Readers’ Favorite Review of Kitten & Butterfly

Readers’ Favorite gave “Kitten & Butterfly” a 5-star review. But, I never realized that they provided a “mini-critique.” It’s actually very informative. I thought it was a fair assessment. Click the link below to open the PDF.

Readers’ Favorite Critique of Kitten & Butterfly

Learn more about the Kitten and Friends series:

Mariana Llanos – #7 on The Gittle List 2015

#7 on The Gittle List 2015

Also available in Spanish.

Mariana Llanos earned the #7 spot on The Gittle List for No Birthday for Mara, a book she wrote that was illustrated by Julián Galván. (Read my review.)

How did it feel to win a spot on The Gittle List Top 10?  I’m honored to be a three-time Gittle List winner. I didn’t see this coming! I’m grateful to be included in this fantastic list. My books Tristan Wolf and The Wanting Monster were in this list in previous years. Additionally, Tristan Wolf was a finalist of the Readers’ Favorite Award in 2013, A Planet for Tristan Wolf was an Honorable Mention at the New England Book Festival of 2014. I put a lot of work and passion into my books, so it feels rewarding when they get recognized.

What children’s book contains your favorite illustrations? I love Maurice Sendak’s art. He was unique and talented. Gosh how I wish I could draw!

Which artists or writers most influenced or inspired your work? When I was young(er), I used to read and re-read two books in particular: one was The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The other one was Mi Planta de Naranja Lima by the Brazilian Jose Mauro de Vasconcelos. I’ve always wanted to write poignant stories like those. I think these books are the ones that influenced a lot of my early writing, and are still alive in me.

Why did you decide to self-publish? I self-published because I wanted to be involved in the whole process of creating a book. I find it fascinating. I never considered traditional publishing in the beginning, contrary to what some people think. There’s this conception that one self-publishes because there’s no other option. Well, that’s far from truth, at least in my case. I’m not opposed to traditional publishing, and I would consider it too. For me it’s not one of the other. I like to learn from both, and find the right ways to make my books available to my audience. The part I don’t enjoy much about self-publishing is marketing. It’s time consuming, when I just want to do is to write. But I’m not bad at it, and it’s part of the process.

Interior illustration by

Tell us about your latest project.  This year I’m planning on releasing two titles: The Wanting Monster: Andy goes to Peru, and The Maize Cob Princess, a tale of a tiny princess or ñusta who lives in the times of the Incas. As you can see I’m going back to my roots, with two stories set in my home country. Also, in a few months Recently, I made Tristan Wolf available as an audio book, and The Staircase on Pine Street will soon be available in Spanish.

Tell us 3 strange and wonderful things about you. 

1. I don’t drive on the highway. I take streets and city roads to go where I want to go. Sure it takes me longer, but it also gives me time to muse.
2. I’m obsessed with the Beatles. I’ve loved their music since I was young, and now I feel as if I lived in the 60’s because all I want to do is Twist and Shout.
3. Even though Spanish is my native language, I write in English. I started writing when I was a kid, in Spanish of course. When I was in my mid-20s I had a long writer’s block, of close to ten years. I only wrote sporadically, but the blank page in front of me, became my usual. I only overcame it when I started writing in the new language, English, when I moved to the US. I haven’t stopped writing ever since.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.” Very simple. I probably read it somewhere, and it stuck with me. Making mistakes is a sign that you’re trying, and learning in the process.

Mariana was a Gittle List 2014 winner with “The Wanting Monster.”

What do you do to market your books? I’m authentic. Yes, that’s what I do. That’s my strategy. I write, I share, I do ads and things like that, but most of all, I let people fall in love (or hate) with my writing.

Mariana was a Gittle List 2013 winner with “Tristan Wolf.”

Any advice for writers thinking about self-publishing a children’s picture book? This is a tough but rewarding business. If you self-publish, make sure you’re publishing your best work. There are a lot of good stories out there, but they don’t shine because the authors rushed to publish. Invest money in a good editor, a designer, an illustrator. Read a lot of articles, educate yourself. Also, start networking with other authors and bloggers. Study your favorite authors, buy their books. There’s a lot of work to be done before you can call yourself as an ‘author’. I promise it will be all worth it in the end. I wrote an article about the traits I consider necessary to thrive in this industry (read here).

