Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Author Spotlight: Darlene Foster
Posted on: August 23, 2019
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 22 Comments
So pleased to be a guest on Amy Reade’s blog, Reade and Write where I give some advice to aspiring writers and talk about my upcoming release. Check it out!
Today on Reade and Write I’m thrilled to welcome Darlene Foster, who’s here to talk about her newest novel, Amanda in Holland – Missing in Action, Book 7 in the Amanda Travels series (it’s available for pre-order now–it will be released on September 3rd). You will love the covers of these delightful books, and I love the idea behind the series because I enjoy reading stories set in places all over the world. Darlene’s books are a bit different from ones I normally spotlight on this blog because they’re written with a younger audience in mind, but so many adults love the books, too. And I think you’ll enjoy the interview as much as I did.
Congratulations on your next release! Tell us all about it.
In Amanda in Holland – Missing in Action, Amanda is in Holland to see the tulips with her best friend, Leah, travelling the…
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- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 21 Comments
I was asked to be a guest on Campbells World. Check it out and let me know what you think of my favourite affirmation.
Hello campbellsworld visitors.
Welcome back to WordPress Wednesday.
I’m proud to say that things here in campbellsworld are fully functional once again and in celebration I’ve got a wonderful guest here with me this afternoon. Her name is Darlene Foster, and way back in the beginning of June she answered my call for guest authors, and then when my blog, and then my computer went down she along with many others who will be featured during the next couple of days waited patiently while things got sorted.
So, without further delay I give you, Darlene and her wonderful interview.
First, in your own words tell us a little about you.
I am a Canadian author who has written the Amanda Travels series featuring a spunky twelve-year-old who loves to travel to unique places where she encounters mystery and adventure. Readers of all ages enjoy following Amanda as she unravels one…
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Virtual Book Festival: Event 11 – An Interview with Children’s Author Darlene Foster @supermegawoman #VirtBookFest #books #childrensbooks
Posted on: August 6, 2019
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 16 Comments
Book Festivals are so much fun. You always learn something new, meet great people and get inspired. But it is not always possible to get to one. So how about a virtual Book Festival? Anne Stormont has created a wonderful Book Fest and invited me to be a guest speaker. All readers, writers and everyone else, come and join the fun.
Hello and welcome to event number eleven in the Virtual Book Festival. Today’s guest is author of children’s books, Darlene Foster, and she’s here to talk to us about her writing and to tell us about the wonderful novels she writes for eight to twelve year olds.
Welcome Darlene, it’s lovely to have you here today. Let’s start with you telling us why and how you became a writer.
No one is born a writer. But you can be born a storyteller. I come from a long line of storytellers and have been telling stories out loud or in my head for as long as I can remember. We were encouraged to tell stories as I was growing up on the farm, as we didn’t have a television until I was almost a teenager. My grade three teacher encouraged me to write my stories down and when I was twelve…
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Amazing Over 50s – Darlene Foster
Posted on: July 26, 2019
- In: Dreams | guest posts | Inspiration | Writing
- 55 Comments
I was invited to be a guest on a great blog called Loving The Fifty Something
Read what I have to say about getting older and check out Sam’s interesting blog where she features other over 50s.
Amazing Over 50’s – Darlene Foster
Amazing over 50’s
I am inviting and featuring ‘Mid-lifers’ who are enjoying life over 50 and who are happy to shout out about great health, fitness, lifestyles, work or their achievements etc, but more importantly who are embracing this time of their lives with pride and open arms.
This month I’m happy to introduce Darlene Foster as my seventeenth guest. Darlene is an author and blogger.
Welcome to Loving The Fifty Something, Darlene
Can I ask you to tell us a little about yourself
Of course, you can, but you might be sorry. I’ll try to keep it to the Readers Digest version. I spent a lot of time daydreaming and making up stories as a child. I dreamt of becoming a teacher, writing books, travelling the world and meeting interesting people. But as the saying goes, life happens when you’re making other plans.
Read more here https://lovingthefiftysomething.com/2019/07/25/amazing-over-50s-darlene-foster/
I’d be interested to learn your feelings about being over 50 if you are, and how you feel about becoming a 50 plus person if you aren’t.
Smorgasbord Posts from My Archives – The Literary Column with Jessica Norrie – Reading from the very start
Posted on: July 19, 2019
- In: Books | guest posts | Writing
- 19 Comments
A great post on the importance of reading, that made me think of the books I read as a child and how they influenced my life.
