As a child, and okay, as an adult, too, I happily read Robert Newton Peck’s Soup books. His ability to describe his characters such as Soup’s nemesis, Janice Riker, is peachy. “She was the biggest and strongest and meanest kid that the world ever knew. She had the body of a hunched-back, bowlegged ape and […]
The beauty of the world of literature is that it allows you to live other lives. I’ve been an attractive 17-year-old red-head whose many adventures include solving the mystery of who’s trying to harm Fortune, the racehorse on my aunt’s ranch. In the same story, I had the chance to brood (as only a teenager […]
Greetings fellow story lovers, A friend who wrote and illustrated children’s books, Marsha Dunlap, died after a long battle with cancer. One of the first times I met Marsha was during a blinding snowstorm. A small group of us had rented a bed and breakfast and hired an award winning author, Marion Dane Bauer, to […]
Greetings fellow story lovers, I felt it again yesterday while hiking–the heartbeat of the woods. Does the pulse I feel come from all the creatures watching as I walk down their sun-dappled trails, or from all the past creatures that have lived here? Did they, too, enjoy watching the woods change with the seasons? In […]
Inspiration Greetings fellow story lovers, What gets your creative juices flowing? Where are you when inspiration strikes? Among my favorite times in life are those moments when I’m driving along on a long quiet stretch of highway and my mind starts whirling with ideas. It also happens in the bathtub, upon wakening, at my computer […]
Greetings fellow story lovers, What if . . . are magic words to writers and story tellers. What if an animal attraction with over 100 live reptiles including crocodiles, unusual albino iguanos, and the world’s largest snake caught on fire? snake This question led to my interviewing the owner and began the fourth Kayla Montgomery […]
Greetings fellow story lovers, What makes you grind your teeth, giggle like a hyper kid, or hiss like a panther? What makes the hair on the back of your neck tingle, your fingers dig at your scalp, or your throat ache with sadness? These intense feelings can be the origin of impassioned stories. Egg A […]
Hello! Welcome to my blog, a place where writers and readers can meet to share the joy of stories. And who doesn’t love a swooshing good story. I was perched on top of the waterslide at “Noah’s Ark” waterpark in Wisconsin Dells. I pulled up my stretched-out one piece as I waited for my turn. […]