MACKEY LOVES "TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW"

My character Mackey has been accompanying me on author visits lately as part of a community service project she started called "Bringing Books to Life for Literacy". She loves to perform as well as meet kids from lower income areas to get them excited about reading, but she hasn't been able to do a solo because she didn't feel she had the perfect music to perform to. She just told me she found it!

Mackey loves the song "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" by Selena Gomez. I listened to the song and I have to agree. This song shows the TOMGIRLZ spirit I see in my characters and in amazing children everywhere. The song has attitude...that's for sure...but the attitude is POSITIVE which I really love! The song also tells children that it's okay to follow their dreams, even when others tell them there is no way they can make it. Selena Gomez exemplifies that dreams really can come true and now she shares with everyone how she made her own come true...

1. Understand that things don't come easy
2. Believe in yourself
3. Don't let others determine who you are and want to be (the control is yours if you take it...the control belongs to others if you allow it.

Hey...this message is one that adults should keep in mind in their own lives too. Creating and publishing my books is a dream and is DIFFICULT. Everyone says that getting the word out and having the TOMGIRLZ embraced by the world will be a daunting task...so now in the words of Selena Gomez I will answer:
"TELL ME SOMETHING I DON'T KNOW" I believe that dreams really can come true, so you might as well DREAM BIG!!

BOOKS ABOUT CHILDHOOD OBESITY, BULLYING & TEASING UNDER WAY

Between scheduling activities for my two children, driving like a maniac all over South Florida, and working on marketing ideas for my books, workout, and dance classes, I have not had much time for writing. But I have had a lot of time for thinking! Finally, the first couple of chapters of the first book are complete...and I actually like them!

My next three books will read as a kind of mini series within the TOMGIRLZ series. Two new brother/sister characters, Abbey and Bob, will be introduced. Both of these children are overweight and they deal with their weight issues in very different ways. Looking at the issues that overweight children face...not just physical, but mental stress caused by bullying and teasing is the challenge of these new TOMGIRLZ books. After calling Barnes and Nobles about books on the subject, I have learned that mine will be a first of its kind! There are plenty of books written for adults, but none directed as children's books. These books are taking me a bit longer to write than the other 5 Tomgirlz books because I want to deal with the topic sensitively and accurately, and still maintain the spirit and humor of the TOMGIRLZ. I'll keep you posted!

NEW YEAR DO YEAR

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. I really think that if you want to do something, you should just do it and make a commitment to that goal no matter what time of the year it is. However, in the spirit of New Year's and in honor of the TOMGIRLZ, I decided to make a DO LIST so you can see what you can expect from TOMGIRLZ MOMZ in 2008. Who knows, maybe just the act of listing it all here for you to read will help to make all these goals come to fruition.

1. Start (and complete) a book for Tomgirlz Momz. This book is in the planning stage. It will serve as a guide to Momz to parent their grade school children so that they won't have to "re-program" as adults as we all apparently need today. Are we so messed up that we need all those self-help, motivational, relationship guiding books out there? Apparently so. Books from authors like Napoleon Hill, Jack Canfield, Robert Kiyosaki, etc. are big money earners for a reason. I have to admit that I too am part of the reason...I love their books!! However, I decided that it is easier to "program" properly as a child then to have to "re-program" as an adult. Hopefully my book will help save our kids from a lot of that trouble in the future.

2. Write 2 new books for the TOMGIRLZ series. I have begun work on the 6th chapter book. In it I introduce a new character named Abigail. Unfortunately, many of her peers call her "flabby Abby". Mackey and her friends take Abby under their wings and through this book of humor and kindness, they learn about exercise and nutrition and save one child from being a childhood obesity statistic.

3. I will also continue offering my Tomgirlz Momz families a means of additional income to support extra activities for our children and the benefits of safe, pure products for everyone in the house. ARBONNE is the company I have chosen for this purpose and they have proven to be a good choice. Throughout the year I will continue to educate about ARBONNE products and ingredients, and offer special values to all of you.

Well, that should keep me busy this year! What about you? If you have any goals for this "Do Year", please share! I'd love to hear what you have planned for your families...Together, let's make this a great 2008!!!

