Wright on Time Books

As an author, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunities I’ve had to talk with fun and fascinating people. In particular, the variety of interviewers I’ve meet have been really enjoyable.

Yesterday, I had the chance to speak with Dori DeCarlo from MomTV, Word of Mom, and S1™ Safety First, LLC (an ingenious bag company for clear bags). Click on the MomTV link to find archived shows. Dori and I (along with a typed-in viewer) discussed a variety of things: homeschooling/unschooling, parental involvement in children’s lives and advocacy for them no matter how they are educated, and managing a home-based business while raising children.

As everyone here knows, I’m a homeschooling mother of two. We’ve considered ourselves Radical Unschoolers since my oldest, Zoe, became school age. Since she’s nearly fifteen, that means we’ve been living this lifestyle for a long time now! We’re at the point of really seeing the benefits to this lifestyle. In talking about this, the underlying theme of stand up for your beliefs, and especially your children, kept coming up.

In Dori’s bag company, she not only uses the highest quality of materials for the bags she produces, but she always made a point to provide bags for kids in wheelchairs–right from the start. Why? Because it’s important to her to do the right thing, stand up for her convictions, and not let the naysayers win. How inspiring!

I can really appreciate this attitude. It’s exactly what lead me to turn Do Life Right, Inc. into the first (and still only) publishing company that specializes in books for and about realistic homeschoolers of today. When I first wrote my Wright on Time series of children’s chapter books, I was told time and time again that there was no market for books about homeschoolers. Not only do I not believe that to be true, but I’ve based my entire company around it. The result is a well appreciated book series with a growing publishing company.

What convictions do you have? What are you willing to stand up for? Inspire me and send me your story!

HUGE 50% OFF SALE!

From today until all 50 U. S. states are spoken for, enjoy a “within 72 hours” rebate of 50% of your Wright on Time(R) books order (no matter how large) by sending in a high quality photograph of your child(ren) [faces must be seen] holding at least one of the Wright on Time books Flat kids in your home state. (Outside photographs only. Must be in a place which shows something uniquely your state; e.g. Statue of Liberty, St. Louis arch, saguaro cactus, corn field, particular style of house, volcano, Space Needle, etc.). Please check the list below to see what states haven’t been claimed yet and please send in your photograph(s) before placing your order (so that e-mail addresses can be matched up for the manual rebate–expect this rebate to take up to 3-4 days, unless you’ve been in e-mail contact with Lisa). This offer is valid for all uncrossed out states. Shipping remains full price based on weight.

Offer good for the first person in each state to send in their photograph(s) stating which state they are in (not necessarily where you live) and the first name of the child(ren) in the photograph(s). By sending in a photograph, the sender is granting Wright on Time books (an imprint of Do Life Right, Inc.) permission to publicly display the photograph, the first name of the child(ren), age of the child(ren), and the state photographed in on the Wright on Time books website, promotional materials, and Do Life Right, Inc. Publishing site.

Please contact Lisa for the e-mail address you should send the photographs to.

Kid quotes are welcomed for accompanying the photographs. Flat Aidan and Flat Nadia can be found here.

One lucky kid will have their photograph at the beginning of Wright on Time: South Dakota, Book 4, due out in December 2010!

States left:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Offer may be used in conjunction with the Labor Day weekend “3 for $30″ sale. Buy all three Wright on Time books for ONLY $30 from September 1, 2010 through 11:59PM Monday, September 6, 2010!

Hooray! I’ll be teaching creative writing classes again this fall!

Creative Writing

with Author Lisa Cottrell-Bentley

Enjoy the magical world of fiction writing this fall with customized classes.

Location: Sahuarita Arts Center, 18825 S. La Cañada, Sahuarita, AZ

Mondays:
Homeschoolers’ Creative Writing, ages 6+ or with permission

This class includes how to spot elements of good storytelling, finding voice, dynamics of critiquing, editing basics, deciding on illustrations (and drawing some), grammar and spelling help (if needed), and much more! This class is geared toward children. There will be 12 instructional hours total, with assignments to take home during the off weeks (which will culminate in a completed physical kid’s book at the end of the session). All assignments and instruction will be customized for each child as needed, and can be ongoing for the Spring session.
Dates: September 13, 20, October 25, November 8, 15, 22
Time: 1:30PM-3:30PM, Bring your own snack and drink, if desired. All are invited to bring a laptop if they prefer typing, rather than writing longhand.

