Good Morning and Happy Monday! Welcome to Sharon’s Monthly News.
One of my goals is to bring my two brands, Selma P. Verde, Author of Young Adult Fiction and Mentoring A Dream (MAD), Helping the adults reach the teens in their lives together and become a cohesive unit. Why? I believe that both brands provide tools for parents and caring adults to understand the issues teens are facing and then create a safe place to talk to their teens about those issues. As we move through 2024, you will see the brands working together more.
My Writing Process
The writing process is always a journey with its own twists and turns. When you are an indie author and publisher, the process is more affected by things that happen in your own everyday life. In this last month, I have gotten caught up in the day-to-day life side of things.
Day-to-day life tends to take over and not leave a lot of time for the creative process. Between working a full time job and taking care of our household, I find that my creative processing time gets put to the side. To be creative takes a special kind of energy that can’t just be turned on when you have time to do it. I had to take the time to figure out when I would have the best energy to work on my writing. What I learned about myself is that my best time is right away in the morning. With my first cup of coffee and when the house is quiet.
This is also the time that I take for me. Whether it is journaling, reading a book, or working on my writing, it is the time I set aside. Sometimes the morning time isn’t enough time to get all of the tasks done. So, what do I do then? I do the best I can to find time somewhere else in the week that I can get a couple hours of quiet and work on simple tasks. It isn’t always an easy thing to do, but it helps me make progress.
My passion is writing, but I find what gives me energy is helping others become better versions of themselves. I am hoping that through Selma and MAD that I am helping you, parents and caring adults, help teens through challenges to become the best versions of themselves. Or, that some of the information I am sharing is helping you to learn a little more about yourself and how you feel about these issues.
Enjoying your summer?
Have you had a great summer so far? What have you and your teens been doing? Around our house it is cabin season. So, we are at home during the week doing the normal day-to-day and then spending the weekends at the cabin. My teens are now young adults, so they are spending weekends at the cabin with their friends. We also get some time as a family up there to make memories.
This quarter’s theme is summertime. It is not only a season of warmer weather and being outside, it is usually a time that our teens have time away from school and are enjoying that time with friends and family.
MAD and Selma Brand updates
So, for our monthly news posts, I will provide you with some updates on each brand and some thoughts that I have about the monthly theme we are presenting on Mentoring A Dream. MAD is the abbreviation that I use for Mentoring A Dream.
Monthly News for Mentoring A Dream
This month we are going to be focusing on teen life skills. Here are the topics for this month’s posts.
- 8/12/2024 – Effects of technology on teen development and decision making
- 8/19/2024 – Teens and Jobs – Book Feature – Smile & Succeed by Kurt Manecke
- 8/26/2024 – Decision making methods when affected by peer pressure
Let’s Talk About It
Be sure to watch for this month’s Let’s Talk About It post. In case you missed it last month, we started a new post on social media; a writing prompt that will get you to think about a topic relating to this month’s theme. We want you to think about how you feel about it and write down your thoughts. I hope it will help you to think about how you feel about things you can then talk to your teens about. Check out Instagram and Facebook on Thursday for this month’s prompt
Are you looking for any resources to gain a better understanding of the challenges your teen is facing? Be sure to check out the resources page on the MAD website.
Monthly News for Selma P. Verde
This month, Selma is ramping up to get working on story development for book #4. The manuscript is underway with many fun and exciting storylines. The cover for book #4 is also underway. Selma with her cover designer, Jennifer Givner, have some great ideas coming together for it. Stay tuned for a cover reveal later this year.
And, for a little more news…
There will be some opportunities coming up in September and October to meet me in person and pick up copies of Selma’s books. Be sure to check back to the monthly news next month and on social media (Facebook and Instagram) for more information coming soon.
The Way Series – Great Summertime Reads
Are you looking for a couple of coming-of-age reads for you or your teen about challenges they face? One great series which fits the bill in The Way Series. It is the series I have written under my pen name, Selma P. Verde.
Book #1 – The Hard Way – is the story of Paul Jones and his starting his freshman year of high school and how he must navigate dealing with pressure from his peers to do things to fit in.
Book #2 – Shawn’s Way – although it is a continuation of Paul’s journey from The Hard Way, we meet freshman, Shawn Townson. He becomes the target of a bully when an upperclassman decides to take out his frustration on him.
Book #3 – The Street’s Way – is a continuation of The Way Series story which introduces Mikala Kalani as a runaway and homeless teen. She comes to Manor City looking to escape from her abusive stepdad. She arrives with no place to go and must find a way to navigate being homeless in a new city.
And, there is a short story that is a part of the series. “Josh’s Story” is the story from the side of the one who bullies. It is a great read that falls between Shawn’s Way and The Street’s Way on the storyline. It is available for purchase in ebook and paperback. Be sure to check it out.
So, click on link below to my books page to learn more about the series!
Did you know they can read books on their smartphones? Just have them download the Kindle app and they can download copies of these books.