Heart Cord

When a baby is born the umbilical cord is cut, but an invisible cord that stretches between the baby and the mother's heart is created. That cord lasts as long as the mother and child live.

If they are close together the cord is loose, but whenever the mother and child are separated, either physically or emotionally, it stretches tight and pulls on the mother's heart. Things like the mother returning to work and leaving her baby in child care, the child's first day of school, or when he or she goes to visit a relative or to summer camp without the mother, pull the cord tight. And if the child is hurt, sick, or in trouble it pulls tighter still.

When the baby becomes a teenager he or she might try to reject the tie to the mother's heart, but that only pulls the cord tight since it can't be cut.

When the child becomes an adult and moves out into the world away from the mother the cord continues to stretch between them, although it has become longer. As long as the grown child stays in frequent contact and on good terms with the mother, it can be relaxed, but if there is conflict between generations or the child and parent don't stay in touch, the cord again tightens and pulls on the mother's heart.

Eventually when the mother becomes old the child might become the caregiver and when she dies it's the child's heart that feels the painful pull.

But the cord connecting the hearts of a mother and child cannot be cut.

The name of the cord is Love.

Hot and Cool

Back in the 1920s the term, "Hot" became slang for something - or someone - fashionable and attractive. It may have originally been derived from the phrase, "Hot off the presses," shouted by newsboys on the streets. People in the generation that was young then continued to use it for many years.

But the next generation didn't want to be like their parents, so they developed the opposite term, "cool," to be used with the same meaning.

Over the years both terms have become accepted parts of the English language and are both still currently used, with slight changes in meaning. "Hot" is now used mostly with regard to physical attractiveness or things that are extreme. "Cool" is so common that the meaning has become mild and it's often a synonym for "okay."

I wonder if a different word regarding temperature will someday become the new slang for things that were once called hot or cool. "Cold" already has a different connotation so that probably won't do.

Maybe the new term will be "luke."

Purple Pencil Adventures

Today I have another interesting person to introduce: Debra Eckerling is a writing coach and social media expert. She created Write On! Online (www.WriteOnOnline.com), which is a website and community for writers, as well as a coaching site with the philosophy that writing is exercise: Write On Track LA (www.WriteOnTrackLA.com).

Debra also has a site for young writers: Purple Pencil Adventures (www.PurplePencilAdventures.com). Since writing is a skill that can and should be developed at a young age, every Friday there’s a new Purple Pencil Adventure – a writing exercise for kids of all ages, designed to inspire creativity.

Sample Purple Pencil Adventures:

Restaurant Adventure: Going out to eat this weekend? Why not try writing a Restaurant Review! It can be fast food, a picnic, or fine dining. Eat, enjoy, and then write about it. Be sure to include what you did or did not like about your dining experience: the food, the location, and the service.

Speaking Adventure: Write a short speech - just two to five minutes long - about something you that makes you happy. Remember, it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. After you practice it a few times, give the speech to a friend or a parent. Even better, find a friend interested in writing a speech too, and then you can present to each other. The ability to communicate well, whether it is on paper or verbally, is a skill you will be able to use in school, at work, and throughout your life.

You Adventure: There are many things successful writers need: talent, opportunity, and an understanding of the craft. Something else all writers need is a bio. I realize it may be difficult to write about yourself. But try. You can always revise. A bio is something you will need to promote and sell yourself, so you may as well get started now.

Write a 300 word bio. Remember to include your background, education, and writing experience. Don't have experience yet? You can always include a success story from a book report or creative writing assignment for school. Everything counts. And you are not going to be graded, so have fun!

* * *

For more writing adventures, go to www.PurplePencilAdventures.com. Become a fan on Facebook: Facebook.com/PurplePencilAdventures.

Also, Write On! Online (WriteOnOnline.com and Facebook.com/WriteOnOnline) has Author interviews, Reviews, Expert Columns, Contests, and more.

(If you're interested in books you might want to visit http://sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com tomorrow to learn about another author.)

Sofia's Dream

An internet friend sent me a PDF copy of a delightful picture book called Sofia's Dream. It's about a little girl who makes friends with the moon and gets carried away to visit him in a dream. There she learns about Mother Earth's suffering because of pollution and other environmental damage and wakes up determined to do something about that important problem.

In spite of the important message, the book isn't teachy-preachy. It is told in rhyme, which works well without being forced, and the beautiful illustrations by Sue Cornelison capture the dreamlike mood of the book perfectly.

Sofia's Dream would make a wonderful bedtime story that children will probably want to hear over and over again. Perhaps some of them, like Sofia, will visit the moon in their dreams.

I assume the author, Land Wilson, chose the main character's name because Sofia means 'wise one' or 'wisdom' and hearing her story will inspire children to care about our planet.

Halloween

Halloween used to be just a fun holiday. Kids could safely trick or treat without adult supervision and almost nobody except little ones believed that witches or ghosts were real.

When Wicca became known as a religion members complained that traditional fairy tales portraying witches as wicked were discriminatory, so public schools stopped sharing them. Does that mean Halloween is a religious holiday? Should public schools stop letting kids celebrate it? If so, what holidays will be left for children to enjoy in school?

Signs of Trouble

I'm so excited! This morning my editor notified me that my newest book is ready to go to the printer.

Although I've already had two books published and my work has appeared in lots of periodicals, I still get excited about seeing something I've written in print for the first time.

The newest book, Signs of Trouble, is about kids who get separated from their Special Education class on a field trip to a shopping mall. It also contains some educational activities that can be used to help children learn about safety rules, creative writing, basic reading skills, and to understand people who are different from themselves.

That last part is very important to me and I hope the book will be helpful to lots of kids.

It will be a while before I actually get copies of the book. When that happens I'll announce it here, although that probably won't be necessary. My shout of joy will probably be heard all over the world. ;-)

Craft Fair

As you read this I'm probably in a booth at a local craft fair (hopefully) selling lots of my books.

Secret Service Saint is a Christmas picture book about Nicholas, who discovers the joy of secret giving and eventually becomes known as Santa Claus. I'm hoping it will help children realize Christmas isn't just about getting presents.

The Peril of the Sinister Scientist is a book for older kids based on the question, what would Jesus do in Middle School. It's about an imaginative kid who thinks he was cloned from the blood on the Shroud of Turin because a scientist who worked on that experiment twelve years ago is stalking him.

I'll also offer some books I wrote and self-published years ago.

It's too bad my next book, Signs of Trouble, hasn't been published yet. It will be out soon. That book is about kids with learning disabilities who get separated from their class on a field trip and is written at a second grade reading level. It includes some educational activities at the end of the story.

It's always fun to participate in events like this because I get to meet lots of nice people.