Thursday, December 12, 2013

Charms!

I'm sorry I've been AWOL. School made life extra hectic, but I'm off for a month, so YaY! 





This summer, writer Robyn Campbell told me about the Charms Project that Sally Odgers  put together. The anthology wasn't about profit, but for the love of creating stories. 

When I mentioned that Lenny Lee would be part of the project to my daughter, Mia, she asked if she could write a story. Though Mia would be the youngest contributor, Sally agreed. Mia chose a wolf charm as her inspiration and wrote her story. After a little cajoling, she accepted some of my feedback and revised a few times. Then  Sharon Mayhew  offered her more feedback. Soon her story was done.

Mia is proud that even though she’s the youngest author, her story was gory enough to have to be included in the 3rd volume, suitable for older readers.


Mia’s piece is called “The Pursuit.” Here’s her bio:

I chose the wolf charm because I love animals. Wolves speak to me, maybe because dogs are one of my favorite animals. A Husky, which resembles a wolf, is my favorite dog. My wolf story for the Charms anthology has fantasy in it. Those are the types of stories I tend to read the most.

I’ve always liked to write. When I’m an adult, I want to be an engineer or do something related to science, but I hope to write at least part time.
           
I’m a sixth-grader who takes ballet and Taekwondo lessons. Since I have learned how to be strong and defend myself, I like to create characters that are tough. I don’t like damsels in distress!
           

My piece is called “First Star.” Here’s what I say about it in my bio:

I chose the star charm because as a child, I believed in the power of wishing upon the first star. As I got older, I realized that wishes came true with hard work and determination. But I still love gazing at the night’s sky. My favorite constellation is Orion’s Belt. 

If I could fulfill one wish for myself, it would be to make a living writing for children and teens full time. With continued hard work and perseverance, I hope I achieve it.

This story is dedicated to my sister, Kathleen, who helped me capture the big sister-little sister dynamic in this story. (Tess/Kate and Theresa/Kathleen, get it?)



The books are available in 3 volumes. Here’s the premise:

Hannah, Josh, Immy and Ashton met when their parents formed the syndicate to restore an old house and reinvent it as a boutique hotel. While the adults worked downstairs, the children found a mysterious treasure in the attic; a crock of charms. Every charm had a story.

Volume One tells the story of the first week in the attic, and offers stories for younger readers. (Susan Leonard Hill is in Volume 2.) Volume Two contains stories, poems and pictures most suitable for mid-grade readers. (Sharon and Robyn are in volume 2.)

In this third volume of Charms, the crock and the children are back. A problem threatens the syndicate and there are new adventures as Josh and Hannah go beyond the curtain to enter the world of the stories. Charms is a collection of stories, poems and illustrations by a wide variety of contributors. It is also a fantasy novel
in three volumes, though each can stand alone. Volume Three contains stories, poems and pictures most suitable for older readers. (Mia, Lenny, and I are in Volume 3.)

It was fun to write and critique these stories with a bunch of my favorite writing friends and my daughter. I hope you enjoy our pieces!


You can only get a copy by contacting 
one of the writers who is in the book. 
(So if you want a copy you'll have to let me 
know and I'll sell it at cost plus shipping.)


If you’re interested, email me at tmilstein at gmail dot com. Cost is $13.18 + shipping.


Sharon is having a giveaway to win Volume 2 on her blog.  Please visit! 





25 comments:

  1. Wow, what an awesome book project! I love the idea of a different story for each charm! Congratulations Lenny and Mia and all the other authors :-)

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  2. Golly gee, I'm last to get my post up. (sucky me) I'm getting it up as we speak! :-) This project was so much fun and the books are so well done. Mia's story is fantastic! Lenny's poem too. (I mean I want to ride that bus now!) :-)

    So happy to be associated with you guys. Love you Theresa and Sharon.

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  3. What an amazing project! Such a cool idea and I love reading the bios. I also loved reading this: Mia is proud that even though she’s the youngest author, her story was gory enough to have to be included in the 3rd volume, suitable for older readers.

    :)

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    1. Jess, yes, technically she shouldn't read her own piece!

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  4. I've become UN-SUCKY (I coined a new word). Post is up! :-)

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  5. Wow. How have you had time to write along with everything else you've had to do?

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    1. Liz, I write in the early morning and during lunch. After school and lots of weekend time is devoted to school.

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  6. Congratulations to both you and your daughter! That's cool you both have a story in the same book.

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    1. Alex, thanks! I hope this is one of many opportunities for my daughter and me.

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  7. hi miss theresa!
    for sure it was lots of fun doing this project with you and your daughter and miss sharon and miss robyn. thanks for including me.
    ...hugs from lenny

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  8. It was really special to Lenny and Mia join us in this project.

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  9. What a great idea. And so awesome that you all wrote a story for it, including your daughter. I've heard she's a great writer too. Congrats!

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  10. This is so cool, Theresa! I've always wanted to do a collaborative project. I bet you guys had a ton of fun doing this. Congrats to you!

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  11. Wow, so fabulous to read about this project. And WOW, to Mia! What a great accomplishment for a young writer! Great for you, too, Mom! Congratulations to all!

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  12. So cool. Congrats to you and your daughter!

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  13. Oh, I do understand being AWOL. I've been there too! But I'm back, and it was so nice hear about this charming project! Congrats to all of you! I think it's so, so, so cool Lenny and your daughter were involved! Here's to a charmed holiday season! Bisous.

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  14. Hi Theresa .. this sounds a great project - everyone involved has written such happy enthusiastic bouncing around posts about their story and bloggers included ... I've asked Sharon to send me copy of each volume -

    What a great little one you have - who can write her own gory pieces! That's brilliant Theresa .. and I'm so chuffed for Mia ...

    I'm looking forward to getting my copies and will make sure I find out how ..

    I'm delighted to know Lenny, Sharon, Robyn, you and Mia and Susan are all in it .. Lenny is thrilled! Cheers Hilary

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  15. It's beautiful that you and your daughter are writers and have stories in the same book.

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  16. Lovely Theresa!! Oh wow!! You've spawned a WRITER! How wonderful!! Mother and daughter writers! I love love love love it! And what super awesome bios too!!

    Just popped in to wish you all a HAPPY HAPPY Christmas and Holiday Season and New Year!! Take care
    x

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  17. Just came by to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Congratulations on the anthology. That is a great way to wind up a year. See you in 2014.

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  18. I think the book project is a great idea! Wishing you and your family peace and blessings. See you in 2014! :)

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  19. How fantastic that Mia got into the project! She's so well rounded....wonder where she gets all that inspiration from? Congratulations to you both. After the first of the year, I'll want to order a copy of volume 3. In the meantime, I hope you and your family have a wonderful new year!

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  20. I've reached new lows in being behind in my email! It's January 24 and I'm just getting here to say thank you so much for the mention!!! I have a copy of the anthology now and am looking forward to reading everyone's stories!

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  21. Don't worry about it, Susan. I can't keep up with anything lately!

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