Fruitless Endeavours (aka Happy Holidays!)

When you don't eat fruit (eeeeeeeeee) Christmas pudding is usually off the menu... unless it comes via sugar-pumped, chocolate-filled completely fruit-less miniatures! Cake pops!!!!! http://sweetopia.net/2011/11/christmas-cake-pops/ (You had me at "cake-on-a-stick" :)) Love this idea! 

Happy holidays and thank you so much to all the amazing people who have supported my online adventures this year. You've helped me tackle Twitter, brave Facebook, and stumble sporadically through the blogosphere :) 

Social media has connected me with so many exciting, inspiring, ridiculously hard working people (yes, I'm looking at you!) As a (partially) converted introvert, (i.e. introvert by design, extrovert on demand) I'm suddenly part of a global community of writers and readers - super-cool! Your reviews, comments, tweets, ticks, tags, and Likes give me a wicked fizzing-feeling! 

And an especially huge thank you to the readers. I have been sent some beautiful emails (even the ones that make me cry!) and knowing that I get to be part of making your dreams come true really is my dream. Because of you, I get to do what I love most in the world, and I am so happy and grateful! 

****I'm taking a break for a couple of weeks. Happy adventuring, and we'll talk in 2012!****

Fruitless Christmas pudding, extroverted introverts, world domination in your pyjamas...

Everything is possible!

Wooden you love this cupcake?

Check out these gorgeous wood-style cupcake wrappers.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/69299751/wood-paneling-cupcake-wrappers
I love the surprise combination of textures :)

Everything is possible!

News!

The Total Blueprint for World Domination paperback is now available! Soooo exciting :)

If you’d like to win your own copy, check out the Goodreads giveaway:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Total Blueprint for World Domination

by Jolene Stockman

Giveaway ends January 30, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Everything is possible!

World Changing Books

A massive thank you to Erika at Moonlight Book Reviews. Erika juggles passions, commitments, and challenges with a smile :) She also hosted my recent guest post about world changing books (and is one of the first bloggers to review Total Blueprint for World Domination!) Thanks Erika!

As readers, we walk into books with an open heart. We trust that the writer will take care of us, we let them carry us away. And whether we're entertained, inspired, or totally creeped out, we are often changed by what we read.

I was eight years old, devouring as many books as the librarian would let me check out. I loved books, but I didn’t understand how powerful and magical they could be. Then my Aunty sent me a book that would change my world. The book was thick, heavy, huge. I clutched it excitedly (a real grown-up book!) curled in a blanket, and flipped to page one.

I'd never seen anything like it. The first words were typed backwards, and the story’s text alternated from red to green. As I read, swirling images wrapped me up. I dissolved into the  movie all around me. The Neverending Story was one of the first books that showed me a secret world that was all my own, a place that didn’t stop when I closed the covers. With a main character who was shy in one world and a hero in another, the book gave me the freedom to have faith in a future that I couldn’t see yet.

Fiction or non-fiction, long or short, books can change your world. Green Eggs and Ham? Be open to new experiences. Before I Fall? Be kind. I know my life is changed when I read books, and as a writer I hope to do that for other people.

Is there a book that changed your life? Carved a crack in your world?

Everything is possible!

The Lighting Of A Fire

As a child, teachers are grown-ups that love you by choice, not birth. They help you find your way in a world far from home. As you grow, they open doors and challenge you to discover more about yourself. We learn more from who they are than the curriculum they set. We learn how to be in the world. I was lucky enough to have some amazing teachers, and they all kicked ass in very different ways:

Mrs Ellis The perfect first teacher, peaceful and wise. Mrs Ellis empowered and encouraged me, and came to my house to eat cheesecake :)

Mr Murray An artist, a musician, and a homeroom teacher. He brings his personal powers to his professional life, and thanks to him I’m still a times table whiz.

Mrs Hill From language and food, to jewellery and movies, Mrs Hill loves classical studies. She is a teacher who so fully lives her passion, she brims with the joy of the subject. Because of her, I knew I would either grow up to be a writer, or a Latin teacher.

Mrs Smith A dedicated art teacher who is able to embrace crazy and guide mischief. Mrs Smith is a cool breeze over high school stresses.

Ms Lewis A role model in public relations; professional, witty, experienced. Ms Lewis feeds  creativity, and develops super-sticky course materials.

Mr Pauling Gentle, smart, and conscientious. An ego-less high achiever. Mr Pauling knows how to cut through the gunk and make things possible.

I was recently in touch with Mr Hammonds – the principal of my primary school. He is now a teacher of teachers, and a pioneer in education. It was brilliant to catch up with him and super cool to hear that my book is helping motivate him!

Teaching is more than a profession, it’s a calling. The ability to share your own passion while being completely invested in the success of someone else? Awesome. The best teachers are role models. Teaching isn’t their job, it is who they are.

Is there a teacher in your life that helped shape your world?

Everything is possible!

We do things everyday that people used to think were impossible. 
Today's crazy is tomorrow's normal. Be crazy - change the world!

Everything is possible!

Super You

I am completely in love with the gorgeous art of Danny Haas :)

The idea of everyone having a super-self is a favorite of mine. I talk about it in my book and these images definitely capture some of my feelings.

"Superman isn’t Superman all of the time – just when he needs to be. It’s okay to Clark Kent your way through the day. Even Wolverine retracts his claws! Just know that you can be Super You whenever you want! You can put on your superhero persona, become Super You, rescue some kids / stand up for yourself / give a speech / fight a villain, and when it’s all over, try to remember which phone box you left your pants in."  -Total Blueprint for World Domination

Go be super :)

Everything is possible!