Lovely dichotomy of clean, pure nature and oily human manufacturing stuff! Great pix.<br /><br />So good to see your haiku, Andi. Hope the kids are healthy?

Very nice imagery and haiku!

Good one!

I read it awhile back. It is powerful.

I read it a while ago, too. I loved it. I especially like the format and metaphors are rich and uncomplicated.

This was one of the most powerful books I&#39;ve read in a long time -- it&#39;s one I&quot;m going to recommend to my daughter when she gets a little older.

I liked this book, too, though it was hard to read on an emotional level. I remember hearing several writers I know say (or write) that they didn&#39;t think books like this should be published because they&#39;re too much of a downer and kids &quot;don&#39;t need this kind of stuff.&quot; While I wouldn&#39;t recommend a steady diet of it, I think teens NEED to be more aware of what&#39;s going

I agree. It isn&#39;t like it was written for five-year-olds to read.

Great review. I&#39;ll have to read this one or atleast try. Not so good with books about children hurting. <br />I enjoy books about people from the middle east, very interesting.

It is really hard to read and it kept me awake. I would give it to 13 year olds though, because I think they should know the realities that their age-mates deal with. It&#39;s not too graphic for kids who are still kind of unaware but it is clear about the abuse and manipulation. I think it would inspire courage in any young person who is somehow trapped in an abusive situation, even if it&#39;s

One of my favs for sure! We loved hosting Patricia at rgz.

Lorie - thanks for reminding me of the Readergirlz feature. Great resource!! I edited my post to include a link. Do you have other link suggestions?

Oh, I&#39;m very excited about reading this now. Thanks for the review.

This sounds like a book that I would enjoy. Thanks for the excellent review!

This sounds good, I am going to have to get it and read it. Thanks for sharing. Good luck as the 48hbc continues.

I appreciated your phrases about &quot;pretending to live a normal life&quot; and also that you feel the girls are portrayed in their complexities...makes me take pen to paper and add this book to my growing list from the Challenge.

Interesting how the books you&#39;ve been reading this weekend have similar themes. That happens to me sometimes. I always wonder if it is unconscious choice on my part or just serendipity?

I actually did like this one a lot, but I came to it haveing heard that Emma Jean was Asperger-ish, something I find interesting to read about. And I remember liking the relationship between her and her parents.<br /><br />The sequel came out not to long ago, and I meant to get it for this weekend, but I haven&#39;t run out of books yet so it&#39;s a very moot point!

I really enjoyed this and liked Emma Jean alot. One book that many people loved but I couldn&#39;t not finish was A Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime (I think I got that right) I just couldn&#39;t connect with the main character.

Thanks for chiming in with your take on it Charlotte and Doret. I guess, being someone who leans toward the Asberger-ish myself, I felt like Emma Jean was a little too self-aware about her own difference. It&#39;s taken me to the age of 50 to realize that I don&#39;t always get where other people are. I just never registered that I was missing whole channels of communication that everyone else

I really like both books, although I agree that Emma-Jean is not a very realistic character. Colleen keeps the books grounded for me (and while I more envy Emma-Jean&#39;s LIFE, with the bird and the math and the cooking et al.), I identify with Colleen more and think she&#39;s an extremely well-drawn character. Her anxieties, her willingness to please, her tiny bursts of confidence... they all

I love Emma Jean, and I just got the sequel yesterday. I&#39;ll let you know what I think. <br /><br />Right now, I&#39;m waiting to get my hands on the sequel to The Hunger Games. Franki snagged it yesterday as an ARC, and I&#39;m waiting to pick it up.<br /><br />Have fun reading today!

Hi. I&#39;m just dropping in from seeing your FB status and although PaperTigers is not participating in the challenge, I&#39;m keen to see what books people are reading. I like your comment: &#39;placidly whirling in my own eddies.&#39;

ooops, forgot to subscribe to follow-up comments.

Oh man, I don&#39;t think I have any brain left to come up with a meaningful comment! Just wanted to cheer you on. Perhaps I can come back later, with brain restored.

I love Emma Jean. I had read about her possibly being slightly aspergerish, but I am not sure if that was intended by the author. I personally think you don&#39;t have to have asperger to look at life in a more cut-and-dried, detached way. <br /><br />Andi: you bring up an interesting point, that if Emma Jean were asperger, then, she does appear too self aware. <br /><br />What do you think of

I haven&#39;t read it yet. I don&#39;t think I&#39;m going to read ANY book anytime soon. Keep up the good work!