Mariana Llanos is Peruvian-born author who lives in Oklahoma. She has independently published six children’s books. She visits schools in Oklahoma City, encouraging children to read and write. She also visits schools through virtual technology.  Last school year she visited 55 schools around the globe. This year so far, she’s visited 30. Her goal is to break stereotypes while sharing her passion for books and writing. Her books, Tristan Wolf, A Planet for Tristan Wolf, The Staircase on Pine Street, The Wanting Monster, No Birthday for Mara and A Superpower for Me are available on Amazon.com worldwide and on Full Circle Bookstore of Oklahoma City.

Contact Mariana:

Website
Facebook
Author page
Twitter
Blog

Aviva Gittle writes and publishes children’s stories in English and Spanish. Each year, Aviva runs The Gittle List contest to support her fellow indie authors. Oh, she also loves children’s picture books and is always on the lookout for great ones. The 2016 Gittle List Contest is in full swing: submission guidelines. Follow @AvivaGittle and signup for Gittle News (look right) to be the first to know when they are posted! 😺

Aviva’s Holiday Bread Pudding w/ Buttershots Sauce

Aviva’s Holiday Bread pudding (Adapted from Betty Crocker Recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a round casserole dish or dutch oven with cooking spray.

6 cups cubed stale white or other plain bread (I used my homemade beer bread)
2 cups cubed stale good-quality fruit cake (I used Gran Panettone Madi Cake)

1/2 cup raisins

2 2/3 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 pound (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup good-quality margarine (like “I Can’t
Believe It’s Not Butter or Land O’Lakes) — Or just use 6 TB butter

3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Warm buttermilk and butter together at medium-low heat until butter is melted. Don’t let it boil. You just want the butter to gently melt.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Slowly pour buttermilk / butter mixture into egg mixture whisking as you pour.

Add raisins and whisk.

Add bread cubes and gently mix until fully incorporated. Do all this by hand; don’t use a mixer.

Pour mixture into casserole or dutch oven.

Bake 40-45 minutes until pudding is starting to pull away from the sides of the dish and a knife inserted about an inch from the edge comes out clean.

Spoon buttershot sauce (recipe follows) over top while still hot and spread evenly. Let cool.

Buttershots Sauce (My own creation)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 pound (1/2 stick) butter
2-3 TB Buttershots liqueur

Whisk all together in microwaveable bowl. Cover with plastic. Microwave at 50% power for 4 minutes. Whisk again and microwave at 50% power for another 4 minutes. Set aside.

Hint: If you know you are going to make bread pudding, put the bread and part of the fruit cake in the refrigerator. In a few days the bread and cake should be stale.

Aviva Gittle Gifts

List of gifts

Kitten & Koi

Kitten & Butterfly!

Two Stories for Chanukah by Harris Tobias

Harris Tobias, author of The King’s Dream: A Fairy Tale, #3 on The Gittle List 2014, has provided two of his short stories exclusively to Aviva to publish on the Gittle website. Just in time for Chanukah! (Which starts at sundown today, December 16, 2014.)

A CHANUKAH STORY

It was the coldest Chanukah anyone could remember. Icicles hung from the eaves and a cold wind blew the snow into drifts on the lawn. It was the last night of Chanukah and the fully lit menorah would do what it could to compete with the multi-colored twinkling displays of Christmas lights on all the other houses in Stoney Glen Estates.

As the subdivision’s only Jewish family, little Sarah Greenstein took special pride showing the menorah in the living-room window. The menorah was a heavy silver antique passed down, like her Jewishness, from her Mother. Unfortunately, it required a rather large odd sized candle which the Greenstein had to special order many weeks in advance from a Judiaca store in Brooklyn. The candles were kept in the drawer with the tablecloths until they were needed.

This is how Chanukah had been for all of Sarah’s nine years. But this year something had gone wrong with the candle order. The count was wrong and the box from Brooklyn was short the nine candles needed for the last night. Instead of containing 44 candles, which covered all the nights of Chanukah, the candle box was completely empty after the seventh night. Not only were there no special candles left, there were no candles in the house at all and the storm outside made driving to the store impossible.

