Sylvia Patience, Author

I recently attended a talk at the Museum of Art and History presented by Walnut Commons. Walnut Commons is a group of Santa Cruz people who have just purchased property downtown and are proceeding with plans to build a downtown cohousing community. The speaker was Charles Durrett, architect and author who has designed cohousing in… Read more

Operation Redwood by S.Terrell French is an excellent middle grade novel which I recently read and then field-tested on each of my three grand-children ages nine to thirteen with enthusiastic results. The characters are well drawn. The lively action begins when city boy Julian Carter-Li intercepts an e-mail meant for his uncle from Robin, a… Read more

Before I take a two week hiatus for travel, I want to say something about a new book by science writer, explorer and conservationist Tim Flannery. It’s called Here on Earth, and is subtitled A Natural History of the Planet. Sounds ambitious, doesn’t it? I learned a lot reading this book, which is easy to… Read more

The Peace Chorale is open to everyone who wants to sing. It’s been a wonderful experience for me for the past two years. I hope some of you will join this year. Below is an invitation to the upcoming retreat. The Santa Cruz Peace Chorale invites all current & prospective singers to their annual Singers… Read more

After my June trip to the Yucatan I wrote up a little report on the birds I’d seen there. I’m posting it for anyone who’s interested. I wasn’t on a birding trip, and had to fall behind whatever group I was with when I was trying to look at some bird. Also I’m an amateur.… Read more

Patti Gay is an illustrator and author of picture books, a member of SCBWI, and one of my critique group partners. The following is an interview with Patti about her recent launch into publishing her picture books electronically. Sylvia: Patti, you’ve jumped right into e-book publishing with a couple of your picture books. How did… Read more