Aug 20

Go Behind the Scenes of a Young Adult Fiction Series

Behind the Scenes, The Dream Doers Series No Comments »

Behind the Scenes of The Dream Doers Series:  “Character Profile—Tyler Davis”

Welcome to the first edition of “Behind the Scenes of The Dream Doers Series.”

In case you haven’t yet been in front of the scenes of this young adult fiction series, it starts with book 1, The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  In this novel that you can listen to for FREE, (I’ll share how at the end of this post), best friends Alex and Tyler are forced to battle bullies, face their fears and keep strange secrets the summer they learn to do what they dream.

Featured in today’s article is main character Tyler James Davis.  Here are some basic profile facts about Tyler as of the beginning of Book 1. 

  • Age:  12
  • Birthdate:  April 29
  • Parents:  Benjamin and Rachel 
  • Siblings:  Twin Brothers Tim and Todd, age 5
  • Hair:  Darkish Blonde
  • Eye Color:  Brown
  • Height:  4’11”
  • Frame:  Thin, Athletic Build

Tyler was born in Chicago…at Wrigley Field!  That’s actually an interesting story.  Let me tell you about it real quick. 

His dad worked on the ground’s crew for the Cubs, and Rachel, his mom, liked to come watch the games, even when she was pregnant with Tyler. 

Well, one day, she came to a game three weeks before Tyler was supposed to be born.  In about the fourth inning, though, she realized she should probably get to the hospital because Tyler was ready to be born. 

But the pitcher for the Cubs was pitching a perfect game, and she didn’t want to leave.  She figured she would still have plenty of time to get to the hospital after the game was over. 

Then, in the middle of the seventh inning, a mega downpour came out of nowhere, causing a rain delay.  As the thousands of fans made a mad dash for shelter, Tyler’s mom was in too much pain to move.  She couldn’t get to shelter or to Tyler’s dad, who was busy working with the grounds crew to get the field covered with a tarp.  She was stuck, and Tyler was ready to be born right there in the middle of a storm in the Wrigley Field stands. 

Fortunately, though, the wife of the Cubs pitcher that day was a doctor and sitting just a few rows in front of Rachel.  She noticed Rachel needed help and got Rachel out of the wet, cold rain and into the warm, dry Cubs Clubhouse.  An hour later, Tyler was born right there in the Cubs Clubhouse at Wrigley Field. 

Since the name of the pitcher pitching a perfect game that day was Tyler James and since that pitcher’s wife was the doctor who delivered him in the clubhouse, Tyler’s parents decided to name him Tyler James Davis instead of Nick Carlton Davis, the name they had picked out before. 

The really cool thing is that a reporter picked up on the story and wrote about it.  Tyler’s picture was on the front page of the paper the next day, and the reporter game him the nickname “Wrigley Baby.”

I guess it’s no surprise, then, that Tyler’s big dream is to be a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.  He’s determined to find a way to make that happen, even though his family did move to North Carolina when he was five. 

Of course, that’s when he met his best friend Alexandria, and I’ll tell you a little about her background in next week’s “Behind the Scenes” article.

You can hear the whole “Front of the Scenes” story for FREE.  Just visit TheDreamDoers.com and fill out a super short form.

Enjoy the story!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

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Aug 19

Weirdo Wednesday, Webisode 1: Meet lulilulelindia, ‘grammarnotarian’

Fun Fiction, Motivating Stories No Comments »

Webisode 1 of Weirdo Wednesdays:  “lulilulelindia Shares Her Big Dream”

Weirdo Wednesdays!  Even weirdos can find a way to do what they dream.

Welcome to another wacky, totally fictional webisode of “Weirdo Wednesdays” starring Bonnie Jean Schaefer as lulilulelindia verickent, ‘grammarnotarian.’

(Weird Note:  Because lulilulelindia is a grammarnotarian, the transcript of her speech in the webisode will have no capitalization or punctuation.)

hey there  my name is luli verickent  im 16 and live in the united states of america just so you know my friends call me lulilulelindia for short  but thats without a capital l

you see im a grammarnotarian  i dont believe its right to capitalize any letter of any word  seriously when you capitalize a letter it makes that whole word look more important than the other words around it  and thats just seriously not right

another thing i believe as a grammarnotarian which for some reason my teachers have a serious problem with is that punctuation should never be used ever because all sentences are equal

seriously  when you end a sentence with a question mark it makes that sentence not look as smart as a sentence that ends with a period  and when you end a sentence with an exclamation point that sentence is like ten times more exciting than one that ends with a period or a question mark  letting one sentence be more exciting than another is just wrong in so many ways

seriously dont even get me started on commas or semicolons or apostrophes  who can figure out where all those go anyway  I mean

(interruption from off screen)

what  oh  i guess i was getting off track my big dream is to be a travel around the world person when i grow up  and now that im a silver member of the dream doer league and get to play the champion creator game i finally get to learn how make my big dream come true  thats why i am seriously excited about starting my first mission on monday

you should seriously join the dream doer league too  you get all kinds of free stuff as a bronze member including the entire audio book of the super cool young adult novel the dream doers and the summer of secrets so you dont even have to read it  seriously i listened to it and loved it  the characters inspired me to get serious about living my dreams which is why i upgraded to the silver division  because i wanted access to all the champion creator game missions  i just hope the missions dont make me use capital letters and punctuation or im going to have a hard time actually making my dreams happen

We’ll check back in with Lulilulelindia in a few weeks to see if she’s making any progress toward achieving her goals.  She does have a few weird quirks, but as long as she follows through with the missions, she’ll be able to find a way to do what she dreams. 

