Family

I have a VERY extended family. When I first got married my husband gave up trying to distinguish between cousins, second cousins, cousins once removed, cousins of cousins, aunts and uncles, great aunts and uncles, etc., etc. so he called them all “step neighbors in law.

Now that many family members in my generation have become mothers or fathers-in-law and grandparents, the family has become even more complicated.

And I have relatives living thousands of miles away and some in other countries.

But family is family and I love them all, even though I can’t see them in person. 

I’m grateful that many of us are able to keep in touch through the internet.

There are lots of problems in our modern world, but improved communication is one thing not to complain about.

Fair is the Fair

I can hardly wait to join other members of the Gold Country Writers at the Gold Country Fair tomorrow afternoon!

Of course I hope to sell lots of my books, but even if I don’t there’s something special about spending time with other writers. And county fairs are lots of fun.

I’m glad I live in a semi-rural area so things like that happen here.

The Cottage in the Woods

Although Katherine Coville’s husband Bruce is a well known (and excellent) author of books for kids, this is Katherine Coville’s first book. And it’s wonderful!

The story is about the Vaugn family of bears who accept the human child, Goldilocks, as their foster child.

The main character, Ursula, is a bear and she must solve a complicated mystery, cope with her own romantic feelings, and try to protect Goldilocks from some evil humans.

The story is exciting, the characters are believable, and … I could go on and on about the great things that make me love this book, but it would be better if you read The Cottage in the Woods yourself.

Hi, Ho, Come to the Fair

I’m excited because next week on Sunday afternoon I’ll be working at the Gold Country Writers’ booth at the Gold Country Fair in Auburn, CA.

The fair goes on for several days and I’ll only be there for a few hours, but it will be fun to hang out with some of my writer friends.

All of our books will be available during the whole fair, from 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, the fifth until 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, the 8th.

There’s something about the tradition of county fairs that reminds me of our country’s history - and even the history of the world. Fairs have been going on for centuries and I’m excited about participating in this one.

Marigold And The Snoring King

This cute book by J.D. Remple reminds me of the classic stories I used to hear when I was a kid.  It has the typical three act structure with the first thing not working, the second thing not working, and the third succeeding.

But in this book the one trying the three things isn’t the main character. It’s the king, who snores so loudly he keeps the entire kingdom awake at night and can’t stop.

The real main character is Marigold, who has a solution for the problem, but isn’t allowed to share it until the climax. And she does solve the problem, but I won’t give away the secret of what she does.

J.D. Remple has done a great job of telling a story kids will love and the illustrations by Kim Sponaugle show the characters and story perfectly.

Marigold And The Snoring King is a book kids will love to have read to them at bedtime again and again.

At It Again

“Oh, Janet, you have SUCH an imagination!” my mother used to say.

Well, my imagination is at it again.

I recently learned that a family from India has bought several service stations in my community, and that gave me an idea.

What if our enemies in the Taliban were to arrange for hundreds of their members and friends to buy every service station in the USA? Then they could cause major problems for us by refusing to sell gas so we’d have no transportation. And maybe they’d even blow up all the stations and start huge fires all over the country. 

Of course that couldn’t really happen because not all service station owners would be willing to sell. And many people could use electric cars, bikes, or other forms of transportation. (And I’m sure the local family from India are not members of the Taliban.)

But it might be an idea for a sci-fi book. (Writers, feel free to use the idea since I don’t write things like that.)

Writing History

When I was a kid (back when kids could play outside without adult supervision) sometimes we’d write notes to each other by scratching the backs of leaves with sticks, or by scratching sticks in the dirt. Those would soon disappear. 

I wonder if early humans gave messages to each other that way. They couldn’t read and write, but could have used symbols.

The first writing we know about was scratched onto rocks or clay tablets. Those lasted.

Then some people wrote on animal skins or papyrus on scrolls. 

When paper was invented books had to be written and sewn together by hand. It took a whole work day for scribes to write one chapter from the Bible and those had to be translated.

When Gutenberg invented the printing press he didn’t sell many copies of the Bible. (I once got to mend one of those when I worked in a library!) Rich people already had handwritten copies of the Bible and the lower classes couldn’t read. Gutenberg made most of his money by printing small things - like fliers. The advertising industry can thank him.

A few hundred years ago lots of people were literate and books were published by the hundreds or even thousands.

Today lots of us read on our phones or other electronic devices.

Maybe someday instead of cellphones we’ll have brain implants. Then some evil world government will take over and control us. (Can you tell I’m a writer?)