Celebrating a Birthday!

Today marks 1-year since we launched The Prisoner of Carrot Castle on the AppStore and we're gonna celebrate. All week you can download the storybook about Aiden and his imaginative adventures as he tries to escape the clutches of an angry king for $0.99.

"All this happening over carrots and broccoli." ~ Aiden

Hurray for SALES!

Author Interview: Chris Pedersen for The Next Big Thing

Tag... I'm it! As part of The NEXT Big Thing blog event to bring awareness to authors books, I'll be sharing about my next book release. I received my tag from author Karen Robertson and just as Karen did, at the end of the interview I'll tag a few of my friends so you can see what they have written when they blog NEXT week.

1) What is the working title of your next book?

The Prisoner of Carrot Castle, already an iPad app, is arriving in print January, 2013. In this first book of the Veggie Chronicles series, kids discover that eating vegetables is what heroes do, that is, if they want to eat their way out of a wicked King's clutches. The book is beautifully illustrated by Kate Jeong. With vivid colors and new discoveries at every turn, readers quickly become invested in Aiden's delimma and want to help him along in his adventure.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

A late-in-life discovery found me with cancer from a genetic condition. Believing that my healthy lifestyle had saved me from a more serious prognosis, I radically changed my diet, beat the odds and returned to a healthful state. Now I want to make others aware of healthy eating, especially at this time of alarming childhood obesity trends. I love crafting stories for kids. Out of that love I wrote the first in the adventure series The Veggie Chronicles, called The Prisoner of Carrot Castle.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

A children's picture book AND interactive digital iPad app.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I think the child actors Gattlin Griffith or Jake Vaughn look a lot like Aiden in the story.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book series?

Aiden's dislike for vegetables takes him on adventures to far away places across the globe and throughout history.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

All future books and apps are being published by Possibility Media Group and their collaborative partners.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I wrote the first draft of The Prisoner of Carrot Castle in about 20 hours over a two-month period.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Here are a few picture books that may inspire healthy eating in kids: Jody's Beans: Read and Wonder by Malachy Doyle, Pickin' Peas by Margaret Read MacDonald, Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White, The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin. Different from these books, The Prisoner of Carrot Castle is the first in a series about Aiden and his imaginative adventures involving vegetables that subliminally encourage kids to eat vegetables.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I desire to teach kids about the life-giving qualities of vegetables and fruits in a fun and engaging way that doesn't feel like teaching. After I wrote the story, my husband and son spurred me on to pursue publication of the book as an interactive iPad app.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

The book will include curriculum for teachers and parents emphasizing aspects of the story as well as the health benefits of the featured vegetables, which are carrots and broccoli in The Prisoner of Carrot Castle.

Now passing it on to the following authors for their Next Big Thing blog post.

• Lori Mortensen http://lorimortensen.blogspot.com/
• Lance Pyle www.peterblueberry.blogspot.com/
• Linda Joy Singleton  www.lindajsingleton.livejournal.com/ 

Dry Run "Find My iPhone"

Recently we had our iPad stolen. I know... ouch! We left it at an outdoor cafe on a black table camouflaged by its black cover. It was about 30 minutes before we realized we didn't have it. We immediately called the cafe and had them look for it to no avail.

Time to use Find My iPhone. This valuable little app created by Apple locates any of your computing devices from Apple (iPhone, iPad, iPod or Mac). But don't let what happened to us, happen to you.

My husband had not setup his devices on iCloud. If all your devices are automatically syncing up, you know you've set up iCloud. But there are additional steps you need to take to assure you are prepared to find your device once it's missing.

Find iPhone

First, you need to turn on Find My iPhone (iPad, iPod or Mac) for each of your devices.

Second, if you want to locate a missing device from your iPhone, iPad or iPod, you need to install the Find My iPhone Free app from the App Store on each of those devices.

Once you've done those two steps, you're ready to find you device if it's lost or stolen.

Practice Finding Your iPhone

Okay! Now let's practice. Do a dry run of the process so you know what to expect and what to do.

Step 1
Pick a device to use to find your "missing" i-device. Locate the Find My iPhone app on your home screen and tap to open. Note: if you use your Mac to find your device, go to iCloud.com, log in and select Find My iPhone.

Step 2
Enter you Apple ID and password. The Devices screen will display all your devices. Tap one to see your device on a detailed map.

Step 3

On the map, tap the blue circle to display the Info screen. From there you can:

• Play a sound on the "missing" device
• Send a message
• Remote lock
• Remote wipe (reset to factory settings)

Step 4

If you don't already have a passcode on your device, Remote Lock allows you to set one. If your device goes missing, you'll want to do this first. It will keep the "finder" from getting to your personal data.

Note: don't test the Remote Wipe function unless you want to reset your device to factory settings.

Step 5

Next, try out the Play Sound or Send Message feature.

Send an alert and a message. You'll hear the Sonar sound, which plays continually until you stop it or the device is powered off. If your device is missing and locked, the "finder" must power off the device to silence it. Note: if your device is powered off, the alert will not sound until the device is restarted.

Congratulations you are now Find My iPhone certified!

How did our story end? By the time we got to use Find My iPhone, more than 90 minutes had passed. Our iPad had come to rest in a four-plex in mid-town Sacramento, twenty miles from the cafe where we left it. We filed a police report and met the police at the location. They hassled the only tenant that came to the door, but got no where.

We sent the alert and a message, however the police were unable to hear it or spot the device from the front door. Without any audio or visual on the device, they had no probable cause to enter and could go no further.

We were at a disadvantage not knowing what the alert sounded like or how loud it was—that's why you need to practice.

In the end, we wiped the iPad and moved on. We included the serial number in the police report in case it shows up. Also we reported the device as stolen to AT&T who now keeps a black list of stolen mobile devices. If someone shows up intending to activate the cellular service for the iPad—they'll get nabbed.

Although our story had a bad ending, we learned a valuable lesson. Be prepared! Time is critical when your device is stolen. Had we been able to locate the iPad in transit from the cafe, we would likely have recovered it.

 

Back to School Preparedness

Believe it or not it's Back to School for kids across the nation and the world. Parents are in a frenzy getting kids new clothes and school supplies so they get off on the right foot when they enter the classroom.

This fall the new "kid" in the classroom may well be the iPad. There will be anywhere from 1 to 10 in a classroom with more classrooms adopting a one-to-one program. Research shows that well-integrated technology where kids can interact has a positive impact on student learning outcome.

The kids app developer community backed by Moms With Apps is preparing for a school year where iPads are more common and quickly becoming an integral part of the learning curriculum.

Introducing the launch of AppyMall where all things kids apps can be found. Back2School is the first promotion where oodles of educational apps and books are discounted for the classroom.

AppyMall has Smart Searching so you find what you're looking for. It categorizes apps by appropriate age and category. It will launch with 5 anchor stores or “AppyStores” including: the Preschool AppyStore, Elementary School AppyStore, Middle School AppyStore, Speech and Language AppyStore and Special Needs AppyStore. Each AppyStore will have a comprehensive stock of apps, highlighting select apps chosen by Siva (creator of AppyMall) and his expert team as being exceptional in a category.

Of course The Prisoner of Carrot Castle will be featured on the AppyMall under books for ages 3 - 8 years old. We're excited about the mall where parents will be able to do precise searches to find what they want without all the clutter of adult apps.

Doors Open – August 2, 2012

Visit www.appymall.com