Kid's Korner - Guest post by Shelly Nicholson and Giveaway!

Do you have a “terrible two” living in your home? Does your child do crazy things that make you want to pull the last strand of your hair (that is now gray from stress) out?

Don’t scream!
Don’t cry!
Don’t medicate!

Take a deep breath. Write it down in a journal. Someday you will think it’s all very funny. I know from experience.

My son, Jacob (who will be eight years old next month) could have at one time been a character double for Dennis the Menace meets Curious George. After rearing two “calmer” sons (who are now 13 and 11), Jacob’s naughtiness startled me! I thought maybe something went amiss in the womb. Did I drink too much caffeine? Did my craving for spearmint gumdrop leaves inject too much sugar into baby Jacob’s system? Was this child part monkey—the missing link, perhaps? I couldn’t tell. His “terrible twos” continued into the “terrifying threes,” the “frightful fours” and the “fearful fives.”

Today, however, *sigh of relief*, Jacob’s teachers tell me he is the “best behaved student in the classroom, with a very funny sense of humor.”

I would describe him as such myself. Now Jacob is a sweet, caring kid, well behaved, polite (most times, lol), with a great sense of humor whom everybody loves! Unlike my other three children, though, he is still quite the daredevil. He’s not much of a team sports kind of kid. He’s more of an X-Games kind of kid. From snowboarding, to skiing, to BMXing and skateboarding, he loves it all. He tells me that when he grows up, he will be a rock star who rides a BMX bike in the X-Games (oh, and I forgot to mention, a builder on the side).

Thanks to my mischievous little funny guy, at the age of 35, I have a head full of gray hairs that I cover up every 6 weeks with a bottle of dye and lots of stories to write!

So many people ask me how I get my ideas for stories. I have to say, “Because my children inspire me.” And they really do!

In my two books Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair and A Stinky Surprise for Jake the Snake, I used lots of ideas from my kids. Jacob really did swing from the dining room chandelier. My daughter Halie loves the color pink. My oldest son really did have a pet lizard (although it didn’t really drowned in chocolate sauce J). My middle son’s favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs, and I always thought it would be fun to give birth to twins! (Well, maybe not twin Jacobs!)

If you are an aspiring writer, get ideas from the world around you! Go to a quite place: a park, a lake, a forest, a corner of your house. Take a walk. Observe the surroundings. Listen to the sounds. Open up your imagination. Write in a journal. Create a blog. Write about everyday occurrences. In my stories, I want to get children interested in reading through realistic characters and laugh-out-loud humor. But I’d also like to instill a valuable lesson into my story. I hope that my “Jake the Snake” books will do just that. I hope that children everywhere will be able to relate to my characters!

Kristi, thank you for hosting me on your blog. I had so much fun visiting! You can learn about me, my books and the adventures of “Jake the Snake” at www.booksbyshelly.com

Have a great day! Happy reading! And happy writing!

J Shelly Nicholson


Thank you Shelly for spending time at Books and Needlepoint today! Having a 4 year old Jake myself - can't wait to introduce him to these books!

Shelly has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her first book - Jake the Snake and the Stupid Time-Out Chair! All you need to do is visit her site Books by Shelly and come back and tell me something you learned! Sign her guest book while you are there and tell her Kristi sent you and I will give you an extra entry! Please leave an email address so I can reach you! Continental U.S. Only. This giveaway will end Sept 14th.