Shelley D Terrell's Blog

I would like to thank everyone who has registered on my website. Thank you for your support.

As you know, we are giving away a #Free #Kindle Fire each Friday for the next three Fridays, beginning today, November 28th, 2014 and ending on Friday, December 12, 2014. These will make great #Christmas #gifts for some lucky recipient.

I am excited to announce that Ms. Alicia Deason is the winner of this week’s Kindle Fire drawing. Alicia, we hope you will enjoy your Kindle! It will be shipped to you via Amazon.com.

The next drawing will be Friday, December 5, 2014. If you haven’t entered, please do. It’s easy! Simply register on ShelleyDTerrell.com. Please make SURE you verify your registration by clicking on the link in the email we will send you. If you do not receive a verification email from us, please check your spam filter. Our email may be in your “junk mail”. If it is not in there, please register again, just in case you accidentally entered your email address wrong the first time. For those of you who already registered, you are already entered in our next two drawings.

I never knew it would be so exciting to give stuff away! I can’t wait till next Friday to see who wins; but remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter.

Today is Thanksgiving Day; the day many of us will gather at the table for food and fellowship with family, friends and loved ones. We will enjoy each other’s company as we reflect upon the people and things in our lives which make us happy. We will express gratitude for our families, friends, jobs, homes which protect us from the elements, vehicles, and possibly even our ice-makers, coffee pots, dishwashers, and other creature comforts and conveniences.

Many of us will eat too much as we express gratitude for our bounty. Sadly, however, some will gather at the Thanksgiving table only to stare at the empty chair where a beloved friend or family member should be sitting. These people will long for the companionship of days gone by.

This week I have watched in horror and sorrow as two of my friends lost beloved members of their families in two senseless and unrelated tragedies. One was killed in an accidental shooting; the other was killed by a drunk driver. In both cases, the family member who died was very young. In both cases, the family member who died left two small children behind.

Does the fact that their deaths occurred during Thanksgiving week make them more tragic? Any time loved ones die, families are left to grieve, but during the times when people are focused on gathering together, the loss may seem more glaring. Perhaps another thing that makes the loss of these two people so horrific is the senselessness of their deaths, their young ages, and the children they left behind.

I woke up this morning thinking that if either of the two young people who lost their lives had been my family member, I would be in no mood for Thanksgiving celebrations; yet, no one can stop time. Thanksgiving arrived on schedule, and I cooked for my family as usual. As I looked upon each beloved face, I was thankful that each was in his or her chair.

My heart goes out to those of you who have empty chairs at your Thanksgiving tables. I am so very sorry for your loss…

As a thank you to my readers, I am giving away a #Free #Kindle #Fire each Friday for the next three Fridays. This #BlackFriday, November 28, 2014 I will give away the first one. All you have to do for your chance to win is register on my website, ShelleyDTerrell.com.

Registering is easy. Simply enter your name and email address. When you have completed your registration, you will receive a verification email from me. Please do not forget to verify your email!

On Friday, November 28, 2014, Damien, my ten year old son, will draw the winner from the verified registrants. If you win, I will contact you for shipping information. I will ship your Kindle Fire directly from Amazon so you will, hopefully, receive it in time for Christmas.

You have my word that I will not sell, rent, loan or give your email address to anyone, so please sign up. You can’t win if you don’t enter!

Without a doubt, I have been blessed with the best fans in the industry. I already knew that; in fact, I have been tweeting it (bragging about it) for weeks. But today, I have proof.

I want to share with you a quote from an email which I received from Jay at ChoosyBookworm:

     “For the very first time in R&R history, your book received all of it’s interested readers on the very first day of promotion!  Congratulations to you and your book!”

I knew you guys were awesome, but this amazed me. I was thunderstruck!

As you know, ChoosyBookworm.com offered a free digital copy of “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” in exchange for an honest review. The program was supposed to run for about a week, or until all digital copies were given away. You, my awesome fans, made history by claiming all available copies within the first day!

To tell you I am honored would be an understatement. I am humbled and grateful from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you.

Shelley

Good morning everyone and happy Wednesday! I hope your Wednesday is Wonderful!

Well, it’s official. The link to get a #Free copy of “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” is finally up and I couldn’t be more excited. #ChoosyBookworm is offering a free digital copy to the first few people who sign up for the Read Free & Review program. All you have to do to get your free copy is follow this link http://choosybookworm.com/product/rag-dolls-callies-story/ and request your free copy. I can’t think of a better way to spend this cold day, than to spend it reading.

Well, I’ve got to get to work. I still plan to release “Rag Dolls: From the Ashes” in a few weeks, so I need to get busy. As always, thank you. I respect the time you took reading my blog. I want to assure you that I will NEVER sell, loan, share, etc. your email address with anyone!

Have a great day!

