It's been awhile since I've written. The new business has kept me busy and writing had stopped. I am happy to announce that I am working on a new project. It is another children's series, "The Adventures of Lynx." The stories are once again based on a real pet with the same unique personality as in the books. Some of the crazy stuff in the stories, he has done in real life. Lynx is a rather unique, and unusual cat.
The first in the series is "Lynx Plays Pretend." He will actually have 2 series versions. The "Junior Edition" is for toddlers and up with mostly pictures and little writing. The second set will have the "Junior Edition" removed and will be a bit more like Freckles, but less writing as her newer books. The illustrator for this series is AJ Wanegar. "The Adventures of Lynx, Junior Edition, Book # 1: Lynx Plays Pretend," will be out sometime in 2019. Sherlock will be in a page in the book.
Freckles' new book is still being worked on. We apologize for it being so slow. We have a new illustrator and I've had writer's block for the last couple of years. Freckles III is doing well and says hi! She has been visiting schools. School visits this year included Nikomis, Drake, Viscount and Hudson Bay. Next year she will be appearing in Weyburn. Freckles and I are available for readings (as will Lynx be once his book is out), by finding our business or my name through the Saskatchewan Writers Guild. Sadly, Boots passed away in July and my daughter took it quite hard.
Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/TheAdventuresofLynx

Well we have been really busy here this summer. We had to quickly move our stuff out so the house could get cleaned (which is why books & writing haven't gotten very far), re-cleaned some stuff ourselves & now our stuff. We have had people concerned, asking how it is going, how bad it was, so here is a bit to share.

Everything is taking quite a lot of work, time and energy to do. I haven't had much time or energy to write like I would like to.  Hope you enjoyed the little look into our world and I hope it answers some of the questions some of you have had!

I've added a new photo set to the website. It is called, "Make Believe Recurring Characters." Take a look & meet the mean weasels. You will find them in books 5 & 6. Find them on the "Photos, Videos and More" page.

The school proposal is online. If you didn't see it in the last blog post, view or download it on the "Story Readings & Fundraising" page.

We've started a craft series called "Craft Time with Erika-Elizabeth." It is found on Youtube (our channel) and our website. Erika-Elizabeth will be making crafts that your child can make along with her. We're at a slow start here but we will be adding more videos soon!

Erika-Elizabeth has also started her own parent-approved blog. She wants to share some of her experiences as part of the Freckles team, as well as her experiences in bullying, etc. We felt that since she would be part of writing one on bullying, that other children may want to hear about her experiences.

Due to the fact that we still don't know when we will be returning, we have decided to extend our stay until December. If you know of a school interested in a free story reading, please have them contact me!

We had a wonderful time at St. Philip School here in Saskatoon and they were very kind to us! We enjoyed reading to them, speaking with everyone and especially enjoyed the questions that many of you asked!

I have now hidden almost every page except the main ones. A few were re-named (ex. the News blog is now "News Blog" instead of "News"). I have also replaced the Paypal buttons so that there are some better S&H prices, especially for books. I've also fixed it up so that you can purchase a t-shirt size easier and purchase services (you had to contact me before). This also enabled me to add some package deals. If you take a look around, you will also find a few price drops. One of them is the Pets in the Book package and the Child's Photo with the Freckles Character. Both make great Christmas presents!

Freckles the Bunny Series Holiday Prints

A neat way to send Christmas cards! This greeting photo is one-sided. Displayed here is Freckles but another character can be substituted. Prices are as follows:

1 photo - $1.50
5 photos - $6.00
10 photos - $10.00
25 photos - $25.00

Now what you have probably been waiting for! A sneak peak at the first chapter of Sherlock the Remarkable Cat Series, Book # 1: Sherlock, the Cat Who Couldn't Meow
(Please note that it may still need editing and nothing is finalized yet).
Go to our website and under Sherlock's heading, the PDF file is on the bottom of the page. I would love to hear your thoughts as well, so please feel free to share!
http://www.freckles-the-bunny-series.ca/sherlock-the-remarkable-cat-series.html

We are still working on family trees but you can take a look at the album on the website and our Facebook fan page. I have posted Boots' & Tiger's.

We've added some new playlists and videos to our Youtube Channel!

Playlists:
1. Sherlock the Remarkable Cat Series playlist
2. Craft Time with Erika-Elizabeth playlist
There may be some other playlists that were not mentioned earlier on there as well.

Videos:
1. Freckles the Bunny Series, Book # 4: Freckles and the True Meaning of Christmas Preview
(read by the author)
http://youtu.be/X3jgTHKGi5g

2, Sherlock the Remarkable Cat Series Pre-Intro
http://youtu.be/twRtgIWO7eQ

3. Craft Time with Erika-Elizabeth videos.
- An intro to the shows.
http://youtu.be/KF2cwS2EPf0

4. Pine Cone Feeder Craft
- A how to video that your child can do along with Erika-Elizabeth. Stay tuned for more!
http://youtu.be/lF87wCcHcCU

5. Freckles the Bunny Series, Book # 4: Freckles and the True Meaning of Christmas Trailer
http://youtu.be/X3jgTHKGi5g

6. Many more videos on our channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FrecklesBunnySeries

We held 2 contests this month. One was because we reached 100 fans, so we were giving away a copy of Freckles the Bunny Series, Book # 3: Freckles Lends a Paw. The winner of that contest was Эль Мариаччи!

