As I enter my third year of blogging (my first post was on January 17, 2012), I find I have to search my archives before I write so I don’t repeat myself. I was going to write a post today about having goals for your writing, but found that I […]
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Focus on the Present: Be a Buddha, Not a Janus
One morning last week as I wrote in my journal, I grumbled about the Midwestern cold and ice. The snow that had fallen a few days before Christmas had melted just enough to leave a glaze behind on walks and driveways. On Christmas Day I fell on the ice and […]
Continue readingWintering in Oregon: Using Research, Reality, and Imagination
The emigrants who traveled the Oregon Trail arrived in the Willamette Valley in late fall, or even after the first snowfall of winter. What did they do then? They were relieved the long journey was over, I’m sure, but how did they go about building a new life? Beginning with […]
Continue readingMaking a List and Checking It Twice
I’ve been making lists since long before I could write. When I was a toddler, my mother, brother and I spent a winter living with my maternal grandparents in Klamath Falls, Oregon. There’s a lot of snow in the winter in Klamath Falls. “Hat, coat, boots,” I announced to whichever […]
Continue readingGive Books by Local Authors
During the Christmas season, we scurry to find our loved ones unique gifts, suited to their personalities and interests. I read recently that the best gifts are not what people would buy themselves, but luxuries or experiences to take them out of their everyday world. See Don’t Be a Lousy […]
Continue readingCelebrate the Fourth Annual “Take Your Kids to a Bookstore Day” on December 7, 2013
My parents never paid money for good grades, but they did pay books. At the end of every quarter, when our report cards came out, my brother and I got to go to the local bookstore and buy a book. I typically chose the latest Bobbsey Twins or Nancy Drew […]
Continue readingI am Thankful for You, My Readers
This year one of the many things I am grateful for is the readers of this blog. While the number of regular followers is small compared to many blogs, I appreciate the steady growth I have seen month over month. Earlier this month, the blog reached 20,000 views. Over 300 […]
Continue readingThe Times, They’re Not A-Changin’
For those of you who want an update on my writing about the Oregon Trail, I just started delving into the first draft of my second novel in that series. Writers recognize this as a very dangerous point—will I hate every page or will I think it is all wonderful? […]
Continue readingSmithsonian’s American History in 101 Objects
The new issue of Smithsonian magazine has a report entitled, 101 Objects That Made America. The Smithsonian has also published a book by Richard Kurin, The Smithsonian’s History of America in 101 Objects. How intriguing! How impossible. How can a nation that spans a continent and beyond, that reaches into four […]
Continue readingHaunting Book: In the Woods, by Tana French
I like well-written murder mysteries and police procedurals, and In the Woods, by Irish author Tana French qualifies. A writer friend of mine told me about Tana French. I have now read her first three books, and her fourth is on my shelf waiting. In the Woods was the first […]
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