Wednesday, December 29, 2021

New Books

 Four new books aimed at a more mature audience have been written to continue the story of The Library Kids.  Check them out and the movie that was made as an adaptation from one of the tales in the series, The Library Kids All Grown Up.










Friday, March 17, 2017

Tales from the Mysterious Side

I've been working on a new series that has short stories of mystery.  Some are based on actual people and events and others are inspired by them.  Aimed at a young adult to adult audience.






Henry Wallace Gale

Who haunts the barn at the Volo Antique Mall in Volo, Illinois? Find out his story and who he was and how the Civil War affected him and his family and learn about their secrets.





Book is available for purchase online.

Prequel and Sequel for The Library Kids

A prequel and sequel aimed at young adult to adult audiences has been written for The Library Kids series.  It is also available online.





Available at Amazon

Available at Barnes & Noble


Monday, April 25, 2016

The Library Kids

The Library Kids website has now gone through its third make-over.  It is now directed to this blog/website.  It's been a fun ride the last 6 years.  We'll see what the future has in store for this series.  
Here are some excerpts from the old site:




The Library Kids is a middle grade (ages 8 to 12 and up) book series about a group of children who find a secret, magical library inside the Cave of the Blue Mounds that has the entire history and knowledge of the Earth in the past, present and future. The children can go back in time and meet famous people from the past and travel to any part around the world. However, the children will end up with a mission at the end of the first book. Their mission will be that they must battle the seven Enemies of the Library and defeat the Dark Master that the Enemies answer to. To do this, they must travel around the world to ancient sites and collect a set of twelve crystals that when put together will make a prison for the Dark Master. The children will travel to ancient sites in America, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Ireland, Greece, Mali, Egypt, India, Tibet, and Australia throughout the seven book series. There will be some American history as well as ancient mythology, folklore, and legend in each book. This series is sure to captivate the middle grade audience as well as adults.
Many of the places that are mentioned in the books, are real places that can be visited as well. 


Some Reviews:


GoodReads:

"I won this book through Goodreads and I loved it. It was a fast read, because it is written for children, yet the story held my interest and I couldn't wait to get to the end of the book and see how it ended. And now that I have read this one I want to read the others in the series! I have always been a bibliophile and the idea of a hidden library in a cave that allows one to explore one's interests in an interactive format intrigued me. I also love history and since much of this book discussed mythology, ancient civilzations, cultural anthropology and history of war and the way the children could see and experience their interests was well done. I could see parents and teachers alike using this book and the others as a springboard to other topics. Also this book discussed morals and virtues in a way that wasn't preachy leading to more learning experiences for all. Miss Moran has a good series on her hands as she tackles current issues and historic cause and effect tactfully. I am glad to see a book that can teach in a fun way back on the market; reminds of some of my favorites as a child." - Lesley

"Really cute story about 5 curious children who are invited into a wonderous library! They begin an adventure that will teach them about themselves and how to combat the evil that wants to try and stop the wonder of learning. Katie always has questions and the magical library seems like the perfect place for her. She is told that she and her friends have a destiny and they will soon start on a great adventure.... Great story for middle age kids, though I am a grownup and I liked it! " - April

Book Review:

"The Library Kids Mystery of the Blue Mounds" is a juvenile chapter mystery written for the enjoyment of middle grade students everywhere. First in a series of seven Library Kids Mysteries, "Mystery of the Blue Mounds" promises to entertain and educate readers, who will be intrigued by the enigma of curious Katie O'Conner's discovery of a vast secret library in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin which allows visitors to travel to any time or place on Earth, past, present or future. Katie and three friends meet the mysterious guardian of the library, an entity named Emily. They learn they must battle the seven Enemies of the Library as part of their initiation into the Library. They also must imprison or contain the non-human Dark Master of the Enemies, or he will destroy the human race and take over the planet. The children conduct a search throughout the series for 12 crystals at ancient archaeological sites that can (together) contain the Dark Master. "The Library Kids Mystery of the Blue Mounds" is a great beginning to entice young readers to learn more about ancient mythologies and cultures and solving mysteries, and not coincidentally, the role of libraries in pursuing this knowledge." - Midwest Book Review




Crystals Retrieved:

Crystal #1 Red oval from the arch in Rock Lake
Crystal #2 Orange oval from the Tomb of the Lost Souls at America's Stonehenge in New Hamsphire
Crystal #3 Yellow oval from the hand of the Giant's skeleton from the Cave of the Giants in Galena, Illinois.
Crystal #4 Green oval at Chichen Itza from the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent.
Crystal #5 Blue Oval at Machu Picchu from the Intihuatana Stone.
Crystal #6 The Hill of Tara in Ireland
Crystal #7 Giant's Causeway in Ireland
Crystal #8 Dogon Elder in Mali
Crystal #9 Under the Sphinx in Egypt
Crystal #10 Cave in India
Crystal #11 Shambala In Tibet
Crystal #12 Outback in Australia



Rules of the Library
1. Please remember that every one has a story to tell.
2. Please remember that there is always something to learn at any given time.
3. You must use the Library materials with respect and responsibility.
4. You must use the material of the Library for good and not for evil.
5. You should be a person of good character and
enjoy the quest for knowledge.
6. You must contribute to the Library and protect it.
7. You will be tested by the Enemies of the Library.


