Empowering Unsung Women in History
Posts that give advice, instruction, and information about literature.
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." – Anne Frank In my novel, The Aloha Spirit, the main character learns that in order to find aloha in the world around her she must first find it in herself. People are all capable of learning to… Continue reading Five Tips for Loving Yourself
(first published August, 2020 by Women's Writers, Women's Books) Many writing teachers tell new authors to write what they know. That has value if you are describing a setting, for example. It helps to know how the place looks, feels, smells, and sounds. But what if you write fantasy? No one knows what it’s like… Continue reading Write What You Don’t Know
Since 1982, the last week of September has been designated Banned Books Week by the American Library Association. Books for children (especially young adults) are banned by parents, libraries, and schools for issues such as race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental illness, and disability. Nowadays, though, adults are encouraging each other to open difficult… Continue reading Banned Books Week
(First published on Paper Lantern Writers blog, September 2020) Since I began teaching in 1997, autumn meant back to school and September. Even as the school year’s opening day creeped into mid-August, September meant autumn. The school library displayed books like Fall Leaves Fall!, For the Love of Autumn, Awesome Autumn, and Fletcher and the… Continue reading Autumn Reading
Four years ago, my summer reading included The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. It changed my life. It also changed the lives of over a hundred students, so far, that have passed through my classroom. Simple truths in Miller's book brought me to tears because of how deeply they resonated within me. Students don't learn… Continue reading True Love: Reading