We also held our usual contest for the upcoming book. It was for a copy of Freckles the Bunny Series, Book # 4: Freckles and the True Meaning of Christmas. The winner of that contest was Valery Ozerskaya!

Congratulations to both the winners! Unfortunately, due to the lack of fan involvement, this will be our last contest for now. Perhaps once we develop a little larger of a group, we will try again. We want to thank everyone that has participated in the past! It has been greatly appreciated!

As you know, I have been working on a new chapter book series based on Sherlock, our cat. I had been arguing with myself over the title and I've finally chosen one. The series will be called, "Sherlock the Remarkable Cat Series." You will sometimes see characters from Freckles the Bunny Series as Sherlock's brother is Boots. I am planning many things for this series and while I am finding that I sometimes have little time to do things, Freckles will always be first. I have only begun writing the series (between writing books 5 and 6), so I am not sure yet as to what you can expect. I promise it will be as great and entertaining as the other series is! Expect to see humor, a lot of Boots' family, cross-overs and more!

1. Upcoming School Visit:
Freckles III, Stew II and I will soon be visiting St. Philip's School here in Saskatoon. We are very excited to meet the students there as well as the teachers! Our visit is planned for October 22nd.

2. Book Edits
We edited books 1 through 3.
- Books 1 & 2 had some small edits of text and we've changed some things. These will soon say 2nd editions. Book 1 also had a craft added to it as it didn't have one and book 2 did.
- Book 3 needed some text edits as it seems we missed quite a bit. We apologize greatly for this and promise to do a better job next time. We also added a craft to this book. This will also be a second edition book.

3. Book Crafts
Each book will now have a craft in the back of them. The previous books that didn't have one, have now had them added. This will continue on throughout the Freckles series.

4. Pre-ordering Book # 4
We have decided to extend the pre-orders to October 20th, 2014. Every pre-paid, pre-order will receive a set of 6 character stickers (each main character included) or a Freckles pencil.

NEWSLETTER
Our first newsletter is out. Inside contains a special log in. The place to put the code is found on the main page and once signed in, it will take you to a hidden page with monthly downloads, online games and more!

ST. AUGUSTINE SCHOOL - SASKATOON
    We had a wonderful visit with the pre-kindergarten to grade 4's. The teachers and students made us feel quite at home. Thank you so much for your hospitality and we hope to visit you again! For any other schools in Saskatoon, please get in touch with us as we'd love to drop by yours! This is of course, free.

NEW PRODUCT
    We've added a new product. The photo sample is in this post. You can now send in a photo of your child for us to place a posed Freckles or another character into. These are book 3 and on's characters. We would be happy to sign or add your child's name at no additional charge. This is $10 CAD and can be found on our website's Misc. page.


FRECKLES THE BUNNY SERIES, BOOK # 4; FRECKLES AND THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS VIDEO TRAILER
    We've finally finished the video trailer for the book. Our usual preview with the first 6 pages read and in flip book format will be out early next week. In the mean time, we thought you might enjoy viewing various pages of Anastasia's illustrations. Be sure to take a look! It has some pictures that you won't see in the book preview.
http://youtu.be/Vh56fTsIX

BUYING OPTIONS
    We realize that purchasing through Paypal on our website can be a pain. We are now taking orders through the contact link as well and we will figure out the shipping for you, then send an invoice. In this way, we will be able to charge less while you still use Paypal. Other payment options are as follows:
Interact E-Transfer (works well if you are with a major bank in Canada). I am also told that this is only possible if you have online banking access.
Send us a Money Order or Certified Check after we let you know the total with shipping.
Personal/business checks will only be accepted through schools and libraries. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Yesterday I announced taking orders for book 4, how there would be extras in it and recommended pre-ordering because I run out of books. I also mentioned that if you ordered by October 15th, you'd receive a free sticker sheet or Freckles pencil. We will still do a draw on the fan page again, but there is no guarantee that you will win so if you really want a book, order now. These new books have been selling fast. Payments can be made by money order, certified checks or Paypal. Please contact me before sending any money orders or certified checks so that I can look into shipping costs. If you are outside of Canada or the U.S.A, please contact me. Shipping is higher there.

I also introduced Purrsia. She is Boots' dad's girlfriend and a part of his life. She will be in books 4 and 5. One of the neat things about Purrsia is that she gets stuff stuck in her fur. Things most people wouldn't have stuck. She doesn't notice them, so children get to look for an "item" in every picture of her. I used to love "Goodnight Moon" because I got to look for the mouse in every page. This seemed like a neat concept to add to the book.

Today, I edited the photos on the website and the Facebook fan page (I'm still working on a few). They all have copyrights on them. I've also added new photos of the characters Anastasia drew. They are beside book 1 and 2's photos.

I had mentioned on Facebook that we'd had a fire in our home. It has had a tremendous impact on our family and we are still dealing with things. I currently don't have my camera hooked up to the computer as we are staying with family. Hopefully we will be back home soon. Freckles III, Stew II, Sherlock, Boots and Tiger are all okay.