What a cool prize! I didn&#39;t read for a cause, mainly because I don&#39;t have the money to donate and don&#39;t know anyone who does, either. I am cheering on everyone who is, though! <br /><br />Thanks for coming by and cheering me on! Now I have found a new book blog! :)

You have certainly chosen some very intense books for your challenge and I am going to have to go out and look for them all. I&#39;mmlooking forward to seing what you will have read today...<br /><br />Good luck, getting to the end.

I&#39;m back!<br /><br />Your description does make the character sound like she might have Aspergers -- and how interesting for someone to write an Aspie-like character as tender hearted! That is very unusual and would really do my heart good to see. My son has high functioning autism and though he has major problems with empathy and point of view, he is very loving, as are all the other Aspies

trying to comment, too sleepy to be relevant. Good luck with your fund-raising.

I liked the first one a lot, but the second book felt more than a little flat to me. If you didn&#39;t like the first one, don&#39;t bother with the sequel.

I really like this book and can&#39;t wait to read the new sequel.<br /><br />I agree that if she has full-on Asperger&#39;s, she&#39;s too self-aware. But there are so many kids who have tendencies toward it, maybe not at any diagnosable level (and Emma Jean doesn&#39;t have an obsession). I think that&#39;s Emma-Jean, just some tendencies or similarities. And that&#39;s what makes her growth

I am really enjoying this conversation! Thanks for all the comments on how you found the book. I wanted to respond to something Dreadful Penny said about Colleen: &quot;I identify with Colleen more and think she&#39;s an extremely well-drawn character. Her anxieties, her willingness to please, her tiny bursts of confidence... they all scream 6th grade girl to me.&quot;<br /><br />That&#39;s funny

I could just about die laughing, because I&#39;ve been thinking about this self-awareness thing all day--I&#39;m often amazed at how self-aware and able to express himself my autistic son is--and just this minute, when I tried to change the subject he told me &quot;I&#39;m still perseverating on this money bin idea.&quot;

I really enjoyed this book and found it fairly easy to booktalk to my 7th graders who study India in Social Studies.

I am going to have to read it! My sixth graders study India in social studies (7th is state history here) and it sounds like a valuable resource. Maybe for First Day School, too! Thank you so much for posting this!

This sounds really good. I&#39;ve noticed once you start to look its easier to find diverse YA lit.

Congratulations! I think that is a fine tally. And next year the boys will be old enough perhaps to all read with you. The nicest part of mine was when we played ball and lay around in the sun/shade together, all the while listening to an audio book.<br /><br />The roses on my barn are blooming again, which makes me think of you when I see them because of your garden visits from last year!

Congratulations on beating your personal best from before. I did, too (and I think I probably hit my max, since I&#39;m just not a person who&#39;s able to give up sleep). <br /><br />Thanks for commenting on my blog during the challenge. The comments really helped keep me going. Next year, I want to do a better job of taking breaks to comment during the challenge (I did some, but I know that I

Thanks for stopping by my blog (and here I return the favor, especially if you&#39;re still counting comments :) So glad to have found your blog... this has been a really cool way to &quot;meet&quot; people.

oh no, I&#39;m 3 minutes too late, but then, again, I&#39;ve been terribly busy... Sorry about that, and congratulations on your achievement in this challenge!<br /><br />I have to email you/ call so that this year we don&#39;t miss our summer play date at the Smith playground, ok? And perhaps we can also go to the Arboretum! And other places...

Going around to see my peeps. Great job on your reading!

I love this notion of some of you using hours to donate to Bridget&#39;s fund. So fabulous. <br /><br />Congrats!

I have had my head in all the auction final details I did not realize that people were using the challenge for raising money for Bridget. Fabulous!

Beautiful photo and sentiments!

Sounds like the perfect day! Lovely rose and haiku. Happy Summer!!!

Gorgeous. Our roses didn&#39;t do so well. :(

I have GOT to read this already.

Yes, Jules, you do! It is really great. It kept me awake at night after I put it down, both from the horror of our history and the tenderness in her writing.

Wonderful, Andi. &quot;love that moves us.&quot; :)

I love the sound of:<br /><br />&quot;Truly<br />unruly,<br />verily, reliably&quot;<br /><br />And &quot;Mom I love&quot; is a keeper!

