and will strictly exclude work related activities from my usual day. For anything else I am motivated to work at I'll get up in the early morning, maybe 4am, and use the time before work to get things done. I'm generally a pretty poor sleeper anyway so it's good to be able to be productive and I tend to work better in solitude.
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Mark
4/13/2020 05:51:55 pm
To turn a character into a living entity based solely on words is quite a skill, I agree. Many authors can do it, so it must be something that can be learned in some degree.
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Yes, the eyes are definitely a limiting factor when it comes to long reading sessions, especially proofreading when you are actually paying attention!
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Mark
4/14/2020 09:37:58 am
The rhyming factor makes a lot of sense. The poetry drives the story and suggests the illustrations.
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That's a good question and I think it really depends on the skill of the writer. Sometimes a story can be without any obvious plot and not seem to be going anywhere, but it can still have you completely engrossed. Others can be really predictable and, although fast paced, don't have the same page turning effect. Having some control over this is all about how engaged you get the readers, if somebody is being chased for example but you don't have any feel for the characters or the environment you don't share the feeling of what is being depicted. It doesn't even have to be something that dramatic, i remember reading something about a child going into the lounge where his dad was drinking. Nothing more than that happened but it was a very scary moment of the book. There's another notable scene in the 1970s movie 'The Thing' where a dog is walking through a corridor, literally nothing happens but it's quite terrifying!
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Mark
4/14/2020 11:11:16 am
Good comments about pace and flow. I don't recall the scene with the dog in the hall. That reminds me of the movie, Alien; there was a cat that kept wandering around without being harmed, as I recall.
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I'd have to list Alexandre Dumas and Charles Dickens as some of my favourite classical authors. Without the influence of TV and only having a local view of the world it's amazing how they came up with such unique ideas for stories which are still relevant today. Andy McNab and Stephen King have taken a big chunk of my time in recent years but I try to avoid sticking to certain authors and read as much variety as possible.
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Mark
4/14/2020 04:11:04 pm
They are amazing authors, no doubt. It's not like they went to the plot tree and picked a fresh one. I really enjoyed the movie, The Count of Monte Cristo.
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Yes I totally agree, if it's written well, the genre doesn't really matter.
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Mark
4/15/2020 09:41:38 am
Your story sounds like it could be interesting. How the past affects the present and the future is a popular theme.
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I don't think I'm organised enough to be a true plotter, it would be good to have everything clear in your head and then it's just a case of putting the words together but that's definitely not me!
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Mark
4/15/2020 02:45:08 pm
If I were a writer, I think I would get lost in research. As a boy, I read a lot and ran to our 10 pound dictionary, it was several inches thick and had lots of illustrations. I could spend an hour or more easily going from word to word.
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I think smell is the hardest to write about, we all have slightly different and personal experiences with smells where there other senses are easy to relate to. If you say that something is red we might all have a different shade in mind, but it's still red. Trying to describe a smell is a bit like the description of wine, the label might say it's get hints or marshmallow and blueberry but I'm not sure many people can pick up on that!
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Mark
4/15/2020 03:48:21 pm
I have to agree, smell is very personal. Some people have a much greater ability to detect differences in scents than others. My smelling ability is pretty low, in general.
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I used to do technical presentations to large groups, sometimes up to 100 people, with no problems. It's always a bit nerve wracking getting out there and started but I was always fairly comfortable. Acting, for me anyway, is a totally different beast. It's like exposing an inner part of yourself that you don't necessarily want to share. A stammer can definitely be a good thing with getting people to stay engaged, that's difficult enough anyway so take whatever you can get!
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Mark
4/16/2020 09:37:34 am
Getting started can be tough, but once you know the audience wants to hear what you are sharing, it goes a lot better, if you are confident in your topic. I learned that from a Dale Carnegie course.
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I do newsletters for my business but I've never even considered doing them from a writing perspective, I think I would have to spend some time exploring what the purpose of the newsletters would be and what content to include. The music angle is interesting, it would be good to bring the characters to life with some kind of animation and produce some short clips. I like that idea actually, another one for the list!!
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Mark
4/16/2020 04:36:37 pm
Glad I could give you some food for thought. There have been a lot of blogs written about newsletters and mailing lists. I have links on my Highly Regarded Blogs page, I am sure. I recommend you subscribe to several newsletters in and out of your genres.
