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To Heal Or Not To Heal
A little voice carried across the table. “Why did you end MYSTIC that way?” Students gathered around waiting for me to sign their books. I heard her question and desperately wanted to answer. However, I had made a promise not to give away the ending to some of her fellow students who were halfway through MYSTIC.
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Life Lessons From Students
Cheers and jeers erupted throughout the classroom as I read the last two pages of MYSTIC. My emotions were running deep. It had been a long time since I read the ending of my own book. Surprised at my reaction and theirs, happy they were emotionally invested in the story and had opinions on the ending, and teary because the ending…the theme…is about self acceptance and the story hits close to home. I opened up a discussion on why MYSTIC ends as it does, trying to get them to see deeper into the story. This particular class was a high energy class. A mixture of 6th through eighth graders; the most challenging class…
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All is well
“All is well.” Esther Hicks My grandmother used to say it all the time. She told me that when she was little someone would walk down the street ringing a bell calling out, “It’s 12:00-0- clock and all is well!” I miss her. Virginia Keen–my grandmother–my rock. She taught me to think positive and follow my heart. Thank you, grandmom. All is well. MYSTIC For those that have read MYSTIC now you know where Keen came from. Queen Fredonia (the grandmother) lives in Keen. A bit of MYSTIC trivia. All is well in my world. Arielle is on her way home for spring break. I just had a four hour breakfast…
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The letter that made me cry
The letter that made me cry When I have author visits with schools I tell the students my inspiration behind writing MYSTIC. Arielle. Before I knew I was going to write a fantasy, I knew I would have a protagonist who used a wheelchair. Arielle was reading many books as a fourth grader in the Accelerated Reader program and not one of them had characters using a wheelchair. Meanwhile, I watched as Arielle’s life changed and she had to persevere through many obstacles while surrounded by able bodied people who she continually had to educate about these obstacles. Kids as well as adults could behave in ways that were insensitive. Playgrounds were not accessible and often her friends would run…
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Growing Avocado Trees
I didn’t recognize the symbolism of growing an avocado tree at the same time I was beginning my journey of becoming an author. I simply loved avocados. Four years later as I set a new seed on my windowsill at the same time I was stressing over how to market Mystic I realized my avocado trees represented change and growth from within myself. They were my reminder that even though I could envision the giant tree that would fill my yard it wasn’t going to grow overnight. I needed to care for it every day while enjoying each day and know that eventually my seed would be a majestic tree. Here’s how to grow an avocado tree. This picture was…
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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,…
