OUR BIG FINISH!!!!! (It's Christmas Eve!)

FROM ALL OF US IZZIES. . .

AND FROM DEEDY J, TOO. . .

 

HERE'S WISHING THE MERRIEST 

CHRISTMAS. . .

 TO YOU!!

Christmas Countdown #12: Only 1 Day to Go!!!

We Izzy Elves are sorry, but time is getting so short until Christmas Eve that we are once again forced to use an old verse from our book trailer for grownups. (If you want to watch the whole thing, follow the link to my website and click on the "book trailers" tab.) Here is the verse:

Our antics are funny and all in a rhyme
We guarantee you will all have a good time!
We’re twenty-first century elves, you will see,
Including our boss, whom we all call S.C.

Christmas Countdown #11: OK OK, we're bragging a bit here!

Jingle bells, jingle bells jingle all the way.
Oh what fun it is to read our Izzy books each day.
How you'll smile! How you'll laugh! Every girl and boy!
You will find our stories overflow with Christmas joy!

CC #10 (Don't let Bizzy read this!)

Bizzy thinks he is Santa's Right Hand Man and tries to boss around the rest of us Izzy Elves. To find out if his bossiness works, read on:


Bizzy thinks we should do what he tells us, exactly
But we Izzies ignore all his orders, in fact we
Most often do just as we like, even so
We do it in secret so he doesn't know!

Ho Ho Ho Video #4: Frizzy

So we Izzies are still fooling around with our blogsite using the new fun tool that we found.  This.

We figured out that this means we can upload videos RIGHT ON OUR BLOG!!  The only hitch is that said video will not show up on mobile devices. We asked Bizzy, who considers himself an expert on the internet, just why this is.  He hemmed and hawed and said it was Just Another  Mystery. (Here is the link to YouTube so you can watch it if it doesn't show up below: Frizzy Trailer on YouTube.)

Christmas Countdown #9: Quizzy

Our Quizzy wears eyeglasses shaped like a “Q.”

(She needs them to see what she makes, it is true.)

But her brain is much sharper by far than her sight

And turns out new puzzles and games that delight!

Christmas Countdown #8: Fizzy's Work Challenges

Fizzy makes toys that surprise, and it's tough

To build in the secrets that thrill kids enough.

"Kids today," she explains, "know a little too much,

To be truly surprised by hand-buzzers and such!"

Countdown Verse #7: Whizzy!

Here's a verse for dear Whizzy. He is the elf who accidentally trapped his friend inside a bookcase that was delivered by Santa Claus in Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf.

We hope you are enjoying our little poetic countdown to Christmas Eve.

Only six more days (and nights, actually) to get all our work done! Yikes.

Whizzy, who rushes around, must keep hurrying,

To "keep up" for him means unending elf-scurrying.

For he paper-wraps toys that the other elves make,

And bow-ties the presents that Santa will take.

IN CASE YOU FORGOT: AUDIOBOOK GIVEAWAY!

Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) told us she is going to give away 20 free downloads of the Audible audiobook of Frizzy, the S.A.D. Elf on Christmas Eve. She plans to make a random selection from those who sign up to receive her newsletter.  There is a link to do this at the top of the column on the right, but we'll put it on this page, too.

Deedy's Newsletter Signup

Here's a sample of this audiobook,
 to whet your appetite for Christmas fun.

Frizzy's Audiobook Excerpt

Sign up soon for this giveaway. Drawing will be done on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Countdown #6

Here's our latest verse for counting down to Christmas Eve. We must admit we filched it from our book trailer, but you must understand we are VERY BUSY up here in the Izzy Elf Section of the North Pole right now. We figured a shortcut might be OK. Once.

As the holiday season arrives at your places

Put smiles of delight on your progeny’s faces.

Just open our stories and read them aloud

They’re perfect for pleasing your family crowd!

* * *

Having posted the above, we might as well post the whole trailer.  Here it is. (If it doesn't show up on your mobile device, just follow this Izzy Elves Trailer link to watch it.)

 

Ho Ho Ho! Video #3

 Here is the book trailer for Dizzy, the Stowaway Elf.

(For some reason, this video doesn't show up on mobile devices. To watch, follow this link: Dizzy on YouTube)

 

Ho Ho Ho! Video #2

Here's the book trailer video for Blizzy, the Worrywart Elf. (Note: the video doesn't seem to show up on mobile devices.  Sorry about that! If you want to watch it, here's a link: Blizzy on YouTube).

