#AtoZChallenge - BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! - G is for Goodwin, Melissa Ann Goodwin

Hello!

Regular followers and visitors to this site will know I'm using BLOGGERS WERE CHILDREN TOO! for my theme this year. I hope you're enjoying reading about bloggers, some you know and some you may not yet know, as they respond to some prompts I sent out. I've been so grateful for their responses as it helped me to get to know them better, admire their stunning cuteness as babes, and delighted me with random facts.

Thank you Adult Bloggers for your heartfelt responses. Thank you readers for visiting my posts. I hope you'll leave a comment and if you'd like to follow the link to my respondents' blogs they'd be delighted to meet you.

Rock on A- Z Challenge. (Visit more posts here).


Just a quick note - the lovely Juliette @ Chocolate For Writers is giving away free copies of her delightful chick lit 'Sleeping With Paris' over Easter. It's adorable!


Yesterday was Francine Howarth in all her magical childhood glory and...

Today:

G is for Goodwin, Melissa Ann Goodwin - Writer on the Road

Melissa at about 4 years, with a bunny she apparently liked a lot but doesn't remember!
Funny that, our childhood memories are supposed to be about our favourite toys,
but Melissa is the first/only one to mention a toy, and she doesn't even
remember it...

I WAS BORN IN:  Andover, Massachusetts, USA

I GREW UP IN: Andover, Massachusetts

MY FAVOURITE HOME WAS IN: Um...Andover! I loved my hometown and still think it's one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen.

MY BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORY IS: Candlelight Christmas Eve services at our church. It's one of those medieval-looking stone Episcopal churches that you see in New England, with rich mahogany pews, hardwood floors and red velvet pew cushions. On Christmas Eve, wrought-iron candelabras, decorated with sprigs of holly and red velvet bows, adorned each row of pews. Everyone got a candle, and at the very end of the service we lit them and sang Silent Night. As soon as we finished singing, the church bells chimed. Standing there in the church with my family, our faces lit only by the soft glow of candlelight, listening to the echo of church bells, felt magical.

MY WORST CHILDHOOD MEMORY IS: I had a ridiculously happy childhood, but in second grade there was a girl who was mean to me almost every day, so that would have to be it. I think that means kids were the hardest part of growing up, and it pains me to see what an epidemic bullying seems to have become, despite all the attention it's getting. I'm tired of meanness.

TODAY I LIVE IN:  Well, this is changing even as we speak! In three weeks we'll be picking up our new RV and plan to travel in it for quite some time to come. Our first leg will be east from New Mexico and then up the east coast to Nova Scotia and Quebec in the summer. I guess you could say that the road will be my home for a while. There is a map of our route at the bottom of my blog: http:writeryogini.blogspot.com

About my book, The Christmas Village: Last fall I released my middle grade novel, The Christmas Village. It's the story of a sad 12-year-old boy named Jamie, who wishes he could escape from his troubles. He fantasizes about disappearing into Grandma's miniature Christmas village, where everything looks so picture perfect. Late one night, his wish magically comes true and Jamie finds himself transported into the village of Canterbury, where the year is 1932. Of course as soon as he gets there, Jamie's greatest wish is to find his way back home in time for Christmas! But everything isn't so perfect in Canterbury either, and Jamie is quickly embroiled in a mystery and adventure that put his plans in jeopardy. Jamie's adventures in Canterbury help him understand some important things about family, friendship and forgiveness. The story is set at Christmastime, but really, it's an adventure with postive and uplifting themes that readers young and old are enjoying with enthusiasm. The target reading age is 9 and up, but it can be read to younger children. One third grade class loved it so much, they all wrote me letters! You can read some of them on my Amazon page.

OH! And I'm working on the sequel, which will be released in 2013. It's called ... no wait, that's a secret for now!

Check out these unsolicited reviews from bloggers, as well as the reviews on Amazon:

Blogger Reviews:

Ann Best, Author of the bestselling memoir, In the Mirror:http://annbestblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/blogger-spotlights-melissa-ann-goodwin-susan-kaye-quinn/

Read the Reviews and Buy the Book on Amazon:

www.amazon.com/Christmas-Village-Melissa-Ann-Goodwin/dp/1463646259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317906903&sr=8-1

Melissa Ann Goodwin, Author of The Christmas Village 

About Me: I've written many stories, poems and articles for children's magazines. I've also written extensively on aging and caregiving for national magazines such as Caring Today and The Caregiver's Home Companion, and my short memoir pieces have appeared in Guidepost's Angels on Earth and other publications. My poem, "Poppies," was a top-10 prize winner in the 2010 Writer's Digest Annual Poetry Competition. My husband, artist, J.R. Secor, and I will be traveling the country this year in an RV. If you see an RV go by that says DREAMCATCHER on the back and has a big dreamcatcher logo - wave, because that will be us!

 I hope you enjoyed hearing about the childhood and adventurous life of Melissa Ann. Tune in tomorrow Monday 9th to meet/learn more about Donna Hole, a very familiar and much-loved blogger known to most of my regular followers. (She's just agreed to co-host RomanticFridayWriters with me!)