This is Rave Reviews Book Club’s Pay It Forward Day. Welcome fellow author and RRBC Member, Mary Schmidt.

ABOUT MARY SCHMIDT

Mary Schmidt, aka S. Jackson, grew up in a small Kansas (USA) town, and she lived in other states since then. At this time, she and her husband split their time between Kansas and Colorado (they loved the mountains and off road 4-wheeling). Traveling is one of their favorite things to do, and she always has a book or even three books that she reads, in the same week. Books were really her thing.

It seemed like every time she turned around she was obtaining a new library card due to the current one being stamped complete. Diving into a good book made any day perfect and you would be surprised at the number of books she read over and over. She drew paper dolls and clothes for them, and used watercolor as her medium when painting scenes, especially flowers.

She continued with art in high school exploring a wide variety of arts. The creative side of her loves to be an amateur “shutter-bug” and they actually have an online art gallery. In college she went into the sciences of all things and received a Bachelor’s degree in the Science of Nursing. Her nursing career was highly successful, and she hung up her nursing hat in December 2012.

Visit Mary’s Blog at When Angels Fly!

Mary’s Books

The Big Cheese Festival

In The Big Cheese Festival, we meet Stubby Mouse and his family and friends. We learn that Stubby Mouse has a secret, that he is being bullied by another mouse, simply because his tail is short. Read how Stubby Mouse stood up for himself, and how he ended the bullying, in this delightful story for children. Targeted at ages 4-8, the book is easy to read and perfect for home or classroom. Children learn how bad bullying is, and what they can do to help stop bullies! Stubby Mouse encourages children to take a stand against bullies, and always be kind to each other. This story illustrates how everyone is different and unique, and it is a delightful read with cute illustrations for both children and adults. Take a stand against bullying today!

Get your copy of The Big Cheese Festival.

Suzy Has a Secret

This book teaches a child, ages four to eight years-old, about personal safety and body ownership. Children learn how to identify who safe adults are in a child’s life. This book shows in positive and practical ways how parents, and educators, can talk to children about personal safety. Children learn about bad touch and good touch, and how their body belongs to them. Parents and educators can help children learn who the safe people are in their lives, and that they can always tell one of them about anything that may happen, and they aren’t comfortable about. Using little bug fairies and fairy houses, ensures that children aren’t scared when this story is read to them, or they read it on their own.

Get your copy of Suzy Has a Secret.

When Angels Fly

We often find ourselves daydreaming about what our futures will be like. This may be especially true if one lives in an environment most would consider less than desirable. Some are lucky to find their futures much like their childhood dreams. Others find the paths to their dreams strewn with hurdles.

Growing up, Sarah dodged her mother’s blows. She often hid in her room crying about her life. Still, she believes in her future and the happiness it can bring. In their book, When Angels Fly, authors S. Jackson and A. Raymond tell Sarah’s story – their stories. The authors use their journals to describe Sarah’s experiences of family dysfunction, strength, courage, faith, abuse, grief, and so much more. You’ll read how, like many, she attempts to escape from her mother’s abuse through marriage. And like many, she learns it is not a viable alternative. Then Sarah experiences a parent’s ultimate tragedy twice, the deaths of her sons, Joshua and Eli.

When Angels Fly is about much more than the telling of a family’s tragedy. It is also the story of finding faith after it has wavered. Most of all, it’s a story of love lost and found.

Get your copy of When Angels Fly.

Visit Mary’s Blog at When Angels Fly!

I hope you were able to attend one or more of the 31 days of the FALL INTO GREAT READS TOUR. We had lots of fun. I missed a few days myself due to a work conference I had to attend three days this week. But if you missed it, you can still check out the posts at A Word With Traci blog. Just click on the Authors Already Featured where Traci has graciously offered links to the posts. I actually lost count of all the prizes and books I won, but plan to list everything here now as I go back and check through the blog.

And my winnings were:
I won a $15 Amazon Gift Card from Jennifer Hinsman, a 1 year subscription on Jacquie Lawson e-cards from Harmony Kent, 3 autographed print books (I’VE LOVED THESE DAYS by Bethany Turner, RIDDLE by Elizabeth Horton-Newton, & DANCE OF THE LIGHTS by Stephen Geez), and 9 e-books (Amazing Matilda by Bette Stevens, Una Familia & Learning to Fly in the Breaking Free series by Annie Hughes, UNBIND by Sarah Michelle Lynch, EMBER SKIES by Nicky Crawford. JUST TRY by Lisa S. Robinson, I, HERO – NATHAN RETURNS by Jason Zandri, SLICES OF SOUL by Haromony Kent, DANGLED CARAT by Hilary Grossman, and HE’S CAPTURED MY HEART by Karen Frances).

Wow! Did I rack up or what? Some of these wonderful authors gave everyone who commented an e-book. So many gracious and generous authors were guests on this tour. Did I say it was fantabulous? No? Well that’s exactly what it was. I was thinking the other day that we should do something like this in December. We’ll see.

Here is a recap of all the guest authors to Traci’s tour in a wonderful video:

Congratulations to all the winners of the blog tour, and thank you to all of the participating authors for introducing wonderful books, interviews, book trailers, etc., and thank you to Traci Sanders for the GREAT job she did putting it together and making it SO simple for all the authors who participated.