A Few Quotations on Reading

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“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

                                                                   Confucius

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“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

                                                                    Frederick Douglass

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“There are many little ways to enlarge your child’s world. Love of books is the best of all.”

                                                          Jacqueline Kennedy

Remember to keep reading!

 

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

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

 

Available on Amazon

Promote Yourself Monday July 29, 2019

Here is a wonderful opportunity from Go Dog Go Cafe!

Go Dog Go Café

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe readers, guest writers, and baristas are invited to postonelink to one specific post (600 words or less please!) from yourblog into the comments section below.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

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Oppose Racism

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No matter the political party to which you might belong, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, racism is completely unacceptable in the United States of America.

Donald Trump, who has a history of racist tweets and behavior recently attacked Congressman Elijah Cummings in a way that can only be racist. “As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place” (Donald Trump July 27, 2019).  Anyone who is familiar with racist terminology can see this for what it is, and this bigotry must be opposed. If you have any doubt, look at the support Trump receives from people like David Duke and the alt-right.

The Baltimore Sun, in its op-ed piece, wrote a blistering rebuttal of Trump. “It’s not hard to see what’s going on here. The congressman has been a thorn in this president’s side, and Mr. Trump sees attacking African American members of Congress as good politics, as it both warms the cockles of the white supremacists who love him and causes so many of the thoughtful people who don’t to scream . . . Finally, while we would not sink to name-calling in the Trumpian manner — or ruefully point out that he failed to spell the congressman’s name correctly (it’s Cummings, not Cumming) — we would tell the most dishonest man to ever occupy the Oval Office, the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women’s private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and the guy who insisted there are “good people” among murderous neo-Nazis that he’s still not fooling most Americans into believing he’s even slightly competent in his current post. Or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one” (https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0728-trump-baltimore-20190727-k6ac4yvnpvcczlaexdfglifada-story.html).

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Martin Luther King Jr. said “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” This must be a time to speak out.

All writers must speak out. Racism is never acceptable, and it must not be allowed to be spoken in the name of the United States Of America.

Writing Grows in Fits and Starts!

Here is an important post on belief in one’s abilities in writing by Karen DeMers Dowdall!

Pen & Paper

So often I hear people say, “oh, I can’t do that” and I say “ why not?” Believing in you and what you can be, what you can become, is totally dependent on believing you can. It really is that simple. You may not be the best at what you choose to be, but you can do it. Being the best is not the point. The point of it all is that you did your best.

A few years ago, I was the worst fiction writer ever, although I was good at research writing. However, fiction writing is a totally different kettle of fish, as they say. It was embarrassing, as I struggled to be a fiction writer, but I learned. I learned by reading lots of fiction, by observing and studying other people’s writing, especially on WordPress – a great place to learn.

Actually, several WordPress writers…

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When Teachers Tell Their Stories – Part 5

Here is part 5 in Jennie’s wonderful series–When Teachers Tell Their Stories !

A Teacher's Reflections

In Part 4, I talked about adventure stories.  A cliffhanger ending holds  the attention in children, and that means more language and words are pouring into their minds.  Teacher bonding is an added bonus.  I told a Jennie Story with plenty of adventure, “The Raccoon Story.”

Part 5
The thrill of adventure stories continue.  Children are now connecting words and scenes with other stories we read aloud.  For example, when  Wilbur the pig was frozen with fear in Charlotte’s Web, a child asked, “Like Steve?”  Yes!  (You will understand after reading the story below.)  Making connections with stories across multiple avenues means critical, divergent thinking is developing.  Wonderful!

The Spider Story

“It happened like this.”  When I was first married we lived in Virginia, which is pretty far south.  The farther south you go, the bigger the bugs are.  Bugs are so much bigger in Virginia than…

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What Are Your Works In Progress?

To all the writers out there: I hope your work is going well, that you are continuing to write as often as you can, and that your works in progress are, indeed, progressing.

I recently complete draft 3 of a fantasy novel, but it will need at least 2 more drafts, especially because I have overloaded expository information in the opening chapters. So, I will work on including that information in the plot and not simply give it. That will be the focus of the 4th draft.

I am also a little more than halfway through the 1st draft of a political thriller, which I am hoping will be done by the end of August.

So, to all the writers who read this:

Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.

Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.

An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.

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

 

Available on Amazon

Quotations on Idealism–Revisited

I am an unapologetic idealist, a dreamer, and an optimist. As a writer and teacher, I find these qualities to be essential. I continue to see ways to improve the world, no matter how many losses or setbacks occur.

We must always stand up for what is right, what is worth fighting for, and for those who cannot fight for themselves.

Here are a few quotations about idealism:

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one”

                                                                                John Lennon

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“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

                                                                            Robert Kennedy

 

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

                                                                              J. R. R. Tolkien

Promote Yourself Monday July 22, 2019

Here is a wonderful opportunity from Go Dog Go Cafe!

Go Dog Go Café

Welcome toPromote Yourself Monday. All Go Dog Go Cafe readers, guest writers, and baristas are invited to postonelink to one specific post (600 words or less please!) from yourblog into the comments section below.

If you post a link, be sure to read some of the other great writing people have linked to.

View original post

Cold Spring Tavern~

Here is a wonderful post from Cindy Knoke on Cold Springs Tavern!

Cindy Knoke

In 1860 a stagecoach pass was hacked through the California wilderness over the mountainous San Marcos Pass to connect Mission Santa Barbara to The Santa Ynez Rancho.

A rest stop was built along the stage coach route high up on The San Marcos Pass, next to a naturally running cold mountain spring.

This stage-stop was, and is still called, Cold Spring Tavern.

Back in the day the tavern served hot meals and alcohol.

It still serves both today, and the experience of eating here is one we return to enjoy whenever we pass by this area.

There was a bunkhouse,

a small store, a stable, and several small homesteads, forming a town called Gopherville, which is now a ghost town.

The town even had a jail which could hold up to eleven (crowded) souls…. rowdy cowboys and such, who likely drank too much whiskey…..

Cheers to you from Cold Springs…

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When Teachers Tell Their Stories – Part 4

This is part 4 in Jennie’s wonderful series — When Teachers Tell Their Stories !

A Teacher's Reflections

In Part 3, I talked about telling scary stories.  Children love that anticipation of being scared.  One of my most popular Jennie Stories, “The Bat Story”, is just that – being scared.

Part 4
Adventure and ‘cliffhanger’ moments, when they really happened to your teacher, are gripping stories for children.  Every word becomes a thread to hang on to.  That means language and literacy is at a peak.  Bonding with your teacher is an added bonus.

The Raccoon Story

“It happened like this.”  Many years ago when my children were little, we lived in an old stone farm house in Ivyland, Pennsylvania. In the summer it often got very hot and we had no air conditioning.  Our house had three doors, two on the front and one on the back.  They each had a screen door, and those screens went all the way from the top to the…

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