Wanda Snow Porter's Blog, page 3

March is Women's History Month

In 1978, a school district in Sonoma, California celebrated women’s contributions to culture, history and society. Hundreds of students from dozens of schools participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest, and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa. A few years later, the idea had caught on, and in 1980 President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women's History Week. The next year, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution and esta...

About Bullying

In seventh grade, I lived in a small town, and most of us had attended school together since kindergarten. When the school year started in the fall, all the girls were friends. That is, until a
new girl came to school. Even though it’s not her real name, I’ll call her Annette, because she looked a bit like Annette Funicello. Maybe that is why she instantly became popular and held power over the other girls.
Now popularity became the central focus at school. We were judged by our looks, figure...

Bell Mare- A Book for the New Year

This cast iron bell, a replica of a bell mare, was a Christmas
gift, and now prominently hangs by our front door. It reminds me of a story in the book The Blond Ranchero of how a
Rancho Nipomo bell mare played an important role in retrieving horses Fremont’s battalion had mistakenly taken from the rancho on their march down California during the Mexican-American War.
The Blond Ranchero was written by Rocky Dana, the great-grandson of Captain Dana.A bible of historical information abou...

Christmas Isn't Always Merry

The central coast of California's yearly
rainfall averages about 20 inches, and Christmas day is usually warm and sunny.
So it is hard to imagine on Christmas Evein 1846 a rainstorm heavy enough to kill horses almost devastated Fremont’s battalion as they marched over the SantaYnez Mountainsduring theMexican- American War.
José spentthat unhappynight sheltered
from this terriblestorm in a cold, dark cave. After his parents separated, Christmas for Tim McGrew was not happy either.
...

Remedy Book Signing

I had a wonderful time at the Nipomo Library visiting with family and friends who helped me celebrate the release of my latest young adult novel, Remedy.
author Tony Piazza critique partner, Kathy Yamada author Sue McGinty my sisters, Patsy and Vona, and great-grand son, Easton Jo Ann, Clara, and Jessie Wish I had photos of everyone, but thank you all for making the day so very special. best friend and husband, Charles

The Next Big Thing

Thank you, Beverly Stowe McClure, for tagging me to participate in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. The hop rules require me to answer 10 predetermined questions, and then at the bottom of my post, I’ve listedauthors who will answer the same ten questions on their blogs next Wednesday.

What is the title of your latest book?
My young adult novel Remedywasjust released in September.
Where did the idea come from for Remedy?
I once wrote and illustrated a story for one of my riding students who owned...

I Love Burros

A burro’s ears look comical and cute and make me smile. However, those funny ears belie the burro’s smart, quick, and wily personality.
As a child I rode aburro and learned how clever they are. Our family had one horse that my sister and I took turns riding. If we went on a trail ride together, one of us had to ride a friend’sburro. It was stubborn but would follow the horses. As I recall, it had an appropriate name like Taco.
Our saddle didn't fit the burro, and neither of us liked riding hi...

National Book Festival

On Sept. 22-23 the Library of Congress will celebrate books and reading during the National Book Festival on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Festival related events will take place in the days and weeks preceding this yearly free event that will feature authors, poets and illustrators in several pavilions, including two Sunday-only pavilions: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Graphic Novels and Special Presentations. Festival-goers can meet and hear firsthand from their favorite poets and autho...

Quilt and Book Drawing

Thisbeautiful lap quilt, on display in the Nipomo Library, was created by The Old Towne Quilting Guild of Nipomo for the benefit of Friends of Nipomo Library. The quilt’s design was inspired by the cover of Spurs for José. Both quilt and book are included in the drawingthat willbe held at the OctoberFest in Nipomo Regional Park on October 13th.

Guest post by Regina Puckett~Deciding to Self-Pubish

Ihave beenwriting for several years now. My first lovewas, and still is,writing romance.There’s nothing better than helping two deservingpeople fall in love, but a little after Christmas, I began thinking aboutbranching out into another genre. I was feeling a little moldy around the edgesand thought that trying something totally new seemed like a good exercise ingetting my brain cells motivated again.

As I was trying to find a project I could fall in love with, I thought back to my teen years...