Okay, guys!  No video today because I'm feeling really dizzy and I'm having a hard time sitting up.  I'll be better after a nap, I'm sure.
I see more DiveBomb and Biggy stories--YAY! That's great. 
Today's Mission:

• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Find at least two new stories (ones you haven't already added to). Write a comment with at least two sentences for those stories. There are some stories with no comments yet, and I'd really love for everyone to have at least one comment on their story by our next mission on Saturday.
• After you have commented on at least two stories, go back to YOUR story and add at least two sentences.  Make sure you read all of the comments underneath your story before you write more!
• Slow your stories down, and give us more details.  What I mean by slowing your stories down is that you don't need to rush to finish the story. We have plenty of time--and I'm not worried about a story being too long.  :-) When we are done with these stories, we will go through and look for ways to make them better.

Hi guys! Great to see some stories already for DiveBomb and Biggy! These are only our storybeginnings, so don't be afraid to add more details and slow your story down a little. It can be longer--and you're going to have help with that!


If you posted your story as a comment under my post "Mission #6," PLEASE make a new post and copy and paste your story to your own post.  Here's why:

Today's Mission:

• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Read at least TWO other Kid Authors' DiveBomb stories.
• Leave a comment. In your comment, I want you to write at least two new sentences to add onto their story.

THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Make sure you look to see if there anybody else has leftcomments under the story. If they have, read the comments and then add more to the story.  We are building off of each story with our comments.  Does that make sense?

For example:

• Noah writes a story on his post.
• Gabby writes a comment (more story) on Noah's post.
• Shalom writes a comment that keeps Noah and Gabby's story going.
• Adrienne writes a comment that keeps Noah, Gabby, and Shalom's story going.

Sometimes we might have two people leave comments at the same time, but we will figure that out when it happens.
We are just trying this to see if it works, so hopefully tomorrow we will have a few longer stories that we have started writing together.  :-)

Remember, some of your Kid Author friends may be younger or older than you are, or may not have as much writing experience as you, so be kind to each other.  This should be a fun time!

It's with a little bit of nervousness that I introduce our villain:

• Biggy
• Male
• Garden Gnome, DiveBomb’s little brother
• 799 years old
• He has rainbow colored hair, white goggles and black clothes
• He can go underground and just pop his head up anywhere.
• His bad habit is having a bad temper.
• He lives underground, under a nice little lawn with his roommate, a mole named Diggy. He lives in front of a nice little house owned by a nice little old lady named Petunia
• He thinks he wants DiveBombs powers of flying, granting wishes, and becoming invisible. But in the end he finds out that powers is not what he really wants, and maybe, just maybe Biggy is good underneath all that bad.

• Biggy is actually a really nice troll, but he's really grumpy because he's very lonely.

Biggy is a combination of all of your villain suggestions, so well done! I hope you enjoy writing about DiveBomb and Biggy (and Diggy, too!).
Now I'm going to tell you what it is DiveBomb wants, which is what Biggy is trying to stop:
DiveBomb likes to fly, but he gets airsick sometimes (maybe from sneezing at the dust in the air) andhe would like to be able to rest on the ground. Every time he lands on the ground, Biggy always shows up and tries tosteal DiveBomb's powers.

Your mission for today is:

• Start a New Post, and share with Students.
• Write a few sentences (or paragraph) to start our story about Divebomb and Biggy. I want to see where you guys think the story begins, and then we will go from there.  :-)

I will check your stories later tomorrow afternoon and give you your next mission then.
Oh, and look at my DiveBomb picture.  Not colorful, but I didn't have anything to color with at my grandparents' house.  I think he's missing a cape or something....

