Dear readers,
I hope you and your family are doing well and looking after yourselves during this surreal time... Here in New Zealand, we start lock down from today and we praise the government for taking this decision as social distancing is the best response to slowing the spread of COVID-19. But social distancing and self-isolation can be also difficult, especially when you have little ones at home to keep entertained. So, Ben and I decided to put a list together for some free activities we've found on the internet. We were quite surprised by how many institutions, museums, schools, courses and people just like you and me are offering free services and ideas, all coming together in the difficult weeks and months ahead of us. If you have any ideas too that have worked well for you and your kids at home, please reply to this email and I can share them with everyone in our next newsletter. It's also important to remember to find time for physical activity too in your household and with the kids. Physical activity has proven benefits for mental health. At a time like this it is important that we look after not only our physical well-being, but also our mental and emotional well-being. First and foremost, look after your family during this time. We're in all this together. Be kind to one another. Talk again soon and stay safe everyone. We hope you will enjoy the list with links below that we have compiled for you: Free science webinars for kids at home from Mel Science Free audio books from Audible Free courses from Free Code Camp Free audio books by David Walliams Free Opera from the Metropolitan Opera of New York Free Concerts from the Berlin Philharmonic FREE BOOKS FREE BOOK Ben's second book - The Magic Pencil - is FREE from today for 5 days at Amazon Kindle. A great read for kids 8+. When Bob finds an innocent-looking pencil on his way to school, little does he realize his life will never be the same again. Anything it draws magically comes to life. Unknown to Bob, a dangerous gang of villains are not far behind. Desperately searching for the Magic Pencil, the Fakeys want to use the power of the pencil to take over the world, and they will let nothing stand in their way. In a race against time, can Bob and his friends stay one step ahead of the Fakeys to save the world? Click on image to get your copy FREE BOOK! "Author Jessica Renwick has crafted a highly engaging tale about the love of family and the true bonds of friendship. This enchanting tale offers a thrilling adventure for young readers who are sure to be entertained by this first book in the Starfell Series." - Literary Classics Book Awards & Reviews Click on image to claim your copy FREE BOOK Fellow New Zealand author Rodney Strong's book - Poker Chips and Poison - going to be FREE from 29-31 March in anticipation of the next book's release on 31 March - Hip Flask and Hanging. "If old age doesn't get her..the murderer will. 97 year old Alice Atkinson should be comfortably living out her days at the Silvermoon Retirement Village. But she's bored. A lifetime of living in the grey area between right and wrong means that winning money off her friends at poker just isn't satisfying. Then her friend is murdered, and she's the only one who thinks it's foul play. And even she has her doubts. With the help of Vanessa her newly appointed and occasionally reluctant sidekick, Alice is determined to find out the truth. One thing is for sure, Alice is going to need to dust off some old skills to come through this in one piece." Click on image to grab your copy. BOOK LAUNCH!!New Zealand author Vanessa Evetts launches her new book - Then She Roars - on the 31st of March!! Vanessa lives in Wellington and has written three novels. OUT OF THE ASHES and BEAUTIFUL FRAGMENTS were released in 2018. THEN SHE ROARS will be released in March 2020. Her books are raw, honest, heart-wrenching and beautiful. Vanessa will be giving a LIVE interview for the Underground Bookstore tomorrow night at 7.30pm (Pacific Time). You can listen to Vanessa's interview in their Facebook page here. The children's books below are also FREE until 15th of April!! Click on image to see collection The other thing we've started doing during the lockdown was to re-visit our old toys.... I was surprised by how my 10-year-old still had fun playing with the train track and magic sand - toys I had already put away... Best of all, was just watching him playing... :) So, check those boxes (I'm sure you still have them lying in the attic or rumpus room!) with toys you thought your children wouldn't play anymore! Take the time to sit down and join them in the play. Sending much love to you all. Ben's books are available from Amazon and Book Depository. You can purchase the e-books for as low as $2.99 from Amazon!!! And Book Depository is delivering worldwide for FREE!! Both retailers sell our paperback versions. Click on your preferred retailer to get Ben's books now! Ben's books not only make a great gift, but can also show a child that dreams can come true with continued dedication and hard work. Join our ARC team and receive Ben's books first! If you love reviewing and would like to receive free early copies of Ben's books, let us know! Reviews help our books get noticed and seen when people are searching on Amazon! We would love for you to review Ben's books! Contact us at: [email protected] If you have already read one of of Ben's books and enjoyed it, please leave a review on Amazon!! Leaving reviews helps Ben's books get discovered in searches and it would mean the world to us!! Click on the image below and choose a book to review!! Thank you!! A GIFT FOR YOU!!! Your FREE Weirdo We value your support and Ben would like to gift you his very first book! You can now choose your favourite e-book format. PDF, E-PUB or MOBI. Weirdo is a great read for children aged 7 and older. If you like his book, feel free to recommend it to your family and friends!! You can join us on Facebook and Instagram to follow our news and events! Spies Publishing fosters storytelling, creativity and pride. Check our introductory video below for our new service - MY FIRST BOOK - and contact us if you would like to create a book with your children's stories. Thanks for reading and following our journey,
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Happy New Year!!It's March already!! How come?!