Love the twist at the end! I&#39;m wondering if love zapped me crossing the street or if I got zapped in spite of love&#39;s ability to &quot;radically save&quot; me?!?

MaryLee, I think it&#39;s both!<br /><br />About the artwork: My 6 yo son Buddy did that picture for me when I was recovering from cancer surgery last winter. He was at a friend&#39;s house (who is an art teacher) one afternoon to give me a chance to nap. It&#39;s a fire truck &amp; driver. This morning he pointed to the blue lines and told me: &quot;That&#39;s the rain. It is blocking the sun.&

Beautiful.

It is a killer ABC poem. I love it. And the picture drawn by your son: brings tears to my eyes.

Excellent! I wanna get zapped.

Gorgeous, Andi. I especially love:<br /><br />Not<br />only<br />puzzles us,<br />quite<br />radically<br />saves us.<br /><br />And the way the rhythm strolls and flows--almost like soft rap.

Andi,<br /><br />You are the master of every poetic form you &quot;stretch&quot; yourself to write. Thanks for always sharing your heartfelt poetry with us.

I need to send you a I heart black authors button. Please send your snail mail address to carleen (at) carleenbrice (dot) com.

<a href="http://www.heartbreakers.net.tf" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Little-Heartbreakers</a>

What a great resource! Yeah, we were just talking the other day about typing papers. Typing. Yeah, I remember that...

Carleen, I was just thinking about that the other day. I&#39;ll send you my address cause I would love to have a button!<br /><br />MaryLee can you believe how much things have changed? Typing papers was a major headache for me. If I had had the tools then that I have now.... oy vey. It makes me wonder at what the next generation can produce and accomplish.

Mmm. I vote for...BOTH. (But I&#39;d probably eat the sorbet first.)<br /><br />I love that: Birds screaming at us for stealing their fruit.

MMMMmmmmmm....they tell me raspberries won&#39;t grow here because we rarely get a solid freeze and they apparently need one.

Lone Star Ma that is really too bad! Jules guess what? I DID make both today! The boys and I went for a walk in the woods and then picked more raspberries. I made strawberry-raspberry jam and raspberry sorbet when we got home. Tomorrow we go to the parade and then take the sorbet over to my parent&#39;s for the holiday cookout. Can&#39;t wait!

Sounds and looks good. <br /><br />Enjoy your holiday.

My mouth is WATERING!

Do you happen to live nearby? Raspberry sorbet with chocolate sauce! Someone please stop me from trying to lick my computer screen.

For real!

Oh my goodness, that looks unbelievably delicious!<br /><br />Have been thinking about you all day today off and on as I worked on a book recommendation post over at <a href="http://butwait.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">But Wait, There&#39;s More!</a><br /><br />Glad to see you and the boys are doing well!

Wow -- what a lovely snippet of childhood the boys will have to look back on. What a tasty dollop of summer...

Andi,<br /><br />I go with sorbet. Nothing like homemade goodness.<br /><br />Have a great Fourth of July with the boys!

Great idea! I kind of stopped the blog I had begun for our 532 class last fall...think I&#39;ll start it up again! I&#39;ll let you know what I select to read! Island of the Blue Dophins is definitely a good one, classic even!

Thanks! I think it will help me keep track of what I read for the class if I blog the books here. I am wishing I could read more brand new books though. What the kids in my school are excited about instead of what I read in school... But a lot of them are not mentioned in the textbook we have to reference.

Are you familiar with Ypulse? It is a website that focuses on the latest news in relation to youth marketing trends. I get their daily Rss Feed. This might help you with exposure to trends in teen culture. You can find it at http://www.ypulse.com/.

Great picture! Yep, I find myself trying to drag my feet so summer doesn&#39;t go too fast. What I need to do is just enjoy! I&#39;m painting leaves and things on our back step into the garage. I didn&#39;t need a project but I needed to paint!

Andi,<br /><br />I love the photo--and your haiku. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer vacation. May you have many bright and restful days.

