Author: Sandra

Last weekend my son, Jesús, and I volunteered to work concessions at the Tejas Storytelling Festival. Jesús volunteered even more than was expected and the TSA Board truly appreciated his help. In all honesty, it wasn’t too hard a task due to being entertained by international tellers.

This is the first festival since Covid and we had a wonderful turnout. It was a great success!

If you have never attended a storytelling festival, I highly recommend The City of Denton Tejas Storytelling Festival!

¡Feliz Día del Niño!

In honor of all those kiddos that brighten our days, here is a story to share! #día del Niño

As a self-published author, one of my goals is to become a traditionally published author. To achieve those means, I send my manuscripts to agents and editors at publishers and to contests. Once you submit a manuscript, you get a response after six to twelve weeks if they are interested. No response = REJECTION.

In December 2020, I submitted a short story for consideration into an anthology. Since I hadn’t heard back in over a year, I assumed it was another rejection. To my surprise, this past weekend, I got this email:

“Dear Sandra,

We have great news for you. The story, Dancing with the Devil, that you submitted to the anthology THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA, edited by SCBWI and to be published by Henry Holt, has been accepted. Congratulations! There were many hundreds of submissions, and yours was one of the fifty to be selected.”

Perseverance Pays off!

The 37th Texas Storytelling Festival will be virtual again. It is set for March 10-13, 2022. For more detailed information follow the link:

The National Storytelling Festival takes place this weekend beginning October 1, 2021! It’s virtual, again.

If you decide to be thoroughly entertained, here are three tips for getting the most out of this virtual venue:

Tip #1: Look at the schedule ahead of time! There are so many amazing and renowned tellers performing, you really need to organize your schedule so you don’t miss out.

Tip #2: Invite family and friends over. Introduce them to a new form of entertainment if they’ve never seen or heard of storytelling as performance art.

Tip #3: Learn from watching these professional storytellers! Everyone uses storytelling in business, education, etc., so you might just learn to make your work relatable to others.

If you want to keep up with me and my storytelling ventures, subscribe to this blog… I promise not to blogbard you!

Saturday, June 12, 2:00 p.m. MDT via Zoom.  “Myths about Writing for Children” by Chris Eboch.  Children are a great audience, and writing for them can be fun and rewarding. But to start, you need to know the rules, guidelines, and best practices. Can you tell the truth from the myth when it comes to creating books for kids?

• Writing for children means picture books or novels. 
• You can get rich writing children’s books.
• Books for little kids should be sweet and gentle.
• Picture books should be written in rhyme.
• You can’t make any money writing for children.
• You can cover tough and complex subjects, even in books for little kids.
• Books for kids should teach lessons.
• Nonfiction is a great market.
• That cute thing my grandchild did would make a great book!
• You’ll have to find an illustrator for your picture book manuscript.

Chris Eboch, author of over 60 books for young people, will sort through the truth and the myths and provide resources to help you on your journey of writing for children.

Chris Eboch is the author of over 60 books for young people, both fiction and nonfiction, for children ranging in age from very young readers to teenagers. Her novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; and the Haunted series, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. Her writing craft books include You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers, andAdvanced Plotting. Learn more at https://chriseboch.com/ or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog. Chris writes romance, mystery, and suspense for adults under the name Kris Bock. Learn more at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.

********I will not be emceeing this event. I could not edit the info

El Paso Writers’ League

Saturday, March 13, 2:00 p.m. MST via Zoom

Register in advance at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvcu6grTgiHNXCUzmmPqQIaRLwlAES2zPm

Crafting and Abandoning the Poetic Line:  A Reading and Workshop with Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet Laureate.

Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet Laureate, is the author of the poetry collections With the River on Our Face and Solstice. A volume of her new and selected poems is forthcoming. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and a Poets Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets. She is a past recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship and a CantoMundo Fellowship. She’s a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop and co-founded Poets Against Walls. Originally from Santa Ana, California, she has lived in the Texas borderlands for the past 20 years.

This program is made possible by the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.