T.J. BROWN BLOG

I’ve always been a rock and roll kind of girl. When I was about five, my babysitter introduced me to Sugar, Sugar by the Archies. Then I heard my very cool big brother and his friends listening to In A Gadda Da Vida by Iron Butterfly. I was hooked.

After my brother married and moved away, there was a dearth of good music until my parents bought me a little transistor radio when I was about ten and I heard Under Cover Angel. Then came a whole slew of hits: Dream Weaver, Silly Love Songs, 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, everything by the Eagles, etc. Songs that propelled me from childhood to teendom.

Then, as a teen, my mind was blown by Journey, Pink Floyd, The Cars, Def Leppard, Rush, Boston… the list goes on.

In fifth grade, I decided to play a musical instrument and I chose the flute because it sounded pretty. However it takes a lot of work to learn a musical instrument and I was more into horses at the time and though I finished out the school year in band, I decided it wasn’t for me.  Besides, in fifth grade I was obsessed with Elton John’s Yellow Brick Road and the disconnect between Benny and the Jets and the Streets of Laredo was just too vast.

As an adult, I discovered Alternative music and that was my passion for ages. I mean, COLLECTIVE SOUL! It was during writing Born of Illusion that I started listening almost exclusively to old jazz and during the Summerset Abbey series, I fell in love with ragtime.

Then I went even further back and now it’s all classical, all the time, which brings me to another item on my final third list… I want to learn how to play the flute. Yep, I have gone back to the lilting beauty of the flute and wish with all my heart that I could play the Streets of Laredo.

Life’s funny like that.

Of course, that will have to come after I finish school and write all the books, as mastering a musical instrument does take time and energy, of which I have little to spare right now. But it will happen and someday, I will rock the Streets of Laredo.

Photo courtesy of coward_lion and freedigitalphots.net

My grandmother was an amazing woman. I think she was 50 the first time she went to Europe and I think she went four times before she passed. She told me once that she thought she was meant to live in England, that she actually got homesick for London and the surrounding areas.

I’ve never been abroad unless you count Mexico and Canada. But before I die I want to live for three to nine months in another country. My wish list includes Scotland, Ireland, France, Italy or Spain. One of the reasons I’m going to school is to get a degree so I can teach somewhere for a few months. It could work, right?

I think part of my longing to live elsewhere and experience another culture is my love of history. I want to immerse myself in places where I can wander into buildings that can count their years in thousands rather than the hundreds. I want to live in a tiny garret in an old village somewhere and mingle with the people, eat the food and maybe learn the language, (if in Spain, France or Italy). And I want to write a book there.

My worry is the world is turning into such a unstable place that such adventures won’t be prudent for much longer, but maybe I’m just being a provincial American. Or maybe that’s part of the growing that I need to do.

At any rate, It’s on my list.

Photo courtesy of Jannoon028 and freedigitalphotos.net

I want to climb a volcano.

There, I said it. I know it sounds totally crazy, especially for an overweight fifty-year-old, but I don’t think it is and here’s why…
As many of you know, I have been fitness crazy since my last bout with cancer. I spent a year learning to run, increasing my strength and my stamina. Last fall I ran The Bridge of the Goddess half marathon. It was epic. But training for it also took hours and hours of my time. Some of my runner friends were like, “You could totally do a full marathon!” I looked at the hours it took me to train for the half and decided that that was a big ole noper.

About the same time, I came up with a case of plantar fasciitis and my podiatrist told me that while I could still run once it was healed, I should probably mix that up with some other form of exercise, so I took to hiking.

And I absolutely love it.

Always wanting to challenge myself, I did Cascade Head on the Oregon coast.

Then I did Saddle Mountain.

Then I did Dog Mountain.

Big climbs. Big, BIG climbs.