I never can keep a secret. I get too excited. I guess I’m one of those excitable types. If I buy a gift for someone, I tell them. If I plan a surprise for someone, I tell them. I just can’t help it! And now, here I go again…

Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story will be featured tomorrow, November 12, 2014, on ChoosyBookworm’s “FREE Read and Review Ebooks Program.” What that means is that if you are one of the first 50 people to request it, you will be emailed a free digital copy of Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story,” and all you have to do is agree to review it on Amazon.com!

The way the program works is that the first 50 people who go to ChoosyBookworm’s  website and request “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” (after the feature becomes active) will be emailed a link to download the book FREE in exchange for a review. I’ll post links to the feature page on my Facebook and Twitter pages tomorrow, so if you haven’t liked my Facebook page or followed me on Twitter, now is the time to do it!

Of course ChoosyBookworm will advertise the program to their own subscribers, too, but I promised you, my loyal readers, that the first 25 people who registered on my website would get a free digital copy. Since my website has been experiencing technical difficulties, I’m afraid it may have been a little difficult for some to register. So, instead of giving away 25 copies, I’m giving away 50. All you have to do is be one of the first 50 to request it.

Remember, you can’t request your free digital copy until the “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” feature is active on ChoosyBookworm.com.

And PLEASE don’t forget to register on http://www.shelleydterrell.com for your chance to win a free Kindle Fire.

The week before Halloween, I took my 10 year old son Damien to Walmart so he could pick out his Halloween costume. He was VERY excited! We had been planning our shopping trip for days (in 10 year old Damien’s mind, it had been weeks). We decided we would stop at our local pizza restaurant and eat before our shopping trip so we wouldn’t have to rush. Throughout dinner, Damien talked about various costumes he wanted to look at before he made his final decision. Imagine his disappointment when we arrived at Walmart and found that the entire Halloween section was filled with Christmas trees! That’s right; there was not a Halloween costume in the store. Sadly, Damien dropped his head and we left the store.

I’m telling you this story because I want to know that I do realize that it’s too early to be advertising Christmas. We still have Thanksgiving to enjoy. However, I feel like it’s important to tell you now about the free Kindle Fire HD 6 Tablets that I am giving away in time for Christmas. I will give away one tablet each week between November 26, 2014 through December 10, 2014. The contest is open to anyone. All you have to do is register on my website. Please don’t forget to verify your email by clicking on the link in the email you receive after you register. If you didn’t get an email from us please check your spam/junk folder. As a last resort, if you still cannot find the email, you might want to register again. It is possible that your email address may have been entered incorrectly.

We’re going to pick our winner the old-fashioned way. Each week, we will print our list of registered users and put the email addresses in a box. Damien will draw a winner. The winner will be notified by email and the Kindle will be shipped in time for Christmas. A side note: we have had some feedback that some people are having trouble getting on the site. This is a Yahoo Hosting problem and they have assured us that they are working on it. Meanwhile, please don’t give up! Keep trying and you will eventually get through.

Our Halloween story did end happily. Luckily, there are two stores in Muskogee OK which specialize in costumes. Damien and I made the sixty mile trip and he was able to find the costume of his dreams! He was Jason.

“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

We’ve heard this all of our lives; yet who among us hasn’t picked up a book, looked at the cover, and put it back down without a second glance, simply because the art on the cover didn’t appeal to us?

After much soul searching, I have made the painful and difficult decision to change the cover on “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”. I’m worried that the current cover might give potential readers the wrong idea about the book’s message; that the cover might make them think “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” is a horror story.

I wrote “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” hoping to bring attention to the plight of children in foster care. The book has a strong message which is intended to speak to the reader and hopefully bring attention and understanding to the situation that children in care endure every day.

While the plight of our children in Foster Care is definitely a horror, it is not a horror story in the sense that Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” or Frank Darabont’s “The Walking Dead” are horror stories. Child abuse is a real life horror story that can, and does, happen every day. I feel that the current cover not only gives the wrong idea about the book; it actually detracts from the solemn subject matter of the book. I believe that if you have read “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”, you will agree.

I’ve found an experienced designer who is excellent at what she does, and who, I believe, has been able to capture the essence of my books. She is designing a new cover for “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”,and the cover for my next book, “From the Ashes”. She is also creating new headers for my Facebookand Twitter pages, as well as redesigning my website, ShelleyDTerrell.com. I have complete confidence in her ability. I hope to be able to show you the new cover soon.

Meanwhile, just as she did in “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”, Callie has been keeping me awake at night. Hers is a story which demands to be written. “From the Ashes” is the second book in the “Rag Dolls” series, and I plan to release it by the end of the year. Please stay tuned. Please, follow me on Facebook and Twitter; and if you haven’t already, please don’t forget to sign up for email notification so I can keep you updated.

By the time you finish reading this blog more than three children will be abused. Depending upon your reading speed, between five and twenty children will die at the hand of their abuser before you finish reading Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story. Every ten seconds in the United States, a child is abused; every day, more than five children die of neglect or abuse. More than eighty percent of those who die will be under the age of four. Of the approximately 425,000 children in foster care at any given moment, only about 50,000 will be adopted. Roughly another 27,000 will “age out” of care on their eighteenth birthday. Those who do age out are often ill-prepared to survive in the world; nearly half don’t even have a high school diploma! These are the statistics according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.

