Author: admin

BLACK LIVES MATTER

At the front of my web page, I talked about the variety of color, texture, scent, and sound God put on this earth.  Obviously, He delighted in variety and wanted people to do the same. 

The different skin colors and races He created are things He wants us to delight in too.  We are supposed to enjoy our differences.  To feel superior over people whose skin color is darker is like saying my ball is better than your ball because mine is red and yours is blue.  Ridiculous.  To hate and hurt those people is big-time wrong.

The recent exposure of violence directed toward African Americans has opened my eyes to their plight.  I am a white woman who grew up in the South.  I have always known that racial prejudice is present in our country, but I didn’t realize how bad it was. 

I don’t know if many people will see this blog post, but I want to take my stand on the side of delighting in our differences, not hating and feeling superior because of them.  I do not support responding to violence with violence, but I do support justice and law changes that will make African Americans feel safe and protected.

YES! MORE BOOKS LIKE MINE!

6/9/2020

There are so few middle-school fantasies that have anything like a loving God watching over his people and responding to them. 

Whenever I submit a book to my publisher, I am supposed to come up with 3 recent, widely-read books that are similar to mine.  I always use one of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia books even though they’re not recent.  I’ve used books by Lynne Jonnell, which I’ll probably use again, and I’ve stretched things to include E. D. Baker, Andrew Peterson, and S. D. Smith, but I really wanted to find a new one before I submit Benk and the Ugly Princess—the last of the Montaland series.

 So I have been desperately reading and have ACTUALLY FOUND ONE.  Jessica Day George’s Castle Glower series that begins with Tuesdays at the Castle and ends with Saturdays at Sea isn’t a Christian series, but it does have a castle that is alive and watches over its people, responding to them when they ask for help.  Each of these stories has its trauma and upsets, but there’s that overarching presence of something living that is kind and good and powerful.

It’s not exactly the same.  The Christian God is much more powerful and good than the castle, which has weaknesses and limitations.  However, it’s similar and I am delighted to have found these books.

ONLINE SCHOOL–BAD BUT MAYBE GETTING BETTER

I think it would be very hard to do school online.  It’s not that getting up early and rushing to sit in a classroom was my favorite thing to do, but there was the stimulation from having other people around.  Teachers varied but some of them were very good and that made the class come alive.  It’s different when you’re sitting in front of a screen and seeing little pictures of people. 

But you know what, I bet everyone will get used to it and maybe even like the extra free time.  (You could reread my books!) When telephones first came on the scene, people were very suspicious of them—(so I’ve heard. I’m old but I’m not THAT old, ahem.)  When television happened, people were very negative about it.  When computers and social media exploded into being, people pointed out all the bad things that could be connected with them. 

What I’m hoping is that going to school online gets better as teachers and students adjust to it. 

Hang in there!!!