The P in April is for ? We played a game in our family that involved verses. When I was six, seven, eight, my Aunt Florence if she was visiting, but more often my mother, would point to me. Then began the count, out loud: “ 1, 2, 3…. By 10, I had to start … Continue reading »

March on! As a writer for the inaugural North America-wide celebration of girl power, known forever now as KID LIT CELEBRATES WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH I’m here to say, who knew? Who knew the discovered details of these overlooked lives, & their stunning superior accomplishments? Who? Who? Your writers did. Your anonymous, and sometimes, famous, researching … Continue reading »

What makes the creative juice flow? It can be walking in silence at the end of a fire drill line of kids who have their quiet fingers held up to their lips, walking with them out the school door on a drill, walking behind the boy who imagines with the other hand he is spraying … Continue reading »

A child huffed to me that he wasn’t interested in a picture book story with dinosaur characters. They were colored purple and orange and green, some wore stripes or polka dots. And they cavorted on the cover.  I had been assigned to read this book with him. So I opened the book to the middle. … Continue reading »

My wish is that each of your landings turn out just right, in the New Year… Filed under: childrens literature

  Your correspondent here at Bookseedstudio, Jan Annino,  is in a tag team book blog hop.    My  thanks  to  the author who tagged me,  Anne Macdonald of the Guppy Listserv & her blog, Anne’s Writing Life      At the end of this blog  I tag the next author-hoppers.   And if it’s enabled on … Continue reading »

National Novel Writing Month 2012 In October I didn’t discern that my neurons held an idea for a particular strong new mystery character. That was well before the accumulation of the mini-marathons that 30 days of NaNoWriMo in November ushers in, at least for many writers. This year for it, I nested online in a community … Continue reading »

With the wee drop in temperatures in North Florida,  I sense a tempo  leap. And so matching that, I am almost completed with revising a chapter book. On a new project, I touch the word count bar to see how far a new story character and I journeyed in one day. I read a mistake. … Continue reading »

It’s shadow season. Visits to real-life houses built centuries before, trips up the stairs to eerie attics, and doors opened on creaky cupboards, might reveal a scarab, sphinx or a selkie. Here’s a few images from our recent visit to the lovely Orman House in Florida’s Panhandle. This is North Florida. Author Gloria Jahoda labeled the area, … Continue reading »

They Were Here First I am aware of this, about American Indian Tribal members: American Indians aren’t “people of color.” And also, for many American Indians, being called American Indian, or being known as Native American, isn’t a preferred moniker. What is? Specificity, such as the name of the Tribe and, if it’s known, the … Continue reading »

The schedule called for me to visit with students who study in a locked-in  situation. Before I already presented there on a picture book  topic- with a handful of  elementary age students. It hurt to imagine why little ones were in such a setting. But I was assured that their continual extreme misbehaviors had warranted … Continue reading »

It may appear to be a simple act to write fiction. My  friends do that. Create a name.  Like Hiram Wheelfinder. Have the character who goes with that name do any old thing. Such as sell billboard space by day and construct sculptures from chewing gum wrappers by night. And send that character anywhere  in the [...]

Have you written a song inspired by a father? I’d like to mention one, one inspired by a Kentucky father. “Which Side Are You On,” is a ballad written by Florence Reece, the wife of  coal minder Sam Reece & also the daughter of a coal-miner. Although there are several ideas about the song’s origins, [...]

A very good ‘bye & two hellos Suitably for a memorial,  clouds opened up Sunday May 13 in time for umbrellas to pop like mushrooms, among congregants arriving at church to reflect upon the life of author & scientist Anne Rudloe.  Because she was a Buddhist teacher I wondered if we would find jewel- tone prayer flags & sandalwood [...]

Florida is a bug’s delight. Hot, moist, dark, damp. With giant ferns and fronds for creepy crawlies to easily hold onto, even when blasted by the stiffest offshore wind. Plus, look at all the flowers, stems, leaves, trees & marsh grasses bugs can cotton to. If I were a bug I’d love Florida, wouldn’t you? (Until [...]

March is a month with a perfect (English-language) name. And it carries a perfect theme- Women’s History Month. Either way, March dwells in the world of movin’ on,  heading out. TWO BOOKS I think of two important books for young readers,  one about a real girl who is still a girl,  far across the ocean, [...]

In towns tiny and cities cavernous, listeners and readers are lining up   to celebrate the creative chileren’s books of Theodor Seuss Geisel, the Cat-in-the -Hat man.  March 2, 1904 was the day of his birth. The place was Springfield, MA, which as we all would imagine, gives a rollicking good party for the memory of [...]

It’s not often that I can stroll around the great northeast part of Florida. But when I am in the Fernandina Beach region, as my husband & I were recently to enjoy literature & dance a bit at the comprehensive & fun Amelia Island Book Festival, I think of shells. This region’s coast is characterized [...]

What was by my side from the Thanksgiving holidays right on through, well, it’s still by my side, is cheese. I’m not talking about the cream cheese with chives of my youth or the brie of my 30s, but the robust hard cheeses of my middle age. And If I look to share blame for [...]

I prowl around for prompts. And so I found inspiration in HEART TO HEART, edited by Jan Greenberg. This collection of visual art features  poems created by writers who feel a connection to a work of art.   When I paged to  Faith Ringgold’s art and  Angela Johnson’s poem, “From Above” I felt a tingle. Angela’s [...]

“Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us, and see the beauty in ordinary things.”  -Merton What is this speck far beyond in yon water? Keep watching! I have that pinch-me lucky feeling – to be in Florida in December with my Family, to see the beauty in our world’s “ordinary [...]

If you are not of American Indian/Native American heritage, have you still ever wondered what some of your  impressions & ideas might be about the holiday, if you were a member of a Tribe? Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, which I always like to visit first whenever I am [...]

When not yet 16, George Washington copied 41 rules of civil behavior, (scroll down if  a list of site topics precede this), at least one of which, I violated Halloween Weekend. After a day that began early I nodded  off at night  during a top-drawer, well-staged & otherwise eye-popping theater performance. I woke quickly so [...]

APALACHICOLA. AUGUSTINE, ST. & the ALA Novel-making in early fall prompts a delayed & long, catching-up post, collecting 3 A+ events.) APALACHICOLA, first My husband caught a redfish! From shore. In this quite special place. Caught a few minutes time with fine writers I didn’t before know & some writers who are warmly familiar. Everyone [...]

Novel under construction  –  how many bears…. What I don’t know about our world can fill umpteen trillion encyclopedias. In my old days I thought how easy it must be, to create fiction. They just make it up. And now that I’m fictionizing, I find you do just make it up! A writer can transform [...]