New Book Trailer Arrives!

This is a funny video book trailer. Okay, we're biased, but we think it's one of the funniest ever produced.

What other book trailers have Mr. Potato Heads reenacting a murder scene?

In this video, they do! It's a scene from Doug's novel The Dead Guy.

Here's the link.

Spuds Reenact The Dead Guy Link

The Latest Scoop

Okay, a brief post on the latest news.

Doug has his mystery novel, The Dead Guy, published.

You can view the video trailer here: View Video Trailer.

And you can view the first chapter in PDF form at our home webpage:
HewittsBooks

Happy Holidays to all!

Doug and Robin

New Direction

Doug is having his novel The Dead Guy published on December 15 by Aberdeen Bay, so that really puts a crimp on time for blogging.

Check out www.HewittsBooks.com for the latest details. There's a free chapter available for viewing at The Dead Guy webpage at the HewittsBooks.com website. Check it out. It's free.

Parents Day at College

Robin and Doug are going to visit their son David during Parents Day at the college at which he's a freshman.



David is in the marching band. Although Doug is an avid football fan (having played in college at Kalamazoo College), Robin is not. But they are both eager to see the marching band performance at halftime.

A student's freshman year at college is tenuous. Dropout rates are highest during the freshman year. When parents take the time to visit their children at college, even if it's only once or twice during their freshman year, it speaks volume to the young college student. It's a clear sign of support. So, check out when Parents Day is and visit your children attending college.

Be Careful What You Ask For

We're writers. We like to write. We dream of selling books and signing publishing contracts. So, with two book contracts in one week, you'd think we're on Cloud 9. Well, we are, but that doesn't mean we're feeling maximum overload. Think about it. Doug has just sold his first mystery novel, The Dead Guy, to a wonderful new publisher, Aberdeen Bay Publishing. As the writing team of Doug and Robin, we've contracted for a book about college funding, based on the fact that we have five children in higher education and we're not paying a dime and neither are our kids!

But be careful what you ask for. The deadline for Doug's rewrite (and there is a request from the publishing company for a revision) is about three weeks. But at least it's a completed manuscript. For the scholarship book, we have plenty of notes, but other than that, we're starting from scratch. And we have a deadline of a couple of months on that. Yikes. We love to write and we've dreamed of having these opportunities, but for the moment time is stretching us so thin that we're becoming translucent. And don't even ask us about the transparencies nightmares.

Just kidding.

We're having a good time. Expect more updates soon.

Doug and Robin
www.HewittsBooks.com

A Parent's and Grandparent's Greatest Gift

We were watching a new show the other day. It was called Huckabee, and of course the show featured the former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. During the show, Mike Huckabee took questions from the audience. A father-to-be asked for advice on how to be a good parent. After a bit of stumbling, Mike Huckabee hit it on the head. The greatest gift you can give, he said, is your time. Never forget that.



We agree.

Free College Money

After writing The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting, we decided to write something we believe many parents have a great need for. And that is? Free college money, of course. We realized that sending 5 children to college and other institutions of higher education for virtually free, that we have a plan, a set of techniques, that would be beneficial to other parents looking to save money on sending children to college. We believe we have a publisher, and we're going to angle to have this book published as soon as possible, probably in the spring of 2010. Actually, that's about as fast as it gets in the publishing world. We're excited about this book, and we'll provide updates as often as possible.

Summer Vacation

We're back from vacation. Carolina Beach is a wonderful getaway, and the beaches are excellent. That is, not crowded, beautiful sand, and a fishing pier. Of course, we took our grandkids. The highlights were teaching them to surf. Not that we can do it, but we at least know the theory of successful surfing. And we met with success! Just think of the wonderful memories our grandchildren will have as they go through life, thinking back to the summer they spent with the grandparents, learning how to surf. (By the way, we made sure they wore personal flotation devices (PFDs), formerly known as life preservers.) For more great ideas on bonding with your grandchildren, be sure to look through our book The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

Summer Reading List

We encourage our grandchildren to read books during the summer. A few weeks ago, we visited a bookstore with them and "helped" them pick out books. Actually, we let them pick out whatever they want, then we add a couple of our suggested reading titles. Doug is going to read Eragon this summer, along with our grandson Gavin. It'll be great for them to talk together about the book, discuss plot points, and enjoy the highlights together.

