Jemma - Sold

During my housesitting week in Greyton, I had the privilege to get to know Jemma, a really gentle, kind, elderly Boxer. Her greatest pleasure in life was to go for her daily walk which also did me the world of good. The wonderful thing about staying in a village like Greyton, is that they don't have burglar bars or alarm systems or anything that makes you feel fearful. As a result, Jemma's job of guarding the house was a very easy one. I enjoyed painting this picture of her, and hope you enjoy it too.

Aiken, SC

I spent one very awesome weekend in Aiken, SC. The Aiken Children's Book Festival was going on and I was a guest author. I just want to give a shout out to Fran for doing such a superb job at organizing everything (maps, food, hotels, communication, etc...). And I want to give a smooch to two cool authors I met: Melissa LeGette and Annette Laing. They made my day even more enjoyable.

Eye to Eye 18" x 24"

Another painting of my grandson, this time at Spier in Stellenbosch. I know the purists don't like to paint from photographs, but the unposed nature of the picture appealed to me. And besides, to get a child of 6 years old to stand still for 20 seconds would be a major feat!

A Smile For The Morning

When I wake up in the morning, there are 3 things that always, hands down, make me smile.

1) Opening my bedroom blinds to see sunshine outside
2) My grouchy dog stealthily crawling up on my bed to snuggle
3) Fan letters in my inbox

Here's one of those:

hi. i live in australia. i love your books the specialists. i am 11. i turned that on september the seventh. i want to be a writer. i love writing but because i live in such a small town that when i try and sell them people only buy them because they know me. i get really annoyed at that. i love your books i am almost hungry for them.. i would love to get an email back if you are not too busy. thankyou for reading.

(i shaved my head for. cancer, now thats a story to tell)

My Views - Selection Day

Thank you to both Carol Hadfield (The Art of It) and Di McNaughton (The Art of Intuitive Painting) for their insights into the vagaries of the Selection Day. I must admit I was a little taken aback by the selection - some magnificent paintings were given very low scores and therefore did not make the 'cut'. Although I was lucky enough to have one painting chosen, I thought that I needed to give up art as I simply wasn't good enough. But then (thank you Di), I paint for me and how I feel and not for judges who, because they are human after all, must judge what they see from their subjective point of view. This is the one they chose. It's called 'Penguin Spotting'

A Review To Rock The House

I can't seem to find enough really good adjectives to describe Shannon Greenland's writing. The Specialists Young Adult series has become one of my favorites and that is saying a lot for a 43-year-old woman with no children.

NATIVE TONGUE is a bit of a departure from the series as it has a much more serious tone than the previous books. But it is by far the best. Parrott is a wonderful character with some deeply emotional issues. The premise of family is much stronger in this book than the others and offers us a deeper look into both Parrott and Gigi's personalities.

The fun part is meeting the colorful characters when we head into the jungle. Adventure is a great venue for Greenland as a writer and she pulls off all the various aspects of this book with ease. Each of her books is better than the last.

Don't you dare jump into this series in the middle, start with MODEL SPY, and enjoy every word.

©Karen L. Syed, Echelon Press

Fun in Decatur!

Saturday afternoon. I was dead tired. Really dragging at the Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, GA. Would the day ever end??

Then I heard the music.

"Dad! Dad! It's Cynthia's Attic! It's Cynthia's Attic! There's the new book!!"

Two of the sweetest girls came running into our tent, their dad dutifully in tow. They grabbed copies of "Curse of the Bayou," Book Three in my series, and jumped up and down. I remembered them from the year before. So excited when they bought the first two books.

My feet stopped hurting, my calves stopped aching and tirednesss evaporated from my bones. Those two young fans energized me and carried me through the rest of that day and the next.

They made my weekend. Can't wait for Decatur '09!

Mary Cunningham Books
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