I’ve been working on the bibliography for Odin’s Promise. It will include several books for young readers featuring the historic conditions that shaped Mari’s and Odin’s story. There will also be a surprisingly long list of resources. Aspects of this story have bounced around my head for several decades. Throughout that time I’ve read, made notes, and set aside books for later use. I was surprised, though, at the length list of the list of titles this effort generated. In much the same way as Number the Stars left unconscious footprints in my mind, the various stories and historic details in these resources did the same for me and my writing. It was only last year that I stumbled across Kathleen Stokker’s scholarly book: FOLKLORE…
A Middle-Grade Historical Novel of Norway, a War, a Girl, and an Elkhound
Archive for November, 2013
If you are lucky enough to have a dog in your life (or ever did) don’t forget to include them in your thanks. The gifts they give so freely (love, loyalty, love, joy, love, entertainment, love, comfort, love) are without equal in value and stay with us long beyond their all-too-short lives.
I’d love to have a time machine. No, not to offer myself advice or change things. I am who I am today as a result of my younger self’s choices. Actually, I just want to know her (me) as I really was, not just how memory might have colorized my past. I’d ask: who were your role models? When asked this as an adult, I respond with what I believe to be true. Perhaps, though, there were others I’ve forgotten. Until technology offers an alternative, I’ll have to rely on memory. I grew up with plenty of positive role models. Glorified, even saintly personalities filled the silver screen (think Spencer Tracy, Bing Crosby, and Deborah Kerr). More mundane but valid were examples offered by family, teachers,…
Tagged: Lois Lowry, Number the Stars, role models
This weekend marked the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night when the synagogues burned, glass shattered, and the Nazi plan to eliminate, to exterminate Jews and other “non-Aryans” from Europe took a drastically destructive step forward. Images of their violent attacks filled the front pages across the globe. Sadly, as a whole, friends, neighbors, countrymen did nothing. The world did nothing. In Germany official statements approved the destruction, and still the world did nothing. Some, though, risked themselves to secretly help as many Jews as possible, one at a time, to hide or escape. A highly personal story from that time was reported on NPR’s Weekend Edition. (Link) The occupation of Norway by Hitler’s troops began several years later. By then German forces held…
I can’t resist sharing this wonderful homage to dogs of every stripe, size, expression, service, habit, and wag. I’m not embedding it to view here so that the site will earn your “view” count when you watch it, as I sincerely hope you will. A comment beneath it says to have tissue handy, but I assure you as a natural weeper, I got through it with all smiles. Enjoy: (link)
Who doesn’t love a birthday party? Who doesn’t love books, especially when produced by high quality small presses? Crickhollow Books invites you to share the celebration at their 5th anniversary literary birthday bash. Beer, books, prizes, and good cheer. Anyone in the Milwaukee area is invited to pop in to Big Bay Brewing Company in Shorewood (4517 N. Oakland Ave.) on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17 (1-4 p.m.). They’ve also posted a contest for an “ultra-short” creative Thanksgiving story (link), with a fifty dollar indie-bookstore gift certificate to the first place winner. Five finalists will win a copy of How To Write Your Best Story from Crickhollow Books. The challenge of fifty words or less is daunting (speaking for myself here) but give it a try. You’ll end up with…