Does September feel like a restart to you? To me, it’s even better than January 1 and the start of a new calendar year. September is sharpened pencils and blank notebooks, big hopes, new chances. Kids get new school supplies and, often, new clothes and maybe a new pair of shoes. Mostly what they get…
We can’t always go around bestowing sunshine and rainbows. Some days are just “blah,” and it can be hard to find the motivation or initiative to do much of anything. But doing nothing has NEVER been an inspiring activity. If you’re doing nothing, you can’t find the oomph to write or read or create. So!…
Today I have for you an interview with an author of graphic novels. It’s always so interesting for me to learn about the creative process of other writers. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m not generally a reader of graphic novels. Maybe that’s some of you too? Anyway, after talking with children’s librarians…
It’s back-to-school month for a lot of kids. I was just talking to a friend, and we decided we were lucky to have been part of the generation of kids who didn’t have to go back until after Labor Day. Far more civilized. Of course, we got our summer start later, but all that faded…
I just finished reading A Girl, A Raccoon, and the Midnight Moon by Karen Roman Young. It’s a fun story about 11-year-old Pearl who wants to save her small library in her equally small New York neighborhood. After the library loses the head of its claim to fame—the statue of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay—the…
• Lemon custard ice cream in a sugar cone • Walks without jackets • Kites on the beach • Squeals of laughter in the surf • Bicycles with baskets carrying picnics—or puppies • Twilight at 9 pm • Planning get aways • Sunglasses and sunscreen • A long list of books to read • Time…
I had a different post for today. It was all set and ready to go. And then the Uvalde, Texas, shooting happened. Innocent children, innocent adults who were living their lives, learning and teaching in school. They’re just gone. And I thought, how can I post something that doesn’t speak to what happened on May…
You might roll your eyes at the idea of everyday magic. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 😊 But when you’re done rolling your eyes, take a look around you. Finding everyday magic is a beautiful way to live. Every day holds magic. Kids are open to it. That’s why it so often features in their books….
Hello, and Happy Monday. This post talks about writing goals, but it can apply to absolutely any goal you have—and offers some ways to get you closer to success. Full disclosure, I only dabbled in writing when I was raising my kids. I finished my first manuscript about two years before I had my first…
I wonder if you or your children grew up watching Full House. My kids did. If it came on three times a day—and sometimes it did—they’d watch three times a day. Just to recap, Full House was a show about a widower and his three kids, living in a house in San Francisco with the…
