Happy Holidays!

Season's Greetings from our home in Tampa to all family, friends and fans!

Best wishes for a healthy, happy and secure 2012!

Photos From HorseFest at Brown's Horse Supplies

We had perfect weather in Clermont, Florida for HorseFest, and supportive crowd of horse lovers! Brown's Family Horse Supplies hosted the event and featured Dreamcather Horse Ranch & Rescue Center. Posters displayed photos and info on horses they have rescued. Visitors could purchase gifts on the stable's "Wish List" - by selecting from a Christmas tree a horse ornament with the item needed. Volunteers wrapped presents for a donation, and Daisy the Mini and Jenny, a donkey, posed for photos with the youngsters. To learn more about Dreamcatcher, visit http://dreamcatcherhorses.com/

I held my Ponies & Puppies Booth with a Horseshoe Craft as well as book signing. The bling horseshoes make great stall decorations for horses!

Brown's has a fantastic variety of gifts and tack for horse lovers - visit them in person or on their site at http://www.brownsfamilyhorsesupplies.com/shop/

And friend us on Facebook!

My books available Worldwide from Amazon!

Today, I was notified by Amazon that my E-books for Kindle (device or app) are now available in more countries - along with United States, France, Denmark and United Kingdom.

"We are excited to announce Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.es and Amazon.it!

If you have distribution rights in Italy or Spain for books you've published through Kindle Direct Publishing (I do), they are already available in the new Kindle store on Amazon.es and Amazon.it.

In addition to KDP titles becoming available for sale on Amazon.es and Amazon.it, sales can be made to customers living in Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Spain, and Andorra."

Fun up North!

We spent Thanksgiving in Philadelphia with our son, Josh. Then on Friday, went to see Sonny at a horse farm in Cookstown, NJ. He looks great for 31 years! He loved the apples we gave him!

Anthony (bottom photo) joined us - love his mohawk! He's Josh's "Little Brother."

Career Day at Space Coast Jr/Sr High School

My great-granddaughter, Selena (far right in first photo), invited me to her school for Career Day at Space Coast Jr/Sr High located in Cocoa, Florida. My booth was one of a roomful to help students decide about their futures. I hope I inspired some who spoke with me!

Above are photos from the event. Below are Writing Tips I promised to post.

The A, B, D's - a guide to writing reports, letters, articles and manuscripts.

A is for ACTION: The first sentence, the first paragraph and the first chapter should grab the reader’s attention and give an idea what you are writing about.
Non-Fiction: Open with a question, statistic or an amazing fact.
Fiction: Open with the main character facing a problem (external conflict). Give a description and make the reader care about the character.

B is for BACKGROUND: Non-Fiction: Explain your opening. Fiction: Give the setting (place, time, climate etc), other characters, sub-plot and inner conflict (theme)

D is for DEVELOPMENT (skip C for now): Non-Fiction: Facts, quotes, pros-cons of article
Fiction: Red herrings, twists-turns in plot, obstacles for the protagonist to reach goal

C is for CLIMAX: Non-Fiction: Question to editor/agent, result of study, connect back to beginning
Fiction: Protagonist attains goals (inner & external conflicts resolved).

E is for ENDING: Non-Fiction: Salutation on letters, concluding paragraph
Fiction: How the characters have changed; lessons learned; what’s next?

Best of luck with all your writing! Follow this blog for more tips, events and insights.

Small Business Saturday is November 26th!

The second Small Business Saturday will be held this year on November 26th. It is a time to remember the "little guy" in retail.

One way to participate is to buy books from an author, and you'll be promoting literacy at the same time!

Know a horse lover? Check out my Beloved Horses series - amazing true short stories for all ages.

Know a young dog lover? Woogie's Travels series features Looking For a Friend and Discovering America. The latter will be available the first week of December.

A teen reader? I have 3 mystery/adventure books in both contemporary (The Delmarva Conspiracy and Octavia's Quest) and historical setting (Brigitte's Challenge).

For personally signed copies of my books, see http://sharonminer.com/ Two or more books ordered will include FREE shipping! I accept Visa & MC with two or more books - just call me at 814-937-0704 or e-mail your order to sharonminer@yahoo.com.

You can order from Amazon for both print and e-books, but they won't be signed copies. Now most of my books are also available at Amazon UK, DE & FR.

Thanks for your support!

Woogie at USF!

Woogie joined me at the Tampa campus of University of South Florida recently. I shared my Writing Tips and he showed off his trick of guessing which fist held his treat!

The English teacher, Susan Taylor, invited us. Two of her students - Ali and Courtney - will be producing a video for a book trailer of Woogie's new book WOOGIE'S TRAVELS - DISCOVERING AMERICA. Logan was so kind to offer to be in the video with Woogie!

Stay tuned for a link!

Holiday Gift Market Photos!

Holiday Gift Market at the FL State Fairgrounds


What an exciting event - Breakfast with Santa, young dancers & singers on stage, and Lowry Park Zoo animals!

I gave three presentations: Sharing my Passions of Horses, Dogs & Books; Story Time; and a Writing Forum with three 6th graders.

Thanks to the Tampa Junior League for hosting this event and inviting me. Also, thanks to all the visitors that stopped by my booth and joined me at the stage!

PHOTOS: From Top - Jani and her Bling Horseshoe; Story Time with Woogie's Travels and Farewell and the Girl Scout stories; young Singers; my little helpers at my booth; and Sarina with her craft project.

Holiday Gift Market in Tampa

I will have my Ponies & Puppies Booth and give presentations on stage on Saturday at this event! Stop by and say hello while doing your Christmas shopping!

(From the FL State Fairgrounds site)

Junior League of Tampa - Holiday Gift Market

Christmas is Coming!

November 4th, 5th, 6th

Friday, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Saturday, 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

Sunday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Admission $8.00

Because of your support, the Junior League of Tampa is able to continue our work enriching our community in the areas of foster care, education and literacy, and basic needs for disadvantaged children.

Located in the Expo Hall - Enter at the 301 Entrance

Parking Fee - $5.00 per Car - $10.00 per RV or Bus

Location : Expo Hall


From Junior League site:

The 8th annual Holiday Gift Market is moving from the Entertainment Hall to the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds. With a drastic increase in square footage, shoppers can expect to see over 140 high quality merchants, wider aisles, additional dining options, seating areas for shoppers and much more. This year’s Holiday Gift Market will be the one place that shoppers can find everything they are looking for this holiday season.

Location: Florida State Fairgrounds- Expo Hall

Admission: $8 at the door