So, has everyone recovered from Thanksgiving? I should probably feel stuffed, but still find something to snack on later. My mother is a wonderful cook and this year was no different. I mentioned the Cornish hens last time, didn't I? That's the main dish, actually, but along with that we had green beans, corn on the cob, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, wild rice, rolls, two kinds of pie (sweet potato and apple) and three different flavors of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider (Original, Apple-Cranberry, and Apple-Grape). Amen to leftovers. For those of you not familiar with the Martinelli's brand, you all need to try their apple juice. It is the bomb diggity.

Alas, another holiday is upon us. Tis the season to be jolly...even when you're battling the crowds at the mall to do your Christmas shopping. If you all are smart, you'll stay at home and do your shopping on the Internet. However, If any of you are leery of the Net--it's an understandable phobia--I would like to dole out some advice to those braving the mall crowds and the crappy parking: take a deep breath, count to 10 (maybe 20, just to be sure), pray for patience. Have a safe and happy holiday.

In This Issue:
1. About the Author.
2. Old-Fashioned Ways To Inspire Children by Nicole Dean - Feature article
3. For Writers and Self-Publishers.
4. Just for Fun.
5. Classifieds and Ad Swaps

AVAILABLE NOW -

SECRETS AND KISSES - The secret lives of classmates, studying for exams, and kissing lessons. Find out how Skylar Knight deals with it all during her final week of school.

DANCE JAM PRODUCTIONS - A local dance contest, a twisted scheme, and a long buried secret. Do Mataya Black Hawk and Jarek Thanos have what it takes to be regulars on the hottest teen dance show in Phoenix?

To order online, and read excerpts, go to: Gemini Mojo Press Books

Order two or more copies and receive a free gift! All copies bought through the website are autographed by the author.

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"SPILL THE DETAILS" CONTEST, For teens ONLY, ages 13-18: This contest will take place over a period of three months with a different topic each time. December's topic: "DO OVER". For details, go to www.GeminiMojoPress.com/contest.html.




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Old-Fashioned Ways to Inspire Children
by Nicole Dean

Walk through any toy store and you will see walls and walls of toys that are loud -- toys that require batteries, have flashing lights, or that look like your child's favorite movie character. What is there for parents who want to raise children with imagination and curiosity? I'll tell you what we do. We choose to fill our houses with the following old-fashioned items.

Books -  No house can have enough books. Make sure your house has a representation of great fiction Books and non-fiction books. A mix of the two is very important. Most homes have a deficit of non-fiction books, so make sure your home is filled with Science, History and Art books. (http://www.ubah.com/J1861). Children need to learn to read and appreciate non-fiction books in order to do well in research when they reach higher levels of study.

Felt Boards -  Children love to tell stories with felt. You'll need a felt board to start. You can make your own board from a sheet of felt or purchase a board. Once you have the board, let the fun begin.   StoryTeller, at http://www.felt4fun.com has a great line of products -- felt sets, felt books, and so much more. The quality of their products is excellent. Visit their site to get a sample and feel the thick felt yourself.  Also, go to a craft or fabric store and buy sheets of felt in all colors. Then, cut out shapes in all colors and sizes. (You'll be amazed at how quickly a child will make an alien, ship, house, or person out of nothing but a few circles, rectangles, and triangles.)

Blocks and Legos - Children can play for hours building towers, bridges, cities, creatures, and more with these toys that inspire creativity, patience, and small-motor skills. When the masterpiece is finished, have your child pretend to be a giant and smash through the blocks! 

Art Supplies - Give your child some crayons, scissors, junk mail, and glue. He or she will be entertained for hours if given encouragement. Please SUPERVISE closely if you don't want your child to have a self-induced bad haircut or attach the dog to her artwork! 

Puppets - Make puppets out of socks, paper bags, felt, cloth, or popsicle sticks. Make a stage and tell stories. Get out the video camera and capture your child's brilliance!

 Musical Instruments -  Whether your musical instruments are home-made with a comb and wax paper or store bought, making music is a wonderful way to spend the day. Teach your child that music can be made from anything, from an old oatmeal container, to scratching two pieces of sandpaper together. Go on a walk and just listen to the sounds of the world -- music is everywhere in our lives.