Wednesdays: Creative Writing for all

6-10 year olds
Same as above class.
Dates: September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, October 27, November 3, 10, 17, December 1, 8, 15
Time: 3:30PM-4:30PM, Bring yourself and your imagination!

11+ (including adults) or with permission
This class includes even further in-depth storytelling and editing techniques, learning how to give and take critique advice, how to make a tagline and synopsis, a professional critique of first ~20 pages of a manuscript after the class (valued at $120+), and much more! Those in this class will be able to e-mail Lisa for the rest of 2010 with their writing questions at no additional cost. This class is geared toward those serious about writing.
Dates: September 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, October 27, November 3, 10, 17, December 1, 8, 15
Time: 4:30PM-5:30PM, Bring yourself and your imagination! Laptops are encouraged for those wanting to work digitally, rather than on paper.

Class costs:
$150 per person
Payments of cash, check, or credit card (through PayPal) accepted. Due in full one week before first class. No refunds for missed classes. If Lisa needs to reschedule a class, she’ll work with you on the date and time.

About Lisa:
Lisa is a published author who has lived in Sahuarita 5½ years. Her Wright on Time series of children’s chapter books have been a big hit with children, parents, and teachers all over the world. Lisa is the mother of two, has been a Girl Scout leader for 9 years, and has been winning writing awards since she was 9. To find out more about Lisa and her books, check out: www.WrightOnTimeBooks.com

To sign up or ask for more information send an e-mail to Lisa using the contact form.

I’m often asked why the kid characters, Aidan and Nadia, in the Wright on Time books are homeschooled. The biggest reason for this is that my own children are homeschooled and so are most of their friends. Many of them have told me many many times how they’ve always wished that there were books about kids like them in the fiction sections of their libraries and bookstores. This is a hugely lacking area for the 2.2 million homeschooling families in the United States of America!

The following books are books that are “Do Life Right Approved“. This means that homeschooled children who I know have read these books and have declared the homeschooled characters to be a realistic interpretation of homeschoolers by today’s homeschooling standards.

If you know of another book that is not on this list, please let us know! We’d love to read it. The book needs to (1) have been written within the past 10-15 (ideally a lot less) years (anything older than that does not accurately portray how homeschoolers today actually live); (2) contain at least one main character who is an actual full-time homeschooler (not a neglected child left on their own or a child who attends an “alternative” school on or off stage); (3) the main homeschooled character needs to be a homeschooler at the beginning, middle and end of the book; and (4) school in any form cannot be a primary focus of the book, nor the background environment of the story. If you are the author of such a book that isn’t listed, we accept copies for our review (we guarantee at least four homeschoolers will review it and collectively write a review). Contact us here for mailing address, etc. We review within a month or less of receiving.

Have a manuscript that fits this that you’ve been trying to get published? Submit it to Do Life Right, Inc.!

Children’s Picture Books and Early Readers:

• I Am Learning All the Time by Rain Fordyce

Children’s Chapter Books and “Middle Grade”:

• Wright on Time: Arizona, Book 1 by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley
• Wright on Time: Utah, Book 2 by Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley
• Nim’s Island by Wendy Orr (the movie has Nim as a homeschooled character, but the book has her as an abandoned orphan)

Young Adult (YA)/Teen-Friendly Books:

• Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie Tolan (we all love this book!)
• Skellig by David Almond (not one we actually liked, but there is a realistic homeschooler in it)
• Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (these aren’t very realistic according to the homeschoolers I know, as they are full of “school girl angst” that just doesn’t exist in homeschooolers, but we were desperate to list something more here…)
• The Seer by Krisula Gosdis Moyer (we haven’t read this one yet; review to come soon)

Why didn’t we list older books? We didn’t list books older than 15 years because they do not accurately portray homeschoolers of today. If you are wanting an historical novel, there are many to choose from with kid characters who didn’t go to school (those lists can be found on many other sites and show a completely different way of life than what homeschooling is today). Lack of school does not equal homeschooled! As far as we know, this is the only list of fictional books today where homeschoolers can read and identify themselves in them. How fun for them!

Click here to read Alicia Bayer’s March 20, 2010 review of Wright on Time: Utah on the Mankato Homeschooling Examiner.

She also talks about the books a bit on her fun Magic and Mayhem blog.