(We're having such fun posting these on our IzzyElfBlog since we discovered the symbol below on the blog site!)  Love, the Izzy Elves

Ho Ho Ho! Video!

We Izzy Elves were nosing about this blog site and spotted the tiny little symbol shown above.  We were intrigued.  What could it mean?

We finally asked Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) who explained that it is a thingy used in filmmaking. (She should know, because her son, "Hawk", is a filmmaker.) She looked at it and figured out that it meant we can now post VIDEOS right here on our IzzyElfBlog.

Very Exciting!

So starting today, we are posting the "trailers" for all our stories.

Here's the first, for Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf.  Woo hoo! (Please note, the video doesn't seem to show up on mobile devices. Sorry about that!  If you want to watch it, follow this link:  Tizzy on YouTube)

Christmas Countdown #5

Today's Countdown verse is about Blizzy. 

Blizzy makes snowglobes with North Poles inside
That, when shaken up, contain snowflakes that glide.
She says they give children of all earthly lands
A bit of "White Christmas" to hold in their hands.

Elf Celebration!

We Izzy Elves are "over the moon" because our view counter clicked over yesterday to 20,000 views of this very blog! We were so thrilled, we even took a picture of it! Feast your eyes on this:

Isn't that beautiful???

This was so exciting that we decided to have an Elf Celebration just like the one we have on Christmas Day.

We are so grateful to all of you out there who helped us reach this big number!

We just wish we knew who you are. 

Please, please, please sign up for Deedy's (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) newsletter so we can say "thank you" personally!

Here's the magic link to do this:

Deedy's Newletter Signup



(And don't forget, Deedy will be doing a drawing on Christmas Eve from the pool of subscribers to select those who will receive a free download of the Frizzy audiobook!)

Love,

Bizzy
Blizzy
Dizzy
Fizzy
Frizzy
Tizzy
Quizzy
& Whizzy

Rhyming Countdown #4

For those of you who don't know, Tizzy picks out books for children.

As Frizzy tells Blizzy in Blizzy, the Worrywart Elf:

“Well, don’t forget, Blizz, that’s his job,” Frizzy smiled.
“Selecting the perfect Giftbooks for each child
For Santa to bring in his sleigh Christmas Eve.
To correctly select is hard work, I believe.”

Anyway, here is our Countdown Verse #4:

Only nine days remain until we are all done
And Tizzy is surely the busiest one.
For he has to do all his work in his head:
With thousands and thousands of books to be read!

(But he does love doing it!)

Christmas Countdown in Verse #3

Today we will focus on Frizzy a bit
Her new girl-type trucks seem to be a huge hit.
So now she is madly a-working away
To ready them all to arrive Christmas Day!

Christmas Eve Countdown: #2

You might have noticed that the first of our "advent" calendar poems we published yesterday was one day short of a regular advent calendar. That's because we Izzies are all about The Deadline, which for us is Christmas Eve. That is when we all stop working, help Santa load up the sleigh, and start celebrating.

This is not to say that we consider Christmas Day in any way unimportant!  No sirree! Christmas Day is what gives all of us our purpose in life.

Having said that, back to the Christmas Eve Countdown!  (Here's one about Blizzy!)


* * *

We are all quite amused to watch Blizzy the elf

Hang mistletoe bunches up all by herself.

And she's hung up so many that she cannot miss:

Her Tizzy will give her a mistletoe kiss!

#1 Counting down to Christmas in rhyme!

 We Izzies have decided to make a rhyming advent calendar to celebrate the season.

(You'd think we'd be too busy to fool around with this, but even elves have to take work breaks, you know!)

 Here's our first little effort:

‘Tis twelve days til Christmas and at the North Pole

We Izzies are working away, with one goal:

To make the right gifts for each child on the list.

(We want to make sure not a one has been missed.)

S.C. has examined each one of your letters

And scanned the web wishlists of online go-getters.

So our task is quite huge, and time’s wasting away.

We’d better get busy and fill Santa’s sleigh!

Much love,

Santa’s Izzy Elves

Another Giveaway!

Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) told us she is going to give away 20 free downloads of the Audible audiobook of Frizzy, the S.A.D. Elf.  She plans to make a random selection from those who sign up to receive her newsletter.  There is a link to do this at the top of the column on the right, but we'll put it on this page, too.

Deedy's Newsletter Signup

Here's a sample of this audiobook, to whet your appetite for Christmas fun.

Frizzy's Audiobook Excerpt

Sign up for the newsletter soon, so you will be part of the pool for this giveaway!

