A Yankee in the Bard’s World
A Yankee living in the Bard’s World? Tradition and green spaces make Stratford-upon-Avon is a great place for a writer. 2 min read. Kid friendly
No Comments
Category: Family & Other Stuff
Read More »
Toy Mice and Treasured Family Memories at Christmas
Toy mice and treasured family memories are part of our Christmas. Why do we have mouse ornaments on our Christmas Tree? It started for want of a wind-up mouse. 1.5 minute read. Kid friendly.
No Comments
Start a Storytelling Tradition
Story telling during the holidays is a great way introduce family to its traditions and to bring family closer together. An example of a family story illustrates how you can introduce story telling and build a tradition. But you don’t have to wait for the holidays.
No Comments
The Making of an Egyptologist?
My granddaughter wants to be an Egyptologist. At fourteen, she has been teaching herself to read hieroglyphics, using the classic, Hieroglyphics for Beginners, by E. A. Wallis Budge. This all began in third grade when a teacher introduced her to myths from various cultures. She was intrigued by Egyptian mythology. Intrigue turned to the desire
No Comments
Every Fall
It’s that unmistakable time of year when school has started. After a miserably hot, humid summer in Baltimore, we suddenly had a few crisp days in late August. Now that September is over, leaves are turning. Mornings have that cool, approaching autumn feel to them. I love this time of year. I remember my Grandma
No Comments
Spice Up Your Diet With Edible Flowers: Guest Blog by Esther Suh
Reading The Black Alabaster Box by Frances Schoonmaker sparked a greater interest in me to learn more specific information about wildflowers. Her book makes specific references to wildflowers, like white anemone, purple phlox, and yellow primroses, blooming untamed along the Santa Fe Trail. Some wildflowers served to supplement the diet of travelers moving west in covered
No Comments
When you’re having fun…
The expression is, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” It is one I’ve heard all my life. But where did it come from? That isn’t at all clear. Its all a part of the The Game of Life–played at our house over the holidays. For example, I found this at https://www.dictionary.com/browse/time-flies: Time passes quickly, as in It’s midnight already? Time flies when you’re having fun, or I guess it’s ten years since I last saw you—how time flies. This idiom was first recorded about 1800 but Shakespeare used a similar phrase, “the swiftest hours, as they flew,” as did AlexanderPope, “swift fly the years.” Others sources trace
1 Comment
Written by Somebody’s Grandmother?
Who’d want to read a book about some random girl going West written by somebody’s grandmother?” Last year when Katie Schmidt talked with her class about the prospect of piloting The Black Alabaster Box, this was a question one of the children asked. I had to laugh when my granddaughter, a member of the class,
1 Comment
Can you have a book launch without gingerbread cookies?
Thursday was the book launch for The Black Alabaster Box. I read the SCBWI website for children’s book authors and illustrators. I talked to authors. I hadn’t done a launch before. When my academic books were published, I put the title on my vita, and the publisher did the rest. So all this launch and publicity,
5 Comments
Blog Categories
Menu
Join my mailing list
… and receive a free PDF copy of The Black Alabaster Box, Book 1, The Last Crystal Trilogy.
You can unsubscribe anytime.