Thursday, March 24, 2016

Atomium



The Atomium, Heysel, Belgium.

"The Atomium ( /əˈtməm/ ə-toh-mee-əm) is a building in Brussels originally constructed for Expo 58the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Designed by the engineer André Waterkeyn and architects André and Jean Polak,[1] it stands 102 m (335 ft) tall. Its nine 18 m (59 ft) diameterstainless steel clad spheres are connected so that the whole forms the shape of a unit cell of aniron crystal magnified 165 billion times. The name is a combination of atom and aluminium. It is a museum. [1]
Tubes of 3 m (9.8 ft) diameter connect the spheres along the 12 edges of the cube and all eight vertices to the centre. They enclose stairs, escalators and a lift (in the central, vertical tube) to allow access to the five habitable spheres which contain exhibit halls and other public spaces. The top sphere includes a restaurant which has a panoramic view of Brussels. CNN named it Europe's most bizarre building.[2]"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomium

http://atomium.be/



Saturday, December 12, 2015

I Sold Some More Books Today



It's been 2 1/2 years since I've been out selling any of my children's books, The Library Kids, to the public at any kind of public venue other than online.  Since 2013, I've moved into some material that was only suitable for adults and I wrote ten more books that were esoteric and aimed at a mature audience.  Today, I was moving in a different direction from my writing.  I've been working on art pieces that were about mythology and have made my own jewelry.  Today was the test to see how the public reacted to my art and jewelry, but I also brought along the remainder of my book inventory that I was selling for a very good price since I want someone to read the books rather than have them sit in a box.

I was completely surprised that most of my sales came from my children's books.  I haven't tried to sell my Hidden Human Story books in public yet as I was/am still on the journey of researching and writing them.  Many people were also interested in my art pieces but didn't want to spend too much to purchase them (typical in the art world), but they complimented me on them.

Watching the faces of the children who wanted the books and were very excited after reading the back covers and looking within the books, brought back a lot of memories for me.  I was very careful and still am about what I write in children's books or any of the social media pages (blog, youtube, facebook) that are associated with them.  My other books and their social media pages are a different story as my research into mythology and the past has taken me down a very dark and deep rabbit hole that I never imagined I would be in.

As I've mentioned before, I wrote screenplays when I first started out trying to be a writer and had one of them optioned twice by the producer of the movie, Norma Rae.  She tried her best, but couldn't get a studio to put up the money for the project.  I moved on to the children's books and self-published.  As of today, I've never made enough money back on book sales to pay for the start up cost for the project and may never will, but it was worth it.  These books will remain as long as we can print books long after I am dead and so will my other books.

A writer is never done writing.  I never say never to the possibility of writing another book in The Library Kid's series.  But for now, I've got some ideas for another project aimed at the adult audience that may be very dark and mysterious.  I will continue to post articles on this blog that are family friendly but I hope you understand that as a writer, I may move into different territory.  Thanks for your interest.


Saturday, June 27, 2015

A Visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Francisco

Here are a few videos from California.  I'll post more as I put them up.







http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/


Saturday, April 25, 2015

Colleen Koziara - An Exceptional Artist that I Met Today.



Today I met a very talented artist named Colleen Koziara.  We all have our tastes in art, but when I saw the color and subject of her art, I was just amazed.  Her work includes acrylics, illustrations for adult and children's books, teaching, writing, body art, and much more.  From freelanced.com:


In addition, Colleen does private art instruction from her home for all ages, as well as art instruction for seniors in the Chicagoland area. Colleen does Mural Art; Body Art; Face Painting and Henna; Custom Tattoo Designs; Visionary Art; and Commissioned pieces manifest from the visions and dreams of her clients. Mystical Willow Productions is her company name. 


http://www.freelanced.com/colleenkoziara


Her work is deeply moving and spiritual and contains a lot of information on various levels.

She has recently finished work on a children's book about the Armenian Genocide with a gentleman whose family survived the genocide.  The title is, The Last Diamonds.  The book is not out yet, but as soon as it is, I intend to buy a copy.  In addition, she recently began an apprenticeship as a tattoo artist.

Please check out her website:


http://www.mysticalwillow.com/



by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com & www.hiddenhumanstory.com)