Allison Bruning's Blog, page 6

#ExpressYourself: #Summer Goals

Welcome back the the weekly Express Yourself blog hop. This week I was asked to write about something I am looking forward to this summer.


This summer is a summer of changes for my family. Last April, my husband and I moved back to Marfa, Texas. It was an unplanned but perfect move for us. I have returned to writing full time and absolutely love it! We are surrounded by family and friends.

I have decided to open a new business in Texas known as Big Bend Productions. It will have four companies underneath it: Marfa House (publishing), Castolon Studios (photography), Boquillas' Window (graphics) and Lost Mine Films (independent film company). I am really excited about our business venture. I am currently working on establishing Big Bend Productions in Marfa. My plan is to launch it sometimes this fall.

My husband has been dreaming of owning a business as well. He's currently enrolled at Walden University but has also started school at Penn Foster to become a motorcycle repair technician. He wants to own his own motorcycle repair shop. He's also talking about going to Ashworth College when he finishes his motorcycle repair technician schooling to gain a certification in computer repair. His goal is to own and operate a business that fixes computers and motorcycles.

This summer is all about dreaming and working towards achieving our goals.

Dear Diary: In the words of Count Remy De Clare Arnes #character #author #hisfic #France

Portrait of an Unknown Man. By anonymous. 1775
Dear DiaryIn the words of Count Remy de Clare Arnes
Lies and Deceit (Children of the Shawnee: Book 2)




Dear Diary, 
The waves toss and turn this vessel throughout day and night. My wife and I have been at sea towards the British colonies for almost a month and a half. My beloved Wild Rose and I have been sequestered in our cabin without our servants for nearly two days. A terrible sickness has overcome the crew and passengers. We have not been affected but unfortunately Thomas has brought word that the servants we brought with us are ill with fever. My father has been helping the captain with maintaining order. 
Thankfully, due to our royal blood, we were not given quarter with the underprivileged. The captain, immediately recognizing my wife as King Louis' favorite granddaughter when we had first approached him concerning passage to the New World, had insisted we take his private cabin as our quarters. It has been a blessing. I very much doubt Rose would be able to handle such primitive, cramped conditions below deck. She hasn't complained much about our situation, as we have been preoccupied with our royal obligations of producing a child. We have spent the majority of the voyage making love in our cabin when we do not share the room with my father and Thomas. The waves and the sheer delight of not having anyone around us while we do our martial business has been wonderful for our sexual encounters. I do suspect, perhaps out of hope, that these encounters will satisfy the king with Rose carrying my child. But only time will tell. 
I must end this entry as there is a commotion outside our door. I do hope it's not another storm. The last one tossed Rose and I around the cabin leaving bruises and cuts all over our bodies.
Count Remy de Clare Arnes

#CTST: Big #business dreams in #Texas

My husband and I moved to Marfa, Texas a few months ago. I am in the process of closing my publishing house in Indianapolis and starting a new company in Texas. My new company will be an LLC that houses four different companies underneath it. These four businesses will be publishing, photography, graphics and film. I'm so excited to plant our business in Marfa. Marfa is an artist community. Whenever people in the area here of what I am trying to do they get all excited.

This week I made a long to do list of things that need to be done before we open the company. I also started on our business plan. I'm so excited. I feel like I'm making tiny steps forward to achieving my dream. I learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do when you own a publishing house. My new house will be stronger and better than my last one.

#ExpressYourself: Nature Girl!

Welcome back to the weekly Express Yourself blog meme. This week I was asked to answer "If you could try one occupation for a day, other than your current job, what would you chose?"
Taking a break from hiking along the Ohio River. 
I currently work as a historical romance novelist. I love my writing career. I am also a business
owner. I own Mountain Springs House, a publishing house based in Indianapolis, Indiana. My husband and I recently moved back to Texas. I am currently in the process of closing Mountain Springs House and opening a new company in Texas that will focus on publishing, film, graphics and photography. More information about that venture will becoming later this year.

If I could give it all up for a day I would be try my hand at being a zookeeper or a national park ranger. I've always been fascinated by nature. One time in my life I actually thought I would become either one of those careers. I love spending time with animals. I have an endless curiosity when it comes to the natural world. I'm a backpacker and camper. I love anything to do with nature. I especially love to teach kids about camping and anything to do with the outdoors. I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves the outdoors as much as I do.

