The countdown to my new book Christmas Letters is well on its way and gaining speed! Launch day is set for July 29, 2-5 pm at The Vineyard at Hillyland in Scotland/Windham CT. Check out their website to learn more about the former dairy farm turned vineyard. https://www.thevineyardathillyland.com/  I am planning a few blogs to introduce you to this new book and the wonderful message of service and hope spanning 100 years.

Keep up with the countdown activities from my social media presence. I can’t wait to share the cover reveal and the box opening when they arrive. Where will you find me on Social? I am on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon/Party, and You-Tube.

Here is a popular You-Tube I made about a writer’s cabin https://youtu.be/MefKnJzYuCk

More about Christmas Letters. This book is set on a Connecticut dairy farm in 2017. The fictional family has a multi-generational history on their farm. Sharon is my main character, she lives in the family homestead, and her husband Paul is serving in Afghanistan. A trip to the attic reveals a box of 100-year-old letters written by Paul’s great-great-grandparents when they were separated by WWI. With a Christmas backdrop, there is plenty of tradition and family intermixed with their country life.

I am so excited to have you read this story. It resonated strongly with my military sensitivity readers, editor, proofreader, and the author of my forward. (I will introduce him in another blog)

Have I piqued your curiosity? Check out my Pinterest image and link collection for this book. https://pin.it/4gJfe2a    Check back next week for more news!

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This summer my book family will grow with the edition of Christmas Letters that will be launched on July 29 at The Vineyard and Hillyland in Scotland, CT. If you are new to my writing or have missed a title let me introduce you to the family.

How Far is Safe? was my first novel and is appropriate for ages 8 and up. More adults than kids have been reporting that they read this and enjoyed the tale. The main characters are a boy and his beloved donkey. The time setting is the 1890’s and the setting is rural Pennsylvania. That makes this book historical fiction. I say this book comes right from my heart. It is inspired by rescue donkeys I have met. There are strong strands of the value of kindness and empathy. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BGKHY48

Mystic Girl was my second published book. This one is geared toward girls and horse lovers and any who love Norse Mythology. My main character in this book is Gaia a child living in Mystic Connecticut. She rides horses at the home of her mom’s friend. As she struggles she is befriended by Odin and Thor the Viking gods. (Also Marvel characters but here in their more traditional personas). This was such a fun writing project twisting the mythology through the text. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TDSMVWN

The next book I published is Thirteen Spooky Stories from Mysterious Connecticut. This  collection of short stories is easy to read and not bloody or gory at all. I write spooky as a suggestive text to make the reader wonder if the ghosts and apparitions mentioned could possibly exist. If you live near me these are fun sites to visit. If not, there is enough here to make these stories fit into your local area. In these pages you will find ghost trains and a mysterious lake, a young woman wandering, a story of old friends and more.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJHFYGBX

My next book Christmas Letters is an adult novel. It takes place in 2017 but there are many letters within that are dated during WWI, 1917. The setting of this upcoming book is a family dairy farm in northern Connecticut. I think you will enjoy this uplifting story of love, hope and family et in the holiday season. Keep following me here on my blog, send an email address to get on my mailing list, and or follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Mastodon.

A link for this book will be available July 29, 2023

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 “You can’t make me!”, a childhood declaration en route to the unwanted bath, or the dreaded family event, it is a classic line of resistance. Often the phrase is a playground recourse to a dare or command to adhere to some childhood standard.  We learn this early in life and wear the moments proudly in memory.

The time has passed. It is time to put down the memory in the category of childhood power and embrace social media, at least at some level, a beginning!  There are those who yearn for the days pre-social media, the pen and phone days of yore. I am not advocating putting down  your pen or your phone they are both powerful tools in the tool box of promotion, and marketing of you and your interest. Social Media is for business and an integral piece in my worlds of the Arts, Agriculture and Non-Profits. It is not the teen thing, or the young persons place, it is the place for our business today.

A century or more ago there was a resistance to those silly glass balls and wires, after all the fuss the LIGHT BULB was and is, a great idea. The image has become the icon for  new ideas.

Passing over Social Media as a unwanted trend or fad will only leave you with the Edison resistant- in the dark. Social Media is as relevant to life today as Walter Cronkite was to news, so please tune in.

You don’t need to partake of the whole pie, just select a couple bites and begin to engage people and build a following. Today your circle of friends can circle the globe, so join a conversation, comment on a blog,( start with this one – what do you think?) favorite a great photo and begin to reach out with all these wonderful tools! Engagement is the seed you sow, what you work on, growth, network, reach are the harvest. Interested in more about my other social media sites? Here is a link to my page listing them: https://www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com/Index.cfm?PageID=1512

credit for photo shared through:

 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

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Link:  Participatory Storytelling

Who wants to try this?

What a great lead  in to a major storytelling event!

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Use Pinterest  to promote an event, a venue, a hobby, a profession, a place or the eclectic you!

Like having all the school bulletin boards to yourself!

Scrapbooking online, collect and pin up what you like!
There  is no limit to the fun things you can share and find via Pinterst. Technology can be the doorway to finding a broader audience, building network, and developing online skills.

     Videos, photos and articles about Carolyn Stearns Storyteller is  one of my Pinterest topics, there are so many I want to do, need to start horses or agriculture soon. Have the Donkey friends board started and the cowboys.

There are so many fun new technology tools to help us, so pick the ones that has appeal to you and jump in.  Need help? I’m teaching a pre-conference class in Albany New York March 16 1-5 pm www.lanes.org has the registration. Here is a blog about it.

https://www.carolynstearnsstoryteller.com/my-web-presence-is-dead/

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I attended the first afternoon concert to see Megan Hicks of Virginia and I loved her Stories from the Homefront. These came from memories of her mother, a young woman in the 1940’s. The performance was brilliant! She shared the stage with Simon Brooks of New Hampshire and formerly of England. Here was a great balance as I laughed so hard at a couple of Simon’s tales, well told and animated.

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