tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30901403489421902452024-03-13T08:02:07.520-05:00Miri Attwater's Worldfantasy books for children about a mermaid princessAidan Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12338027776241157671noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-91197987724889384362015-01-16T09:49:00.000-06:002015-01-16T09:49:50.071-06:00Best Books for Kids - book suggestions!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://esivy.com/?p=2774" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C2O_P1JYADc/VLaVgva53AI/AAAAAAAABdU/IeKpjXE2qOs/s1600/favorite%2Bbooks%2B96%2B600x1050.jpg" height="640" width="363" /></a></div>
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Looking for more to read? Check out my lists of <a href="http://esivy.com/?p=2774" target="_blank">Best Books for Kids, my kids own kids favorite books</a> over on my <a href="http://esivy.com/blog/" target="_blank">E.S. Ivy blog</a>, at <a href="http://esivy.com/">esivy.com</a>.<br />
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If you've just read the Miri Attwater books, a good place to start would be the list of the <a href="http://esivy.com/?p=2866" target="_blank">Best Books for Girls in 3rd Grade</a> or the list of <a href="http://esivy.com/?p=2941" target="_blank">Best Books for Girls in 4th Grade.</a><br />
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Give some of them a try and let me know what you think!<br />
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Happy Reading!<br />
<br />E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-85815356934942616072014-11-25T08:47:00.000-06:002015-07-15T20:52:31.853-05:00Miri eBooks 1 & 2 Both Free One Day OnlyFor one day only, Book 1 - Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret - and Book 2 - Miri Attwater All That Glitters - are both free in the kindle store. Today only!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Oceans-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0087451I2/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G_W8GtYSELw/Uoz7icygBAI/AAAAAAAAA0w/sDYdlptnKGE/s1600/ocean's%2Bsecret%2Bcover%2B304%2Bx%2B401.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Glitters-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HKK1GYC/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qP739UbU-5A/UtW2PPwVQyI/AAAAAAAAA1I/zbaN9oVqvrk/s1600/Glitters_301%2Bx%2B401.jpg" /></a></div>
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All that Glitters will have a few more free days, but it's the last day for Ocean's Secret. So pick them both up now while you can!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-1271616753202986122014-11-21T11:10:00.000-06:002015-07-15T20:52:07.210-05:00Is a Kindle going to be in your child's stocking? It's never too soon to start adding free ebooks to your account so they'll have lots of cool stuff to read right away.<br />
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Trip to Grandmother's house? Keep them busy reading on the long trip over the river and through the woods.<br />
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For a limited time, the Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret ebook edition is free on Kindle!<br />
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This new ebook kindle edition has been restructured to match the chapter structure of book 2, Miri Attwater and All that Glitters, but it's still the same great story. It will match the <a href="http://esivy.com/the-paperbacks-are-coming/">print edition of Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret.</a> Amazon no longer makes updated versions available to previous purchasers, but you can do so during this free promotion. If you already have Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret, I'm not sure if it will load along-side the original copy or if it will replace it. If it replaces it, please note that you will lose your notes and reading location in the book.<br />
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This free fun through Kindle is only 5 days, so don't miss picking up your free copy of Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Oceans-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0087451I2" target="_blank"><img alt="Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret" class="wp-image-1223 size-full" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/oceans-secret-cover-304-x-401.jpg" height="401" width="304" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free on Kindle for a limited time!</td></tr>
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E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-71506090233933856592014-10-28T10:00:00.000-05:002014-10-28T10:26:04.540-05:00Mermaid Party Ideas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It would be fun to have a mermaid birthday party or a Mother-Daughter book club meeting where you read a mermaid book. (Hint: Like Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret!) Here are a bunch of mermaid party food, craft, decoration, and party favor ideas to get you started!</div>
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<img alt="mermaid party ideas" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2578" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mermaid-collage.jpg" height="1200" width="476" /></div>
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://meandmyinsanity.com/2013/07/under-the-sea-mermaid-birthday-party.html" target="_blank">Sandcastle Cake</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.capscreations.com/article_6/Fish-in-a-Bag-Soap-Tutorial.htm" target="_blank">Pet Fish Soap in a Bag</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.makelifelovely.com/2014/06/paper-lantern-fish.html" target="_blank">Fish Paper Lanterns</a></li>
<li><a href="http://ashleysohhappyday.blogspot.com/2011/07/mermaid-party.html" target="_blank">Mermaid Costumes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mrsdork.com/2012/01/mermaid-tail-cupcakes-tutorial.html?spref=pi" target="_blank">Mermaid Tail Cupcake</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/07/how-to-make-princess-putty.html" target="_blank">Make your own Sparkle Putty</a></li>
<li><a href="http://blog.swankypress.com/2013/08/mermaid-party/" target="_blank">Jellyfish Paper Lantern</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bhoomplay.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/diy_jellyfish_eng/" target="_blank">Make a Floating Jellyfish in a Bottle</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bubblynaturecreations.com/2012/07/mermaid-party.html" target="_blank">Starfish-shaped Pizza and Shell Salad</a></li>
<li><a href="http://debbiesweets.blogspot.com/2012/03/candy-cupcakes-part-iii-mini-m-bite.html?spref=pi" target="_blank">Fish and Waves Cupcakes</a></li>
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E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-63300537986730693842014-06-18T09:00:00.000-05:002015-07-15T20:50:15.013-05:00Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret featured on blog, What We Do All Day<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm so excited that <a href="http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/" target="_blank">What We Do All Day</a> has featured Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087451I2/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0087451I2&linkCode=as2&tag=esiv-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_W8GtYSELw/Uoz7icygBAI/AAAAAAAAA0w/sDYdlptnKGE/s1600/ocean%2527s+secret+cover+304+x+401.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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in their post, <a href="http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2014/06/mermaid-books-crafts-kids.html" target="_blank">Mermaid Books and Crafts for Kids!</a></div>
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There are lots of great crafts and other great books, too. So if you're looking for some "cool" fun for this summer when you can't actually get wet or just looking for a great read, head on over and <a href="http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2014/06/mermaid-books-crafts-kids.html" target="_blank">check it out!</a><br />
