My mother came into this world with a speech impediment. You’re probably asking, “What does that have to do with bamboo?” Hang on and I’ll get there (by the long route). When my mother was a child, she was ridiculed by other children for “talking funny”. These days, we would call that “bullying”, but back then, nobody really cared. There was that saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Which wasn’t actually true,…
If you haven’t been to my website in a while, you may notice that I’ve made some changes. Among other things, I’ve removed most of my blog posts to prepare for a new direction. Miss them? Probably not. I hope you like the new direction that I’ll be taking here. Of course, I’ll continue to write about my writing process, and what I’m doing toward getting LIGHTNING ON THE LEVEE and DRAGON MOON published. And I’ll also continue to give…
I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT MY NEWEST PROJECT, DRAGON MOON! It all started when Chrystor of Glass Bridge Music approached me with an intriguing idea for a Glass Bridge Music collaboration – if I would write a book, Glass Bridge would produce a music CD to complement my story. I couldn’t resist. I said “YES”. Glass Bridge Music is a fantasy duo, Chrystor and Brynna, whose musical genre is Celtic Fantasy Metal. If you’re not familiar with the genre, it’s…
I THOUGHT I SHOULD LET YOU, MY FAITHFUL READERS, KNOW ABOUT MY PROGRESS TOWARD PUBLISHING LIGHTNING ON THE LEVEE. It’s been over a year since I first considered the book complete, and I’ve been looking for an agent or publisher on and off since. I say “on and off” because every time I read back over the book, I find something that needs to be changed. So Lightning on the Levee, although “complete”, has been in improvement for all this…
LOOK WHAT I FOUND FOR YOU – AN ARTICLE ABOUT EDWARDIAN MAKEUP FROM 1909! While writing a post for you about ladies’ makeup in the Edwardian era (you’ll see that post in the near future) I was perusing the California Digital Newspaper Collection online. And there I found this treasure of an article that was in the Sacramento Union, Number 63, 25 April 1909. The Edwardian makeup text is hard to read on the old newsprint, so I’ve transcribed it…
LIFE IN 1908: AT MIDNIGHT ON JANUARY 1, 1908, A BALL SIGNIFYING THE NEW YEAR WAS DROPPED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER AT TIMES SQUARE. We’re still dropping balls, but so many other things have changed since 1908. What a difference a century makes! I found some interesting facts and statistics about life in 1908 for you. Enjoy! Wages – Life in 1908 The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour. It will be 30 more years before…
WHO WANTS SOME PATRIOTIC QUOTES TO SHARE ON INDEPENDENCE DAY? Here are five I made just for my readers. Feel free to share them! (And subscribe to my email list to be the first to know about new posts.) “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” – Harry S. Truman “The essence of America is: That you can come from humble circumstances and do…
IN LIGHTNING ON THE LEVEE, MOLLY B O’CONNOR WAS ABDUCTED IN 1908 (EDWARDIAN ERA) WHILE OUT FOR AN AFTERNOON WALK WITH HER FRIENDS. When she arrives in our current time, she’s dressed in the same beautiful Edwardian Afternoon Dress she was wearing then. You can see a photo of the dress, a gift from her father, HERE. Be sure and read “1908 Ladies’ Clothing Fashions – Part 1”, where I talk about the Edwardian period and La Belle Epoque, and…