Reader

July 10, 2014 by Tricia Goyer 4 Comments

How to Grow a Reader

Growing up my favorite thing to do was read. As a homeschooling mom (and an author) reading is now a highlight of my life. From the moment I had kids, I wanted them to be readers, too. I’m happy to say they are! Here are some ways you can grow a reader too.

1. Start young and keep going. I started reading to my kids when they were four to five months old. Sometimes I didn’t even read the story, but I’d point out items and colors and shapes on the page. When my kids were babies and toddlers I’d read to them for fifteen to twenty minutes a day. This time grew as they did!

2. Set an example. Turn off the TV and get off the computer and curl up with a book.

3. Write reading into your family schedule. We made reading part of our bedtime routine. After the kids got ready for bed we’d all gather in the living room and dad read a chapter out of a book. This continued until my older kids were in high school, and we’re eager to start this again with our little one who we adopted!

4. Fill your home with all types of reading materials: books, magazines, newspapers, maps, cookbooks. Let kids drag them around and explore the pages.

5. Visit the library often. This was part of our weekly homeschooling schedule for years. If your library has a story time, be sure to attend!

Read the rest of the post here at Home Educating Family:

How about you? How do you help your children develop a love for reading?

Resources:

Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson

Prayer:

Lord, I thank You that You’ve given me these children to nurture and raise. Help me to be diligent in doing it in a way that honors You and prepares them for their service to You and this world … for Your glory! Amen.

I have a few books on sale right now! Generation NeXt Marriage is $2.99. You can also get my four World War II novels in the Liberators Series for $13.99.

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January 22, 2014 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

Do You Know Who Your Audience Is?

Do you know who your audience is?

I have to admit I’m still trying to figure this out; after all, people’s tastes are as varied as the people themselves. There are those who read cozy mysteries, others suspense, others romance (of varying degrees). And while there are many CBA (Christian Book Association) readers who love to read the latest new and different thing, there is a large audience of people who enjoy sweet stories, simply told. These books are engaging and entertaining. And this segment of readers appreciates these books. And (I have to say) they’re a very good audience to write for.

Sometimes when I write I think of a young mom who needs to be swept away with a good story. Or sometimes that business executive who grabs a book to read as he or she heads out the door for yet another business trip.

As a #writer, can you pinpoint who your #audience is? @TriciaGoyer

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Sometimes, I picture a sweet lady from Iowa who meets for senior luncheons, goes to Bingo, and curls up at night with a good book because there’s nothing today on TV that she finds uplifting or interesting. This woman loves Amish, family dramas, and prairie romances the best. She’s tried some of those other books, but they’re just too wordy or too intense. She just wants a simple read she can pass on to her friend Mable when she’s done. I’ve written some WWII historical that this woman wouldn’t like (too intense), but my Amish books are right up this lady’s alley. I enjoy writing books for this woman—just as I like writing for that harried mom and business exec too.

I have to say, though, just because books are sweet and simple doesn’t mean they’re easier to write. Writing about people and relationships takes work. With these types of books, originality comes through depth of emotion or through fun, interesting, lovable and quirky characters.

Am I OK writing for readers who have different tastes? Yes. Mostly because I like to read different types of books. What I write is also a representation of the many facets of what makes up me . . . readers get a glimpse of that.

What I write is also a representation of the many facets of what makes up me. @TriciaGoyer

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A few of my WWII books are set inside concentration camps. I have one friend who couldn’t read them because they were too intense. A lover of history, I write these stories through the eyes of unique characters—a thirteen-year-old Jewish violinist or a pregnant Jew hiding as an Aryan. The point-of-view made these books different than other WWII novels out there. It’s yet another way of being original. It’s yet another way of showing a fragment of me and my interests.

Whatever I write, I strive to write manuscripts that creative and original for the audience I’m writing for. And I think readers appreciate that. They can tell I’m thinking of them . . . because I am.

Did you hear the good news? My new book Balanced is available now via Amazon and Barnes & Noble for only $2.99 (digital only)!