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While you're there, look around for other great ideas for books and things to do. If you enjoyed Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret, you might enjoy the chapter books from the list of <a href="http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2012/08/favorite-dragon-picture-and-chapter-books.html" target="_blank">Favorite Dragon Chapter and Picture books</a>. There are some good ones in there!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-26613737720624773342014-04-04T15:28:00.000-05:002014-04-04T15:28:14.596-05:00An ad trial...On Saturday, an ad for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret will be appearing in the Fussy Librarian's Newsletter. The Fussy Librarian's Newsletter, <a href="http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/">www.thefussylibrarian.com</a>, lets you choose from 40 genres and select your content preference such as the amount of violence and emails you daily deals.<br />
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The Ocean's Secret is still in Amazon Kindle Select, which means you can borrow it through Amazon Prime. It will remain there until mid-June. (Miri Attwater and All the Glitters was also in Kindle select for a short period of time. Borrowed books, even when removed from new borrows, will remain available to anyone who borrowed it previously, so long as they maintain their Prime membership.) After that, both books will go back up at other retailers. I really like having the books more widely available.<br />
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~ Happy Reading!<br />
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<br />E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-67194278151657392852014-02-26T10:00:00.000-06:002015-07-15T20:49:04.044-05:00As I explained in my last two posts, further research about cleaner fish led me to make a correction to one scene in Miri Attwater and All That Glitters. Here's the corrected excerpt.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HKK1GYC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00HKK1GYC&linkCode=as2&tag=esiv-20" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="Buy it on Amazon"><img alt="best books for girls : All That Glitters cover 188 x 250" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1591" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/All-That-Glitters-cover-188-x-250.jpg" height="250" width="188" /></a></div>
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<h1 style="text-align: center;">
<em>Miri Attwater and All That Glitters</em></h1>
<h1 style="text-align: center;">
Excerpt from Chapter 9, Better than a Bathtub</h1>
Miri followed Fisk to the very edge of Kai Kaona, out past the kelp fields. Next to the cavern wall there was a sea turtle doing the oddest thing. It was standing on its head. Not only that, yellow tangs and another type of fish that was black with an orange ring around its eye, a gold-ring surgeonfish, were swarming all over it.<br />
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“Don’t those fish annoy the turtle?” asked Miri.<br />
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“Naw, they’re cleaner fish. See all that green stuff on the turtle’s shell? That’s algae growing on it. The fish are eating it off.”<br />
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“Algae?”<br />
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“Yeah, you know, tiny single-celled plants. Actually, it’s more like seaweed, because seaweed is algae. It’s just multicellular algae, meaning it’s made up of multiple cells. Get it? Multiple cells, multicellular algae. Unlike the algae that’s growing on you. That’s colonial —”<br />
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“Wait!” Miri interrupted him. “You mean I’ve got algae growing on me?” Algae was that green scum that grew on ponds. “How disgusting!”<br />
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“It’s no big deal. Algae grows on everything around here. You have to clean it off every once in a while. This is the perfect way,” said Fisk.<br />
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Oh great. As if living at the bottom of the ocean where everything was damp and fishy wasn’t bad enough, now algae was growing on her. And she was supposed to let slimy fish nibble on her to get rid of it? Yuck! She pulled back.<br />
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“Oh, come on,” said Fisk. “They won’t hurt you.”<br />
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Well, if it was the only way to get rid of the algae she’d have to give it a try. She made herself swim up slowly to get a better look when – below, on the edge of her vision – she spotted a gray, triangular, fin. She felt a shock and jerked back, screaming loud enough to pop her talking gum bubble and twirled around to high tail it out of there.<br />
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Fisk grabbed her hand to stop her. “Ziggady! They’re just fish.”<br />
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Miri looked down nervously to make sure the shark wasn’t chasing her. It wasn’t, but it was still there. She could only point down silently.<br />
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“Oh, that?” said Fisk. “That’s just a nurse shark. Besides, it’s being groomed. It’s definitely not looking for a meal. Otherwise, the cleaner fish wouldn’t get near it.”<br />
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Her hand trembling in Fisk’s, she sneaked a peek at the shark again, as if scared that looking at it might make it attack her. A fish was actually swimming into the shark’s mouth! Then it swam out. And in again! She couldn’t believe it. But there it was, right below her, a little fish going in and out, in and out, of the shark’s mouth around all its sharp teeth, while other fish darted around the rest of the shark’s body. The shark looked practically asleep. Still…<br />
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Fisk squeezed her hand and pulled her toward the turtle. “Come on. Really, it’s fine, I promise. There’s no reason to be so jittery.”<br />
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Miri let him pull her, but paused every half-stroke to look down and make sure the shark wasn’t moving. The buzzing and shaky feeling slowly subsided. Up close, it looked like the cleaner fish were giving the turtle big smootches. Their little fish lips pooched out and stuck to the shell like tiny suction cups, then pulled away leaving a little clean patch behind.<br />
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“Go on, you gotta stand on your head. That’ll let the fish know you’re ready to be cleaned – and won’t eat them,” Fisk added with a grin.<br />
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Eat them! Miri couldn’t imagine anything more disgusting than eating a live fish. That would be even worse than eating raw oysters. Boys. She looked over at Potato. Like Natasia said, groupers didn’t have to put up with little brothers.<br />
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As if to show her how it was done, Potato slowly ambled up in front of Miri. She angled her head down, opened her gaping mouth wide, and waited. Hovering. Pretty soon, several little fish with black stripes down the length of their bodies, a type of wrasse, swam up to her. They started darting nervously in and out of her mouth, pausing to pick things out of her gills. Miri still wasn’t too excited about letting little fish nibble on her. But she did want to get the algae off. And at least they wouldn’t be swimming into her mouth.<br />
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She moved up to the cleaning station, turned upside down and tried to hold very, very still. A yellow tang appeared and hovered at the edge of Miri’s view. It darted in a couple of times, testing things out. But when the fish got brave enough to barely touch her with its lips, Miri couldn’t help flinching. The yellow fish vanished in a blink. After a couple of seconds, it came back. But it stayed just out of range, waiting, its fins idly fluttering.<br />