To Be #Shawnee: Feasting with the Shawnee

Welcome to my cabin. I cannot tell you my name because anyone who knows my real name has power over me. You may call Christine, for that is how the white people know me.  I was born the daughter of the Peace Chief and married a French Fur Trader. You know my people as the Shawnee but we call ourselves the Shawano. Shawano means southerner in our language. Please sit and let me tell you about my people and the feast I have prepared for you. 
My people are part of the Eastern Woodland Tribes and shared many culinary traits with the other Woodland tribes.
 Our men are highly skilled hunters. They are highly skilled in imitating the calls of a wide variety of animals. One time a man in my village imitate a panther and not soon after the panther pounced on him. The man lived but he never tried to hunt down the panther ever again.
On your plate are a variety of meat that my husband and brothers hunted this morning that represent the kinds of animals we hunt in different seasons.  The raccoon is our principal meat during the winter season. Our men watch for when the frogs come out of their hiding places. When that happens we know the raccoons are not that far behind because the raccoons will hunt for them close to the ponds. Our men trap the raccoons by placing a long pole over one of the logs that the raccoons use to hunt.  The pole has stakes on the side of it so it won't move. On the end of the pole is a sinew noose. When the raccoon walks across the log it triggers the trap and the pole falls on top of the animal with the noose around it's neck. The other meat on your plate are deer, turkey, rabbit, and fish. Here is my recipe for the baked raccoon on your plate. http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/recipe.php?recipeid=16


On the left side of your plate you will find Hominy. Hominy is one of our favorite dishes and we eat it Indian Corn by Thomas Quine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quinet/9... a daily basis. Hominy is made from flint corn. You know flint corn by another name, Indian Corn. Flint corn is just one of the varieties of corn that we grow in our community garden.

 We, like other Native American groups, plant our crops using the Three Sisters. The Three Sisters are corn, squash and beans. I have made you a wonderful Three Sisters Stew that you can find in the bowl beside your drink. Here is my recipe for that stew from the Oneida Nation. I'm keeping my recipe a secret. http://www.oneidaindiannation.com/culture/threesisters/cookbook/41034407.html

We, Shawnee women, use digging sticks to plant corn kernels. We wait until the corn stalks are about a foot high then return to the garden and plant squash, beans and pumpkins between the stalks. The squash and pumpkin vines will attach themselves to dead trees and stumps. We hoe the corn stalks from time to time with blades made from shells, stone or elk shoulder blades. The bowl above your plate on the right is corn and bean stew. I have placed some pumpkin and squash slices beside your hominy. Beside that is Succotash. You can find my succotash recipe at http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/recipe.php?recipeid=76 

On a separate plate, in the middle of the table, are two types of breads that are very common among my people. The one on the left is Sour Bread and the Blue Bread. Here are the recipe for the Sour Bread. I can't share with you the Blue Bread recipe because it's a Shawnee secret.

Sour Bread

1teaspoon baking soda
2 cups white cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups lukewarm water

Mix the ingredients together then let it sit for two or three days. Stir it thoroughly and add cup of flour. Stir again to make the dough. Pour the mixture into a well greased bread pan. Cook at 350 degrees until well browned.

Are you enjoying the meal so far?

Great!  Here let me pour you some bread water in your cup. What's bread water? It's a corn drink that we learned how to make from the Creeks.

Time for desert.
Not only do my people hunt and farm but we also gather berries and fruits. We usually eat these uncooked but sometimes we will dry them. I've made you one of my people's favorite dishes. Take a look at the dish I just laid before. These are wild grapes that I have slightly scalded. The thick, rich juice they lie in is from pressing the grapes. I heated the juice up and when it boiled I added dumplings and sugar.

Thank you for visiting my cabin today.