The mood inside the Greenstein’s house was as dark as the menorah. All around them the neighbor’s houses twinkled and flashed with Christmas color. Some houses had illuminated Santas and sleighs on their roof or lawn, some had reindeer and wise men, and one had a huge inflated snowman. Everywhere there were lights; cascades of lights hung off the roofs and engulfed every shrub and tree. The menorah’s slow build up to its fully lit splendor was all but lost in the Christmas glare.

Alas, it appeared that there was nothing  to be done to salvage the situation.  The festival of lights was headed for a cold and dark conclusion. Sarah sat in her room disappointed and stared out her window. The neighbor’s colored light show reflected off the icicles hanging from the eaves giving them the appearance of colored rods. Maybe it was that colored glow that gave Sarah the idea that saved this story and her final night. Running down the steps she ran to her father and told him her idea.

“Put icicles in the menorah?” her incredulous father asked. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea. They’ll only melt and make a mess.”

But Sarah begged and pleaded until her father put on his winter coat and went to fetch the ladder from the garage. In a few minutes he returned with a pail containing nine icicles just about the size of the menorah’s candles. Sarah set them in their sockets ready for lighting.

It looked a little strange but there was no denying it had a certain charm about it. The family gathered around the curious candelabra, joined hands and said the Chanukah prayer. Father even went as far as to light a match and touch it to the shamus, the center candle that lights the others.

No one was more surprised than the Greensteins when the icy shamus held the flame just like a real candle. In a few moments all the ice candles were lit and the menorah burned in full glory. Not only did the menorah burn all night long but, if that weren’t miracle enough, the storm knocked out all the power in Stoney Glen Estates plunging it into darkness.

The Greenstein’s menorah was the only light anyone could see  for miles around.

LATKES

The latkes lay forgotten. Schmulke Bara left them in the barn for the homeless man and just assumed they were eaten. They lay moldering in the rich barnyard stew of animal stink, hay and fecal matter. It was amazing the goats hadn’t found them or the chickens.

Thick with oil and rich in flavor Schmulke’s latkes were not to be taken lightly. In fact there was nothing light about them. Her family often teased her about how oily they were. “If we ever run out of candles,” her husband would say, “we can always light one of your latkes, Schmulke.”

It was Spring when Schmulke saw the pancakes again. By that time they had grown a curious covering of mold. No one ever saw a mold like that. It was a fluorescent yellow and glowed in the dark. She thought briefly of taking it to the rabbi to see if it was an evil spirit but in the end she just threw them away. Disgusted, she threw the ugly mess into the compost pile where the rare mold had a chance to mingle with the natural ferment of kitchen scraps and soiled hay.

Fast forward a few weeks and the compost pile underwent a bizarre transformation. First a slight pulsing and then a strong regular heaving and finally it was a living breathing gelatinous mass or organic debris that swallowed wayward mice, gobbled up newly hatched chickens and supped on an occasional gosling.

Finally, it rose up on rubbery legs and staggered through the barnyard frightening the live stock it made its blind way to Schmulke’s door. There it waited until Schmulke opened the door and found it.

“And just what might you be?” she asked the thing.

In a throat never meant for speaking, the thing scratched out a single word, “Latkes,” was all it said.

Harris Tobias was raised by robots disguised as New Yorkers. Despite an awkward childhood he learned to read and write. To date Mr. Tobias has published two detective novels, The Greer Agency and A Felony of Birds, to critical acclaim. In addition he has published dozens of short stories. He is the author of many children’s books including At The Robot Zoo, MoonRivet Saves His Skin and An Alphabet Book of Bugs available on Nook & Kindle. You can find a list of all his books here.

The State of America’s Children 2014

I posted this report, The State of America’s Children 2014 published by the Children’s Defense Fund, in response to an excellent article by West Stringfellow  titled “Homeless 5th Graders Can Save America.” I quoted one line from the report in my comment to West’s article:

“Nearly 1.2 million public school students were homeless in 2011-2012, 73 percent more than before the recession.”

You can download and read the full report here: The State of America’s Children

What do you think? How could you help? Please leave your non-political, respectful comments below. Thanks!