Zip Lining

Zip lining over the Costa Rica canopy is by far the bravest thing I've ever done. At age 66, I didn't really have any extreme sports under my belt. No sky diving, no bungie cord jumping, no scuba diving, no climbing Mt. McKinley.

However, I have slalom water skied, but, hey, everybody does that, right? I did it at age 60 and am fairly proud of that! And the closest I've ever come to scuba diving is snorkeling in the Caribbean, which gave me motion sickness. I guess there's time to sky dive in the new indoor facility that opened in Scottsdale, but I've heard weird bodily functions occur while doing that - like snot flying out of your nose and getting stuck in your eyelashes.

To prove my zip lining experience, here is a video someone took of the Arizona chicks coming in for a landing. I'm the slow one in the blue shirt:

You can read more about my visit to Costa Rica here.

My Author Friends

        

As you may or may not know, I write children's picture books and have published 6 books, four about Lonnie the Loon and two about Quincy the Quail:

Lonnie the Loon Finds His Home
Lonnie the Loon Learns to Fly
Lonnie the Loon Learns to Call
Lonnie the Loon Flies South for the Winter
Quincy the Quail Leads His Family on an Adventure
Quincy the Quail Saves a Life

You can read more about these books and even purchase them on my website: RennerWrites.com. I'm writing another one about Quincy the Quail and am working on a series of books about the Trumpeter Swans. All my books are entertaining as well as educational.

The purpose of this blog, however, is to show my support of other authors. The above picture was taken in Tucson, Arizona at a book signing and sale. The ladies in the photo are my friends, members of my critique group, and picture book authors. We get along fabulously. From left to right, Rita Goldner, Joanne Grady, and me. We enjoy each other's company, give each other writing advice, share marketing tips, and support each other's work. There is no competition. In fact, Rita is illustrating my books about the Trumpeter Swans.

I believe authors should stick together and not consider each other as competitors. What I write and what other authors write usually are completely different. Our books give the readers a choice when they want to make a purchase.

Another author friend, Kathy Peach, and I shared a table at an arts and crafts fair (yes, in the desert). We both sold lots of books and gave discounts if both our books were purchased together. It was great! Kathy's book is called The Tiniest Tumbleweed. It is directed toward the same age group as mine, ages 3-7, but has a different message.

My author friends and I learn from each other, and I will support their book selling efforts.

I wrote a blog entitled "Honoring Women" for a Facebook group. It held this spot in my blog, but since I shouldn't post the same blog in two different places, I replaced it with this one about My Author Friends.

One Author's World

           

This is a view of my world. I crawl into my computer and try to sort out fact from fiction. I research for my books; I socialize with friends; and I write uninteresting missives about nothing.

My world - where I escape from reality for awhile.

The real blog that held this spot is now located on the Phoenix Publishing and Book Marketing Facebook page where it was first published as Longhand or Computer?