Books & Writing
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Fear and Exhilaration
Here I’m showing the kids my mad illustration skills. Thank goodness Mina Sanwald was the illustartor for the map and Timothy Banks the illustrator for the cover. This past week I found myself fluctuating between extreme fear and exhilaration. The date was set for me to have my first author visit in a school. For years I’d dreamed of when I could be in front of students as an author instead of a classroom teacher. Now it was really happening. Really happening!!! My stomach was churning all week. My gym workouts were easy. I had enough nervous energy to run for miles! I created a PowerPoint, packed extra books of mine,…
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Love Your Characters
I love three real characters very much! Eric, who continuously teases me and keeps me laughing or squinting and uttering “grrrrr!” Kai, who takes after his father but then plays beautiful music for me so all is forgiven. Arielle, who remembers to keep in touch from college because she knows how much I miss her. Happy Valentine’s Day to my family and Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. Today, I’m writing about fictional characters. The ones I create. They are with me daily and I strive to understand them as much as I would any family member or friend. In MYSTIC a character named Sri (a wizard) has fallen in love with a man from another world. In order for me…
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Believe in Magic
It took becoming a teacher and discovering how much I loved getting kids interested in reading to understand that my path was leading me to write. “She might even be your lovely school-teacher who is reading these words to you at this very moment. Look carefully at that teacher. Perhaps she is smiling at the absurdity of such a suggestion. Don’t let that put you off. It could be part of cleverness. I am not, of course, telling you for one second that your teacher actually is a witch. All I am saying is that she might be one. It is most unlikely. But–here comes the big “but”–not impossible.” ― Roald Dahl, …
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Eric’s Awesome Mexican Stack
This is Eric’s latest creation. He calls it Eric’s Awesome Mexican Stack. It’s been a wild week celebrating MYSTIC’s book birthday and Arielle being home from college and subbing for all those wonderful kids at NFMAA. I’m overwhelmed and extremely grateful. Luckily, through all the beautiful chaos I have a husband who enjoys cooking for his family especially when his daughter returns home. Oh, and I’ve milked it. “Arielle would like you to make quesadillas.” And “I really think Arielle would love some stuffed olives!” Here’s the recipe for Eric’s Awesome Mexican Stack. First make the sweet corn cake: 1 Package Jiffy corn muffin mix 1/4 Cup melted butter 1/4 Cup water 1…
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MYSTIC
MYSTIC’s book birthday was yesterday January 5, 2013! You can purchase a copy through CreateSpace or Amazon. The Kindle version is coming soon. I have to give a huge shout out to Beth, Ashley and Chris from Project Team 1 at CreateSpace. I decided January 5th was the perfect book birthday for MYSTIC and I begged and pleaded and offered chocolate (not really) to the Project Team to make it happen. They did! I am very grateful to them. Why was January 5th the perfect date? Well, it began on January 5th, 1912 when Virginia Titus Keen was born–My grandmother. She was very, very special to me. Eric and I got married on…
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MYSTIC Cover Sketch
Illustration by Timothy Banks When I first saw the message that the cover of MYSTIC was available for me to review I was very nervous. I had no idea who the illustrator was. All I had done was fill out a questionnaire about MYSTIC and speak to a project team member about my vision for the cover. I told her what I thought I wanted but also that I was open to ideas. A week later I received an email. The first sketch was ready to be viewed. The characters of MYSTIC had been in my head for six years and now I was going to see them in…
