Thoughts During a Book Signing…

Before the signing: Do I have enough bookmarks? Enough candy to give away? Stickers? What if I run out of something? Maybe I should have the bookseller get me more caramels, or more water. My throat gets dry if I talk too much. I hope my mom doesn’t show up. People...

Sham Writer

I feel like an imposter. Now, I don’t feel like this about everything I do. I don’t feel like a sham educator. Even though I don’t have a degree, I’m a great teacher and the kids at the afterschool program where I work would corroborate that, even without bribery. So...

So This Happened

I’m delighted to announce that Velvet Undercover received an Oregon Spirit Honor Award from the Oregon Council of English Teachers. I am so incredibly honored. I am also excited for Fonda Lee, whose book Zeroboxer… was the winner! You can read about it on...

Remembering Dad

Today my family got together to remember my father who passed away on Memorial Day at the age of 98. We had a picnic, which is fitting, because dad was known to drop everything and travel for miles for a good picnic. While I was helping mom go through the storage a...

On Returning to School, Doubts and Affirmation

So a while back I posted a bucket list of things I want to accomplish in the final third of my life. One of those things was to get a master’s degree and teach college level writing, English or history. Of course, that brave young woman, (I wrote it in April, I...