Drawing will be done just before Christmas.

Good luck!

Love,

The Izzy Elves

A real life boy talks about his ride in Santa's sleigh!

As some of you may know, several of our Izzy Elf adventures have included some of Deedy's (Dorothea Jensen to you) grandsons. Her oldest grandson, Stuart, (also known as the Senior Cousin) and his little brother, Drake, "star" in Dizzy's story (along with Dizzy himself, of course, not to mention Santa Claus).

Recently, Deedy interviewed Stuart about Dizzy, the Stowaway Elf, in which he, Drake, and Dizzy take a wild ride in Santa's sleigh.




Here is the magic link to watch this!

Deedy's Grandson Guest Blogging 





Enjoy!

Love,

The Izzy Elves

Tizzy is Happy Now!

So Tizzy, who had mixed feelings about his story being given away for free, is now feeling much better. When he saw that hundreds and hundreds of people had downloaded Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf during the recent giveaway, he actually felt PROUD!

He would like to thank everyone who did this. However, he does have a request.  Here it is:

PLEASE READ MY STORY ALOUD. EVEN IF THERE IS NO ONE TO HEAR IT BUT YOU!

We all agree with this.  All of our stories were written to be read aloud, which maximizes the fun.

Don't forget, if you don't want to read it aloud yourself, Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) has made audio versions that you can play.

Here are the Magic Links:

 Tizzy Audiobook Download from Audible.com

 Tizzy Audiobook CD

Blizzy Audiobook Download from Audible.com

Blizzy Audiobook CD

 Dizzy Audiobook Download from Audible.com

Dizzy Audiobook CD

Frizzy Audiobook Download from Audible.com

Frizzy Audiobook CD
















Enjoy!

Love,

Quizzy, Bizzy, Fizzy, Whizzy, Tizzy, Blizzy, Dizzy, &  Frizzy

GIVEAWAY DAY #3: FYI - We Have No Connection Whatsoever with Elf on the Shelf!

This is day three of the Kindle giveaway of Tizzy's story, Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf. Here's the Magic Link:

Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf, Santa's Izzy Elves #1
 
  It suddenly occurred to us Izzy Elves, however, that some of you might think this book has something to do with the Elf on the Shelf stuff.

We hasten to assure you that it does not. Yes, there are some shelves involved. Tizzy story is about how he was packed away inside a bookcase by mistake (by Whizzy, as it turns out) and ended up stranded in the living room of two naughty little boys. (They have to figure out how to help him get home to the Pole by using the power of their own imaginations.)

However, we would like to assure you that Tizzy and the rest other of us Izzy Elves would never SPY on any children and rat them out to Santa Claus!

In fact, in the original version of Blizzy, the Worrywart Elf, Bizzy talks about this (and obviously disappoves of it):

I’ve heard that some other elves spy on bad kids
But that’s way too creepy—that Santa forbids!

In the interest of Full Disclosure, we must tell you that Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) wrote Tizzy's story down many years ago, she did, in fact, call it The Elf on the Shelf.  By the time it was published, however, she found that someone else had used that title.  To avoid confusion, she re-named it Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf.

Therefore, a few people might be disappointed when they read this because nobody is a spy, but most are delighted!

And now you can find out what your reaction would be for free!

Here's the Magic Link again:

Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf, Santa's Izzy Elves #1

Love,
Santa's Izzy Elves


 Whizzy         Bizzy

 

 Dizzy            Tizzy

 Blizzy            Fizzy

 

 Frizzy            Quizzy

GIVEAWAY Day #2!

This is the second day of the GIVEAWAY of the Kindle edition of TIZZY, THE CHRISTMAS SHELF ELF, the first of the stories about us, Santa's Izzy Elves.

Get yours today!  Here's the link:

Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf, Santa's Izzy Elves #1
 

Here is one of our favorite reviews of this story, by Rene@MotherDaughterBookReviews.com.

Tizzy, The Christmas Shelf Elf is a lovely rhyming book begging to be read aloud in the tradition of the classic poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas”, more commonly known as “Twas The Night Before Christmas” penned by Clement Clarke Moore. In this version, “Twas the morning of Christmas and way before dawn…” and two brothers, Alex and Owen, tiptoe down the stairs to get a sneak peek at their presents. While they desperately are hoping for video games, they are disheartened to discover that they instead were gifted … books! *gasp*

They are even more surprised to discover a tiny elf, Tizzy – one of S.C.’s (i.e., Santa Claus) elves – who was accidentally packed into a present. Alex and Owen try a number of ways to return Tizzy to his home, but they soon discover that there is magic deep within the pages of books. The boys must hurry though, as they hear their parents coming down the stairs, and they are about to unknowingly place Tizzy in grave danger.