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Miri forced herself to hold still. Finally, it ventured closer. It took a tentative peck, darted away, and then when Miri didn’t move, swam back. Another fish joined in, nibbling on the inside of her elbow. Miri couldn’t help it. She giggled. The fish disappeared in a flash. But she stayed upside down and one fish returned. Its bravery soon prompted others to join in. It wasn’t so bad to get kissed by fish. It tickled more than anything.<br />
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Miri and Fisk were both on their heads, trying not to giggle, when Fisk’s sister swam up.<br />
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“There you are!” said Natasia. “I’ve been looking all over! What in the ocean are you two doing?” she asked as she got closer.<br />
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“Miri was having a bit of an algae problem so I’m showing her how to take care of it.”<br />
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“Boys,” said Natasia to Miri. “They’ll do anything to avoid taking a bath.”<br />
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“A bath?” said Miri swishing right-side up. The yellow tangs scattered like fall leaves kicked out of a pile and caught on the wind.<br />
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“Yeah. A bath, you know, where you get in a tub with soap and scrub all over,” said Fisk. “Boring.”<br />
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“Of course I know what a bath is,” said Miri. She had wondered why there was a bathtub next to the sink in her room. It hadn’t made any sense to her since mermaids spent half their time in the water anyway. Mermaids take baths. Who knew?<br />
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Natasia wasn’t paying any attention to them. She was studying Miri thoughtfully. “You probably just need a scratchier sponge. Come on. We can stop by the bath shop on our way home.”<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HKK1GYC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00HKK1GYC&linkCode=as2&tag=esiv-20" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank" title="Buy it on Amazon"><img alt="best books for girls : All That Glitters cover 188 x 250" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/All-That-Glitters-cover-188-x-250.jpg" height="250" width="188" /></a> If you'd like to read more about Miri's mermaid adventures, you can read a free sample and get your own copy of Miri Attwater and All that Glitters at Amazon!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-82065236348150883322014-02-19T10:00:00.000-06:002015-07-15T20:47:33.781-05:00More on Fish Cleaning Stations<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Coral-reef-orange-fish-Egypt-350x263.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="coral reef" class="size-full wp-image-1895" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Coral-reef-orange-fish-Egypt-350x263.jpg" height="263" width="350" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Coral reef in Ras Muhammad nature park (Sinai, Egypt).By Mikhail Rogov, via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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As I mention in last weeks post about fish cleaning stations, I didn't intend to do any research for the Miri Attwater series. So when I did start doing some research, I wasn't doing it like I would if I had been writing a non-fiction book about marine biology. I wasn't taking a lot of detailed notes with page numbers and cross-referencing. I wasn't double checking to see if information I got in one source could be confirmed by other sources. I wasn't looking at a lot of original sources - meaning I wasn't reading scientific research articles in marine biology journals. Because I know from my text book writing and editing work that there is lots of misinformation in science books and text books, and it gets copied when writers don't go back to original sources. Writing a really well researched science book takes time - a lot of it. And it helps if you're an expert in the field.<br />
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Really, my first goal for my research was to look at pretty pictures so I could make the underwater scenes in the book more real to the reader.<br />
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I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the more I saw, the more amazed I became by the diversity of marine life. But I still wanted to write a fantasy, not a nonfiction informational book. So I didn't keep detailed lists and notes of all the information I came across. I felt like if I did that kind of in-depth research and note taking, then I would start to develop a list of things that I wanted to include in the book. Then all the information would be in danger of taking over from the story. I wanted the story to be most important. There were some subjects that I ended up reading in depth on both in books and on the web. Others things I thought were interesting, but I didn't know immediately when I saw them that I would use them in the story. They just became some of my general background knowledge that I had about life in the ocean. The fish cleaning stations in the scene in Miri Attwater and all That Glitters were one of those. I don't know quite when it occurred to me that it would make a fun scene.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Potato-cod-cleaned-by-wrasse-512x384.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="cleaner fish and potato cod" class="size-full wp-image-1887" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Potato-cod-cleaned-by-wrasse-512x384.jpg" height="384" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;"> A potato cod is cleaned by two striped cleaner wrasse, By Richard Ling, via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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It wasn't until I was reviewing videos for this series of posts that I realized something. In all the videos I was viewing, yellow tangs and other cleaner fish were eating algae off the backs of turtles. Wrasse were the cleaner fish cleaning sharks and rays, and lots of other fish - including yellow tangs. And when I viewed videos with commentary, they mentioned that wrasse were eating dead skin and parasites. They didn't say anything about wrasse eating algae.<br />
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While I have both tangs and wrasse in the cleaning station scene, I have Miri and Fisk having the algae cleaned off them by wrasse. Oops! Did I make a mistake?<br />
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Information about fish cleaning stations isn't easy to find. I think perhaps it's one of those areas of science that's an emerging area of research. Maybe because as <a href="http://www.oneworldoneocean.com/blog/howard_hall_west_papua#.Uu7nJ_mwLwl" target="_blank">Howard Hall, and IMAX photographer, mentions in his notes while filming his latest movie, cleaner fish and cleaning can be disturbed by divers.</a> I did find a bunch of mentions on aquarium boards that people talked about their wrasse eating algae, but I still wasn't sure.<br />
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I got really excited when I finally found this website: <a href="http://www.lexagrutter.com/cleaner%20fish%20do%20clean/cleaner%20fish%20do%20clean.htm" target="_blank">Cleaner Fish do Clean by Coral Reef Ecology Laboratory.</a> Now I could satisfy the only definitive way to be sure of an answer in science - ask an expert! I contacted Dr. Lexa Grutter, and she was kind enough to answer me back. Sure enough, biologists consider wrasse carnivores, which means for a wrasse to clean Miri she would probably have to have a cut or be infected by parasites. Ooh, yuck!<br />
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It's a pretty minor detail. Most readers are likely to only remember that Miri was cleaned by fish at a cleaning station and learn a little tiny bit more about the wondrous life under the ocean. And since some people have reported their aquarium wrasse eating algae, I could have satisfied the question by saying that the wrasse in Kai Kaona might act a little bit different. I do describe all the marine life in Kai Kaona as being transplanted from all over the world, like in our gardens and zoos.
