Friends

Happy Family Raves about Their Danny the Dragon Set

 Danny the Dragon fans are the best! Hearing from them lights up my day like nothing else! Recently a family purchased the Danny the Dragon set (the Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy softcover book and Danny the Dragon DREAMS CD). The mother, Chantelle, wrote in to tell me how happy her son Rohan was with his set, and she even sent me PICTURES!  “We have one VERY EXCITED little boy!! :)” Chantelle wrote, “He absolutely loved waking up to a package on Saturday morning.” The Danny the Dragon set that Rohan is posing with in these pictures is available for …

Books, CD, Children's Author, Children's Book, Danny the Dragon CD, Friends, moms
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My Book Review Featured on Nikki’s Hurricane Adventure Website

    As you can imagine, as a children’s author, I do a lot of reading and love to pass on to Danny the Dragon fans my children’s literature recommendations.     You’ve probably heard me talking about the illustrated kids book by Kevin and Laura Sanchez, Nikki’s Hurricane Adventure, and the amazing true story behind it. If not, here’s a refresher: Nikki the cat was separated from her family in 2008 during an evacuation for Hurricane Gustav 85 miles from home, and she found her way back 4 months later! Her owners Kevin and Laura later wrote down their imagined adventures …

Books, Books-suggested by Tina, Children's Author, Children's Book, Childrens' Literature, Friends
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Tina Sends a THANK YOU to All of You

Dear Friends, I’m sending this out to say THANK YOU to all of you for your continued support – it’s a tremendous help and been quite an avenue to meet such nice people. I love reading all of your communications too. A special thanks to many of you for calling and sending in the many questions for the past near two years of radio shows, your suggestions, your invaluable feedback, your questions and for listening in on the various shows. I have been on a 4-month break from the radio shows and interviews I was accepting, enabling me to focus …

Acts of Kindness, Children's Author, Friends
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The Negative Health Influence of Loneliness: The Importance of Friendship

     In studying women’s health issues and meeting women in my work, it’s clear that loneliness is not only not fun, but it’s actually unhealthy. Researchers have recently asked if people who are alone are at greater risk of dying, and studies are showing that they are—if they feel lonely.      Recent studies are confirming the negative health indicators associated with loneliness. One study found that drug use among young people was higher among those who said they were lonely. Older lonely people tended to have higher blood pressure and poorer sleep quality and were found to be more tense and …

Children's Author, Children's Health, Friends, Research, women
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What to Look for in Healthy Friendships

What should you look for in a good friend whose companionship will bring health and happiness to you instead of just raising your blood pressure? There are a few things you should ask yourself before befriending someone. First of all, make sure to choose a friend who has positive things to say to you. Every once in a while, a good friend may need to tell you something that might be tough to hear—“hard truths”—but these remarks should be very infrequent and you should generally walk away after spending time with them feeling better about yourself. Also, look for friends …

Children's Author, Children's Health, Friends, moms, parenting, Research, women
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Health Benefits of Choosing Good Friends

     An author, researcher, and humanitarian, not only have I come across the benefits of friendship in my work, but I’ve experienced them personally. It’s important to be aware of other research which suggests that one should be careful to select positive friends, as the stress that comes from bad friends can negate the health benefits of having their friendship.      Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, has found that dealing with people who arouse conflicted feelings in us can raise blood pressure more than dealing with people we don’t like. Participants were hooked …

Advice, Children's Book, Friends, women
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More Studies Support Health Benefits of Friendship

      Other research suggests the health benefits of social support. One study, published in the journal Cancer, followed 61 women with advanced ovarian cancer. The women with lots of social support had much lower levels of a protein linked to more aggressive types of cancer, and higher levels of a protein that boosted the effectiveness of chemotherapy.      In 1989, David Spiegel, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University, published an influential paper in Lancet, showing that women with breast cancer who participated in a support group lived twice as long as those who didn’t and reported much less …

Children's Author, Children's Health, Friends, Helpful Tips, moms, parenting, women
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Danny the Dragon Supports “The Cure”

A lovely response to a donation of my Danny the Dragon materials to a cause that I support dearly. Tina       I came across a review for Tina Turbin‘s book Danny The Dragon “Meets Jimmy” on my friend’s blog.  Because I have a child her son’s age and a child a bit younger, and because I trust her opinion on books that we will enjoy, I did not hesitate to order a copy of the book and audio CD for my own children.  I have two kids, ages 4 and 2, who are bookophiles and I know they …

Books, Children's Author, Children's Book, Contributions, Events, Friends, humanitarian, women
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Health Benefits of Choosing Good Friends

     An author, researcher, and humanitarian, not only have I come across the benefits of friendship in my work, but I’ve experienced them personally. It’s important to be aware of other research which suggests that one should be careful to select positive friends, as the stress that comes from bad friends can negate the health benefits of having their friendship.      Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, has found that dealing with people who arouse conflicted feelings in us can raise blood pressure more than dealing with people we don’t like. Participants were hooked …

Advice, Children's Author, Friends, moms, women
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Study Shows Friendship May Lengthen Life

     Having friends certainly makes you feel good. Now studies are showing that they may in fact be good for you! According to a recent Australian study, there’s evidence that friends may actually help your life last longer.     The study, which was conducted by the Centre for Ageing Studies at Flinders University, followed about 1500 older people for 10 years and found that those with a large network of friends were outliving those with the fewest friends by 22 percent. By contrast, close relationships with children and relatives had almost no effect on longevity. Lynne C. Giles, one of the …

Advice, Children's Author, Friends, moms
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