Category: musings

Wintry Escape 1

musings / recreational reading

Wintry Escape

One of the best ways to spend a few wintry days is a trip to the Pacific Ocean. I especially love to visit Ocean Shores, WA to enjoy the wild waves the winter storms create. Walking into the wind, feeling the pounding surf in my bones, and then cozying up inside with a fluffy blanket, a good book and hot tea is a dream come true that happened the end of January. Looking out in the daylight to see horsetail waves rearing their manes as they slam onto the sandy beach followed by nighttime views of brave crabbing boat crews...

Book Lists and Reviews, Oh My!! 0

an activity / book reviewing / musings

Book Lists and Reviews, Oh My!!

By now you’ve probably spotted the plethora of 2018 published book lists: NYTimes, Great American Read and from the major book sellers. It’s an invigorating time for authors who place their books out with the millions of books printed each year in the US, when they receive support from readers in the form of reviews and/or forwarding of titles to friends and followers in social media. Writing a book is an act of devotion to characters and subjects dear to an author’s heart. It’s months and maybe years of time spent with ideas, critiques, rewrites, and marketing with the goal...

Wintry Reading 0

an activity / book lists / musings / reader suggestions

Wintry Reading

As cuddle and cocoa and lap blanket time arrives, take a trip to the picture book section in your public library to read a few wise-beyond-their-age- group books. We often get so deeply into adult fare that we don’t look back to appreciate the children’s books that line those lower shelves, probably near a fish tank and tiny bean bag chairs; maybe beside a puppet stage or a small, low table circled by tiny chairs. Wander the shelves and pick random books, ask the librarian for suggestions, or look up the ALA (American Library Association)  http://www/ala/alsc/awards-grants-nota/ncb for a list of...

Just for Fun 0

musings

Just for Fun

The longest word in the English language has 45 letters and is an artificial word. PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS It’s a lung disease caused by inhaling ash and sand dust.   I always thought the longest word was: ANTIDISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM or maybe SMILES because it has a mile between the first and last letters.   Have a wonderful word-filled week!  

The Great American Read – Do You Agree with the Results??? 0

Book events / musings / Voting

The Great American Read – Do You Agree with the Results???

For those of you who voted day after day and watch the series programs, are you excited about the final results? Personally I am. Here are a few facts shared during the final program that caught my interest: 4 million people cast votes across the search 50,000 joined the Great American Book Club 350,000 of the top 100 books will be distributed through the nation’s PBS stations to students several books took control of their final ranking within the last few days of the event several books were within 24-103 votes of nearby competitors throughout the event 9 high school...

Halloween Word Search 0

an activity / musings

Halloween Word Search

I love words games. How many listed words can you find hidden on this word search? Each one comes from using some of the letters in Happy Halloween. So far, I’ve found over 90 words using just those letters.   Halloween Word Search F V Y R D H V K N R G U P Y A F T X K Y L S E R N L W E C I G S U D O I P R D P Z E U C H I P O A U C P W O B X A...

Writing Update 0

musings

Writing Update

People ask me what’s next on my journey as a writer. Right now I’m into research for a possible novel that would be about 2 years out. Up to now, I’ve written what I knew or what I’ve experienced; now I’m stepping into an unknown world that interests me, a world where I have only limited knowledge so I’ve become a library book hound. Luckily I have a friend who’s an expert so I’ll be picking her brain a lot! When I take a break from that research I’m reading for my book club, looking back at a bedtime story...

Conversation with a Peach 1

Book events / musings

Conversation with a Peach

This time of year fruit is abundant. Fresh fruit brightens the grocery stores, nearby fields, and our backyards.Their scents fill the air with a faint lusciousness. My husband recently harvested peaches. One of the joys of eating those peaches is stopping to admire how lovely they are: the color, their shape, the way the attached leaves bend to show-off the beauty of the fruit. Next comes the smell: sweet, warm like sunshine, almost fuzzy like the first touch. I do talk to them. How can I not when I know the first bit through the skin will make me sigh...

Fun Writing Tools 0

musings / random drawing / writing

Fun Writing Tools

I love to window shop for writing tools, booklets, folders, pens, etc. This is the best time of year since the major stores have big back-to-school sales that will be ending soon. Even if you don’t have students who need materials, I suggest you think of these ‘new’ tools as a way to encourage your entire family to write. Plan ahead. Use the sales to buy birthday or holidays writing tools now and tuck them away for later. Here are a few of the ‘new’ colorful items I’ve seen for 2018. * folders with current movie scenes as covers *...

Quotes Worth a Look 0

details in writing / musings / quotes / random drawing

Quotes Worth a Look

When I read, I often find author’s have exquisite sentences. I save them in a special notebook. Here are a few I’ve sincerely appreciated. She maneuvered through the cranky traffic…tempers caught fire as easily as backyards. Kristin Hannah in Magic Hour Perhaps there is a secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society  bby Mary Ann Shaffer & Anne Barrows As they crossed the street, the moon, at half-phase, spread creamy light over the world, trannsforming the sidewalk to pale ribbons and putting thick shadows beneath the trees… LaVyrle...