But, I like to be as accurate as possible.<br />
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So I tweaked the scene by having the cleaner fish that tickle Miri while they're eating algae be yellow tangs instead. I'll post the corrected excerpt on next week's posts. I'll also ask Amazon to make corrected versions available to readers who have already purchased, Miri Attwater and All That Glitters as soon as I can get the new copy uploaded.<br />
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If you want to learn more about fish cleaning stations, here's a great video to get a good overview of lots of different cleaner fish and their behaviors.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gQ0ueM1si8A?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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And if you need to write a report or you'd like to learn even more about cleaner fish and fish cleaning stations, check out the following websites.<br />
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(Kids, always ask your parents before clicking on outbound links.)<br />
<a href="http://www.lexagrutter.com/cleaner%20fish%20do%20clean/cleaner%20fish%20do%20clean.htm" target="_blank">Cleaner Fish do Clean by Coral Reef Ecology Laboratory</a><br />
<a href="http://sailhawaii.com/turtle_cleaning_station.html">Turtle Cleaning Stations on SailHawaii.com.</a>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-1568220051973761852014-02-12T10:00:00.000-06:002014-02-12T10:00:04.855-06:00Fish cleaning stations like in Miri Attwater and All That Glitters really exist!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="fish cleaning station" class="size-full wp-image-1817" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Fish-cleaning_station_konan-By-Brocken-Inaglory-via-Wikimedia-commons-.jpg" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">A dragon wrasse being cleaned by Rainbow cleaner wrasses on a reef in Hawaii. By Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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When I started writing the Miri Attwater books, I wasn't planning on doing any research. They were fantasy, after all. I could make up anything I wanted. But when I started writing the underwater scenes, they felt flat and dim. They didn't have the vividness I remembered from my snorkeling trips. It seemed like a great excuse to do some research! So I started watching movies about ocean life.
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One of the things that delighted me in the underwater footage were fish cleaning stations, places on reefs where fish would gather to clean and be cleaned.<br />
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In the video below, a tiny striped wrasse cleans a much bigger fish. It's amazing how it will go inside the bigger fish's mouth and not get eaten! Wrasse were the type of fish that cleaned Potato in Miri Attwater and All That Glitters. Watch for the tail of one of the wrasse poking periodically out of the mouth of the bigger fish. Cleaner fish will even do this for fish that are predators of other fish.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/NOg5XKpArc0?rel=0" width="480"></iframe>
Fish cleaning fish, fish cleaning sharks, fish cleaning rays, shrimp cleaning fish, and fish cleaning turtles. In this video, fish clean algae off the back of a turtle, just like in Miri Attwater and All That Glitters. Surgeonfish, also often called tangs, are one of the types of fish that do this type of cleaning. Doesn't it look like the fish are kissing the turtle? That's a lot of love!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WOnh8wJ-Slc?rel=0" width="480"></iframe>
Fish cleaning stations are many and varied, and at each cleaning station different protocols have developed. At one turtle cleaning station I saw in a video, the turtles signal their desire to be cleaned by swimming on their heads! And shrimp have even cleaned the teeth and fingers of willing scuba divers.<br />
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The idea for the scene where Miri and Fisk let fish eat algae off of them came from these fish cleaning stations. But when I started looking for videos to show in for this post, I realized I'd made a slight mistake in that scene. I'll talk about it in next week's post.<br />
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Want to learn more?