Sadly, there are a few people who become Foster Parents only for the monthly check they receive from DHS. These people will not spend one extra dime on the children they take into their homes. Some of these people will take in as many Foster Children as possible, using the children as a form of income. Because there are so many Foster Children and so few Foster Parents, Social Workers often have no choice but to place children in these less than desirable homes. Children who end up in homes like these are often treated as an inconvenience. Some are used as household servants. Some are verbally, mentally and sometimes physically or sexually abused. Often, in homes like these, the children are made to feel unwanted. They are given only the basic necessities of life, and at an age where style matters and acceptance is important to psyche, they are given the bare minimum in school clothing-a factor which further diminishes their already damaged self-esteem. These children are often forgotten on their birthdays and Christmas; many of these children don’t even have winter coats!

Because there are so many Foster Children, Social Workers are often too overworked to make the needed visits to ensure the child’s safety. Children in care often go months without ever seeing their Social Worker, so they have no chance to report that they are being neglected, mistreated or abused. Additionally, since DHS will not pay a Foster family for a child that ‘ages out of care’(a child who turns eighteen years old) there have been instances where the Foster Parent forced the child to leave on child’s eighteenth birthday, even though that child may have had nowhere else to go.

Fortunately, most foster parents become foster parents as a labor of love; not as a form of income. These selfless souls spend their own money to meet the needs of the children they take into their homes, knowing that the small reimbursement check they receive from DHS each month will not even begin to cover the child’s expenses. They supply school clothes and winter coats, money for incidentals, rides to school, rides to court appearances, and visits with parents and even birthday and Christmas presents for these children. I believe that these people-these Angels-have a special place in Heaven.

A child entering Foster care is traumatized. That child has lost more in a single day than most of us lose in our lifetimes. The child has been separated from everything familiar to him or her. Imagine suffering the death of the loved one who takes care of you, or being assaulted physically, sexually or both, and then being taken from your home without even being allowed to pack your clothes or grab your purse or wallet! Imagine further that you are then taken to a stranger’s home and left there without the ability to contact a single person you know. Even if the stranger’s family welcomed you, you would feel very awkward-and you would still be trying to deal with the situation which caused you to be there. You would miss your familiar surroundings and you would long for a single familiar voice. You might begin to feel that you were being punished because of something which happened to you over which you had no control. You might become depressed or even angry. Imagine that just as you finally start to become comfortable at the stranger’s home, you are moved to another home. You might become withdrawn, trying not to form bonds as a way to protect yourself from the pain of yet another loss. It is not uncommon for a child in care to be moved six or seven times in one year! No wonder so many children in care age out without achieving their high school diploma. How could anyone be successful in school while being moved from home to home and school to school several times in a single school year? Often, children in care have been molested and abused sexually, berated verbally, abused physically, used as servants and mistreated in as many other ways as could possibly be imagined while they are in care! Imagine that after you were traumatized and then taken from your home, you were placed in another abusive home without the benefit of familiar surroundings or even a visit from a Social Worker you could tell. You might learn not to trust anyone. Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story is the story of one girl’s journey through foster care.

“You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

We’ve heard this all of our lives; yet who among us hasn’t picked up a book, looked at the cover, and put it back down without a second glance, simply because the art on the cover didn’t appeal to us?

After much soul searching, I have made the painful and difficult decision to change the cover on “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”. I’m worried that the current cover might give potential readers the wrong idea about the book’s message; that the cover might make them think “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” is a horror story.

I wrote “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story” hoping to bring attention to the plight of children in foster care. The book has a strong message which is intended to speak to the reader and hopefully bring attention and understanding to the situation that children in care endure every day.

While the plight of our children in Foster Care is definitely a horror, it is not a horror story in the sense that Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” or Frank Darabont’s “The Walking Dead” are horror stories. Child abuse is a real life horror story that can, and does, happen every day. I feel that the current cover not only gives the wrong idea about the book; it actually detracts from the solemn subject matter of the book. I believe that if you have read “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”, you will agree.

I’ve found an experienced designer who is excellent at what she does, and who, I believe, has been able to capture the essence of my books. She is designing a new cover for “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”, and the cover for my next book, “From the Ashes”. She is also creating new headers for my Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as redesigning my website, ShelleyDTerrell.com. I have complete confidence in her ability. I hope to be able to show you the new cover soon.

Meanwhile, just as she did in “Rag Dolls: Callie’s Story”, Callie has been keeping me awake at night. Hers is a story which demands to be written. “From the Ashes” is the second book in the “Rag Dolls” series, and I plan to release it by the end of the year. Please stay tuned. Please, follow me on Facebook and Twitter; and if you haven’t already, please don’t forget to sign up for email notification so I can keep you updated.