Here, then, are a few titles that should be on every grandchild's reading list, at some point or another during their upbringing.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
Where the Wild Things Are
Eragon
Big Red


Of course, Newbery Award winning books are usually very good.

The most important thing is that the grandkids read. It'll give them a huge advantage in the coming school year, sure, but it also rounds them out as human beings.

Summer Travel Tip

When going on vacation this summer, it's a good idea to plan for the unexpected.

Practice good safety routines. Always write the names of your grandchildren (actually, this applies to parents and their children as well), address, and several contact phone numbers on labels to place inside both shoes and backpacks. Write down medical insurance information on tags that they have with them. This could save vital time if you have the information handy when a medical situation involving the grandkids arises.

Another Summer Grandparenting Tip

If you're vacationing this summer with your grandchildren, consider giving them the following "assignment." Take pictures for your summer vacation journal.

But one-time use cameras for your grandchildren. Give the cameras to the grandkids before the start of the vacation. Make sure they understand each camera has only 24 (or 27) pictures, so they'll have to make sure each picture counts!

Over the course of your vacation with the grandkids, make sure they capture those special Kodak moments. After the vacation, get the pictures developed and look them over with your grandchildren. Make a vacation journal, and make sure the grandkids know they can have a copy if they want one.

The great thing about the pictures is that the grandchildren will remember that they were the "go to" people in the photojournalism adventure, and at the same time, they'll develop stronger ties to their grandparents!

Summer Grandparenting Tip

Here's a quick tip if you're a grandparent going on vacation with your grandhchildren this summer.

Take a trip to a souvenir shop. Have your grandchildren pick out ten postcards (each).

Later, get postage stamps and put them on the postcards. As the vacation winds down, give the postcards to the grandchildren. Ask them to keep them safe until they get home. Then over the course of the next few months, they should write a sentence or two and mail one of the postcards to you (at whatever time interval you think is best).

Not only will the grandchild remember the vacation with the grandparent with each mailing, they'll become better writers! (And isn't penning letters becoming a lost art?) And of course, you'll get the scoop on how the rest of their summers go.

Gas Prices

Okay, we've been away a few days. Doug has been working 12-hour shifts, and Robin has been writing articles for the Carolina Coastal Guide.

And ..., we drove our son David to Appalachian State College for orientation. And ... we went to Wilmington for research ..., sigh, where does time go?

But ..., we did have a few thoughts about gas prices. Everyone knows how they've jacked up in recent weeks/months. The curious aspect about it, though, is that nobody with inner knowledge seems to agree on the reason. C'mon, there have been Senate committee meetings and no one's the wiser? Speculators on the futures markets get some blame, according to reports. And some say that supply is an issue in the face of growing demand. Others might thing this is a ploy by lobbyists to get drilling in the Atlantic ocean and in Alaska. BUT ..., here's some speculation.

What if bin Laden and his cronies got their act together and figured out the best way to crash the American economy was to force the price of gas to 10 dollars a gallon. First, let's agree that this price would definitely have the potential of crashing the economy. Most foods get shipped via transportation that has the rising costs of diesel and gas. The price increase hits us not only in the gas tank, but in the food basket as well.

Well, crashing the twin towers didn't work, so how about jacking up the price of gas at the pump?

It just ... might ... work.

We're not suggesting that this is actually being carried out. We're just saying that nobody has given a convincing reason for why the prices are going up. And if we don't know, maybe bin Laden does.

Another Haiku

We just got back from Wilmington, NC. What a wonderful city!

But, we're pressed for time, so today's blog will be a simple haiku for parents.

Cold late moonless sight;

backyard black except one light;

kids in tents at night.

Haiku and WCU

We drove our youngest son to orientation at Western Carolina University (WCU). There's no empty nest syndrome here yet, but we can certainly understand why it occurs. Off they go to college, out of our daily lives, and we miss them. But we're proud of their independence. It is what we strove for. Why should we be sad when they achieve it?

We can think back to when they were newborns and toddlers. Which brings us to this haiku.