Check out my posts below.<br />
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(I make every effort to make sure the links below go to pages that don't have too much advertising that might be inappropriate, but websites do change. Kids if you want to learn more or need to write a school report about fish, ask your parents before you go to the following attachments.)<br />
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Read more about <a href="http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/52459-Zebrasoma-flavescens" target="_blank">the yellow tang at iNaturalist.org.</a><br />
Read more about <a href="http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47617-Ctenochaetus-strigosus" target="_blank">the goldring surgeonfish on iNaturalist.org.</a><br />
Read more about <a href="http://www.marinelifephotography.com/fishes/wrasses/wrasses.htm" target="_blank">wrasses on MarinelifePhotography.com</a> and about <a href="http://uhbiology.kahikai.org/?p=611" target="_blank">Mutualism and The Cleaner Wrasse from UH Biology.</a><br />
<a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-cleaner-fish.html" target="_blank">Cleaner Fish wear Uniforms on NationalGeographic.com</a> is also about wrasses.<br />
<a href="http://www.aquazonescuba.com/sea-turtle-facts1.html" target="_blank">Sea Turtle Facts on AquaZone.</a><br />
<a href="http://earthtrust.org/wlcurric/turtles.html" target="_blank">Green Sea Turtles on Earthtrust.org.</a><br />
Not to leave out the sharks and rays, check out <a href="http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/sharks-and-rays-gather-in-fish-cleaning-stations.htm" target="_blank">Sharks and Rays gather in fish cleaning stations on Discovery.com.</a>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-54036343327230499652014-02-05T09:00:00.000-06:002015-07-15T20:44:22.023-05:00Review of Miri Attwater and All That Glitters by Books, Babies, and Bows<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm excited about Books, Babies, and Bows review of Miri Attwater and All that Glitters!<br />
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Books, Babies, and Bows said that in All That Glitters <em>"...the masterfully laid out mystery in the book had us quickly turning pages..."</em><br />
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And that <em>"...E. S. Ivy uses her scientific background to weave real science seamlessly into the storyline."</em><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="fish cleaning station" class="size-full wp-image-1817" src="http://esivy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Fish-cleaning_station_konan-By-Brocken-Inaglory-via-Wikimedia-commons-.jpg" height="240" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;">A dragon wrasse being cleaned by Rainbow cleaner wrasses on a reef in Hawaii. By Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr>
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On of the favorite parts for Jenny and her two daughters was the scene where Miri visits a fish cleaning station to remove the algae growing on her skin. Did you also wonder if fish cleaning stations are real? They are!<br />
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When I first learned about them I was fascinated too. Next week, I'll start a series of posts about fish cleaning stations.<br />
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<a href="http://booksbabiesandbows.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" title="book reviews for parents site">Books, Babies, and Bows</a> is a wonderful review site where Jenny reviews kids' books with her two young daughters in mind. Hop on over and read the full <a href="http://booksbabiesandbows.blogspot.com/2014/01/miri-attwater-and-all-that-glitters-by.html" target="_blank" title="kids book review for parents, Miri Attwater and All That Glitters">review of Miri Attwater and All That Glitters over at Books, Babies, and Bows</a> and find other great kids' books while you're there.E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-11526717097030304812014-01-29T08:00:00.000-06:002014-01-29T08:00:04.365-06:00Octopus Vs. SharkA reader got to wondering about who would win in a fight, a shark or a puma? I did tons of research on sharks for the Miri Attwater series, but I don't remember coming across that particular information. But I can't resist a good research topic.<br />
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I couldn't find anything about shark vs. puma or even shark vs. lion. But I did find that a lion lost to a crocodile. And one unfortunate bull shark found that he shouldn't have tried to take on a hippo. Given that the encounter would have to happen at the edge of water or in water, I think the outcome would likely be similar to crocodile vs. lion. My money would be on the shark.<br />
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The most impressive to me, though, was something I remembered from my original research. Given our last topic was octopus it seems appropriate.
Who would win in shark vs. octopus? Check out the video below, Shark vs. Octopus below. The winner might surprise you.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/p9A-oxUMAy8?rel=0" width="480"></iframe><br />
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To check out that amazing octopus camouflage they mentioned, see my post: <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2014/01/the-science-behind-mermaids-of-miri.html">Octopus camouflage, science behind the magical mermaids of Miri Attwater. </a><br />
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To learn more about real spiny dogfish sharks and the Giant Pacific octopus, try the following sites:<br />
<a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/giant-pacific-octopus/?source=A-to-Z" target="_blank" title="Octopus National Geographic">Giant Pacific Octopus on NationalGeographic.com</a><br />
<a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/shark-week/types-of-shark/spiny-dogfish-shark.htm" target="_blank" title="Spiny dogfish shark on Discovery">Spiny dogfish shark on Discovery.com</a>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-21488208355572877452014-01-22T10:00:00.000-06:002014-01-23T13:11:38.250-06:00The science behind the mermaids of Miri Attwater: octopus camouflage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Glitters-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HKK1GYC/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E8AFujvor7Y/UthM28m3oFI/AAAAAAAAA4I/VcOnmKN322E/s1600/Glitters_301+x+401.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></span></div>
In celebration of the release of Book 2, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Glitters-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HKK1GYC/" target="_blank">Miri Attwater and All that Glitters,</a> I thought it would be fitting to go a little into the science behind the magic of the Miri Attwater series.<br />
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Science is amazing. It's better than magic! Because it's real.<br />
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When I first started the Miri books, my intention was to write pure fantasy, with magic and everything. Magic makes things easy. Yeah, I know you have to come up with rules but -<br />
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Need something? Make up a rule and -<br />
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Bam!<br />
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You have something.
