My New Thing I Tried In August: Writing Schedule

Here is a post with a writer’s idea for scheduling writing! Please stop by Michelle’s wonderful blog!

Since the start of the year I have committed myself to the goal of writing 500 words a day. Admittedly, this goal started falling apart around the same time our world did and I’ve been struggling to get back to it. So this month, instead of committing to 500 words a day, I decided to commit myself to simply writing everyday, with one day being devoted to typing up my novel (which is in a few less pieces as of this post).

So I broke out a blank sheet of paper, a pencil, a ruler, my mini highlighters, and a black marker and went about making my schedule. I am a visual person and I use colors as a way to see what my day will look like at a quick glance. So of course, this schedule was going to be color coded! As you can see, purple was for…

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Flying By~

Here are beautiful photographs from the excellent photographer, Cindy Knoke!

Cindy Knoke

This Red Shouldered Hawk has been sparring in Holler skies recently with the Red Tailed Hawks.

“California Sister” butterflies are understandably at home in The Holler.

“Firecracker Skimmer” dragonflies float lazily by.

Passion flowers are passionately,

prolific.

Pickerelweed flowers,

reach for the sky. (Thank you Eliza Waters for identifying this plant!)

Bottle brush thrive while spiders spin.

Cheers to you from all who seek the sky~

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My Summer of Books – Part 2

Here is Part 2 in Jennie’s excellent series!

A Teacher's Reflections

In Part 1 I talked about many of the picture books in this photo, which shows all the children’s books I read this summer.

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Part 2 continues with the picture books, and bridges to older children’s books.

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Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, by Lynn Plourde

A Model T Ford is ‘stopped in the rud by some pigs in the mud’. Grandma is in charge. The rhyming is classic and draws in the reader. “Oh no. Won’t do. Gotta shoo. But who?” The story goes from pigs to hens to sheep to bulls – and the descriptive words have a wide range from squealed, rutted, reeled, tussled, rustled and many more. These aren’t typical vocabulary words for children, making the story all the better. We see farming life in the early 20th century, with a classic sequence of events. From the…

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My Summer of Books – Part 1

Here is another wonderful post from the excellent teacher, Jennie!

A Teacher's Reflections

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My summer has been filled with reading children’s books, from new picture books to books for older children, and classics. Every one has been satisfying and thrilling, yet in different ways. Some books are funny, some are filled with history, some teach important lessons in a subtle way. On and on. I will tell you about these terrific books.

Part 1: picture books.

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Together We Grow by Susan Vaught

The gorgeous illustrations by Kelly Murphy bring to life the story of a barn full of animals during a thunderstorm. A fox and her kits look for shelter, but they are predators to the animals in the barn. Can the animals welcome a fox for the night? The rhyming text is sparse yet rich in language. The opening words are, “Lightning gash! Windy lash!” I love this book!

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Be Quiet! and We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T…

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Two Reviews of Get The Draft Done! Helping Writers Finish Their First Draft by Charles F. French

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From Michelle: Must Read For Writers!

“As a writer, I have always found writing the first draft of my novel to be a daunting process. I had the novel idea, had some idea of how I wanted it to start, and how I wanted it to end. But after reading this book, I now feel I have the tools and confidence I need to get my first draft done without any obstacles!

I definitely consider this book a must-read for any writer who is struggling with their first draft! And if you’re looking for a good recipe for an omelette, this book has that as well”

#Bookreview – Gallows Hill by Charles F. French

I am proud of and honored by this review of my book, Gallows Hill by Robbie at https://robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com.

What Amazon says

History always makes an impact on the present. Retired homicide detective Sam Sadlowski faces his personal history and fears as well as living and dead enemies.

My review

Gallows Hill is the second book in The Investigative Paranormal Society series. I have read the first book, Maledicus, so I was engaged with the characters in this book before I started it. In Maledicus, I quickly became very attached to the main character, Roosevelt or Rosy to his friends, and also to Helena, the little girl who becomes the focus of Maledicus’ evil intentions.

In this second book, a different member of the society is central to the story and we get an opportunity to learn the backstory of Sam which, intriguingly, ties in with the central themes and story of Gallows Hill.

Sam is a retired detective who lost his only son, Josh, to suicide ten years…

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Quotations By Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Grading Is Done!

(Photo by rovenimages.com on Pexels.com)

Yay! I finally finished grading for the second summer session classes I taught at the Muhlenberg College School of Continuing Education in Allentown, PA. I had two courses in the second summer session: Literature and Film and Renaissance Plays In Process, and both courses had a full enrollment.

I had a wonderful time teaching these classes, and of course, I had much to grade at the end. That leads to a question–who is the person who assigns these papers anyway? Hmmm . . .

And now it is time to finish syllabi for the Fall semester which begins in one week!

And I can also return to writing. I had to take a few days off to complete my schoolwork.

Quotations On The Knowledge Of History

4/11/02 Michael Crichton ’64, HMS ’69 speaks on “The Media and Medicine” at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA on Thursday, April 11, 2002. staff photo by Jon Chase/Harvard University News Office