What I love the most about Tizzy, The Christmas Shelf Elf is that it is a true “read-aloud” story. While the book is indeed illustrated beautifully by Michelle Alfonso. I think children will be totally captivated by the story. There are some funny passages such as when the boys mistake Tizzy for a mouse and Tizzy gets chased by characters in the video game. The author also provides some tension to the story such as when the parents throw the packing fluff into the fire and the boys are afraid that this spells the end for Tizzy. All in all, this rhyming book is perfect for reading aloud to children of varying ages. . .

My Bottom Line:

Tizzy, The Christmas Shelf Elf is a clever read-aloud story featuring two excited siblings who sneak down early Christmas morning and discover a very special surprise. Only through their discovery of the magic of books do they find a way to send Tizzy back home. Kudos to the author for highlighting the importance of books! I recommend this book to be read aloud to children ages 5 and older.

* * *

Please DO NOT  forget that this story needs to be read aloud! (That's the fun part.)

Much love,

The Izzies

GET A FREE KINDLE COPY OF TIZZY'S STORY: GIVEAWAY STARTS TODAY!

We Izzy Elves are not QUITE sure why, but starting today, Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) is giving away Kindle e-books of our Tizzy's story FOR FREE!

Here's the magic link:

TIZZY, THE CHRISTMAS SHELF ELF

Tizzy has mixed feelings about this, to say the least.  He wonders why the other three stories, Blizzy, the Worrywart Elf; Dizzy, the Stowaway Elf; and Frizzy, the S.A.D. Elf, are not free, too.

He worries that Somebody thinks his story isn't worth anything. We explained that whenever Somebody gives a book away as a gift, that means Somebody thinks it is EXTRA valuable.

We also told him that his story will only be given away as a gift until Monday. After that people will have to pay to buy it again. That made him feel better.  We think.

Of course, his story is also on Kindle Select for awhile, so some people will be able to read it for free, but the rest of us Izzies decided not to tell Tizzy that until we know how to explain it better.

Anyway, here is the magic link again.  Just in case.

TIZZY, THE CHRISTMAS SHELF ELF


Love,

Blizzy, Dizzy, Frizzy, Quizzy, Whizzy, Fizzy, and Bizzy

(Yes, we know that we didn't include Tizzy in our sign-off. That's because he doesn't know about this post. Shhh!)

Okay, Okay. Even We Izzies are Impressed! 10K Hits on Bublish!

 Deedy (Dorothea Jensen to you) sent this to us, and we think it is big enough news that we agreed to put it on our blog.

After all, some of these Bubbles are apparently about us Izzies.

That's probably why people like to read 'em!

Love,

The Izzy Elves

********
So I hate to be a braggart, but take a look at this number:

This is the total - as of late today - number of "hits" on my Bublish account, that I began writing in late July. I have no idea who the people are who read my "Bubbles", or why they like to read them, but I would like to say "thanks" to all of you who have done so.

I have been having a wonderful time writing "background information" and "author insights" on Bublish for a couple of my Izzy Elf stories, as well as for my classic historical novel, The Riddle of Penncroft Farm. (I am SO looking forward to writing about my new historical novel for young readers, A Buss from Lafayette, which is coming out April 22, 2016.)

I really had no idea how to do this when I started Bublishing exactly four months ago.  I found, however, that it was terrific fun to revisit my stories, sometimes many years after writing them (30+ years, in the case of Riddle). I can't believe how easily I recall how I came up with ideas. Especially at my age.

In any case, I ended up simply writing stuff to entertain myself.

I am delighted that my Bubbling is apparently entertaining for others as well.

Here's the link if anyone out there might like to take a peek at my Bublish stuff.

My Bublish Account

Hope you like it!

Cheers,

Dorothea Jensen

Bubbling Us Izzies

We Izzy Elves have been getting quite annoyed with Deedy (Dorothea Jensen to you) because she has focused all her attention lately on her Other Kind of Writing: historical fiction.  (Some new book called A Buss from Lafayette.)

Finally, we all signed a petition asking her to pay some attention to us. She pointed out that she has been paying SOME attention to us by creating Bubbles about our stories.

Hmmm.

"Just what are Bubbles?" we asked, not quite ready to forgive her.