Hope you all had an amazing time with family and friends over the holidays! (I know... it feels like ages ago now!!) The Spies family had a great time in England spending Christmas with relatives. We had some amazing sunny days (still cold though!!!) sightseeing and exploring the English countryside. It was a busy holiday, each day filled with a different adventure, but we also had time to chill out by the fire on the cold days and read some awesome books!! It's nice to be back now in New Zealand. A big welcome to our new subscribers! We have been doing some promotions for our books and we are gobsmacked by the response!! Thank you so much for joining our community of readers! In the last newsletter I talked about how we started our publishing business to nourish Ben's passion for writing and self-published his first book - Weirdo. You can read it in our blog here. Today, I would like to share a little more about his book: Weirdo is a story about a ten-year-old boy who recently lost his parents. Ugine lives by himself now. He has no friends at school and everyone thinks he is weird... Well, there are some pretty weird things he does sometimes! You can follow Ugine's journey to finding happiness in this little sweet story about friendship, courage, determination and weird adventure! Ben wrote Weirdo when he was nine years old, so the story is told in an authentic voice of a child with the emotions and experiences of a 9 year old boy. He's always loved writing and reading, particularly books with lots and lots of adventures. Ben has a very peculiar, funny sense of humour and he loves character with funny names ... but most of all, Ben loves making people laugh through his writing. You can get the e-version of Weirdo for FREE at the bottom of this email. And you can buy the paperback here. Since then Ben has written another three books with many more to come! If you would like to learn more about us, check out our website: www.spiespublishing.co.nz Ben's books are available from Amazon and Book Depository. You can purchase the e-books for as low as $2.99 from Amazon!!! And Book Depository is delivering worldwide for FREE!! Both retailers sell our paperback versions. Click on your preferred retailer to get Ben's books now! Ben's books not only make a great gift, but can also show a child that dreams can come true with continued dedication and hard work. For those of you living near Wellington, you might have heard that the iconic Underground Market is closing down!! They have to move from the current location as the building was deemed not fit for use for large events. The last day of the market will be the 14th of March. They are in the process of looking for a new venue and we do hope they find one soon!! We have been having a stall there for a while now, along with other local Wellington authors and it has been great to meet new readers and get our books known to the public. Please come and support local business if you're in the city. It's a great place to visit and find beautiful gift from local artists. Check out these FREE books for children!! Click on the image below We've also partnered with some science-fiction authors!! Check out these books on the image below for some great sci-fi reads! March Events: . We will have a pop-up bookstore along with other Wellington authors in Porirua on the 21st and 22nd of March!! Come and check these amazing books written by local authors. 10am to 4pm. 7 Serlby place, Porirua . We will also be at the Karori West Normal School Fair on that Saturday, 21st of March between 10am and 2pm. Lots of fun for the family and books for children! Join our ARC team and receive Ben's books first! If you love reviewing and would like to receive free early copies of Ben's books, let us know! Reviews help our books get noticed and seen when people are searching on Amazon! We would love for you to review Ben's books! Contact us at: [email protected] If you have already read one of of Ben's books and enjoyed it, please leave a review on Amazon!! Leaving reviews helps Ben's books get discovered in searches and it would mean the world to us!! Click on the image below and choose a book to review!! Thank you!! A GIFT FOR YOU!!! Your FREE Weirdo e-book We value your support and Ben would like to gift you his very first book! A great read for children aged 7 and older. If you like his book, feel free to recommend it to your family and friends!! You can always join us on Facebook and Instagram to follow our news and events! Spies Publishing fosters storytelling, creativity and pride. Check our introductory video below for our new service - MY FIRST BOOK - and contact us if you would like to create a book with your children's stories. Thanks for reading and following our journey, |
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