It's magic!<br />
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The problem was, every time I got to the point in the story where Miri's legs magically turned into tails, it just didn't feel right to me. Even though other writers used it - in fact the original myths even used it - it still felt hollow and unbelievable. I mean, how could legs turn into tails?<br />
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Really.<br />
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I mean, I knew it wasn't "real," but still my brain wanted to understand <em>exactly</em> how that could happen.<br />
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The answer?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1_uK7MBUUUY/UY6D_OFTjmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/SjxtG8b77R4/s1600/Octopus_vulgaris_wikimedia+commons+by+Matthieu+Sontag.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1_uK7MBUUUY/UY6D_OFTjmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/SjxtG8b77R4/s1600/Octopus_vulgaris_wikimedia+commons+by+Matthieu+Sontag.JPG" title="wikimediacommons by matthieusontag" /></a></div>
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An octopus.</div>
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Now you might be thinking, "Ew! What could an octopus possibly have to do with mermaids! That's gross!" just like Miri. But it wasn't just the octopus itself, it was octopus camouflage.<br />
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I saw a video of octopus camouflage. And I believed it was possible for mermaid legs to turn into tails.<br />
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Watch. And believe.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-Hi5muM44NE?rel=0&start=258" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Want to learn more about octopuses? Check out these websites. (Ask a parent's premission before clicking on the links below.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15654086" target="_blank">Squid and Octopus Switch on Camouflage at bbc.co.uk</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px; line-height: 36px;"><a href="http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/08/11/2011/8-feet-of-justice.html" target="_blank">8 Feet of Justice at ScienceFriday.com</a></span>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-73889015518260484842014-01-21T08:00:00.000-06:002014-01-21T08:00:06.417-06:00Book 2 in the Miri Attwater series, Miri Attwater and All that Glitters<div style="text-align: center;">
Book 2 in the Miri Attwater series, Miri Attwater and All That Glitters is now out!</div>
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(Confetti and streamers compliments of my son! Aren't they great? I would have added some cheering and clapping but it's just annoying when you click on a website and your speakers start blaring. So, you're welcome.)<br />
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Find out how Miri copes with living at the bottom of the ocean and see what adventures she gets into. Check it out on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Glitters-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B00HKK1GYC/" target="_blank">Amazon.</a>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-31961292199917406552013-12-17T09:51:00.000-06:002013-12-17T09:51:57.686-06:00The new cover for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret now avaible on Amazon for KindleThe new cover for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret is up! Check it out on <a href="htthttp://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Oceans-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0087451I2/" target="_blank">Amazon.</a>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-88960038620412542852013-11-20T14:36:00.000-06:002013-11-20T14:36:13.710-06:00Miri Attwater and the Ocean' Secret book cover design, part 5 - the new coverNow it's time to put it all together! <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/11/miri-attwater-and-oceans-secret-cover.html">Miri in full color,</a> the <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/11/miri-attwater-and-oceans-secret-cover_12.html">background...</a><br />
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Oh! And we added a title, of course.<br />
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And the author name. That's <i>really</i> important.<br />
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So here it is - the brand new cover for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_W8GtYSELw/Uoz7icygBAI/AAAAAAAAA0s/WLFoEL-uOZY/s1600/ocean's+secret+cover+304+x+401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G_W8GtYSELw/Uoz7icygBAI/AAAAAAAAA0s/WLFoEL-uOZY/s320/ocean's+secret+cover+304+x+401.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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So what do you think?E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-84729095760008233292013-11-12T13:00:00.000-06:002013-11-12T13:00:00.894-06:00Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret Cover Redesign, part 5Now that we had <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/11/miri-attwater-and-oceans-secret-cover.html" target="_blank">Miri</a> all done for the covers of the Miri Attwater series, the first book needed a background. We did a version of the original cover, a glimpse the castle in the mermaid colony of Kai Kaona.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SSJM1-GSYxM/Um7H9pM--1I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/bzqrzfg9MKY/s1600/Ocean's+Secret+Background+263+x+350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret background" border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SSJM1-GSYxM/Um7H9pM--1I/AAAAAAAAAbQ/bzqrzfg9MKY/s320/Ocean's+Secret+Background+263+x+350.jpg" title="Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret background" width="240" /></a></div>
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It's a little simpler than before, but it should show up better in ebook form than the original cover.</div>
<br />E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-64421792759432187232013-11-05T13:00:00.000-06:002013-11-05T13:00:06.537-06:00Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret cover design, part 4Last week we looked at some changes to the color version of Miri, giving her hands and modifying things like her hair a little bit. But for the new covers for the Miri Attwater series, we didn't want it to just be a flat drawing.<br />
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The next step was to add some shading. We decorated her swimsuit a bit. And we corrected finally corrected that color mistake.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N0HYXVyofh0/Um7INS7J-hI/AAAAAAAAAbY/IUfWsotjMFs/s1600/miri+shaded+395+x+350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Miri Attwater" border="0" height="283" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N0HYXVyofh0/Um7INS7J-hI/AAAAAAAAAbY/IUfWsotjMFs/s320/miri+shaded+395+x+350.jpg" title="Miri Attwater" width="320" /></a></div>
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Did you figure that out the color mistake yet? Take a look the <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/10/miri-attwater-and-oceans-secret-cover.html" target="_blank">version in last week's post</a> if you need a hint!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-41628800779306133092013-10-29T14:30:00.000-05:002013-10-29T14:30:03.246-05:00Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret Cover Redesign, Part 3In past posts I've showed you <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/10/new-cover-Miri-Attwater-Oceans-Secret.html">the original pencil sketch of Miri</a> and <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/10/new-cover-for-miri-attwater-and-oceans.html">the first colored version of her face</a>.
Or course, for the new cover of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Oceans-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0087451I2" target="_blank">Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret</a>, we needed Miri to be more than just a floating head.<br />
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The hair changed a bit too. It's shorter and the curls are a bit softer. But, there's still the same mistake from last week. Have you spotted it yet?
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-et5BhGDS7DQ/UmNMR2ZKVII/AAAAAAAAAaU/7soPc5XCkqE/s1600/miri+torso+406+x+350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-et5BhGDS7DQ/UmNMR2ZKVII/AAAAAAAAAaU/7soPc5XCkqE/s320/miri+torso+406+x+350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-86170555152317039802013-10-22T14:00:00.000-05:002013-10-22T14:00:01.226-05:00New Cover for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret, Part 2Last week I showed you the first step in the new book cover design for the Miri Attwater series.