In celebration of the imminent release of Jessica Norrie’s new book on July 22nd, I will be sharing her literary column posts again every fortnight over the summer. More about The Magic Carpet later in the post.
Reading from the very start
What is the beginning?
Before I wrote fiction and blogged, I was a translator, teacher and teacher trainer, with students ranging from 3 – 80+. I learned if a child learns young enough to appreciate different points of view through reading stories, the habit ebbs and flows but is never quite lost, with huge repercussions for how their lives develop.
Non-fiction can be told as stories too. The beginnings are usually clear, the plotting goes all over the place, the ends may be murky, but there’s always a story in there somewhere. It may be obvious – Henry VIII and his six wives, Harriet Tubman, Mahatma Ghandhi. Sometimes…
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Amanda’s Adventures in Holland ARC
Posted on: May 7, 2019
- In: Books | Travel | Writing
- 60 Comments
We are almost there. Amanda in Holland – Missing in Action has been edited and edited and edited some more. How could I miss so many commas and how did all those ‘ly’ words sneak in? And what is with the word just? I just use it too often. However, I am very happy with this book and am pleased to announce it is available on NetGalley for a free e-version for those of you who would like to read an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) and possibly write a review. You can access the e-book here.
Amanda is in Holland to see the tulips with her best friend, Leah. She travels the canals of Amsterdam, visits Anne Frank House, checks out windmills and a wooden shoe factory, and takes pictures of the flowers of Keukenhof Gardens. She is keen to find out what happened to her great uncle who never returned from WWII and was declared missing in action. What she doesn’t expect to find and fall in love with is Joey, an abandoned puppy. While trying to find a home for him, she meets Jan, a Dutch boy who offers to help, a suspicious gardener, a strange woman on a bicycle, and an overprotective goose named Gerald. Follow Amanda around the charming country of Holland, filled with colourful tulips, windmills, and more bicycles than she could have imagined. Once again, intrepid traveller Amanda encounters danger and intrigue as she tries to solve more than one mystery in a foreign country.
Here is a short excerpt
They disembarked at the next stop in front of a shop with large wheels of cheese piled high outside the door. Once inside, the sour milk scent of cheese greeted them.
A cheerful girl in a pointy white hat with wings on each side handed out samples.
“Yum, this cheese is so good.” Amanda smacked her lips. “Let’s buy some for a snack later.”
Mr. Anderson took out his wallet. “Good idea. We’ll take a wedge of Gouda and one of that one we just sampled.” He pointed to the cheeses.
“You mean the Edam?” asked the sales clerk. “These are good choices.”
While Leah’s father paid for the purchase, the girls went outside. Amanda heard a whimpering sound. “Did you hear that?” she asked Leah.
“Did I hear what?”
“A sound like a baby or a baby animal. I think it came from over there.” Amanda pointed at a large garbage can across the road. “There it is again!” She stepped off the curb.
“Amanda, watch for bikes!” Leah shouted.
One whizzed past, barely missing Amanda. She didn’t even notice. She headed for a cardboard box sitting beside the smelly garbage. Bending over, she opened it. Curled up in the bottom, a brown and white puppy, with the biggest chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen, stared up at her.
The puppy whimpered and put his head between his front paws.
Amanda in Holland – Missing in Action will be released on September 1, 2019 and is available for pre-order.
An example of the gorgeous flowers Amanda sees while in Holland.
Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – #PotLuck – #CWILL BC Group Rewards by Darlene Foster
Posted on: May 4, 2019
A nice surprise to see this blog from the past. CWILL BC is an amazing group to belong to and this was such a great event. I have been a member for the past nine years. Thanks, Sally for bringing it out of the archives.
Welcome to the series of Posts from Your Archives, where bloggers put their trust in me. In this series, I dive into a blogger’s archives and select four posts to share here to my audience.
If you would like to know how it works here is the original post:https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/04/28/smorgasbord-posts-from-your-archives-newseries-pot-luck-and-do-you-trust-me/
Children’s author and travel writer Darlene Foster is a regular visitor to the blog and has shared some amazing posts. She gave me permission to explore her archives in search of more treasure. The first post that I selected was from 2013….I have checked all the links and you can find current activities for the organisation by clicking through.
Group Rewards by Darlene Foster.
I have been a member of a wonderful organization, CWILL BC (Children’s Writers and Illustrators of BC) for the past three years. This organization provides information and support to local children’s authors and assists in…
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