I can just SMELL that scene ;)<br /><br />Carol<br /><br />(word verification is &quot;beut&quot;--how appropriate)

Sigh...<br /><br />Your haiku speaks to my heart. After a month of obligations, my summer felt like it got started for real yesterday. In two weeks it will be August and summer will have slipped by...<br /><br />(word verification is spersh -- the sound of us wading in the river of summer)

Thanks for these comments telling me how the photo &amp; haiku have spoken to you all. Your mention of scents, sounds &amp; response actions really add to the whole picture for me. I think we need to go back there today...

Lovely. It looks so peaceful.

lovely.

Gorgeous photos and poems.<br /><br />A lovely peaceful break in my day.<br /><br />Fiona :)

Thanks that make me sigh &quot;Ahhhh...&quot;

Thanks for these encouraging comments! You&#39;ve made my morning.

Your garden: GORGEOUS!<br /><br />I&#39;ll echo Yat-Yee&#39;s ahhhh....<br /><br />(could that sound even make an echo? probably, thankfully NOT)

This might be my favorite of all.

You&#39;re right -- the release is definitely the harder of the two skills to learn!

Love the photos and the haiku, go so hand in hand. Looks like a lot of summer fun to be had by all.

What a beautiful post! My youngest son (who just quit a team after six years of bball) turns 14 today. The releasing is way hard!

I&#39;ve been working on haiku this summer (not posted yet, but hope to soon). It&#39;s a tougher form than meets the eye, at least for me. I like how your poem works on different levels -- the hold and release of playing ball, and watching/caring for children ... finding that balance of hold and release.

Hold and release: fabulous. Perfect for child rearing and life&#39;s gifts.

Thanks for all these comments! The funny thing is my youngest son wants to play with the full size B Ball that belongs to my oldest son. It&#39;s at least 15 years old. I bought him a new Jr. size ball thinking it would be easier/more fun for him but he wants nothing to do with it. The 7 yo, who has large hands loves the Jr. ball. There are so many levels of exchange &amp; learning involved in

Oh I want to learn to play the piano. Somethin&#39; fierce. But I kinda need a piano first. <br /><br />Hope your summer is a great one...

Love the photos.<br /><br />You won in the <a href="http://coloronline.blogspot.com/2009/07/summer-madness-winners.html" rel="nofollow">Summer Madness Giveaway</a>. Come by. :-)

Love the pic where the ball is practically obscuring the head. And why is holding always SO much easier than releasing?

Andi - I love your photography, poetry, and prose ... No surprise you&#39;re getting followers. Thanks for the mosaic.

I&#39;m wondering about a Twitter account for my classroom...

Wait a minute! I can&#39;t believe I just wrote that! I&#39;m the one who just got done bringing Twitter down to a manageable level of noise! So...strike that from the record. I will NOT consider a Twitter account for my classroom, no how, no way!

LOL Mary Lee!!! I am wondering if it will get to be too much for me too. I guess it depends on how many people follow &amp; I follow them. At least it counts as &quot;work&quot; &amp; can be done during the school day.<br /><br />I think.

ReadingTub - thanks for those kind words! I feel like I haven&#39;t been a good blogger lately so that really cheers me up.

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This was ...a really... amazing feat, wasn&#39;t it? I was astounded, awed, and ...horrified, on many levels, for the writer. To have to marinate in that event for so long -- the horror. And yet, she comes away with a gift, with closure for us, with... a bittersweet joy. The whole crown just blew me away.

I know Tanita! It is overwhelming to think how she must have immersed herself in the horror, and then come out with something so wrenching and beautiful to share.

Andromeda,<br /><br />Great review for Poetry Friday. A friend shared this work with me about two years ago. It was before we went to hear Ms. Nelson read. She briefly talked about this work. She is a poet&#39;s poet, classically trained and dedicated to her craft. <br /><br />Please post your link to <a href="http://coloronline.blogspot.com/2009/07/august-color-me-brown-book-challenge.html" rel=

I dearly loved this book. The poems are astounding, and do great justice to the subject. The illustrations, in turn, do great justice to the poems. Thanks for highlighting it.

This sounds like a truly amazing book... a genuine tribute.

I&#39;ve seen this book talked about before, but I&#39;ve always been afraid to read it. There are pictures on the web of him from the open casket and it is just so devastating. But it sounds like from your review that there is nothing to be afraid of with this book. Thank you for sharing that!

Thanks for this reminder. Haven&#39;t read it yet. Gonna hit my library now!