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December 7, 2013 by Tricia Goyer 4 Comments

The Sights and Scents of Life

Recently on my Facebook page I asked, “What scent or sound immediately takes you back to childhood?” I love the responses that came through. Here are a few of them:

Carolann E: The smell of a live Christmas tree. I used to lay on my tummy and play with the little plastic town and the train that my dad set up every year and sing Christmas carols.
Jennifer C: The smell of burning leaves always makes me think of my dad when I was little. There are also certain smells that are like a mixture of chalk and glue and blackboards that make me feel like I’m back in elementary school. Also, a cool breeze some mornings bring me back to getting ready for school time.
Shannon: The smell of my grandma’s perfume.
Jenny B: Cooking smells like cookies and cakes and buns that mum use to make.
Melinda S: A spoon stirring something in a glass jar. My mom mixed up a big jar of Tang every morning for breakfast. I usually woke up to that sound.
Cooper M: Fresh mown hay takes me back to summer visits to my grandparents farm.
Joy D: Old Spice.
Martha A: The smell of homemade spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove.
Kathy P: Tangerines. Our Church made goodie bags at Christmas. They included a tangerine (or orange), hard candy, chocolate candy, nuts and other goodies. We had so much working at the assembly line filling the white paper bags for Christmas! Burning candles take me back to the Christmas candlelight service on Christmas Eve.
Anne: Rain/sprinklers–that fresh scent on a hot day. Warm asphalt takes me back to the little town where my grandmother ran a little motel. She and I walked all over that little town, and the asphalt was soft and warm in summer. Also, the plastic smell of new dolls (i.e. Barbies) at Christmas.
Lynn: The scent of pencil crayons
Lesley: Mom’s pot roast . . . Love it!
Dawn: the smell of the paper mill!
Tammy: Orange blossoms! I grew up by a grove in Florida.
Jennifer: Um . . . We lived next to a dairy farm.
Kaysee: Play doh!
Marie: Mom’s homemade cinnamon rolls and her hairspray . . . she used to use Adorn. I remember lying down on her bed and her pillow always had the scent of Adorn.
Symone: sound of a cheese slicer lol!
Donna: powder—the only make-up my mom ever wore.
Melanie: Those wintergreen, pink like pepto mints remind me of my grandpa
Kimberly Brown: The smell of harvest. I grew up on a grain farm.

These are just a fraction of the responses. I found so many of them taking me back to childhood too—that plastic smell of a new baby doll, the smell of play dough, and of Old Spice. No matter how old we are or where we live, common sights and smells unite us!

Fiction goes far beyond just reading—it connects reader to writer. @TriciaGoyer

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The same is true when we read fiction. The sights and scents create a common bond within the pages. They connect the writer, the characters, and the readers by the simple, everyday things that stir memories.

Read the rest of this post on Writes of Passage!

What scent or sight takes you back to #childhood? Share with @TriciaGoyer:

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Did you hear the good news? A Christmas Gift for Rose is only $2.99 (digital), now through January 6! Get the ebook HERE!

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August 24, 2013 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment

Readers’ Words. God’s Glory. Sometimes Authors Just Need to Pause and Appreciate!

This is my novel By the Light of the Silvery Moon. It was published in March 2012 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 2012.

I loved writing this book. I’d been a “fan” of the Titanic for years. I was fully immersed in the story as I wrote, but then life happened. By the time the book released I was under deadline for another project. I participated in some radio interviews and blog tours, but I really didn’t take time to soak in what readers were saying about the story. I didn’t pause to appreciate how much it meant to them!

You see, this novel was inspired by the biblical story of the prodigal son. In fact, the biblical story plays out with the pages of the book with a stowaway on the lower decks realizing his father and brother are in first class. The story is a reminder to all of us about the Father’s love.

Your reviews and reactions about books can impact authors. @TriciaGoyer

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Even though the book has been in print for more than a year, today is the first time I really slowed down and read the reviews, and I was in awe of people’s reactions. To read their kind words meant so much.

Read the rest of this post on Writes of Passage!

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Wondering what’s up next for me? My book A Christmas Gift for Rose releases soon. You can pre-order it here!

July 1, 2013 by Tricia Goyer Leave a Comment