 Dress-up Clothes - Get out old prom dresses, big hats, shirts and ties, old Halloween costumes (or buy extra pieces after Halloween for year-round fun!). Bring out a box of costumes and watch the shows that your children put on for you. Keep a camera handy to capture the fun. Also, keep an eye on the pets. Cats don't always appreciate wearing a sombrero. Trust me, I have the scars to prove it! 

Doll-houses - There is nothing more fun than watching your child make up stories as the family members move around in a doll house. Plus, if it is a wooden dollhouse, there is the added benefit of decorating it with some wallpaper scraps and carpet remnants! Your dollhouse could be a family heirloom if you put enough love into it.

 In the Kitchen -  Kids love to play Kitchen, when it is mixing air, or getting to play with food. Give your child a great time by giving them safe kitchen utensils to play with in the bathtub. Mixing, pouring, and scooping bubbles and water entertains my children long enough for them to look pruny. Or for a fun alternative, give them puffed rice cereal and some bowls and utensils on the kitchen floor. Just plan to vacuum afterwards as there'll be quite a wonderful mess!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nicole Dean is a mom whose life centers around exposing her children to all the wonders of the world. She is an Independent Consultant with Usborne Books (http://www.ubah.com/J1861), to feed her love for books, and is the proud owner of ShowMomTheMoney.com ( http://www.ShowMomTheMoney.com ) -- a fun and exciting site for Work from Home Moms.

Copyright 2004 by Nicole Dean - May be reprinted with Author information intact.


"Article reprinted from http://www.simplysearch4it.com Articles Directory"
 

Ten Quick Tips For Inexperienced Writers
by V. Berba Velasco Jr., Ph.D

One of the biggest problems that inexperienced writers have is 

simply knowing how to get started. If you??™ve unsure of your 

writing skills, then here are some quick tips to help you get 

started. 

1. Get yourself a thesaurus??”or better yet, two of them. These can 

be tremendously helpful tools when you??™re struggling to find the 

right word. A thesaurus is no substitute for a solid vocabulary, 

but it is still helpful in a pinch. 

2. Avoid using the same word too frequently. This can make one??™s 

work sound repetitive. Again, a good thesaurus can be helpful in 

this regard. 

3. Keep your sentences fairly short, since longer sentences can 

sound unwieldy. I??™ve found that 17 words or fewer is a good 

guideline. Do remember that this is just a guideline, though. 

4. Even as you keep the sentences short, make sure that they flow 

together well. Sometimes, unskilled writers will simply chop 

longer sentences up into shorter segments that don??™t blend 

together smoothly. If in doubt, try rephrasing the sentences or 

adding the proper connective phrases (e.g. ???then,??? ???so,??? ???as a 

result???). 

5. Get a copy of ???The Elements of Style??? by Strunk and White. It??™s 

a short book, but incredibly helpful. There is no better reference 

for aspiring writers. 

6. Don??™t rely too much on your word processor??™s grammar checking 

features. They can be quite impressive, but their capabilities are 

still quite limited. Spelling checkers are also limited in their 

capabilities, since they cannot recognize a lot of proper names 

and technical terms. In addition, spell checkers cannot detect 

situations wherein the user has entered the wrong word in place of 

the proper one. 

Resource of the Month

Did you catch a BookCrossing book? BookCrossing- the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. You've come to a friendly place, and we welcome you to our book-lovers' community.  Our members love books enough to let them go??”into the wild??”to be found by others. Book sharing has never been more exciting, more serendipitous, than with BookCrossing. Our goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its kind. So go grab a book or two from your shelves now (they're not doing anyone any good there, are they?), register them here, jot down our URL and the BCID we'll give you inside the covers, and then give them away or leave them where someone will find them.

Did You Know...?

One in five people on Earth are Chinese?

The Mojo Monthly Newsletter is published by Celise Downs, Author and Owner of Gemini Mojo Press, the 1st of every month.

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