BAKING IS A GREAT MOTHER-DAUGHTER ACTIVITY

With the kids out of school, we are all looking for some fun activities to do with our kids. My daughter and I have been keeping busy, but one of the best times we have had was baking our own mush cup cookies. The TOMGRILZ characters created mush cup cookies in the book "A,B,SEA!" and we decided to bake them ourselves.

My daughter had fun measuring all the ingredients. She did spill some sugar on the floor like Andee did in the book, but when she tried to imitate Andee throwing eggs at Mackey (apparently she decided I was Mackey and she was Andee)...I drew the line!

It was great fun recreating a scene from a book we read together and we had even more fun eating our mush cup cookies! They tasted great!!

IS MINERAL OIL SAFE FOR OUR CHILDREN?

There is a lot of buzz about mineral oil, whether it is natural or not, and its safety. Here are some interesting things I have found concerning the definition of mineral oil. I have also included a link to a safety data material sheet for mineral oil. I have chosen to eliminate mineral oil containing products for my family...you can do some research and decide for yourself.

You can cut and paste this link into your browser for a Wikipedia definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil

Another online definition:
Petroleum by-product that coats the skin like plastic, clogging the pores. Interferes with skin's ability to eliminate toxins, promoting acne and other disorders. Slows down skin function and cell development, resulting in premature aging. Used in many products (baby oil is 100% mineral oil) Any mineral oil derivative can be contaminated with cancer causing PAH's (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Manufacturers use petrolatum because it is unbelievably cheap.
* Mineral oil
* Liquidum paraffinum (also known as posh mineral oil!)
* Paraffin oil
* Paraffin wax
* Petrolatum

Material Safety Data Sheet
http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/M7700.htm

ARBONNE for TOMGIRLZ MOMZ

The Tomgirlz chapter book series help up teach our children those values that we value, but what about the finances we need to keep our kids in valuable activities? I know my daughter is into gymnastics and dance. These are great activities that help her with fitness, teach her about competition, and build her self esteem. Activities outside of school are valuable and important.....however, they can be EXPENSIVE!

To address this issue, I've decided to feature ARBONNE as a part of Tomgirlz Momz. Arbonne is a company that offers value to our families on several levels.
1. Products are chemical free...no dyes, no animal by-products. There are many products from
Arbonne for our children (and us momz!) that are pure, safe, and beneficial.

2. More time... some of us work long and hard hours to benefit our families, but we would much rather be spending more of that time with our children. Arbonne has a solution.

3. Income to help with those activities...you will love the products from Arbonne and want to recommend them to your family and friends just like you do with any great products you love. However, when you recommend Arbonne products, Arbonne sends you a check for their gratitude! Some people earn enough to pay for some extra activities, some people earn enough to give up their full time jobs and spend more time at home!

Before choosing Arbonne as a company to feature on Tomgirlz Momz, I decided I should try it out myself first. For the past 4 months I have been using the products for myself, my husband and my children. The products truly are wonderful (I will write about some of those successes later), and the checks they send are real.

If you have had your own experiences with Arbonne, please share with us! If you would like to begin experiencing Arbonne, you can contact me for more information through www.TOMGIRLZ.com

Miami Book Fair

What an incredible weekend! It was worth all the effort over the summer getting two new books ready. The weather in Miami was perfect and the response from the kids visiting my booth was overwhelming. Children who already purchased the last three books were eager to start reading the two new additions to the TOMGIRLZ series and many kids being introduced to the series for the first time jumped in and bought all five books!

In the spirit of the Tomgirlz, these books are great fun to read for the kids, but still full of positive life messages that parents will appreciate. TALENT TROUBLES is all about competition. It teaches that children can be competitive and determined and still not put others down. In fact, these girls are open to learning from each other! I use this book also as an opportunity to teach salsa dancing to children as Salsa and Ballroom dancing are a great personal passion of mine.

In A, B, SEA! the girls demonstrate the principles of friendship while establishing their entrepreneurial skills. They even create a brand new kind of cookie that they call Mush Cup cookies. Since these cookies were created by fictitious characters, I decided I had to bake them for myself and see how they were. They were so delicious that my daughter and her friends all begged for more! I went ahead and trademarked the term Mush Cup. One day we will see (in real life) a TOMGIRLZ COOKIE COMPANY!

Wishing all of you all the best and great thanks to everyone who helped make the Miami Book Fair such a huge success for me.
Dana