(by 8 people)
WELCOME I'm Ann Douglas -- author, mother of four, Squidoo-er. This lens provides a few basic facts about me as well as some links to my favorite online resources about writing.
Putting Fun in its Place
- READING: I read all kinds of books -- and I have a growing collection of vintage pregnancy and parenting books -- so I'm always looking for treasures at places like Abebooks.com. I also keep an eye out for books written by my great-grandfather who was also a writer. (My father and my daughter are also writers. We're a writerly bunch.)
- PLAYING SCRABBLE: I have loved this game every since I learned to play it at my parents' cottage when I was a kid. You can imagine how excited I was to discover Scrabbleous here at Squidoo.
- COTTAGING: Once you've got cottaging in your blood, you're hooked for life. My Dad still has our family cottage on Go Home Lake. And now my husband and I go cottaging with our kids on Jordan Lake (in the Haliburton Highlands). It's gorgeous. For more about cottaging, check out Cottage Life magazine. (Now you know where I got much of the inspiration for my Summer Parenting lens.)
- ART: This is a new thing for me, but I'm really getting into art -- making my own cards, turning unusual things into pieces of art (so that I can decorate my first-ever non-home-based office on the cheap), blending art and words, etc. I am loving it! These are the types of projects I find really fascinating.
- DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY: This is an even newer thing for me (yes, I just updated this module!), and now I'm addicted to Flickr. You can find me here if you want to check out some of my photos.
- ECLECTIC AND UNEXPECTED: Earlier this year, I decided to launch my own vintage shop at Etsy -- a vintage shop called Eclectic and Unexpected. It was my way of becoming part of the amazing creative community that is Etsy. I have found the experience to be nothing short of incredible. On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to interact with other people who share my passion for living creatively and making a difference with their life. Every aspect of my life has been affected in a positive way -- including my writing. If you haven't discovered Etsy yet and you love homemade or vintage goods or the supplies required to make your own one-of-a-kind creations, you're in for a treat. Just be forewarned. It's very addictive!
My Blogs
- The Mother of All Parenting Blogs
- My brand new blog at The Toronto Star's ParentCentral gets to the heart of what really matters to parents today. Expect the unexpected.
- Yahoo! Parenting by Ann Douglas
- My blog at Yahoo! Canada Lifesyle focuses on pregnancy, parenting, family, and other related issues.
- The Mother of All Blogs
- My original blog. A fun and chatty blog that features posts about pregnancy, parenting, and the writing life. I don't post here as often now that I'm blogging elsewhere on a regular basis, but this is where you'll find my link headquarters, my archives, and a lot of other valuable resources.
- Amazon Blog: Ann Douglas
- My Amazon Blog. Very bookish, as you would expect. I provide my readers with updates on pregnancy and parenting news, behind-the-scenes looks at the writing process, and other things book-related.
My Websites
Yes, I have more websites than children. (I'm a mom of four.)
- Having-a-baby.com
- This was my original website -- and it's still my biggest website in terms of content and traffic. It contains pregnancy and parenting book excerpts, articles, tip sheets, my author bio, and a list of all of my books.
- Pregnancy Library
- This website consists of some of my favorite pregnancy-related links. It also hosts a lot of tip sheets that I've created for pregnant women. (These tipsheets are widely used by childbirth educators, doulas, parent educators, and others who work with families as handouts for their clients.)
- Parenting Library
- This website is the sister site to Pregnancy Library. It's a guide to my favorite parenting-related links on the web. I also have a bunch of parenting-related tip sheets on the site.
- Summer Parenting
- This website is about the joys and challenges of parenting (or being pregnant) during the summer months. There's a related lens here at Squidoo. The Squidoo lens features some unique content, including a bunch of links to sites where you can learn all about classic summer games like "Mother May I," Simon Says," "Red Rover," and "Red Light, Green Light."
Talk, Talk, Talk
Everything I do involves talking to parents in one way or another...
...whether I'm interviewing parents for a book or for a magazine article, hanging out with parents online via one of my blogs, or getting together with a small group of parents at a book-signing, moms' group, or other informal event.Sometimes I speak to larger groups of parents and parents-to-be, at consumer parenting shows like BabyTime, BabyBoom and Baby Fair. Or I meet up with groups of parents and childbirth and postpartum professionals at conferences like DONA International, The Canadian Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, or Childbirth and Postpartum Professionals Association Canada or to selected audiences such as a group of parents-to-be at Portsmouth Regional Hospital or a particular employer who has contracted the services of LifeSpeak.
WebMD Course Textbooks
The Mother of All Books series
Sleep Solutions and Mealtime Solutions
Solutions-oriented books designed to meet the needs of this generation of parents
Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage (Mother of All Solutions)
Finally, a no-worry, no-guilt guide to sleep. Because there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all sleep solution, Sleep Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler provides you with the tools you need to come up with a customized sleep solution that takes into account your child's temperament, your parenting philosophies and the realities of your family's circumstances.
Mealtime Solutions for Your Baby, Toddler and Preschooler: The Ultimate No-Worry Approach for Each Age and Stage (Mother of All Solutions)
Finally, a no-worry, no-guilt guide to feeding your baby, toddler, and preschooler. Featuring real-world solutions, this reassuring and wisdom-packed guide gives you the lowdown on getting your child off to a healthy start nutrition-wise, introducting first foods the step-by-step, no-worry way, and setting the stage for happy mealtimes.