I plan on doing several mountain hikes this summer and then next year I’m going for Mt. St Helens. It’s practically vertical in places as you scramble over pumice and rocks, but it’s so close and how many people say they’ve climbed a volcano???
I don’t feel like this is my year. I am still too heavy (I am one of those odd cases where a person can train for a 13 mile run and still be 40 pounds overweight!) and I feel like I can be stronger, so I consider myself in training:

To hike up the side of a volcano and look inside.

When thinking about the final third, I think it’s important to remember to really look at the items on your bucket list. Why is it there? What are your motivations? I already shared that I want to learn another language and outlined my reasons why. When I first decided to put it on the list I gave it some serious thought, (especially since it would take such a huge chunk of my final third!)

Do I want to learn a language because that’s what I truly want or do I want to learn it because cultured people know more than one language and I want other people to consider me cultured? It’s that old conundrum– the difference between what I appear to be and who I truly am. Is this item on my bucket list because I really want to do it, or is it there because I want other people to see me doing it?

I love social media and use it often, but I think it has exacerbated that problem. Do I like to cook fancy food while drinking wine and listening to classical music because that’s who I truly am or is it because I share it on facebook so people think that’s who I am.

See the problem?

(And, actually, those things are my delight so it’s part of the real me)

Am I being me or do I simply want people to think it’s me is a question I thought long and hard about when I put this item on my bucket list.

I want to walk in a cap and gown in a large auditorium and have someone hand me a college degree.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an educational rebel. I wrote about alternative methods of education. I homeschooled my kids, for crying out loud. I think outside the box. Why am I going all traditional now?

I am also fairly accomplished in the industry of my choosing. I have a job that I love. Why on earth would I go to the expense and effort to obtain a college degree? Is it because I want a college degree or is it because I want to be one of those women who go back to school and people think it’s really cool?

I think it comes down to what I want to do in my final third. I am a writer and an author and I will always be those things. But it’s not all I want to be. I want to play in academia. Test my own metal with others. I love to learn and research and a college degree will provide both of those things. I also love to teach and I want to teach on the college level. I love to travel and I think it will help me do that, as well. So yes, I want to get my Bachelors and I want to get my Masters.

And again…. I need to start that now!!

Photo courtesy of Scottchan and freedigitalphotos.net

Why do people make bucket lists? Is it to commemorate the passage of time and a longing to make our final dreams come true or are we giving the finger to father time. When I turned forty, I jumped out of a plane. That was definitely me flipping off the decades. At fifty, I’m mellower. It is less about flipping off anyone and more about me finishing the work I was meant to do and enjoying my final third.

One of the things I would really love–something that is on every writer’s bucket list–is to score a spot on the New York Times best seller list. Now that would be something, huh? But honestly, that’s something I can’t make happen no matter how diligently I write or how hard I study craft. And I feel as if bucket list item should be things you can achieve on your own power, don’t you? The NYT best seller list isn’t something I have control over so phht. Off the list.

The rest of the items on my list are things that I can make happen. I’m a huge believer in making your mind and body work equally hard to stave off the rotting part of old age. I want to age gracefully, not decay. So I made a conscious effort to include things that were both physical, mental and of course, things that feed my soul.

So first thing on the bucket list.

I want to learn to speak another language.

I don’t want to die being fluent in only English and Pig Latin. I truly believe that the world is small and growing smaller and I feel so damn provincial  knowing only English. I’m not exactly sure which language I’d like to learn, but I’ll learn one of them. I may not be fluent in it, but I’d like a working knowledge.

For practicality’s sake, Spanish would win hands down. I live on the west coast and knowing Spanish would be very handy. But I am seriously drawn to Italian or French. I think it must be my love of European history. Of course, I love Spanish history, as well, so we’ll see.

As learning a language takes some time, I think it’s something I should start on fairly soon, don’t you?

Au Revoir! Arrivederci! Adios!

photo courtesy of Aleks Melnik and freedigitalphotos.net

Today I’m delighted to have children’s author and illustrator Robin Koontz with me!