#LTW: Identifying the #Gifted Child #education

Identifying the Gifted Child
One of the questions I am most often asked by parents with students who have high IQ's is why their child did not get accepted into the Gifted Education program within their school. It can be quite frustrating to parents of gifted students when the school system does not provide the additional support their child may need in order to be academically successful. 
The identification of students into a public school system's gifted program can be complicated. This is due to several key factors that influence the selection process of the program. This blog post will address two of these issues.
The Test The first problem stems from the fact that there is no national standard each school system is required to follow when constructing the selection process. Every school district in the United States is responsible for creating their own selection process and govern how their program will be administered. The problem occurs when one student is admitted into a program then has to move to another school district. The school district may not recognized the student's advanced capabilities due to the differences in the selection process at their school.

There is more than one way to test for gifted intelligence. The traditional way is to administer an IQ test to the student. If the student scores an IQ of 130 or more then they are considered gifted. The problem with depending only upon an IQ tests is that some students who truly have a high IQ do not test well so their results are skewed. 
The most common way for schools to test for an high IQ is to use to administer a IQ test but also gather data from teachers, parents, school work and other adults who have had experience working with the child. These behavioral interviews, profile of a child's work and the IQ test are then combined to glean a more accurate image of the child's academic capabilities. These methods seem to work best because spatially and athletically gifted students have a greater chance at being recognized as gifted. 
Teacher Training Educators want to help students succeed. This can be difficult for an educator to do sometimes because they don't always have the training to help a struggling student. Gifted students are considered part of the special education system. General education teachers, which is most of the teachers in the United States, are not taught how to properly teach this specialized group yet are expected to have them fully engaged within the classroom. Some states, such as Texas, offers 30 hours of specialized training beyond a teacher's certification so they be recognized as having the training they need in order to interact with the gifted population. 
The problem with the lack of teacher training can be felt in the gifted programming. When educators are given the opportunity to help devise a gifted program but are limited in the understanding of the gifted population the program suffers from the academic support the children required. Some schools offer pull out programs where gifted students gather once a week to do a project. While this can be somewhat affected what gifted kids need the most is to be placed within a learning environment that allows them to challenge their abilities everyday. Gifted kids can become easily bored with the pullout program. This leads to even more behavioral problems in the classroom. 
Understanding a gifted child can be difficult if the teacher hasn't worked with gifted students before. Having book training on the subject of gifted education is completely different from working with this specialized population. Educators working with the gifted population need to experience working with them before they strive to create a gifted program. 

#WhatsUpWithAllison: Writing Progress

Happy Sunday!

This week is a busy week for me. I'm writing, working on establishing our business in Texas, and working on my PhD studies. My favorite time to write during the day is in the early hours of morning. It's so peaceful. The desert is cool. The world is just coming alive. It's perfection.

WRITING PROGRESS

I'm at 77, 466 words into Lies and Deceit (Children of the Shawnee: Book 2). My goal is to have the story completely finished by the end of June. Next month is Camp NaNoWriMo. I want to work on my next WIP - Hoppy's Grave. Hoppy's Grave is based on a legend I had heard while attending Camp Mowana in Ohio in the 80's.

If you can't wait for the second book to be released you can still get a glimpse of Calico, Little Owl and the rest of the characters on the Children of the Shawnee Pinterest board. There are some great new characters being added to the story. You can read about them and the other ones you already love over there.

#CelebratetheSmallThings: #Exercise in Marfa, Texas

Happy Friday! This week has been a wonderful week for me. My husband and I have been trying to lose weight. We've changed our diet. We've been taking Garcenia Cambogia before every meal. Well this week, we started our exercise routine. We started swimming laps on Tues. and Thurs. I'll be adding Yoga to the Weds. in the next couple of weeks. I went to the local gym yesterday instead of going swimming because I had an event I had to be at during the time the pool is open for laps.

 It's been a few years since I've been able to swim laps, do Yoga and/or work out in the gym. My forms are a bit off but that will improve with time. I am absolutely loving that I am able to get some exercise again. 

How about you? What was the best part of your week?

@Schoenbrunn Village: Who were the Moravians?