Weird quirks or not, you can find a way to do what you dream, too.  Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen.  To help you set those goals and achieve your dreams, I want to give you three FREE gifts, including the audio book of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets. 

All three gifts are waiting for you at www.TheDreamDoers.com.  Click and claim them now!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

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Aug 18

UUU Stories, Episode 1: How I Became a Dream Doer

Motivating Stories, True Stories No Comments »

Episode 1 of Unshakable, Unbreakable, Unstoppable Stories

Bonnie Jean Schaefer here, bestselling author of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  I haven’t been a published author very long, but I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was a kid.  Only back then, I was a shakable, breakable, stoppable dream don’ter.  Which means that even though I had big dreams, I didn’t have the confidence I needed to do anything about them.

From the time I was teeny tiny, I’ve always loved making up stories.  What I didn’t love was sharing those stories with anyone only because I was sure other people would think my stories were strange or weird or just plain awful.  So I didn’t write many of them down.  I would just daydream or use my Barbie dolls to act out my stories.

Now the stories that I did write I hid.  I felt like I had to.  If someone found my stories, they might think I believed I was a writer.  Because I didn’t believe that at all.  I had NO confidence in my writing ability.  And without that confidence, I had no chance of living my dreams.

My big dream of being a writer didn’t go away when I reached high school, but the hope of that dream ever coming true certainly did. 

You see, because I didn’t have any hope of living my big dream, I didn’t do anything about it.  Instead, I focused on making good grades in school and doing my best in the three sports I played:  volleyball, basketball and softball.

When I got to college, I almost let myself believe in my big dream again and considered picking writing as my major.

Then I told myself that was a silly, ridiculous, never-gonna-come-true-kinda dream.  I had no desire to study any other kind of career, though, so I chose to major in Bible.

As a senior in college, I still had no clue what I wanted to do when I graduated.  I just knew I couldn’t be who I wanted to be:  a writer.  At least that’s what I thought until I attended one of my Bible classes on February 12, 1999.

That day, my professor talked about the difference between Dreamers and Doers.  Now I don’t remember why she was talking about Dreamers and Doers (‘cause I wasn’t really paying attention to the first part of the lesson), but I do remember what she said about them.  She said that Dreamers have vision and dream about what could be done, but Doers take action and make things happen.

I wanted to be a Doer.  I wanted to DO something about my dreams and believe my dreams were possible.  But I couldn’t.  I was just a Dreamer who imagined great things but didn’t have the courage to share these dreams or make them happen. 

I almost stopped listening to anything else she had to say until my professor quoted Psalm 37:4:  “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

I was stunned.  God wanted to give me the desires of my heart? 

As soon as class ended, I went home and read the first six verses of Psalm 37 over and over and over.  They were real.  These words were actually in the inspired Word of God. 

My greatest desire was to be a writer.  So that’s when I realized I could, with God’s help, make that happen.

I could do what I dreamed.  I could be a DREAM DOER. 

I wish I could tell you that I figured out how to be a Dream Doer right away, but the truth is that it took me years to figure out.  During those years, I worked all kinds of jobs while writing this book.

Next week, I’ll share the story of when I started writing this book and how I finally got it published nine years later.

But please don’t wait as long as I did to start living your dreams!  Life is really much more fun when you set goals and take action to make them happen. 

No matter how old you are, you can be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer today!  To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts: a 14-day Dream Doer crash course, the entire audio book of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets and a Dream Doer League Bronze membership.  All these gifts are waiting for you at TheDreamDoers.com. 

So go to TheDreamDoers.com now and fill out the super short form to claim your gifts. 

To your dreams,

Bonnie Jean

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Aug 10

Dream Doer Crash Course, Day 8: Look Where You Want to Go

Book 1: The Summer of Secrets, The Dream Doers Series No Comments »

**The Dream*Featuring audio book Chapters 16-17 of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets, a YA Novel about best friends Alex and Tyler who must battle bullies, face their fears and keep strange secrets the summer they learn to DO what they DREAM.***

(Note:  Only Dream Doer League members can hear the audio chapters of this Amazon bestselling young adult novel, but joining is completely, totally, 100% FREE!  Just fill out the short form on the right or click here to sign up.)

 

You do have dreams, right?

These dreams could be about things you want do, places you want to go, people you want to meet or stuff you want to own.