Why do you think volunteering is important and what do you get out of it?
I think that the only way change happens is if people get involved and make it happen. And it all starts in your own neighborhood. If everyone donated a little of their time to their communities, they would also reap the benefits of their efforts. In my case, our efforts helped fledgling talented writers and illustrators focus their skills and get published, or at least, hone their craft. What did I get out of that? That’s hard to put into words, but in any case, it was never my goal to get anything out of it. I just wanted to help.

Why do you volunteer for SCBWI?
People often feel that if they join an organization, then it is the job of the organization to meet their needs. I’ve always been more proactive than that, so when I saw that help was needed in our SCBWI region, I joined the board and began to dig in. Happily there were a few others who felt the same way!

You can check out Oregon SCBWI here!

Robin Koontz has been a volunteer for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Oregon region, since 1990, serving as Regional Advisor from 1994-2012. She is the author and/or illustrator of scores of trade and educational books for K-12.  www.robinkoontz.com or robinkoontz.wordpress.com

Today, we have Susan Hill Long, an amazing author who lives here in Portland. She volunteers for SMART, (Start Making a Reader Today), an organization that pairs caring, adult volunteers with children in need of reading support and books to take home and keep. SMART volunteers read one-on-one with students weekly during the school year, modeling a love of reading and building children’s reading skills and self-confidence in a positive, child-driven environment.

Why do you volunteer for SMART?

It’s just a good thing to get out and work with people whose circumstances are different than mine. I get so much out of sharing books with kids who might be having some difficulty figuring out this reading thing. To get to be there when they begin to crack that nut? When they read something by themselves, when they get the joke, when they get a glimpse of all the worlds available to them through books? It’s wonderful. For them, and for me.

SMART offers kids in the program the support of an adult to read with for a little while each week, plus they get to take home two books every month–books to write their names in, to keep and share with their families at home. Everybody wins, I think. SMART is always looking for more volunteer readers!

Susan Hill Long is the author of several books for young readers, including Whistle in the Dark, a 2015 Oregon Book Award Finalist.

I am delighted and humbled to have New York Times  best selling author Brenda Novak as a guest on my blog today talking about her cause, diabetes. To  date,  she’s  raised  $2.4  million  through  her  annual  online  auctions,  most  of  which  has  benefited  the  cure focused  work  of  the  Miami based  Diabetes  Research  Institute.  But  Novak  is  changing  her  approach  to  fundraising  for  2015.  She’s published  her  very  first  cookbook LOVE  THAT!  BRENDA  NOVAK’S  EVERY  OCCASION  COOKBOOK  ($9.99  in  digital  and  $24.99  in  print).  She’s  also  curated  three  limited  edition  digital  box  sets  filled  with  brand  new  stories  from  some  of  today’s  most  popular  authors.  The  proceeds  from  all  three  box  sets  and  the  cookbook  will  go  to  research.

For  Novak,  fundraising  is  a  labor  of  love  and  a  concentrated  effort to  find  a  cure  for  her  son,  who  has  lived  with  diabetes  since  he  was  five  years  old. The  Diabetes  Research  Institute,  a  center  of  excellence  at  the  University  of  Miami  Miller  School  of  Medicine,  is  a  recognized  world  leader  in  cure focused  research.  Since  its  inception  in  the  early  1970s,  the  DRI  has  made  significant  contributions  to  the  field  of  diabetes  research,  pioneering  many  of  the  techniques  used  in  islet  transplantation.

Why is giving back so important to you?

I think it’s essential to living a fully balanced life. Running my charity has been a challenge at times, but it’s also been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.

Why is diabetes research such a passion of yours?

When my son was diagnosed at just five years old, and I learned the terrible side effects he’d likely face in his lifetime, I had to do something. I knew I could not stand idly by and watch him suffer. Not only that, but the statistics for diabetes are alarming. It’s becoming a bigger and bigger problem as time goes by.

You can check out more about Brenda’s work  and purchase her cookbook and boxed sets at www.brendanovakforthecure.org