I adore this book - the way she moves around to different perspectives (including the tree&#39;s!), and how it all works so well together. Not only does she write a heroic crown, but her final poem is an anagram as well. I think she must have started with that one and split it all out after that, in order for it to work at all. So great.

Wow - I need to read that.

You are right, Kelly, the perspectives are amazing. It is so tender, and then brutal - just like a mother&#39;s love that would leave the casket open to force the world to see what they did to her boy. You know she (his mother) lived to be 91 and always worked for Civil Rights after his death. In the back of the book Nelson talks about her and her impact, as well as wonders what potential Emmett

rhapsodyinbooks I wouldn&#39;t be afraid to read it - it&#39;s very lovely. The illustrations are just the right colors and forms to extend the words. It has sadness, and rage, but is also fully respectful. I recommend it!

This is book is amazing.

Amazing seems to be the operative word about this book...I can&#39;t think of another that&#39;s more fitting.

Hi, I heard about this book awhile ago; a friend showed it to me. Thanks for the post on it!

Thanks for hosting. I&#39;m sorry about the Lyme disease. A friend of mine is dealing with this disease, and it&#39;s not fun.

Sorry about the double post in Mr.Linky. Numbers 2 and 3 are the same. I didn&#39;t know how to delete #2.

Thanks for hosting, Andi. I sure hope you&#39;re feeling better!

Apologies from me, too, about the double posting - I always forget how Mr. Linky works! Hope the doctor visits go well.

Just wanted to wish you luck today. Hope your visits go well and your Lyme disease is mild. Also, thanks for hosting.

Thanks, andi, for hosting. Beautiful photo!<br /><br />Hope your appts go well. We have five dr&#39;s appts scheduled for next week. I wish I could just hibernate through the week!

I hope the new antibiotics are working and that you&#39;re feeling much better soon. Thanks for hosting!

So sorry about the Lyme disease. Hope you find relief soon...

Lyme disease?!?! YUCK! So sorry to hear that you&#39;ve got to deal with that. I hope you feel much better soon!

Thanks for hosting, and I hope you feel better, Andi. I&#39;m so sorry you&#39;re feeling so bad.

Sorry--I&#39;ve never used Mr. Linky before and ended up double-posting. Couldn&#39;t see how to delete the link either.<br /><br />Thanks for the beautiful photo, and for hosting. So sorry about the Lyme Disease.

Good luck at the doctor today. Thanks for hosting &amp; hang in there. Love the ominous last line of your poem, BTW.

Good luck at the doctor. I&#39;m sorry about the Lyme Disease and hope you feel better.

What a gorgeous photo, as always. <br /><br />I&#39;m so sorry to hear you have Lyme disease. Please take care, and get lots of rest. <br /><br />Thanks for hosting...

Gorgeous photo and poem!<br /><br />Sorry to hear about the Lime Disease! Feel better soon.

Thank you so much for hosting today. Sorry to hear of your battle with Lyme Disease. Please keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks for hosting. Hang in there as you cope with Lyme disease. We&#39;re all wishing you well.

Hi Andi,<br /><br />Thanks for hosting.<br /><br />Affirming your whole and perfect health.

Andi,<br /><br />So sorry to hear about the Lyme disease. Take care of yourself. My niece&#39;s husband got it a couple of years ago. He caught it quickly and got treated. <br /><br />Thanks so much for doing the roundup this week.<br /><br />At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original fairy tale poem--which is in the form of a conversation between the Third Billy Goat Gruff and the Troll.<br /><br /

Thinking of you, Andromeda. Here&#39;s to good treatment!

Lyme disease! My hisband suffered it, awful! Lots of rest,indeed. I am so sorry. Your photo and haiku are fabulous.

Thank you for hosting! Poor you on the Lyme :-( Hope you&#39;re doing well soon!

I&#39;m in with a post on poet John Betjeman for PaperTigers. Hope you&#39;re feeling well soon.

Thanks for hosting, Andi -- I can&#39;t believe you&#39;re doing this so I&#39;m hoping it means your headaches are better???

Ever-darker summernight sky on my mind, and Eve Merriam&#39;s <a href="http://myjuicylittleuniverse.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">The New Moon</a> to enjoy. Also a book promotion progress report...Thanks, Andi.