Baby builds future
with 1, 2, 3; A, B, C;
wooden building blocks.

Remember to visit us at HewittsBooks.

Want help raising your kids or grandkids?

These books will help:
The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting
The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting

USMC in Books and Film

We got an email from a researcher who is documenting references to the United States Marine Corps in books, film, TV, and other media. The researcher, Richard Hemenez, read one of Doug's fictional pieces, a chapbook titled Slipstream. Of course, as with many of Doug's works, it's a thrilling story that a bit of science fiction and a bit of horror (in other words, speculative fiction).



But wait ..., (and in the fine tradition of infomercials) that's not all!

Mr. Hemenez apparently missed SPEAR, a novel that has at its core a former US Marine who is, shall we say, has a sanity level that is teetering.



But, we've set up a phone interview, and we'll discuss Doug's works as they relate to the research that Mr. Hemenez is conducting.

By the way, the book that Richard Hemenez has published (actually, it's publication date is in August 2008), is titled The United States Marine Corps in Books and the Performing Arts, and it's available on amazon.com (etc).



It looks like a great book. We're not surprised at all by the representation that the USMC has in book and film. Because we have many family members who served as U.S. Marines (fathers, sons, brothers, etc, etc), we know that many Marines have an artistic side to them. It's probably a shock to many. Incomprehensible to some.

So, we're thinking, in summary, Marines not only know how to fight, they know how to act and write and draw ... and dream.

High School Graduation

We attended our youngest son's graduation from high school on Saturday. There's something great about the look of a high school graduate's face. It's full of hope and expectation, full of the future. (And, we're sure, glee over being through with high school.)



The graduation was on Saturday. Today, Sunday, we carted him off to college for 4 days of orientation. It's a time of transition for him. It makes us think, that's what life is all about. Transitions. If there's one thing that's a constant in this world, it's change. And in today's modern world, the transitions seem to come fast and furious. So, when you're thinking about something weighty to teach your kids, tell them about transitions, about changing surroundings, taking new paths. If your kids take transitions in stride, they'll have an advantage in life and will be better able to reach their full potentials.

Pacify the Children?

How do we as a society raise our children to reach their full potential?

Do we challenge them? Or do we coddle them?

Okay, so maybe most decisions aren't so clearcut, but we just received a report from a concerned parent regarding child care for a 4-year-old that makes us think society has swung into the realm of over pacification. It's great for babies, right? Let's take a look ...




Yes, no problem with the infants, but once they can walk and talk, it might be time to challenge to improve their skills ... and to obey the rules.

Here's what our friend had to say. Her grandson goes to day care. To help with discipline, each child had a flower cut out from construction paper taped to the wall. The child's name was printed on the flower. Each time a child misbehaved, a paper worm was taped to the flower (although it could be removed with good behavior). But this was deemed negative discipline. So, instead, each child was rewarded with a petal for good behavior. Sound good? No, no, no. The awarding of petals was deemed as discrimination (based on behavior). And therefore it was a violation of human rights.

Sheesh. It's no wonder that there's a glut on childhood obesity (pun intended). The way our society is teaching kids these days, it's not fair to call unhealthy behavior bad behavior.

The Great Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment (just add kids)

We figure when we go and visit the grandchildren, we need to do two things. First, we need to wow them. That's right, we try to add entertainment value for our grandchildren. C'mon, how many times did you say, "I'm bored" when you were a kid? The second thing we try to do is to educate our grandchildren. The best of both worlds came together in our last visit to Michigan to see our grandkids. We brought them THE GREAT MENTOS AND DIET COKE EXPERIMENT.

First, of course, the dad and grandpa have to check out the equipment and make sure the pack of Mentos will slide uniformly into the 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke. So far, so good.



Then, removing the index card releases the Mentos mints into the Diet Coke. Hey, this really works!



Now, just add grandchildren.





We had a lot of fun, and we're pretty sure that at some point, the grandkids are going to wonder what caused this reaction, and who knows ..., it might lead to great grades in chemistry! In any case, it was both fun and educational. A great combination for activities for children and grandchildren.

We have plenty of these kind of activities in our grandparenting book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting and Doug's book, The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting.

