Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What's Next for Elysabeth Eldering?

Hi everyone! Please give Elysabeth a warm welcome to my blog. She'a fabulous lady! :)What's next?

by Elysabeth Eldering

Jenny has asked that I talk about where the series is headed next and what's coming out soon. As far as the Squad and me, we are heading to PA for a homeschool conference and then on to a few more book festivals, homeschool events and other type events squeezed in there. This is the season of promoting and making sure that we are making a presence in as many places as we possibly can.

There will be an unveiling of a new persona for me in May, so stay tuned to my blog for the ta-da moment.

As far as the series goes, at the time of this posting, book #6, State of Nature, is about to be released; we are just awaiting the proof copy to release it. I'm currently working on finishing the stories of #7, 8, 9 and 10 - all are in various stages of being finished. State of Acceleration, #7, is in the story stage, working on the mini plot and getting the characters through another state in a fun and interesting way. State of Imagination, #8, is in the arranging clues in an orderly fashion stage; State of Monuments, #9, is in the adding a couple more clues/rearranging them in the order they will be presented stage; and State of Production, #10, is in the adding more clues and tweaking a few that are already in place stage. I have a table set up so I know which states will be released in a given year, all the way through to the fiftieth state and 2019, when the final book will be released with probably a couple of surprises interspersed in there.

The process is multi-staged for me for one story. I guess putting my clues in first is like someone who outlines their stories. The clues are how I base my titles and how my characters tend to react or interact. Then after I decide which facts to use as clues, I send off to my editor who comes up with a title. Sometimes, she is not so successful. State of Nature, #6, was actually named by son who decided which clues should be on the cover; he also helped in naming #10. We were all at a loss for #9, even my teacher friend, but my illustrator, Heather C. Paye, came up with a very befitting title. After I have my clues in place and in the order I want them to appear along side my title, I start writing the story. Once the story is finished, off to my editor, refined or fixed up by me and then off to Heather for her to do her thing. She does a great job with the covers and layout. Once I receive the file back in final mode, I submit to createspace.com and await for them to tell me the file is print ready so I can then order my proof copy. Once the proof copy arrives and I've looked over it from cover to cover, then I release it.

So what's next for the Squad? We just keep on doing what we can to get where we need be and hopefully the big break will come along soon.

Elysabeth Eldering is a traveler from birth. She has traveled with her family due to her father being in the military. She has lived in several states and overseas during her childhood. Ms. Eldering calls South Carolina home these days with a mindset of "Southern by choice, not by birth." She entered her first writing contest in her early 40s and took second place for a children's mystery story (Train of Clues), which has inspired her to take that story and write a series for children, the premise being that each state would be the mystery. Her series has a Jeopardy!® like style to it but for guessing the state in the form of a question. Each book concentrates on one state and there are supplemental study guides available, which take the series cross curriculum. For more information on the series, please visit the JGDS website. Elysabeth may be reached at eeldering@gmail.com with any questions or to place an order.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog, Elysabeth!

Warmly,
Jenny:)

15 comments:

Nancy Famolari said...

Sounds like a great program for the series! Hope you don't still have snow in PA. I live there and this has been a terrific winter -- if you're a polar bear!.

Good post Elysabeth and JR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Wow! Elysabeth, I'm so glad to see you promoting so heavily. And isn't it wonderful that we now have in-person grass roots kinds of events to help us with exposure AND online ways where we can reach so many at once!

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Blogging writers resources at Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites pick www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Magdalena Ball said...

A new persona - how exciting! In the meantime, your books sound like a terrific way to engage children - particularly those that struggle with reading.

elysabeth said...

Nancy, I was away today for a death in the family and the whole conversation turned to the weather - my husband's sisters and brother are from the Connecticut area and they totally were following the reports since they are calling for snow and they may all be heading back up into that. I hope by next week that the snow is all gone - I definitely don't want to be driving in nasty weather, so I will be keeping an eye on the weather next week as well.

Carolyn, you know it's fun to do the in-person events, especially if you are a people person and you have something fun for the people - lol. (or at least I hope I have something fun for the kids - lol)

Magdalena, I'm excited about introducing the new persona - and I hope I'm getting to the kids somehow.

Thanks for stopping by ladies. I hope you all will keep following the books and see where we do end up - lol

BatyaD said...

can't wait to see where you and the Squad end up next! I just love seeing if I can beat the characters in guessing the states. The only thing I ever one as a kid was a map of the United States -- so geography was my favorite class!

elysabeth said...

Batya - so glad you won that map and that you are enjoying trying to figure out the states before the Squad does. Thanks for stopping by - hope you enjoyed your visit here - E :)

Anonymous said...

I'm still waiting for that big break myself too. Until then we can just keep on keeping on. Keep on promoting and looking for new aenues to reach new people while coming out with new material. Its a lot of work but its in our blood. What else can we do?

Unknown said...

I'm a fan of Elizabeth's books. I'm sure that big break is coming. Never give up.

elysabeth said...

Stephen, you are so right - we have to keep on keeping on and hopefully get our big break one of these days. Thus, all the stuff I've been doing - all the homeschool conventions/conferences and stuff like that - it's all about building a fanbase.

Speaking of fans, Thank you Kathy for being a fan of my books. Now to keep gaining the fans - lol.

Off to try to do something to build the fan base. See ya'll in the postings - E :)

Elysabeth Eldering
Author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad, 50-state, mystery, trivia series

Where will the adventure take you next?

http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com

Margaret Fieland said...

Elysabeth, am I ever impressed .. doing so much at once.

Martha said...

Love, love, love your books. As a teacher, parent and reader, they are just the best. Keep those books coming.
Martha

Unknown said...

Praying for your big break! Excited to see what the new persona is going to be. You're quite the busy wrtier with several books in progress. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

A new persona? Interesting. You sound like you are busy, busy, busy! I've not had a chance to read any of your books, yet, but they sound like they are great books.

elysabeth said...

Maggie, only way i can get such a large project out there - lol - have to be a multitasker in this business.

Martha, whenever you are ready for more books, just let me know. I think you have the first three possibly but 4 & 5 are available now.

Mari, isn't that the name of the game? Staying busy is what works sometimes - lol.

Susanne, glad you stopped by. The books are geared for 8 to 12 year olds who want to learn about the United States. There are supplemental study guides available for the books (only if you order through me via email or my website). There are five states available right now with hopefully five a year coming out. We are having trouble getting #6 ready for publication - keep finding errors so hopefully soon it will be released.

Thanks everyone for stopping by. This is the last week of tours this month as we start next Friday for April. I will be the guest blogger on Karen's blog next Friday, so stop by then and check out the difficult questions Karen asked me. I'll also be on the road next week for the homeschool conference in PA, so pray that we have good weather for the trip - see you all in the postings - E :)

Elysabeth Eldering
Author of the Junior Geography Detective Squad, 50-state, mystery, trivia series

Where will the adventure take you next?

http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com
http://jgdsseries.weebly.com

Heidiwriter said...

Wow, you have a lot of irons in the fire! That's great. Keep up the good work.