I'm loving the stories your family and friends told you! Did you have fun talking to them about when they were younger? You might want to try it again sometime.  :-)

Today's Mission:

• Log in to our KidBlog site by clicking on the SHARE tab.
• Find the "Mission #5" post.
• Let's try something different. Think of something DiveBomb really wants or wants to do. This can be as simple as a glass of water, or it can be more difficult, like world peace. Reply to this post and let me know what your idea is.
• Draw a picture of what DiveBomb the Flying Garden Gnome looks like and send me a picture. This can be a selfie, a scan, or an e-mail. You can even send me an actual picture to my post office box. E-mail me or send a response through the CONTACT form for my P.O. Box address.

That's it!  We'll pick the villain soon, but not today!  You can keep sending me villain ideas using the "Meet My Villain" form if you want.

Remember, no mission today. Here's a little clip from the movie The Pursuit of Happyness to get you pumped up about your dreams, whatever they might be.

I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with your next mission. :-)

Let's take a break from thinking about our story--we'll get back to it on Monday. Instead, here's your mission:

• Talk to someone older than you who you trust: a parent, grandparents, aunt, family friend. Ask them to tell you about when they were a kid.  Maybe they have a funny story they can share? Or ask about something you've always wanted to know about them.
• Write a new post on the KidBlog site (go to the SHARE tab and log in). Share what you learned with us, if you want (I suggest not using his or her name, or using a made-up name). If you don't want to share, or they don't want you to, that's okay.

The idea here is to get us thinking about talking and sharing with other people. We all have stories. You might even find that two people remember the same thing in completely different ways (this happens to my grandparents a lot!)
In talking to others--especially your older family members or family friends--it might spark your ideas for things to write about. You never know!

Hey Kid Authors! Just a reminder that there will be no new mission today. Use this time to catch up on Mission #3 on Villains/Problems. 
On Fridays I go spend time with my grandparents, who are in their 90s. While I am there, we talk about what life was like when they were your age... when they were my age... I record it on my digital recorder so I can hear their voices whenever I want. Someday I will write it all down because their story is important to my family. Your story is important, too.
So, I am sorry that I can't talk to you much on Fridays, but I know you understand. I will be back Saturday afternoon with our next fun thing!

Sorry this is a little late. YouTube was giving me a liiiiiittle bit of trouble. I think the 3pm EST time might not work the best for me... so maybe just promising to get it to you as soon as I can is better!  :-)
Thank you for sharing all of your character ideas with me. There were some great characters on my list. I decided to go through and make my own character--but he is from your suggestions.

DiveBomb the flying garden gnome 
He's 800 years old and lives forever.
Always wears blue.  He has pink and blue hair.
He has the power to fly, grant wishes, and become invisible.
He is allergic to dust.
He lives in a cave that rests on a cloud in the sky.
He has an annoying little brother who is always causing him trouble.

If you don't know what a garden gnome is, here ya go:

Great to see everyone! We had a lot of comments about characters last night (and this morning). Now I want you to think about creating a character for our group story.  
TODAY'S MISSION:  

• When you have a character in mind, go HERE and tell me more about that character. You can make up and send in more than one character if you want.
• Check out who won our Mission #1 Contest on the winner post!
• Watch this next video, which is just for fun:  

Here we are, day #1 of the Kid Author Project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know I'm not supposed to use that many exclamation marks, but we've been waiting a long time to get this thing going, haven't we?


Today's mission, MISSION #1 is:

• Click on the SHARE tab to log in to our KidBlog site
• Find the post "MISSION #1"
• Reply to that post, telling me who your favorite fictional character is and why you like them so much. Your favorite character can be from a book, movie, or TV show. If they came out of someone's brain, it counts. They don't even have to be the good guy or the main character in the book, movie, or TV show. I just want to know who you like and why.

VERY IMPORTANT!  Everyone who replies to the "MISSION #1" post on the KidBlog site before tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at 9 a.m EST will be entered in a giveaway to win a super-secret prize.  I will pick a winner tomorrow after 9 a.m. Don't miss out!


Later on today I will send out an e-mail with more program info, so make sure you check for that.  :-)  If you have any questions about the program or the website, reply here and let me know or send me an e-mail at sunnyhendersonwrites@gmail.com .


Talk you you all soon!