My best wishes and thanks, too.

hi! i like the designs. check out the source of the template.<br />Thank you! i love it.<br />More templates <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttp%E2%80%9D//www.itemplatez.com%E2%80%9D" rel="nofollow">easy to download</a>

Madam, may I humbly suggest improvements:<br /><br />planting piquant pinks<br />salvos of purple salvia, <br />montage of cat mint -<br />resting undulating in lilies<br />salivating lazily.<br /><br />Keep trying – you shall get the hang of it yet!<br /><br />Encouragingly,<br /><br />Percy Bisque Silley (Knighted)

I love your &quot;hazy heat&quot; haiku -- feeling that in B&#39;more! So true about old friends grounding us.

OOh that looks like a wonderful place to be! Really like the hinge haiku.

Gorgeous photos and haiku, as usual, Andi. Love the reflections in the hazy heat pic.

How you keep coming up with these gorgeous, gorgeous photographs and perfect haiku just amazes me. Thanks so much for the beauty.

Congratulations! Your blog has been nominated for a 2009 BBAW Award. If you could be so kind as to email me your email address, I&#39;ll send you a short email about it.<br /><br />Sheri<br />BBAW Awards Committee<br />anovelmenagerie@aol.com

I&#39;m glad you had such a lovely time! I don&#39;t have many childhood friends and I hardly ever see the ones I have. I&#39;m sure you cherished these moments together.

I nominated you. :-)<br /><br />Good luck.

Coming here is always feels like a slice of meditation and renewal.<br /><br />Thanks, Andromeda.

&quot; a slice of meditation and renewal&quot; perfectly described.

I love the geometry of the gate photo -- the hard, straight lines and then the messy spider webs to soften those lines. Seems like life: looking all hard and fast, but really soft and messy when you get right down to the truth of it...<br /><br />I hope you&#39;re feeling better!

Good luck on his first day! Our big day is Monday. All teachers should ask parents this question.

That is wonderful! I think his teacher would be delighted to read it too!

So lovely, Andi, and inspiring :). Here&#39;s to a wonderful school year!

This letter/poem brings tears to my teacher eyes!<br /><br />&quot;...friendships...<br />richer than <br />what you have<br />or who gets picked first&quot;<br /><br />...his wiggling, his handwriting, his bouncing...<br /><br />Your love shines through, and his personality shines through. His teacher better appreciate this letter! I accept it in her stead if s/he doesn&#39;t!!!

Wonderful poem! You&#39;ve captured so well what many of us parents feel as we send our children off to school. May first grade be all that you hope for and more!

Thanks for the heads-up about the comment problem at The Drift Record! I think I&#39;ve got it fixed. Nice work with your Poetry Fridays lately - wow - the photos from your creekside ramble are WONDERFUL.

Andromeda! I&#39;m on the other end. One&#39;s going away, and one&#39;s starting college locally. Your poem is a beautiful hope as your son begins his journey.

You have won an award. Check out my blog to see what you won :)

How beautiful! First grade, huh? I would love to have read this before either of mine entered! That&#39;s quite a change. How amazing the teacher asked the question.<br />Melissa

Quite a concept. I think I, and most people, kind of think of kids as the leaders in this.

I know what you mean Lone Star Ma. They are leaders in the excitement of jumping right in and learning new tools. They are such great learners and adopters. But they need the grown ups to teach the citizenship parts and to think through the broader implications of community, civic responsibility, personal security, health and safety, and the like. This book does an excellent job of pointing out

Great photos. I especially like the crane, so upright and elegant.

I love the photos, particularly the heron. And your haiku is always spot-on. Thanks for sharing what looks like a perfect end to summer.

That&#39;s just lovely. Thank you for the photos and the poetry.

Beautiful. Is that great blue heron? I see those pretty often. I always wish I knew the names of the sea birds I see.

mmmm. I needed this lovely stillness today. Thank you.

I especially love the crane photo and the accompanying haiku. Lovely images.

Beautiful photos and very nice poetry.<br /><br />I&#39;d like to list your blog on our author&#39;s resources page, but I can&#39;t find your book submission guidelines. What&#39;s the best way for publishers and authors to contact you? What genres do you accept? Please let me know if you accept small press, independent, and self-published books, and what your submission guidelines are. Your

I was out walking a few weeks ago and saw a blue heron in a retaining pond. I wanted to take a photo, but all I had was my cell phone. The photo wasn&#39;t nearly as nice as the one you have here! I&#39;m glad one of us could capture a photo!

Lovely images!