Paula Hrbacek
Christian fiction and craft projects
Stars Shine After Dark
Day Camp in Hawaii
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Librarians and Bookstores
On Higher Ground
Magazines and newspapers are free to reprint the following press release materials. Amazon offers a "look inside" function that allows a reporter to take a peek inside the book, see the table of contents, and sample the activities. Please let me know if I can assist a review or article by using the email button below.
New book offers program activities for summer camp or summer school.
When school lets out for summer there will be a variety of programs for youth to keep them busy during the summer months. The directors of these programs will be interested in a new book, Day Camp in Hawaii. This book offers a summer camp program for elementary age students that can be used by any youth group, camp or summer school program.
"When I was in charge of Cub Scout Day Camp, I thought the best part of the job was coming up with all the activities, games, crafts and songs needed for the program," the author, Paula Hrbacek said. "Later, I worked for Campfire and the YMCA doing after school and summer programs. They used a theme for each week of camp, too. Even though they were different programs, they still used games, songs and skits."
It was difficult for Hrbacek to find enough activities for a week of camp using a tropical theme. Instead, she wrote her own activities such as the deaf sign language hula dance. She rewrote the song "Tiny Bubbles (in the wine)" and turned it into "Mighty Cub Scouts in a line." It meets the Cub Scout requirement for using sign language, but if the name of the organization is changed, it could also be used to meet Girl Scout requirements for dancing and singing as well.
Writing her own activities was the easy way to come up with an original and fun program. Hrbacek majored in journalism and art at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She's the author of three arts and crafts books and one novel.
Currently, she writes about children's arts and crafts for the Panama City edition of The Examiner, a free online newspaper.
In addition to her publishing credits in Highlights, Pack-o-Fun and other magazines, she has a degree in elementary education from Pensacola Junior College and experience teaching art in a Catholic school.
A stay-at-home mother of four, Hrbacek has fifteen years experience leading Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts. She received the District Award of Merit from Boy Scouts for her work on the Cub Scout Summer Day Camp Program. She was also given the
Girl Scout Outstanding Volunteer Award for her work with Juniors, Cadettes and Senior Scouts.
"I did a similar event for Girl Scouts at Cluster Camp," Hrbacek says. "Many of the activities in this book can be used for that program, too. Other leaders came up to me and asked where I found all the ideas we were using, so I tried to make the book meet as many program requirements as I could, and make it adaptable to as many situations as I could. It isn't just for day camp; it can be used at family camp, a church outing, Webelos overnighter, Cluster events, a Mom and Me sleepover, or even just a troop or pack's campout for a weekend."
"The attendance record is a brilliant idea," said Roy Smith, the air rifle instructor at the camp. "She saved herself a lot of paperwork with that one."
Shannon Drake-Bleakney, a Cub Scout Day Camp Director in Indiana said "I was very impressed by your Day Camp In Hawaii ebook."
Day Camp in Hawaii has everything a summer program needs; games, sports, crafts, art projects, Hawaiian lore and trivia facts, geology, skits, songs, guest speaker suggestions, first aid, CPR, tourism, music and dance. It also includes money saving tips, time savers, and organization and management tips. Every activity has an introduction that is educational, and a closing thought that reinforces a basic value, such as honesty, hard work, and friendship.
The activities are grouped into two age levels. Lower level activities are for grades K to 3. Upper level activities are for grades 4 to 6.
"This is a great book," commented Laurie Flynn, an artist in Pensacola FL. "There are a lot of great ideas in here. It gives a
leader a lot of choices."
Campers who participated in these activities when Hrbacek ran it as a camp program said it was "awesome" and "the best camp ever." Leaders commented the program was "well organized" and "easy to do".
Day Camp in Hawaii is available from Amazon and Barnes & Nobel as a paperback, Nook or Kindle. Bookstores can order in
quantity from Create Space.
Published by Create Space
Book store discounts and bulk orders:
Individual copies available at Amazon and Barnes & Nobel
http://www.amazon.com/Day-Camp-in-Hawaii-ebook/dp/B003NE6FZE
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Day-Camp-in-Hawaii?keyword=Day+Camp+in+Hawaii&store=book
Paperback, Nook and Kindle editions
132 pages, 8 ½ x 11
A press release is available here http://www.filespdf.com/New-book-offers-fun-and-educational-activities-for-grades-16.htm However, the headline should read grades one to six, not sixteen.
A press release is
available here http://www.filespdf.com/Stars-Shine-After-Dark-is-a-sweet-love-story-about-dealing-with-change-and-pressure.htm
A press release for On Higher Ground is located at http://www.pr.com/press-release/516389">"On Higher Ground" Highlights Pensacola Landmarks.
On Higher Ground highlights Pensacola landmarks
Pensacola FL—Author Paula Hrbacek is pleased to announce the release of her new Christian romance novel, "On Higher Ground". Set in Pensacola FL, the novel highlights several local landmarks such as the clamshell at Quietwater Beach, Rosie O'Grady's Bar and Grill and Casino Beach.
"People from Pensacola will have to take the locations with a grain of salt," cautions the author. "It takes a long time to put a novel together. The city was going through a lot of changes while I was working on it. First, I had the main
character working at University Mall, and then they tore that down. Then I had her living near the sewer plant, and they turned that into a baseball field. For their first date I chose Hunan's, and that restaurant went out of business. After a while, I thought, well, at least I'm safe with the Blue Angels show. No one in their right mind is going to mess with that."
"On Higher Ground" is a sweet romance about finding the courage to change.
Melanie Worlds has run out of luck; no job, no friends, no future. Desperately wanting to replace the middleclass life she once knew up on "the Hill", her faith is being tested to the limits. JT, her newest friend, is up to something, but Melanie isn't sure what it is. And then Brad, her high school crush, comes back to town. She can't let him know how bad it is, or he'll lose all respect for her. And, to make matters worse, someone is trying to break into her apartment.
None of her prayers are getting answered, and she feels all alone. But she's not. Two guardian angels have been assigned to help these three humans. The angels know God's plan, and it's going to take everything they've got to pull it off.
To battle temptation, the angels will need to instill courage; courage to dare, courage to dream, and most of all, courage to love one another.
People who have read the manuscript have this to say.
"A stunning story of angels, wonder and redemption. Prepare to be amazed." Duffy Brown, author of
"Iced Chiffon" and "Killer in Crinolines"
"This is a novel with a lot of heart and soul. But it's also a very grounded one, thanks to the vivid, sometimes gritty
details that Paula Hrbacek weaves into the narrative. So many spiritual novels aren't, and the characters end up being
mouthpieces for the author's beliefs. That doesn't happen with "On Higher Ground". Hrbacek gets her message across without ever losing sight of the story itself or making her characters into cardboard cut-outs. The main characters --
Melanie, J. T., and Brad -- are fully fleshed out. We see them -- faulty lines, good intentions, and all -- and we care
about what happens to them." -- T. J. Banks, author of "Sketch People: Stories Along the Way".
Paula Hrbacek is the author of "Stars Shine After Dark" and four non-fiction craft books. She won first place in an international writing contest sponsored by Echoes of The Right to God in 2011. She majored in journalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and writes two newspaper columns for The Examiner, an online newspaper.
"On Higher Ground" is available in paperback, Kindle and Nook from Amazon and B&N.
Size 5x8
Kindle version:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F2RSBQG
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=9781492197300
Author website: http://paulahrbacek.weebly.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PHrbacek
Linked In: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=104609576&trk=tab_pro
Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Hrbacek/199054570166688
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/paulahrbacek
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