Today I'm welcoming Carole P. Roman to the blog. She has a wonderful guest post for us about handling bad days. Plus there is a great giveaway!
About the Book:
Written by Carole P. Roman
Illustrated by Mateya Arkova
From award-winning author Carole P. Roman comes a new chapter book featuring Susannah Logan, a young student having a very bad day. It all begins with homework trouble and an invitation to a sleepover that she doesn’t want to go to. Would you want to go to a sleepover in a creepy house? Rather than dealing with her problems, Susannah stuffs them into her backpack. But how much can a backpack take? Will she be able to confront her worries before the backpack bursts? Or will she just continue to hide them away? Join Susannah and her friends in this story sure to charm busy young readers everywhere.
Ages 7-10 | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | April 3, 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1543034615
Available Here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of the Captain No Beard series. Both Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life and Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis have received the Kirkus Star of Exceptional Merit. The first book in the series was named to Kirkus Reviews Best 2012. Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2015. Each book in the series has won numerous awards including the NABE Pinnacle Award, IAN Award, Moonbeam Award 2014, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Shelf Media Outstanding Series Award, ForeWord Review Five Star and Finalist in the Book of the Year, and Reader’s Views Children’s Book of the Year 2013. Roman is also the author of the award-winning non-fiction culture series, If You Were Me and Lived in… that explores customs and cultures around the world. She has co-authored a self help book, Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing. She lives on Long Island with her husband and near her children and grandchildren.
OFFICIAL LINKS
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/
Now I welcome Carole to The OWL!
Topic: How do you handle a bad day?
I never really have a bad day, per say. My day is long, much like my main character in Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag. It begins at the crack of dawn at about five-thirty in the morning. I go straight to a breakfast meeting with the division managers of each of the departments in our company, while my character, Susannah goes to school. Either way, both of our days are packed with potential landmines. I am reminded of a commercial that used to be on television where a woman is being fortified for her chaotic day by drinking orange juice. Both Susannah and I could use a big glass of that juice.
When I arrive at work, people from other states are listening in on the phone and my husband and I are bombarded with problems that range from losing a large account or a serious breach of protocols with complicated repercussions. We run a company that services high-powered people with unrealistic expectations. The clients used to be able to ruin my day with hysterics and threats to grind us into dust. There is pressure. I have a lot of people depending on me to make the right decisions and sometimes it is an awesome responsibility. It used to lay heavy on my shoulders. Not anymore.
I suffered a heart attack at the ripe old age of forty after one client harassed our company over something that I’m sure she doesn’t even remember today. It was a horrible experience. I almost died. I ended up having an angioplasty. I watched my parents unravel, my kids could barely speak, my husband had to shoulder everything alone. That was the day I learned to put things into perspective.
Those awful days do weigh heavy in my memory, like a scar that won’t heal. They are a reminder to never forget what is really important.
Susannah, the character in my book, and her family are letting life lead them instead of the other way around. They are caught up in the stress and pressure of always performing perfectly, never sharing when it becomes overwhelming as though it would somehow make them seem not up to the task.
I wrote this book watching other mothers and fathers drive themselves crazy to prove they could do it all, never realizing they were setting impossible standards for their children. What’s it all for if you are not here to enjoy it?
I learned from my own crisis, that every situation is fixable and when it’s not, we must sometimes endure the unendurable. While time slows to a crawl, and things do feel overwhelming, I know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I take a deep breath and concentrate on finishing what can be done.
There may be twenty-four hours to a day. That time is made up of 1440 minutes. I concentrate on what I can fix, and accept the limitations of what I can’t fix.
Talking about it always helps, hearing that you have done everything possible to prevent the disaster or, sometimes, even admitting that your own mistake caused it, can be therapeutic. It makes you realize life is fluid, whatever is going on won’t last forever, and in my own Pollyanna brain, I think, maybe something good will come out of it.
When the parents in this story realize their child’s life is spinning out of control, they help her learn how to reel it back in. They never expect Susannah will return the favor by making them sit back to think about what was pushing her there.
When life gets bad, I think back to that scene in Gone with the Wind, when Scarlett’s world is falling apart. She looks out into the burning sunset and says, “Tomorrow’s another day.”
Well, she’s right. Tomorrow is another day, and when things look really bleak, there is only one way to go and that is up.
What great thoughts! I couldn't agree more!
One (1) grand prize winner receives:
A copy of Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag, autographed by Carole P. Roman
A SunnyLife Havana Lunch Cooler Tote
A SunnyLife Cool Bananas Tumbler
Four (4) winners receive:
A copy of Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag, autographed by Carole P. Roman
Giveaway open to US and Canadian addresses only.
Prizes and samples provided by Carole P. Roman and The Children’s Book Review.
Tour hosted by and content provided by: The Children’s Book Review and Carole P. Roman
nice blog
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