Schoenbrunn Village:The Moravians
A cabin at Schroenbrunn Village (Public Domain)          Schoenbrunn Village was the first Christian settlement in Ohio. It was founded in 1772 by Moravian missionaries and Delaware Christian converts led by David Zeisberger. The area of land in which Schoenbrunn was founded had belonged to the Delaware. Their chief, Chief Netawatwes, had invited Zeisberger to the area and gave the land to the Moravians. David Zeisberger accepted the land offer under one condition - the Delaware could not interfere with the village. They Moravians and their Christian Indians wanted to be completely free of drunk Indians and hostilities by the Non-Christian Delaware. Chief Netawatwes agreed. By the end of 1772, Schroenbrunn Village housed 92 inhabitants. It would eventually peak with a total of 300 people. 
         Schroenbrunn Village was located in a placed of neutrality between the Ohio Indians and British settlers.  Yet, Schoenbrunn wasn't completely safe. Setters did't approve of the sanctuary for Christianized Delaware and Non-Christian Native Americans didn't appreciate Zeisberger's efforts to convert their neighbors. Just who were the Moravians?
The Moravians
         The Moravian Church was founded by Jan Hus, the first church reformer, during the 15th century in Bohemia. Bohemia is located in present day Austria - Hungry. Hus was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415 for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church. His followers, known as Hussites, continued to stand against the Catholic Church teachings and rebelled against Catholic rulers. By 1440, 90% of the people living in Czech lands were non-Catholics and followed Jan Hus' model of Christianity. 
         The name if the Moravian Church comes from the exiles who followed Hus' model of Christianity. These exiles fled to Saxony (located in modern day Germany) from Moravia (Modern dayCzech Republic) in order to escape from religious persecution. The Moravian Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the modern world. It's founder, Jan Hus, is considered the first Church reformer because he lived before Martin Luther, John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli. The Catholic Church continued to persecute Hus' followers throughout the centuries and the communities were forced underground. 
         The dwindling fate of the Moravian Church changed for the better during the 18th century. In 1722, a remnant of a small group of Moravians living in northern Moravia approached Count Nikolaus Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf with a request to settle on his lands. Ludwig was a devout Piet who followed a personal commitment to help the poor and needy. He agreed. The Moravians established Hernhut. Hernhut's population grew steady but it wasn't without problems.  Hernhut (Public Domain)
       The people had major religious disagreements that threaten to tear apart the city with it's major divisions. Count Zinzendorf worked diligently with the population by establishing the Brotherly Agreement, a document that was meant to bring peace and unity. On August 13, 1727, the community experienced a revival often described as being similar to the one recorded in the Bible on the day of Pentecost. The inhabitants mysterious learned to get along and were visited by the Holy Spirit. Hernhut's population grew rapidly after the revival. 
        The Moravians were the first Protestant church to establish missionaries. In 1732, the Moravians sent their very first missionaries into the world. Their village population only had about 300 people at the time. They established their first missionary settlement in the West Indie. Three years later, the Moravians were became part of General Olgethorpe's venture into Georgia. They tried to establish a settlement close to Savannah but did not succeed. In 1741, the Moravians left Georgia and established a permanent settlement in Pennsylvania. They eventually established more settlements in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Ohio. Worldwide, Missionaries were sent to the Caribbean, North and South America, the Arctic, Far East and Africa.

#ExpressYourself: Allison Bruning's Reading List #IamReading

Welcome back to the weekly Express Yourself blog meme. This week I was asked to write about the books that are on my summer reading list. I have so many. A good author is one who not only writes in their preferred genre but reads in that genre as well.

I'm currently reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I'm on the fifth book of the series, The Fiery Cross. I want to finish reading the entire series this summer. Her books are excellent! I've also been watching Outlander on STARZ! since it was first released last year. Honestly, that's when I started reading the books. I love what STARZ! has done with the story. They have tried to stay as close to the books as possible. The seasons are based on the stories. This season is the second book.  I was excited to learn STARZ! has given Outlander two more seasons. That's the third and fourth books. I hope they do all the books.


Once I've completed the Outlander series I want to start reading the Tudor Court series by Philippa Gregory. I have the entire series. I first learned about the series from The Other Boleyn Girl movie. I fell in love with the movie and now I want to read the series. 


I have two more series I have bought that have intrigued me as well. The first on is The Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire. Everyone knows the first book - Wicked. The other series is the Mists of Avalon series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I read Mist of Avalon never knowing it was part of series. I saw the movie but didn't like it as much as the book. 


So many books to read! I can't wait to be taken on all their literary journals. What books are you excited about reading this summer?