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I did win a writing competition when I was in the first year of high school, I'm not sure how that corresponds to the US system but I would have been 11 then. I was definitely stronger at the creative side of English classes but my grades always suffered from the grammar side! I was always a big reader and the only time I ever showed any creativity was when writing cards, I could never be comfortable with a simple 'happy birthday' so embarked on trying to include a poetic masterpiece. Some girls I went to school with are probably unknowingly holding on to some of my best work!! Although I was comfortable, and quite good, at putting words together I never really made the connection between my own opinion and other people being impressed with some things I did. Since we had children I've always been allocated the task of writing birthday and Christmas cards but I've never taken that as a sign of having any literary ability.
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Mark
4/16/2020 07:25:54 pm
Eleven years old would be 6th grade, our middle school or junior high school; depending upon when you were born.
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I haven't done much in the way of connecting with other writers, I don't think I consider myself as a proper writer yet so feel like a bit of an imposter in the forums. Maybe when I've spent a year slaving over the next paragraph and churning out a few hundred thousand words I'll be more at home in their company!!
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Mark
4/17/2020 02:43:10 pm
Every author struggles with the imposter syndrome in one measure or another. We all have an inner critic that can make us be careful, but can go way overboard in so many ways. When it gets harmful beyond reason, I call it the inner liar and ignore it to the best of my ability.
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Again, that's some really good ideas. Our local library does regular reading sessions for children so I doubt it would be too difficult to get my book on their reading list.
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Mark
4/18/2020 09:35:07 am
You are welcome. The story hour at the Library is something done widely, I believe.
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I really should keep a pad by my bed, I regularly wake up with ideas for songs or stories and lie there thinking about it, then I fall asleep again and it's all gone!!
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Mark
4/18/2020 04:55:29 pm
A pad and pencil is a good idea.
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I always put Judge Judy on the TV when I sit down to write, I'm not sure if she's a lucky charm but she definitely helps!! Sometimes I come up with a really good line but can't find anything suitable to rhyme with it that makes sense - I'm currently stuck on the word 'horizontal'. It's pretty easy to change the word but sometimes you just really like the way it sounds.
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Mark
4/19/2020 08:58:11 am
I think Judge Judy would be flattered. She certainly has had a long career as a TV jurist.
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Writer's block isn't so much of an issue with children's stories, nothing has to make sense or be particularly realistic. I'm not sure it's the same thing but I do write some stuff sometimes that I just don't like, even though it fits well and keeps the story flowing. It can be hard to think of an alternative in that situation so I guess that has its similarities.
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Mark
4/19/2020 10:21:44 am
It does sound similar. When you think a passage is not adequate, you are probably right. Back to the horizontal thing, that is a tough rhyme, perhaps you will have to abandon the rhyme for that word.
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With a target audience of children you don't have the benefit of going off on a tangent or having a chapter that isn't particularly interesting as kids are very harsh critics. I think we've all ready books where it gets a bit slow but you carry on anyway, and reading at adult speeds you can get back to the action fairly quickly.
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Mark
4/20/2020 09:53:02 am
Right. Children are very honest about their feelings towards a story or some other art form. To win them over requires a lot of work.
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I don't read children's books so much now, I browse the bookshops and look to see if there are any new releases similar to what I'm doing. When my kids were young I was adamant about making reading a big part of their day and we would always be reading something together, be it the weather or stories. I brainstorm with my kids mostly, I'll run an idea past them and see what they think, the perspective from a younger mind is really valuable and they are on a mission to come up with as many new characters as they can now!
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Mark
4/20/2020 01:06:32 pm
I love that your kids are helping develop new characters, so you write your stories.
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I haven't looked at foreign markets yet, I will do but I think it makes more sense to try and get more established in the UK initially. If that happens, then it will hopefully be easier to export. Although saying that, Big Bad Wolf is something I will take a look at very shortly!
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Mark
4/21/2020 09:51:06 am
We are born story tellers, I think narration comes to us quite naturally. While writing from first person POV can be quite intimate, it has its limitations, as you point out quite well.
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Thanks Mark, it's been great chatting to you. I've definitely had to explore some aspects of my writing, and myself, which I hadn't considered before.
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Who am I?An avid reader, typobuster, and the Hyper-Speller. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. Archives
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"I'm very pleased with all your efforts. Twitter promotion and proofreading were beyond what I expected with a book review. Your suggestions throughout the process of refining both books helped me immensely. I look forward to working with you again." A.E.H Veenman “Dial QR for Murder” and “Prepped for the Kill”
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