There's more! If you're really serious about trying this experiment, check out this YouTube video. These guys take their Mentos and Diet Cokes seriously (and have so much fun in the process)! YouTube Mentos and Diet Coke Experiment.

A Grandchild's Kindergarten Graduation

You might've guessed that we would put a picture of our granddaughter in this blog post. Good guess. And she did look awfully cute in her little red graduation gown and cap. But we noticed something else during the ceremony. The parents and grandparents. Yes, the five-year-olds were excited, and it showed on their faces. But on the faces of the parents and grandparents was more than excitement. It was pride. Parenting and grandparenting is hard work, but there are no payoffs that are bigger. Just look at these wonderful people as they take pictures of the kindergarten graduates. This is one thing our books try to capture, how to raise kids and grandkids to reach their potential. And as you can see, it's well worth the effort.

Long Distance Grandparenting

We got interviewed by a reporter for Birmingham Parent, an award winning magazine. The reporter (Lori) had a great question. How do grandparents keep the bond with their grandchildren strong when they live a long distance away? There are plenty of ways, of course, and we'll list a good one here. Read the same book as one of your grandchildren and talk about it over the phone. Or emails. Whatever. Lori mentioned that she had done the same with her child, reading the Harry Potter books. For us, it's Eragon. There's nothing like a good book to bring people together. What a great bridge over any generational gap! And as a bonus, the kids improve their reading skills. So, see what your grandchild (or child) is reading, and read along with him or her. You'll be amazed at the connection you can make.

It might be good to gather them all on a chair or couch and have them pick out a book (or books) that everyone can enjoy. (see picture below) Okay, the younger ones might have to wait a few years, but that's ok. They'll catch up.

Grandmas and Guns

Lots of people go on trips over the course of the summer. Many families are represented on these vacations by three generations. We're still in the planning stages for this coming summer, but we've been reflecting on the benefits of these trips. Of course, with our book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting, we have the interests of the grandchildren foremost in mind.

But as we looked over the pictures from last summer's vacation, we couldn't help notice the glee in our mom's eyes as she "manned" the gunner's position on the USS North Caroline. Take a look below and judge for yourself.

So, it's important to bring family generations together, and summer vacations are great times to do it. While the grandchildren benefit greatly from this, the grandparents can have a grand time, too!

A Greek Horse and a Japanese Poem

There's a point in the rearing of children when they surpass the parents in computer knowledge. I can tell you when that was for me, personally, but I think it would make a great study for some PHD wannabe. The reason this subject appears in this blog? Well, let's take a look at the saying, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." This comes from the most famous (infamous) of Greek gifts, the Trojan Horse, laid at the gates of Troy by an apparently defeated Greek army. (Gotcha!)

More than 2000 years later, some little stream of computer bits (they're just ones and zeros, for crying out loud!), gets into our computer and fouls things up. And we get to thank the Greeks for naming that little stream of malicious software. We've been infected by a Trojan Horse.

We won't go into the nuts and bolts (and 1's and 0's) of it, but we were able to clean up our computer by using:
Spybot
AdAware
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Spyware Detector

(Our Trend Micro PC-cillin failed to stop the Trojan from entering our computer gates)

So, I'm tempted to update all the kids and grandkids with our scheme for getting rid of the Trojan. But, I think they're ahead of us on the computer curve. At least they think they are. If so, maybe they'll browse this blog and learn a thing or two about effective malicious software removal tools.

Okay, now that the nasty Trojan business has been taken care of, let's end on poem, in a style from the other side of the world from Greece and Troy. Japan. Gotta love those haiku poems.

So, here's a picture and a haiku for the kids and grandkids.




Haiku (I can, can you?)

Knuckles white on bar;
training wheels came off today;
Dad holds wrench, arms crossed.

Memorial Day

If you're a parent or grandparent, we think it's important to hand down your family traditions to the youngsters. Holidays are like national traditions. This Memorial Day, as your family gathers for a picnic, ball game, the Indy 500, or your own special family gathering, take a few minutes to talk about the meaning of Memorial Day to the children. It always surprises us when we talk to children and ask them what they know about holidays. Often, the answer is very little. Let's not raise a generation of wannabes on Jay Leno's Jaywalkers segments. Let's teach our children national traditions.

