My youngest son, Juss, is more outgoing than the other children (in America. Ping-Ping was more outgoing still in China and at camp.) He has been joining groups of neighborhood kids in an effort to become friends with them, but alas all the children are either too old or too young. Still, he’s been trying hard,…
One of the first people my daughter bonded with here in America is her godfather, Uncle Bill. For those of you who have not met him, he’s a gentle fire giant…a big fellow with long long red hair that he wears in a braid and long, chest-lenght red beard. Quite early on, she started calling…
Guest post today. Writer Friend Dolly Garland with this charming essay on why we write. What Keeps You Going? It’s funny being a part-time writer. It’s a dream. A step above hobby. A future career. But currently, it’s something that doesn’t pay the bills, only takes the time and effort. Lots and lots of…
Ping-Ping came home from camp today. I was so glad I had gone to the rather elaborate trouble and expense of sending her. For two weeks, she was away from the computer and TV. During that time, she hiked, swam, horseback rode, danced, etc…and, most importantly, made friends and spoke English! It was almost as…
"There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,"And every single one of them is right!" From In the Neolithic Age by Rudyard Kipling People love to debate things. Writers, being people who use words for a living, love to debate things even more than the average Joe. One thing writers really love…
Out in paperback as of yesterday! Folks, We have a special treat today. I received permission to reprintm for our reading pleasure, an article written by my agent, Richard Curtis. Richard Curtis, in addition to being a super-agent extraordinaire, has for many years written articles on the publishing world that have appeared in various…
People are really, astonishingly inventive. Really. Astonishingly. We went to the Mall today. Bill kindly bought me lunch at Vapianos, a restaurant that’s so delightful, the couple we met in China praised it. (They’d been there, and they live in California.) Then, we took the Cherubim on the train that runs around the mall (a kiddie…
Dear Diary, For one’s birthday, one always hopes that one will receive a visit from the Birthday Bird of Katroo. (It’s a family tradition, reading Dr. Seuss’s Happy Birthday To You on our birthdays.) But…this morning saw instead, the Cat in the Hat. In an incident that seemed right out of The Cat In The Hat…
Juss talking about the orcs in the Warhammer card game: Juss: "Why do these guys talk funny?" Mommy, writing and not paying attention answers in a very flat voice: "They’re supposed to be big and dumb." Juss: "Like the Hulk." Mommy: "Exactly like the Hulk." Juss: "They are even green like the Hulk." Mommy: "Some of them are green…
Yesterday, Orville gave a magic show for his class. We snuck Juss out of school (it was the next to last day of school, so he merely missed a pizza party) and he acted as Orville’s assistant, doing a trick or two of his own. The show was a big success. Best one Orville has done…