These are the things that spark your passion and make you happy.  You get excited when you think about making these dreams come true.  Because these dreams are part of who you are.

Alex shows her passion when she plays tennis; Tyler shows his passion when he plays baseball.

But when they aren’t allowed to practice with each other, it’s harder for them to focus on their dreams.  They have new obstacles to face, like figuring out how to practice alone and how to find time to practice.

With all the new distractions, it’s getting harder and harder for them to do what they dream.

Then Hector tells Alex a story about his daughter.  The story teaches Alex how important it is to look where she wants to go.  In other words, she needs to be able to see in her mind the dreams she wants to accomplish.

The easiest way to help you “see” your dreams is to make them into pictures.  For instance, the gold medal Tyler made with construction paper for Alex helps Alex stay focused on her big dream—to win a gold medal one day in the Olympics.

So what can you do to make your dreams into pictures and look where you want to go? 

Remember that one of Normalcy’s weapons is to create all sorts of distractions to make you forget about your dreams.  The best way to defend against this kind of attack is to:

Get a very clear picture in your mind of what you want.

  • Find or draw a picture that represents your dream.
  • Look at that picture everyday.

When you look where you want to go, your mind will start figuring out ways to make that dream happen.

Then it’s your job to TAKE ACTION!

Tomorrow you’ll find out how Alex and Tyler take action to make their dreams happen…even though they aren’t allowed to practice together…

Until then, enjoy the story!

To your dreams,

Bonnie Jean

P.S.  Don’t risk missing a day of the Dream Doer Crash Course or a chapter of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  Join the Dream Doer League for FREE now to get every crash course lesson emailed to you along with the members only link to the audio chapters.

P.S.S.  What about you?  Where do you want to go?  Join the conversation by leaving a comment below! 

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Aug 03

Dream Doer Crash Course, Day 1: Are You a Dreamer or a Doer?

Book 1: The Summer of Secrets, The Dream Doers Series No Comments »

**The Dream*Featuring audio book Chapters 1-3 of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets, a YA Novel about best friends Alex and Tyler who must battle bullies, face their fears and keep strange secrets the summer they learn to DO what they DREAM.***

(Note:  Only Dream Doer League members can hear the audio chapters of this Amazon bestselling young adult novel, but joining is completely, totally, 100% FREE!  Just fill out the short form on the right or click here to sign up.)

 

Let your Dream Doer Crash Course begin!

It starts with one simple question:  are you a more of a Dreamer like Alex or a Doer like Tyler?

Are you more of a Dreamer like Alex or a Doer like Tyler? 

Let me explain. 

You see, Alex is a Dreamer.  Her big dream is to be a great tennis player and win a gold medal in the Olympics.

 She loves to dream about her dream.  She often imagines herself playing tennis and winning every time. 

 But she’s scared to tell anyone about her dream.  She thinks it will sound silly if she says it out loud.  Not even Tyler, her best friend since the first day of kindergarten, knows about her dream (until the end of chapter 2, anyway!).

She loves learning things through reading.  But she would rather read and dream about what could be possible than do anything about her dreams. 

She’s the youngest of six kids and wants to be bold, brave and strong.  Only she feels too timid and scared to take any kind of courageous action.

That’s why she feels frustrated with herself.  Who she wants to be and how she acts don’t really match.  She doesn’t know how to make what she sees in her mind become real in her life.

Tyler, on the other hand, is a Doer.  His big dream is to pitch for the Chicago Cubs. 

He tells everybody about his dream, and his room has more Cubs stuff than the shops at Wrigley Field.  He already considers himself a Cub; the only thing holding him back is his age.

He loves learning new things through experience.  That’s why he’s always doing something and enjoys playing sports, especially baseball. 

But he’s usually so busy taking action that he doesn’t think things through.  And because he doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions, he often gets himself and Alex into a lot of trouble.  Or he’s so busy being busy that he never really accomplishes anything.

He also gets distracted easily (like in the beginning of chapter 2).  And it’s awfully hard to be a great pitcher when you have trouble focusing!

He’s the oldest of three of three kids and likes to be in charge. 

He’s also super-competitive and wants to win whether he’s playing sports or fighting with Zach.

Personally, I’m more like Alex.  Only my big dream is to be a best-selling author (which I made happen last year!).  Still, I was too scared to start doing something about my dreams until I was 21. 

(Then it took me 10 more years to figure out how to be an unshakable, unbreakable, unstoppable Dream Doer…I created the Dream Doer League so you don’t have to wait as long as I did to live your dreams!)

But I remember the exact day I learned about the difference between dreamers and doers.  And that’s the same day I learned that anything is possible when you become a DREAM DOER.  I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.

To your dreams,

Bonnie Jean

P.S.  Don’t risk missing a day of the Dream Doer Crash Course or a chapter of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  Join the Dream Doer League now to get every crash course lesson emailed to you along with the members only link to the audio chapters.

P.S.S.  What about you?  Are you more of a Dreamer or a Doer?  Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

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