She told us they were little insights she writes on a website called Bublish.com explaining why she wrote down what she did about some of our stories.  (Here's where you can see these Bubbles.)

Of course, at first, we all thought WE should be the ones writing these Bubbles, as it sounded like it might be fun.

She squashed that idea, unfortunately. So, once again, we have to rely on her to write down the truth about us Izzies and what we told her to write in our stories.

Tizzy and Blizzy, by the way, noticed that their stories are NOT on Bublish. 

Maybe we need to do another petition.

Love,

The Izzy Elves

GIVEAWAY!!!! Free Kindle download of TIZZY, THE CHRISTMAS SHELF ELF 11/24-30!

The Kindle edition of Deedy's (that Dorothea Jensen to you) first Izzy Elf story, Tizzy, the Christmas Shelf Elf, will be available for FREE beginning Thanksgiving day and ending Monday, November 30. Just follow the link below on those days and start your holiday season with our Tizzy's adventures!

Free download of TIZZY, THE CHRISTMAS SHELF ELF

Ok, Ok. Maybe we Izzies ARE making a habit of this. . .

Once again Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) has asked us to post something she wrote for Her Other Blog about her Other Writing, and we caved.

She pointed out that she also talks about us Izzies in this post.  (Which is WHY we caved.) We did insist that she add a couple of OUR book covers to the post. (We told her it was the VERY LEAST she could do! Considering.)

Love,

The Izzies

(Deedy's post is below.)

* * *

Take a gander at this lovely number! That's the number of times people have read one of my "author insights" (called "bubbles") since I started writing them on my Bublish.com author page in late July.  
(https://www.bublish.com/author/view/5755)

I've been having great fun re-visiting books I've written, both recent and not-so-recent, and reminiscing about how I came up with ideas for these stories.

In the case of The Riddle of Penncroft Farm, this means remembering bits from many years ago, as  I started writing that story in the early 80s!  I am amazed to find that when I read it now, I still recall why I put certain things into Riddle, and where many of my ideas originated. 

Sometimes, I make a Bubble that simply directs readers to other sites to see pictures of objects mentioned in the story (stake-and-rider fences, pudding caps, riddles, etc.), to watch a book trailer, or video blog, or to hear a song that is sung by a character in the book.

I have also been writing bits about two of my four Izzy Elf books, Dizzy, the Stowaway Elf, and Frizzy, the S.A.D. Elf. (FYI: a fifth is in the works, Bizzy, the Know-It-All Elf.) Of course, these are fantasy story poems, so it's harder to refer readers to places where they can see the imagined items mentioned in these stories, such as Virtual Reins, Elfascopes etc. However, I do direct readers to sites where they can watch book trailers, video blogs etc. 

 I guess anyone who wants to see these interesting elfin devices will just have to buy the Santa's Izzy Elves books. (Now there's a thought!)

As you might suspect from the devices cited above, the Izzy Elves (and Santa himself) are quite 21st century in the way they approach their age old tasks.

Anyway, you are cordially invited to visit my Bublish page to join in the fun.  (https://www.bublish.com/author/view/5755)

P.S. I can hardly wait to start writing "insights" about my new historical novel for young readers,  A Buss From Lafayette. I've got a manuscript all marked up ready to go, but I can't post anything until the book is 100% finalized. With any luck, that will happen in about a month. Stay tuned!

As a Special Favor to Deedy (but we don't want to make a habit of this)

Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) has asked us to post something from her Other Blog that pertains to her Other Kind of Writing.

We took a vote and decided to allow this. We're hoping that if we do her this favor, she'll start paying us more attention.  After all, Bizzy, Quizzy, Fizzy, and Whizzy still need to have their stories told!

Love,
The Izzy Elves

* * *

Big News! A BUSS FROM LAFAYETTE is available for pre-order!

Woo hoo!

My new historical novel for young readers, A Buss from Lafayette,  can now be pre-ordered.

It will be released on April 22, 2016.

Here's the link from the publisher, BQB, where it can be purchased at a discount at this time.  Eventually there will also be pre-order/order links on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Books,  iBooks, and Kobo.  Buss will also be available from Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

Preorder Link for A BUSS FROM LAFAYETTE


Hooray!

The Origin of the Izzies

We keep asking Deedy (that's Dorothea Jensen to you) where we came from.  We think she knows but she doesn't tell us much. However, we discovered this on her Other Blog. Hmmm.  We're not sure what it all means, but I guess we popped into her head some time ago.

Love,

The Izzies

Dorothea Jensen Video Blog #5: Elf Origin