Of course Miri can't stay <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/2013/10/new-cover-Miri-Attwater-Oceans-Secret.html">black and white</a>. :) Next step, color!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIgOabY87pM/UmNN5SU2pfI/AAAAAAAAAac/7mOKgWlSemI/s1600/miri+color+face+350+x+329.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vIgOabY87pM/UmNN5SU2pfI/AAAAAAAAAac/7mOKgWlSemI/s320/miri+color+face+350+x+329.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Oops! Something is wrong with this picture... do you know what it is? I didn't even catch it. One of my girls pointed it out.<br />
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Hint - one of the colors is wrong.E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-64507601894263551292013-10-15T10:12:00.002-05:002013-10-15T10:17:44.324-05:00A new cover coming soon for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's SecretSo I've been a bit busy lately working on a bunch of technical details to move my author website and blog to a new site, <a href="http://esivy.com/">esivy.com</a>. If you're interested in crafts and other things that occupy my mind, hop on over and check it out.<br />
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But we've also been busy with a whole new cover design for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Attwater-Mermaid-Princess-Adventures-ebook/dp/B0087451I2/">Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret</a>! I still love the old cover, but when we were trying to come up with a cover for Book 2, Miri Attwater and All that Glitters, things just weren't working. Among other things, we wanted to make the books look friendlier and more colorful.<br />
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This, of course, has the drawback that it's slowing down the release of All that Glitters. So in the meantime I thought I'd show you some progress on the new covers.<br />
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TechnoTim started by drawing a bunch of different sketches for Miri using pencil and paper. I critiqued them and he tweaked them. Here's the one we finally decided looks <i>just like </i>Miri.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qbkpwEVOrfs/Ul1bMSCFMyI/AAAAAAAAAZg/-MSS5dXIyGI/s1600/miri+face+sketch+350+x+378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qbkpwEVOrfs/Ul1bMSCFMyI/AAAAAAAAAZg/-MSS5dXIyGI/s320/miri+face+sketch+350+x+378.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
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Let me know what you think. Does the drawing look like Miri to you?</div>
<br />E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-66054694964076886222013-07-01T10:14:00.000-05:002013-08-04T11:04:58.894-05:00Hannah, age 9, gives Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret 5 stars (and 22 exclamation marks)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For kid's books, there's nothing better than a book review <i>by</i> kids.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7CYPXlgyYCw/UcsAmh5O5kI/AAAAAAAAAYo/BuHhvTK3jcA/s349/book+cubs+349+x+200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7CYPXlgyYCw/UcsAmh5O5kI/AAAAAAAAAYo/BuHhvTK3jcA/s320/book+cubs+349+x+200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Here's what Hannah, age 9, over at <a href="http://www.book-cubs.com/2013/06/24/miri-attwater-and-the-oceans-secret-by-e-s-ivy/" target="_blank">BookCubs</a> had to say about Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Century Gothic', AppleGothic, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"><span style="color: magenta;">If you like funny fantasy books you’ll love this. It is fantastic. If you do not think it is great, you are crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span></span><br />
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And as a writer, there's nothing better than a kid's review like that. :) And yes, all those exclamation points are her's. I didn't add any.<br />
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Her favorite part was Miri's dinner with the Queen. That makes me happy, because I had fun writing it. (Sneak Peek - there'll be more fancy dinners with funny dishes in Book 2.)<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I wrote about Miri's first meal in Kai Kaona, I ate some seaweed salad! It wasn't too bad. A little rubbery. :) Some of the rest came from memories I have - like when someone advised me to order "seafood" noodles in Japan and it turned out to be "seaweed" noodles. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqlblOH5V5Q/UdGZ3nQen0I/AAAAAAAAAZE/kVWFOgPeoKo/s180/fish+dinner+By+Ewan+Munro+from+London+UK+(Xiang+Yuan+New+Southgate+London++Uploaded+by+tm)+via+Wikimedia+Commons+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqlblOH5V5Q/UdGZ3nQen0I/AAAAAAAAAZE/kVWFOgPeoKo/s180/fish+dinner+By+Ewan+Munro+from+London+UK+(Xiang+Yuan+New+Southgate+London++Uploaded+by+tm)+via+Wikimedia+Commons+square.jpg" title="By Ewan Munro from London, UK (Xiang Yuan, New Southgate, London Uploaded by tm), via Wikimedia Commons" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And the time at a fancy restaurant in New Orleans that my grandmother was served a baked fish with its head still on. She was a proper Southern lady, a phenomenal cook, and had cleaned a few fish from my grandfather's catch in her day. She would never have served a fish head at her table. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">She sent that fish right back to the kitchen to be properly prepared!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">What about you - what's the strangest, most adventurous, thing you've ever eaten? Leave a comment and tell us about it!</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 19px;"> </span>E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-83514527815318940012013-06-26T09:11:00.000-05:002013-06-26T09:20:16.647-05:00Miri Attwater - Book 1 on Wattpad and Book 2 progressIt's been a while since I made a new post, I know!<br />
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And have you signed up for my <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/p/newsletter.html">Newsletter</a>? Because I've definitely made good on my promise not to fill up your inbox. :) I've sent exactly, um, zero newsletters so far.<br />
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It's not that I don't love my <a href="http://www.miriattwater.com/p/newsletter.html">Newsletter</a> subscribers! In fact there will be special offers soon, I promise. It's just that it's another thing with a learning curve. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to set up a sign up list. But how, exactly, do I send out a newsletter in the correct form? That's something I've got to figure out, and for now I've been trying to focus all my time on...<br />
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Completing Book 2!<br />
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(Okay, that and I may have snuck in a trip to Disney World. But hey, I was thinking of you and Miri! There are lots of mermaids at Disney. There'll be some related posts later.)<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ln9z8xM8Ebo/UHmWOlY3SzI/AAAAAAAAAOo/gijMnjPiAvU/s1600/Empress_Josephine_Tiara-230+x+158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ln9z8xM8Ebo/UHmWOlY3SzI/AAAAAAAAAOo/gijMnjPiAvU/s1600/Empress_Josephine_Tiara-230+x+158.jpg" title="Empress Josephine Tiara Houston Museum of Natural Science (Photo credit: Wikipedia)" /></a></div>
But yes, <span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Miri Attwater and All that Glitters</span> is starting the editing process!<br />
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Which means I already have some things that need some changes. :( But hang tight, Book 2 will be better for it, and ready soon!<br />
