Eva and her brand new book booth!
As Ian was busy developing as a musician during our summer vacation, Eva was doing her thing as Author-Extraordinaire. Before we left on our trip, she spent several weeks redesigning her business logo and sales booth, working two local craft fairs, and selling tons of material. She’s saving towards a Mac, and she’s doing so well, I think she’s going to make her goal.
While at the craft fairs, Eva began making plans for next summer, with visions of expanding her presence by offering storytelling and koala-shaped balloon art to help her engage with young audiences. It’s kind of an awesome plan. We purchased a pack of balloons and a pump, and she stashed them in her suitcase so she could practice on our trip.
With her sales success bolstering her up, she took to her trusty laptop as we zoomed across the midwest and southeast, working on a new rhyming picture book project. The book is a unique challenge for Eva, as this is her first experience writing in verse. She mapped out her story weeks ago (which is about dealing with embarrassment and features her beloved Kinzy character), and in the car we had long family brainstorming sessions to support her as she worked to meet her rhyme and meter requirements. It’s been great fun, and she completed her first draft.
Eva poses with her young fan, Francis, in NC
She’s been writing other story starts and ideas as well, and while staying with her grandparents in NC, she set up a stop-motion filmmaking project which features Doctor Who characters drawn on paper cutouts. I’ll post it here when she finishes processing it.
Among our many packed books was a box of Eva Ridenhour creations. We only packed a few of each just in case folks asked for them, and were surprised that we sold out half-way through our trip. I returned home with a list of orders to ship out! One young fan (a friend of my mother’s) even came out to meet her, bringing along a book for Eva to sign.
While down south, I also fielded an inquiry from EduTech, an organization that supports North Dakota public schools in embracing cutting edge technology. They asked Eva to Skype into a teacher workshop to talk about her books and work with elementary classrooms. Though we were unable to work it out, the workshop participants took a look at her website and materials without us, and let us know via email how much they were looking forward to showing her books and videos to their own students.
Eva and her very own motivational poster!
After we returned from our trip, Eva discovered that she was featured on a motivational poster in one of our local middle schools. We popped over there to check it out; it made Eva feel very good to know that she was being looked to as an inspiration to help other kids reach their full potential. What a homecoming!
It’s an exciting time – school is upon us, our house renovations are behind us, and we feel energized to launch into a creative, explosive year. I still don’t have all my school supplies ordered, but that’s ok. I think we’ll have plenty to keep us occupied!
What inspired you this summer? Did you or your kids enjoy a creative outlet? I’d love to hear about it!
You may also like:
Update on Eva’s Forthcoming Book
Kids Video-Conferencing and More: Two Days and 12 Public Speaking Engagements, Day 2.
Kids Teaching Kids
Hot Off the Presses! Eva’s New Book: The Cousin Clan and the Quest for the Codon
Summer Vacation, Part 1: 80 Hours in a Camry with 4 People and a Dog
Finding Musical Mentors on the Road (Summer Vacation, Part 2)
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You are SO darn inspiring! 😉 My son is about 9 chapters into his novel but I keep pulling him away from it for “school.”
Thanks Dana! Really it’s all a matter of perspective. School is what we define it to be. I think you’d like my guest post at Imagination Soup from a couple of years back. I really explored the whys and benefits behind our choices in nontraditional education. You can see it here: http://imaginationsoup.net/2011/10/growing-leaders-through-creative-education/
Embrace the novel writing! And let me know if you need help thinking of it and working with in terms of “school.”
Thank you, Gwyn! I look forward to reading your post and will definitely let you know if I need help. Today when he got into his “writing zone” I tried to relax and let him get to the science I had planned later. Trying to be flexible…
Good for you! I hope you sat back and had a cup of tea while he wrote. 🙂
Thanks, Gwyn. I finally read the article you mentioned. I’m inspired! My guys are so creative, too, but as the older one approaches high school, I find myself getting anxious about colleges. I guess it’s the public-school teacher in me. Trying so hard to find that balance… I love reading about your homeschool experience and look forward to reading more!
Ah, yes, that magic word: balance. It is something I am keen on as well. I just went through all this with my son, putting together a transcript that the local high school would accept so that he could enter full time as a junior (which he is now doing). If you like, I’m happy to share his transcript with you in private, so you can see how the interest based and the core based studies work together.
Thanks for the offer. I would love that! I’ll look for your contact info.
It’s just gwynridenhour at gmail.com. 🙂
Good for you Eva! 🙂 Your hard work and passion for writing is rewarding you quite well! 🙂 We would love to order a copy of EACH of your books…may we meet next week to pick them up?
Wishing you continued success in all that you aspire to be! Heidi, Caris, Finn & Pear Andrisen
Thanks Heidi! If you like, I can bring them to the homeschool lunch next Friday. You coming to that?
Good luck this week!
Congratulations to Eva on her books! My daughter and a friend have both written novels too and are having so much fun selling them. We love looking at Eva’s site and your blog and getting ideas for what you all have done for marketing. We live in NC and I saw in your post that you were there this summer. We’re near Charlotte (and homeschool too) so if you’re ever near here give me a shout – we’d love to meet you all! (karen@responsivedesigns.com). Saw you like the Gifted Homeschoolers forum. Are your kids taking any of their online classes? My daughter is in the Comparative Mythology class and loves it!
Hi Karen! Congratulations to your daughter and her friend too! Marketing is such a tricky thing; Eva did a reading last weekend, and though her small audience was attentive, she didn’t end up selling anything. Other times – like at the farmer’s market of all places – she’ll sell half a dozen. You never know.
And yep! I’m connected to GHF, though we haven’t taken any of their online classes yet. When I see one that fits in with our year’s goals, I’d like to try it. I’m glad to hear such great reviews from you.
I hope to see you one day in NC! Oh – and tell your daughter that Eva will be posting a brand new website (at the same address) in another couple of days. She’s been working hard to develop it, and it’s super exciting. She’d love some feedback once it’s up!