Books and Boats

We'll be traveling to Michigan for a booksigning event on Saturday, June 7 (1-2::30 pm). Come by and say hello if you're in the area. The event is at The Book Blues Bookstore. Great name for a bookstore!

If you check out the bookstore's website, you'll see that they support a very worthy cause, Books for Soldiers, which we wholeheartedly endorse. After sending some of our own books, we received a very nice email from Afghanistan thanking us for helping fill out their base library.



Need more tips for summer travel with the kids and grandkids? Check out our article at Houseboat magazine.

Enjoy!

A Tip for Scholarships

Ah, the scholarship season is in full gear. Actually, we've been at it for months now (and months and months ...). Having 5 kids at institutions of higher learning is certainly a challenge. But as we tell our children, there's scholarship money out there, you just have to apply for it.

And so, the paperwork begins and then never stops. Time is precious, but the time spent on applying for scholarships can be well worth it. It's just that ..., well, it's boring and repetitive and there are just so many other better things to do.

We discovered that there's a great way to save time with the multitudes of applications. Start a file, either on paper or in a computer file, and have those stock answers handy. Keep a copy of your tax return in it, as well as any other financial information they ask for. Keep copies of any scholarships applied for. Many of the questions are repetitive. You'll say, "Hey, didn't I just answer that last month?" Just look in your folder, and BINGO, there's your answer.

We hope this tip helps!

Tearing Down an Old Shed

Okay, it's been in the works for years now. Tearing down the shed, the 50-year-old eyesore that's been falling apart, yet survived storm after storm and still housed to lawnmower, yard tools, and bicycle.

It was somewhat of an eyesore. Faded paint, missing pieces of tin from the roof, insect damage. But there an attachment to old things, even though wood rots and timbers sag. I'm a bit sad to see it go. The planks and timbers are loaded onto a large truck parked in the back yard. City maintenance drivers will haul them out on Monday. Bye bye, shed.

But a funny thing happened. When that old shed, that friend of mine, was finally gone, we noticed the three trees that had begun to grow around the perimeter of the shed formed some kind of aesthetic image. There was a picture of harmony out our back windows. Even our son, at no prompting of ours, commented on the symmetry of the three trees.

So, I'm thinking that this is much like a lot of things in life. There are things you hate to say good-bye to, things you hate to see go. And there's no way to foresee what the future will look like once those things are gone.

But ..., know what? Sometimes it's those unpredictable events that bring beauty to the world, a fresh perspective to our lives, and a new foundation on which to build a better future.

Good-bye, shed, you served us well ...

Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom

We want to thank Susan and Janice, twin work-at-home moms for the wonderful things they said about The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

They're having a contest over at their "5 Minutes for Mom" website:
http://www.5minutesformom.com/

The winner gets a free copy of the book!

RSS Feeding to Amazon

If it all went well, we've just connected our ParentsWrite blog to our profile at Amazon.com via an RSS feed. As this is the first time we've worked with RSS (Really Simple Syndication), we're tickled that we got it to work (hopefully). Not too shabby for a couple of grandparents!

But then, that's one of the main points in our book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting. We're trying to break down those old stereotypes. Today's grandparents are active and do-ers. They're not sitting around on the porch rockers (well, not all the time anyway, as we were sitting on the porch last evening, watching thunderstorms roll by).

By the way, we've re-doubled our committment to blog on a regular basis, so stop by when you can. Better yet, link to our blog via an RSS feed!

A Tip for Summer Travel with the Grandkids

Bring a backpack for your grandkid. If your grandchild is bringing one along, great, otherwise you can give one as a gift. Depending on the trip, add appropriate items to the backpack: disposable camera, ID information, books or comic books, depending on age and interest.

Hand-wipes are always a good idea. Include a change of clothes, too, so your trip isn’t interrupted by lost luggage or a nasty spill.

Remember, summer vacations are special for children, and your grandchildren are no different.

Grandparenting!

We did it! The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting hit the shelves on May 6th. Both Doug and I have renewed our vows to blog on a regular basis, so look for more tomorrow.

Robin