Happy New Year!

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I want to wish everyone a happy, safe, joyous, and successful New Year! I wish peace, safety, and comfort to those who need it in the world. I wish courage to those who will face difficult challenges in their lives.I wish love and friendship to all.

I wish writers the discipline to keep writing and remember, do not worry about the quality of the first draft, just get it down! Happy Writing!

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Quotations on Writing

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“Write what should not be forgotten.”

                                                                        Isobel Allende

 

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“That’s what fiction is for. It’s for getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.”

                                                                       Tim O’Brien

 

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“Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.”

                                                                      Stephen King

 

 

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

 

 

The Little Match Girl

This post is deeply important.

Pen & Paper

At this time of year, I think of The Little Match Girl fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen. “It was terribly cold. It had snowed that day and it was almost dark”, begins the story of The Little Match Girl who carried with her a little box of matches to sell, but no passerby had stopped to give her even a penny as she walked along, hoping for someone to buy her matches for a penny, but no one even glanced her way.

The Little Match Girl was so terribly cold and her thin little body ached with the cold. She had no coat or shoes. Her old hand-me-down sweater was soaked through from the snow that had fallen earlier in the day.  She shivered uncontrollably as the snow started falling again. She saw a place between two houses where she could sit down and look across the street.

There…

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Resolve to Write Today

After having had an interesting discussion this morning with my wife, –thanks to  Liz!– I wanted to offer a small bit of advice to writers. Do not wait until the New Year to make a resolution to write more or be more productive; begin today! Do not wait for the demarcation of the next annum to take pen in hand or sit at the keyboard; rather, understand that your determination to write can begin any day and should be a continuing act of self-discipline.  So, my simple desire for you is to write today and everyday. Make today the beginning of a commitment to writing!

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Happy Writing!

 

Please follow the following links to find my novel:

ebook

Print book

Thank you!

The book trailer:

Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I

My radio interview:

interview

 

 

The Real Meaning of Christmas Giving- Alicia

This is a wonderful post!

A Teacher's Reflections

Alicia was my first experience in real Christmas giving, the kind that involved the whole family and money.  One hundred dollars- a fortune for a preschool teacher back in the late 80’s.  It was a Christmas gift that changed my family.  They didn’t know Alicia, although I often talked about the children in my preschool class.

Alicia came into my class with issues; she had spent much of her first year of life in a baby seat.  Her mother had special needs and never knew that holding a baby, talking with a child, and letting a baby play on the floor were important to a child’s growth.  Never mind reading-aloud or playing with toys- those activities were far away from Alicia’s world.

Her mom had a big heart.  She really wanted to do what was best for her child.  I spent as much time helping her as I did loving…

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Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

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Merry Christmas to all!  I wish you joy, peace, love, and happiness.

Fröhliche Weihnachten — in German

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Nollaig Shona Dhuit —  in Irish Gaelic

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Boldog Karácsonyt! — in Hungarian

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These are languages of my background and of my interest.

Merry Christmas!

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Happy Solstice!

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I am almost late in posting this, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Blessed Solstice–this wish goes to everyone regardless of religious beliefs or otherwise!

Also, I am one of the unusual people who loves Winter–I always feel at my best physically and mentally at this time of year. I become more energetic, and I always feel like a child with delight when it snows.

Again–Have a Happy and Blessed Solstice!

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A dog’s tale of Christmas spirit

This post is a wonderful Christmas story!

Sandysays' Weblog

As is my custom, I like to present my readers with a canine crafted Christmas story this time of year. This is a new one.

The Geezer and I wish you all a very “Merry Christmas”

I watched the dog from my apartment window. The first time I noticed him was when I was eating lunch one Saturday. It was a blustery December day, cold, dreary … the type day best served by fireplaces, sofas with blankets, hot chocolate, and football games on the TV … not being outdoors. My apartment building adjoins the park where I saw him; that park’s lively April through October, but is as still as a mortuary in the cold Midwestern winter.

The dog was by himself, his actions rather strange for he chose to sit by an isolated park bench away from the access sidewalks that criss-cross the facility. Immobile as a statue, he faced into…

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Under the Mistletoe!

This post is a wonderful discussion of the history and mythology of mistletoe and perfect for the season!

Pen & Paper

 Why do we kiss each other under bunches of the devious, toxic Mistletoe every Christmas?  Well, its a complicated story. Many mythical stories surround the Mistletoe. Its magical lore includes how the Norse god Baldur — second son of Odin, god of truth and light — who was so beloved by the other gods that they sought to protect him from all the dangers of the world, but forgot to include the mystical Mistletoe.  Loki, a jealous Druid citizen who sought to test the powers of Baldur, made a dart from the Mistletoe and murdered Baldur.  However, Baldur came back to life and Frigg, Baldur’s mother, kissed the Mistletoe for saving her son’s life and from that time forward a Mistletoe was hung at the threshold of each home to ward off evil spirits and for good luck. Overtime, people started kissing each other at the entrance to a room…

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Favorite Christmas Movies: Part 2

This movie is also one of my favorite Christmas movies!

charles french words reading and writing

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White Christmas, the 1954 film about two former soldier who turn song and dance men and who help their former commander as he attempts to run a floundering ski resort, has special meaning to me. It stars Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney and was directed by Michael Curtiz. It features the songs of Irving Berlin.  As a major piece of American film history, that would be enough to be of interest to me, but it has a much more profound connection.

My parents were both of “the greatest generation,” which is a description with which I agree. They were born and raised during the depression and were part of the multitudes of America who fought and supported World War II. My father was a Marine, and my mother worked in the Signal Corps.  This group of Americans had a toughness that was forged in the fire of…

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