I discovered that Zoe Woods, the main character in Wandering Time, is a fan of fifties music and especially loves Fats Domino’s Blueberry Hill. You can now listen to Fats playing and singing this song on the Kids’ page.

Okay, these are totally unrelated topics as far as I know. I haven’t posted for a while because I don’t want to bore people by blogging about my personal life. Yesterday, however, was a big day. The culmination of months of saving the best tidbits of my garbage to put in the worm bin. (The … More Worm compost and the new moon

My friend Claudia Finseth from the Highlights Whole Novel Workshop for Fantasy read Wandering Time and gave me some excellent suggestions. She also copied writing tips from John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for Young Writers. I’m posting some of the tips here because I think others may be interested in a … More Writing advice

The East of Eden writer’s conference in Salinas happens in September. Early registration discount will be available only through June 30th. Take a look at the web site. It looks like a great conference, especially for Monterey Bay area residents.

I’m back from my road trip to Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR. The reputation for rain is well earned! At least while I was there this past week, that’s all we had. And a little further south, in the Willamette Valley, the allergens were running high. But, not to be negative, it’s beautiful. The Aviva … More Back from the Northwest

I’m copying this off Nathan Bransford’s blog because I think it’s an excellent and thought-provoking piece. I have been saying to myself: if I don’t find a publisher for Wandering Time in the next two or three years, I’m going to self publish. I want the book to be available for my friends and family, … More On self publishing

Keeping up the blog in the midst of everything else is a challenge. Here’s an update on some of what’s goin’ on. I’m just finishing teaching Newborn Complications for Aviva Institute’s on line midwifery program. (What a great group of upcoming midwives from all over the U.S. and Canada!) This weekend I will be heading … More Keeping up

Midwives, please check the midwife page as I have posted about a concern with abnormal placentas following H1N1 vaccine.

I subscribe to Nathan Bransford’s blog. He’s a literary agent who blogs daily. Any of you writers might want to think of subscribing. (You might want to subscribe to my blog too). His blog yesterday was a survey on what people think about prologues. This is a hot topic for me, because I added a … More Prologues

The Santa Cruz Peace Chorale concert on Saturday was a great success for us, members of the chorale, and for the audience who also sang some of the pieces. And the strawberry shortcake was plentiful and delicious. My grand daughter Luna tells me she had three pieces. There will not be a repeat of the … More Reprise