Category Archives: author

May6

cora’s quest.

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a lovely children’s book from my friend, fellow blogger, poet, & writer

Cora’s Quest

Written by Lauren Scott

Illustrated by Chris Mendez

(you can read Lauren’s blog here)

https://baydreamerwrites.com/

Cora’s Quest is a delightful tale about the wonder and curiosity that comes with being young and the confidence that comes with time. Told through the eyes of a sweet fawn named Cora, and illustrated beautifully in natural colors, you’ll follow along throughout her quest. 

On her journey, Cora learns that along with the joys come challenges, as she begins to navigate the world around her, remembering the lessons her family has taught her, and gaining confidence along the way, finding a final happy resolution. What a wonderful book to read to your child and what great discussions could follow. This is told in such a gentle way that children will not be scared and will see a way out of what could be a scary situation. 

As someone who got lost as a child, and remembering how scary it was, I could so identify with Cora’s character and I’ll bet that many other children can as well. As someone who continues to get lost as an adult, but who now has GPS, I could not recommend this book more highly. 

—

“If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions,

make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings, and grow.”

~ Alfie Kohn

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Cora’s Quest is available for purchase at the links below:

 Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DMQFFCYS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coras-quest-lauren-scott/1146540878

Mar23

giving back.

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Set in modern-day Appalachia, Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Demon Copperhead” is a contemporary retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic novel, “David Copperfield.” Now, she’s using the royalties to help people in the region she depicts in the story, opening up a home for women in recovery. “I felt like, I am getting a novel from this place, and I’m going to give something back,” she said.
—

“when you’re in a position to have gotten so much, the gift at this point is giving back.”
— paul stanley, american musician, kiss

 

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source/image credit: harper collins

Jan9

a series of choices.

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i recently wrote a post about

my dear friend and author, breeda kelly miller

who researched, wrote a play, performed, and presented

her family’s heritage story:

https://ididnthavemyglasseson.com/?s=kelly

she continues to perform the play on stage

had the play aired on pbs,

and presents her story all over the world.

above is the companion book she has written 

which includes more details, background, quotes, photos, and inside jokes

fully rounding out her family’s tale. 

this book was a lovely read

 it was a pleasure to follow along with the story

of the kelly family’s journey

from ireland to canada, and ultimately, the united states

their tale is told through the eyes of a daughter

with stories from the generations before her

sharing the true life eccentric characters and situations 

that carried all of them through life.

it’s a story of love, humor, grace, loss, and acceptance

the photographs make it easy to imagine the people she writes about 

their brave and challenging moments

along with their glories

as they made the best of situations presented to them

gained personal strength, learned as they went

finally finding their place in the world 

a place they came to call home. 

This book takes you through the ebbs and flows of their lives

while sometimes just treading water

but they make it through and inspire us to do the same.

What a beautiful legacy gift Breeda Kelly Miller has created for her family

and for all families

who can all imagine bits of themselves and their own stories in this book. 

every person, every family, every place, every choice, has a story.

looking back and learning about our past

how we came to be who we are, where we came from, bringing us to where we are now

helps us to understand and make sense of our lives.

I hope that you enjoy the Kelly family’s journey as much as I did. 

Sláinte! 

—

“life, like a poem, is a series of choices.”

Dame Maggie Smith

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Mrs. Kelly’s Journey Home is now available for sale at the two sites listed below:

https://breedamiller.com/products/mkjh-book/

https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Kellys-Journey-Home-American/dp/1956465235

 

Oct23

wavy lines.

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my book of erma’s columns from over the years

 compiled by her children after her passing.

a writer i’ve loved

since hearing my mother laugh

when reading her column

many years ago

most houses in america

had at least one of her columns

stuck with a magnet on their refrigerator 

a few years back i went to a writer’s conference

at her alma mater

her legacy to past, present, and future writers

 had the time of my life

surrounded by all those creative minds

her children, grandchildren, fans

 writers and comedians from all eras

now her book takes me back through the years

with notes in the back from a wide range of people

all who paid tribute to her humanity and to her writing

 it recently became

‘my relax in the bathtub and read book’

yes, i fell asleep and dropped it into the water

at least five to seven-ish times

not because i was bored

because i was relaxed

it felt like home reading her

 i think she’d love

that i read it that way

 the now wavy lines and pages

are my personal tribute to her.

—

“as a child, my number one best friend was the librarian in my grade school.

i actually believed all those books belonged to her.”

*erma bombeck

 

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*

*Erma Bombeck, 1927 –1996) was an American humorist who achieved great popularity for her newspaper humor column describing suburban home life, syndicated from 1965 to 1996. She published fifteen books, most of which became bestsellers. 

Between 1965 and April 17, 1996 – five days before her death – Bombeck wrote over four thousand newspaper columns, using broad and sometimes eloquent humor, chronicling the ordinary life of a Midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read semi-weekly by 30 million readers of the nine hundred newspapers in the United States and Canada. Her work stands as a humorous chronicle of middle-class life in America after WW II, among the generation of parents who produced the Baby Boomers.