Trying Again: A Guide to Pregnancy After Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss
A book that is much more than just a book to me
Trying Again: A Guide to Pregnancy After Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Infant Loss
I wrote this book after experiencing the stillbirth of my daughter Laura in 1996 and a subsequent pregnancy in 1997 (which resulted in the birth of a healthy baby boy). I have done a lot of speaking and writing about stillbirth over the years.
Childcare Books
Choosing Childcare for Dummies
A comprehensive but easy-to-read guide to finding childcare for your baby, toddler, preschooler, or school-aged child. Published in 2003.
Writing Courses and Writer Mentorship
- Trent University
- I teach writing courses through the School of Continuing Education at Trent University. (My next course, Publish and Prosper, will be offered in Spring 2007.) I mentor writers through Trent University's writer mentorship program.
- Professional Writers Association of Canada
- I also mentor writers through the Professional Writers Association of Canada's writer mentorship program. Note: I am a past-president of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada (now the Professional Writers Association of Canada).
- Author Incubator: Links
- This is a list of recommended resources for writers that I put together a while back. You can find more in the sidebar of The Mother of All Blogs. For some tips on being a happy and successful author, see my lens on this topic.
Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas
A one-of-a-kind book about Canadian women/moms
Canuck Chicks and Maple Leaf Mamas: Women of the Great White North--A Celebration of Canadian Women
The ultimate estrogen-powered romp through Canadian history and pop culture. Visit Canuckchicks.com for some book excerpts and Canuck Chicks trivia. If you love vintage history -- particularly anything to do about women, motherhood, love, marriage, or growing up female, circa 1900 to the 1970s, you might want to check out my new venture at Etsy -- Eclectic and Unexpected.
Children's Books
Body Talk: The Straight Facts on Fitness, Nutrition, and Feeling Great About Yourself! (Girl Zone)
My daughter Julie and I co-wrote this book about body image for preteen girls when she was 12.
Baby Science: How Babies Really Work!
This was my very first book -- a book about "how babies really work" for preschoolers who have just become big brothers and big sisters. It was a Children's Book of the Month Club Selection. My fourth child, Ian, makes a cameo appearance on page 17. (It was the publisher's idea, not mine, I swear.
The Family Tree Detective: Cracking the Case of Your Family's Story
This is a kids' guide to genealogy. The illustrations are amazing -- truly my favorite part of the book.
Before You Were Born: The Inside Story
This is a kids' guide to prenatal development. It's the prequel to Baby Science.
Mother of All Pregnancy Books: Audio Book
The Mother of All Pregnancy Books
The narrator for my audiobook, Kate Reading, has narrated more than 200 audiobooks (including books by Judy Blume, Erma Bombeck, Sophie Kinsella, Fannie Flagg, Jane Green, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Patricia Cornwell, Louisa May Alcott, Pearl S. Buck, and Anne Rice). And she was named a Voice of the Century by AudioFile magazine. (She narrates under the names Kate Reading and Johanna Ward.)
My Article Archive
Some of the places you can find my articles online
- @ Canadianliving.com
- A mix of articles that I've written and articles (or TV promos) that feature me.
- @ Having-a-baby.com
- An article archive I created on one of my websites. It's a bit out of date, but there are links to a lot of articles that are available online.
- @ Today's Parent
- Articles I've written for Today's Parent -- a leading Canadian parenting magazine.
- @ American College of Nurse-Midwives: My Midwife.org
- Here's a sample of some of the writing I've done over the years for the American College of Nurse-Midwives. This is an article on immunization.
- @ WebMD.com
- A mix of articles, live event transcripts, book excerpts, and event promos from WebMD.com.
- @ Yahoo Parenting
- A motley assortment of articles on conception, pregnancy, parenting, women's health, etc., at Yahoo! Parenting -- part of the new Yahoo! Lifestyle Channel @ Yahoo! Canada.
Misconceptions
- Conceive Magazine
- I write the "Misconceptions" column for Conceive Magazine -- a publication which was recently named one of the Top 50 magazines by The Chicago Tribune. You'll find it on the very last page of the magazine.
My Strangest Claim to Fame
(and the thing that impresses my kids the most)
The Cheerios Play Book
(I realize this isn't a box of Cheerios, but this is the closest thing I could find at Amazon. Besides, we've gone through truckloads of Cheerios at our place playing with these Cheerios Play Books over the years. Someone in the marketing department @ Cheerios certainly had a brainwave when they came up with the idea for these books, huh?)
My Photos from Flickr
Me @ Flickr.
Cheap and Cheerful
Office Flower
Shiny, Happy Doorkno...
Window on the World
My Messy Desk
Office in Progress:...
Alphabet Window
What Would Martha Th...
Office Reception Are...
Remington Typewriter...
Office Plaque
Writing/Mom
Some of the Postcard...
Making Progress on U...
A Reno's Eye View
Let me know what you think of this lens....
And let me know where I can check out yours, particularly if you're a fellow author, book lover, etc.
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wmccave
I thought that you have a very good "about me" lens here, so I added you the the feadured lenses section of my about me lens http://www.squidoo.com/linksnmore/. Thanks for sharing some great content. Posted April 03, 2007 |
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trying
This is a very good lens. I've been thinking about doing one on myself so I'm trying to get some ideas and inspiration. Thank you. Posted March 25, 2007 |
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zuzanna
Hi, Ann, great lens! You're a very busy lady and I see that all you do is always perfect. Congratulations! Posted November 03, 2006 |
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just_Dawn
Very nicely done! I'm off to go check out your "Back to School Guide" lens next! Posted September 02, 2006 |
