Back Porch Writer

Lucy Branch is a director of her family’s firm Antiques Bronze Ltd, one of the UK’s leading conservation and restoration companies. She has a degree in History of Art with Material Studies and a Masters from The Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Branch is an accredited member of the Institute of Conservation. Lucy lives with her husband and their three children in North London. 

About the book:

Abigail Argent stands out. Some people notice that she always wears gloves and shudder when they know why. The ones who know her best notice her ability with metal. Abigail's particular talent lies in the colouring of alloys, for seeing the beauty in a plain piece of metal and being able to draw it out. Her study leads her to discover a connection between her own craft and that of her favourite childhood myth: changing lead into gold. Moving to Venice, Abigail continues to uncover more about the history of her trade while making friends, and a lover, whose lives become inextricably linked with her own. But her abilities soon peak the interests of a powerful group, determined to guard the secret that she may unwittingly expose. Delving into the deepest secrets of ancient Italy, Abigail's story will take everything you think you know about alchemy and turn it on its head.

Zetta Elliott’s essays have appeared in School Library Journal and The Huffington Post. Her thirteen books for young readers include the award-winning picture book Bird, A Wish After Midnight, Ship of Souls, and The Deep. She is an advocate for greater diversity and equity in publishing, and lives in Brooklyn. 

Take a stand for Kid Lit Equality; download your free Black Youth Matter posters here.Plunge into The Deep! See the trailer here. Learn more at Rosetta Press. The Deep is a companion book to Ship of Souls. Ship of Souls was a 2012 Booklist Top Ten Sci-Fi/Fantasy Youth Title and a finalist for the Phillis Wheatley Book Award. It also received a starred review from Booklist: "Urban fantasies are nothing rare, but few mesh gritty realism with poetic mysticism so convincingly. By turns sad, joyful, frightening, funny, and inspirational, Elliott’s second novel is a marvel of tone and setting." Support childhood literacy by taking the Birthday Party Pledge!

In the aftermath of Nixon’s volatile presidency, Sandy Drue is entering in to the great unknown of adolescence, determined to discover her own meaning of life in this beautiful series of short stories & vignettes. The beguiling second novel from Nancy Freund, Mailbox, is a mother-daughter love story opening a doorway to the universal world of adolescence and self-discovery. Fans of contemporary literary fiction and American cultural and social history will enjoy this delightful story that is hopeful, heartbreaking, and profound in its treatment of life’s larger questions - especially those that matter to a child on the cusp of maturity - revealing our shared need for solace, nostalgia, and good old-fashioned fun.

Eva Angvert Harren specializes in a body centered approach to recovery and complete wellness. She offers the BEAM LiFE Process, as a transformational, effective, and personalized formula to empower the lives of women who want a way to heal from the core.

Eva assists you to find relief from anger, anxiety, stress, and habitual patterns that hold you back from who you want to be. After releasing tension and pain in your body you start to feel the internal peace and aliveness available. Without having to re-live your story you learn skills in understanding and managing feelings, sensations, and emotions. You learn how to reclaim your power, restore your peace, and recover yourself.

Their mission is simple:

1. We aim to transform the cultural meaning of princesses and princes into positive role models who take action to protect living beings and the planet for future generations.

2. We seek to promote greater racial, cultural, and gender inclusivity. We expand the cultural representation of beauty by including different size princesses and princes, as well as those with disabilities.

3. To produce high quality educational tools that are entertaining. Our goal is to utlilize multimedia platforms to educate readers and users about current global issues and how we can all be part of the solution.

4. Our stories promote greater awareness of the environment and aim to advance children’s knowledge in STEM subjects (sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics).

5. Our stories combine teaching ethical principals with the practical imperatives of helping parents, teachers, and children meet Common Core State Standards.

Or, is it? Join the cnversation and tell me what you think. Is the world ready for The Guardian Princesses?

Here are the resources Kori mentioned:

www.sumome.com - Easily gather emails to build your list, create dynamic shqre buttons, use a heat map and page analyzer, and more. A bunch of free tools!

www.booklaunch.io - Book landing pages - Be sure to get the code from the Back Porch Writer website, so you can try the premium features. The basics are free.

www.lacbook.com - Marketing template for writers - Free tool

Finelines.org - Summer Writing Camp

If you know about author fairs in your area, please share them with us via info(at)backporchwriter.com

Kori discusses several body language basics you can use to better describe scenes within your story. She'll cover the concept of comfort versus discomfort as posited by Joe Navarro, a leading expert on body language and a former FBI spycatcher.

You'll learn:

Facts about lying behavior

Indicators of stress, verbal and non-verbal

The seven microexpressions

Resources for additional information:

Center for non-verbal studies

All About Body Language

The Science of People

Paul Ekman Group

The Center for Body Language

Louder Than Words - Joe Navarro

What Every Body is Saying - Joe Navarro

Clues to Deceipt - Joe Navarro

John Himmelman is an author/illustrator of nearly 80 books for children and books (for grown up kids) on various nature topics. He graduated School of Visual Arts in 1981, with his first book "Talester the Lizard" published later that year. Talester came about as a final assignment to create a story in his children's book illustration class. His teacher, Dale Payson, liked it enough to show to her editor at Dial - and thus began a career that continues today.

Himmelman's children's book genres range from whimsical to natural history. He is a naturalist, involved in many organizations where he gives lectures and leads trips in search of exciting flora and fauna (it all excites him). He strives to incorporate his interests with his career as an writer and illustrator because... it just makes both more fun. Sometimes, though, he just wants to make the reader laugh.

Jenni Wiltz writes fiction and creative nonfiction. She's won national writing awards for romantic suspense and creative nonfiction, and her short fiction has been published in literary journals including Gargoyle and The Portland Review. When she's not writing, she enjoys running and doing genealogical research. She lives in Pilot Hill, California. Find her online at JenniWiltz.com.

The family dynamics are also particularly well-drawn. This is not a faux family that is either too perfect or too ridiculous. The communication between Emma and her family members is believable and genuine. These relationships are what drew me into the story.The quirks and dysfunction are true to life, in a way that I found extremely endearing–and also frustrating. I *cared* about the outcome. I wanted to scream at characters, to shake them: I was invested.

Despite the heavy subject matter (revenge, violence, culture clashes), The Red Road was a quick and satisfyingly intense read. – Sara Strand, Amazon review

Bibliocrunch is an award-winning author services marketplace that matches authors with quality, award-winning professionals to get new books and apps to market. The platform brokers the interaction between a community of rated and reviewed publishers, authors, designers, editors, proofreaders, conversion specialists, marketers and enhanced eBook experts to help create exceptional digital books. She has worked in the media industry for 11 years, most recently at TIME where she launched several digital initiatives including an iPad and mobile site, mobile apps, a video and podcast channel, blogs, and SEO. Her writing has been featured in TIME, CNN, NY Daily News, among other media publications. She has a MS in Publishing (Digital + Print Media) from NYU and a BS from Columbia University in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. You can follow Miral on Twitter @bibliocrunch or @miralsattar