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Meanwhile, I've started posting <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/5814158-miri-attwater-and-the-ocean%27s-secret" target="_blank">Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret over on Wattpad</a>. I post a chapter or so a week. So, if you haven't read the Ocean's Secret yet and you can be patient for the next installment, hop on over to <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/5814158-miri-attwater-and-the-ocean%27s-secret" target="_blank">Wattpad</a> and say hello.<br />
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Happy Reading!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-48616478609338014082013-06-04T11:34:00.002-05:002013-06-04T11:34:32.341-05:00miriattwatersworld.blogspot.com is now miriattwater.comTo make things simpler, this blog will now be found at miriattwater.com.<br />
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So you still have to learn how to spell Miri Attwater. :) I know, I hear you, I'm spelling impaired to. But the domain names mermaidprincess and oceansecret were already taken. Surprise, surprise, right? I did look around a bit because while I still love the name Phyta Publishing, I'm finding out that spelling out my email address for everyone - esivy@phytapublishing.com - is taking a lo-o-ong time!<br />
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For now, anyone who reads the book should be able to remember miriattwater.com. (I hope.) I did consider the name mirimermaid. Hmm... maybe mermaidmiri would sound better. Chime in if you think I should have used that one/add that one for readers.<br />
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Happy Reading!E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-47109502031564016202013-05-12T13:57:00.000-05:002013-05-12T13:57:21.726-05:00Enter for your chance to win "a mermaid story like no other"!<br />
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I'm so excited to be a part of my first give-away! To celebrate Children's Book Week, May 13-19, I'm taking part in a blog hop through <a href="http://motherdaughterbookreviews.com/" target="_blank">Mother Daughter Book Reviews</a>. Renee linked me up with the lovely Tina at <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com/2013/05/5-mermaid-ebooks-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Amanda's Books and More</a>.<br />
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This week, we'll be giving away FIVE free ebooks of Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret!<br />
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Here's what Tina had to say about the book:<br />
<i><span style="color: blue;">"[Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret is] a really neat mermaid story like no other for girls ages 6 - 12. I read the first book in the series and got really caught up in the story. I wanted to read more!"</span></i><br />
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So, don't wait! Hop on over to <a href="http://abooksandmore.blogspot.com/2013/05/5-mermaid-ebooks-giveaway.html" target="_blank">Amanda's Books and More</a> and enter the Rafflecopter give-away now! (Contest closes 5/19/2013.)<br />
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Then look up the other blogs on the hop to enter for even more prizes!<br />
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<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=192072" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090140348942190245.post-19502433474945316322013-05-11T12:48:00.001-05:002013-08-04T11:07:27.470-05:00Books, Babies, and Bows reviews the children's fantasy Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1_uK7MBUUUY/UY6D_OFTjmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/SjxtG8b77R4/s1600/Octopus_vulgaris_wikimedia+commons+by+Matthieu+Sontag.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1_uK7MBUUUY/UY6D_OFTjmI/AAAAAAAAAVc/SjxtG8b77R4/s1600/Octopus_vulgaris_wikimedia+commons+by+Matthieu+Sontag.JPG" title="Octopus_vulgaris_wikimedia commons by Matthieu Sontag" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;"><i style="background-color: cyan;">What does an octopus have to do with mermaids? Read Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret and find out!</i></span></td></tr>
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When I came up with the idea to write a book about a girl who didn't know she was a mermaid, my intention was to write a book that was pure fantasy.<br />
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But I discovered something about myself.<br />
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If I'm creating the magical world, it won't ring true to me unless it follows the principals of science. I guess that by the time you get a PhD in biology, science is too deeply ingrained in your DNA to deny it.<br />
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While I had lots of fun researching and imagining all the fantasy science in Miri's world, there was always that nagging fear in the back of my mind. <i>Is all this fantasy science going to be believable to other scientists?</i><br />
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Yes, even someone with a PhD has a fear of looking stupid. :)<br />
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So I am thrilled about the review just posted at Books, Babies, and Bows! Jenny is a scientist and she gets it! She really gets it! (And she doesn't think I'm stupid or anything.)<br />
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From her five star review posted on her blog, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Miri-Attwater-Oceans-Secret-ebook/dp/B0087451I2/" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16100074-miri-attwater-and-the-ocean-s-secret" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What I absolutely love about this book is how the author uses scientific facts to create a rule system for this "magical" world. You learn about how a mermaid changes from legs to fins in a way that makes it believable and magical all in the same breath. </span></i></span><br />
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Read the rest of Jenny's <a href="http://booksbabiesandbows.blogspot.com/2013/05/miri-attwater-and-oceans-secret-by-es.html" target="_blank">review of Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret at Books, Babies, and Bows.</a> And while you're there, check out her lovely series on <a href="http://booksbabiesandbows.blogspot.com/2013/04/30-books-of-kindness-complete-list.html" target="_blank">30 books of Kindness</a>.<br />
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Don't forget, you can now buy an ebook copy Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret at all of these major retailers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Miri-Attwater-Oceans-Secret-ebook/dp/B0087451I2/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Amazon</a><span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Miri-Attwater-and-Oceans-Secret/book-tCqvomeUIUy8rx2zhF5jWQ/page1.html?s=MlkL6AscbUK17DlCKFFIvQ&r=1" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Kobo</a><span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/miri-attwater-and-the-oceans-secret-es-ivy/1115162210?ean=2940016695419" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a><span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/miri-attwater-oceans-secret/id591635029?mt=11" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">itunes/ibooks</a><span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/e-s-ivy/miri-attwater-and-the-ocean-s-secret/_/R-400000000000001021215" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Sony</a><span style="color: #444444; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/item/SW00000269749/Ivy-E.-S.-Miri-Attwater-and-the-Ocean-s-Secret/1.html" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">diesel</a></div>
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Happy Reading!</div>
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E.S. Ivyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03383101940119217811noreply@blogger.com2