 

Oct12

who?

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if you want a cool pen name, try using the pen name generator below-

mine is:  beatrice hazelton

although,

i did choose another pen name years ago, rebecca hunter

in case i ever wrote romance novels

even used it on a cross-country writing adventure trip

but kept forgetting my pen name

when my friend

 accompanying me as my photographer

called out ‘rebecca…’

sometimes awkward.

rule #1: if you’re going to use a pen name, you have to remember it. 

—

‘i love it when people ask if jennifer weiner is a pen name. um…

if i wanted a pen name i could have done a lot better than this.’

-jennifer weiner, american author

—

What is a great author pen name?

I like Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) because the whimsy of the name reflects the whimsy of his style.

Lemony Snicket isn’t just a pseudonym. It’s also a character. It’s quirky and wonderful that a writer would not just invent a name, but then write himself into his own fictional world. What better way to break the 4th wall than to have the book published under the name of the narrator?

“The name Lemony Snicket originally came from research for Handler’s first book, The Basic Eight. Handler wanted to receive material from organizations that he found “offensive or funny”, but did not want to use his real name, and invented “Lemony Snicket” as a pseudonym.”

 

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credits: greater dayton public televsion, medieval writings, wiki

Jul15

‘i think hope and magic are probably connected. ‘ – Kate DiCamillo

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thanks to the library consortium, and the detroit public libraries

i recently had the pleasure of attending an online talk

featuring one of my favorite authors, kate dicamillo

 just as friendly and full of whimsy as i had imagined

she talked about how she got her ideas

for stories and characters

how they became a part of her

i’ve loved her books for years

she writes for children of all ages

 in the last few years i’ve read some of them again

 with new eyes and life experience

i’ve been even more taken with them

each filled with hope and joy and spirit

 characters who refuse to be anything other than who they are

and who, against the odds, never surrender

she has such a brilliant magic to her writing.

—

‘i like to think of myself as a storyteller.’
*kate dicamillo
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*Kate Dicamillo has written 30+ bestselling books, beloved by children and adults in touch with their inner eight-year-old, for two decades, including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician’s Elephant, Flora & Ulysses, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Some of these have been turned into operas and movies. Her new books in 2024 include the middle grade novel Ferris and Orris and Timble: The Beginning. She is a rare two-time winner of the Newbery Medal.

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below is a link to a post i wrote not long ago, about one of my very favorite books of hers, ‘the miraculous  journey of edward tulane’, which was beautiful and moved me to tears.

journey.

May16

unleash your kindness.

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author, brad meltzer, class of ’92, gives the commencement speech at his son’s graduation

 

“My son hadn’t had a proper graduation since middle school. Here’s my commencement address at the University of Michigan, written for him & Class of 2024, “

And here is the last line: “The world needs more empathy, more humility, and certainly more decency. If you really want to shock the world, unleash your kindness.” – Brad Meltzer

 

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*Brad Meltzer is an American novelist, non-fiction writer, TV show creator, and comic book author. His novels touch on the political thriller, legal thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, while he has also written superhero fiction for DC Comics and a series of short biographies of prominent people for young readers.

 

 

 

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source credit: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan

Feb25

private.

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is it really, though?

what would stop anyone from just walking around the sign,

unsure of where the private part begins and ends?

or to test the boundaries?

 

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“there is no private life which has not been determined by a wider public life.”

*George Eliot, Felix Holt: The Radical 1866

 

*Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, (who changed her name because she wanted her writing to be taken seriously), was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and widely recognized as one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda.

Oct15

alive.

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“A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, ‘Dear Jim: I loved your card.’ Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: ‘Jim loved your card so much he ate it.’ That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

Maurice Sendak, as noted by Luke Davies in an article in the Brisbane Times, December 3, 2011.

Photograph of Maurice Sendak by Joyce Dopkeen.

 

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“we can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”

– thornton wilder

Aug10

meeting ann.

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last night i had the great pleasure of going to my favorite theater

where one of my favorite authors, ann patchett

was appearing

while on a book tour for her latest book, “tom lake’

which happens to take place in northern michigan

a place dear to my heart.

ann is a prolific novel writer

a wordsmith of the highest order

who has a way with the human story

always using her literary magic to somehow weave her characters together

in unexpected and wonderful ways.

she was funny, smart, down to earth, and very relatable

talking about her books, writing, book banning, life,

offering support for other authors and books she knows and loves,

because she knows it can make all the difference for them,

 the joys and pains of book tours

and being an independent bookstore owner

(her other avocation).

 when i finally had the chance to meet her

i handed her my very used copy of ‘bel canto’

my favorite book of hers

she opened the cover, signed her name, and wrote:

‘thank you for bringing a well-loved book.’

—

“i have been accused of being a pollyanna,

but I think there are plenty of people dealing with the darker side of human nature,

and if I am going to write about people who are kind and generous and loving and thoughtful, so what?”

-ann patchett