Doug Dillon's Blog, page 30

An Actual Pegasus Near DIsney World?

This is a guest blog by my dear friend, Betty Howe, pictured here. She writes about a very strange but wondrous experience. I got to know this delightful lady many years ago when we both worked as school administrators here in the Central Florida area. Betty is one of the most intelligent, sober, honest, levelheaded, and no-nonsense people I know. That’s what makes her story all the more alluring. Here it is:

I’ve only shared this story with family members and a few close friends.  Most people would not have believed me anyway and others would have thought I was crazy, drunk or hallucinating.

It happened on a beautiful, spring day in a huge nature preserve east of Orlando. After checking with the park ranger, my traveling companion and I drove as far as we could, parked the car where the road ended, and used a picnic table to grab a quick bite of lunch. There was no one else around—just nature and us.

When we finished our meal, we began our exploration of the surrounding area.  Eventually, though, my friend and I ventured off in different directions. She was soon out of sight and I started following a small stream. All that running water seemed to hold a definite attraction for me so I just gave in to it and enjoyed myself immensely.

Very soon, however, everything changed. I noticed movement of some kind back in the woods on the other side of the stream so I stopped dead in my tracks.  Then out of the trees walked a magnificent white Pegasus making not one bit of sound. Yes, the winged horse of ancient Greek myth.

I can’t explain it to you but I felt no astonishment, fear or even curiosity. No. All I felt was peaceful acceptance of what I was observing. It just . . . seemed natural somehow and I had no need to understand the event unfolding before me.

The Pegasus took no notice of me whatsoever. With its wings folded, the creature simply walked to the water’s edge, lowered its head and drank from the stream. When it had had enough, it shook its head, turned around, and retreated back into the woods as quietly as it had appeared.

I offer you no explanation as to what I saw. I feel no need to do so. The only reason I’m telling this story publicly after all these years is because my friend, Doug Dillon, requested it of me. He seems to feel it might have some value and that’s good enough for me.

After Betty told me this story, I went to the Internet and looked up the creature she had seen. In that search, I discovered that Pegasus is associated with natural phenomena—mainly water.  Click here to see the same article. Betty had no knowledge of this particular aspect of Greek mythology.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

A Pegasus in Florida?

This is a guest blog by my dear friend, Betty Howe, pictured here. She writes about a very strange but wondrous experience. I got to know this delightful lady many years ago when we both worked as school administrators here in the Central Florida area. Betty is one of the most intelligent, sober, honest, levelheaded, and no-nonsense people I know. That’s what makes her story all the more alluring. Here it is:

I’ve only shared this story with family members and a few close friends.  Most people would not have believed me anyway and others would have thought I was crazy, drunk or hallucinating.

It happened on a beautiful, spring day in a huge nature preserve east of Orlando. After checking with the park ranger, my traveling companion and I drove as far as we could, parked the car where the road ended, and used a picnic table to grab a quick bite of lunch. There was no one else around—just nature and us.

When we finished our meal, we began our exploration of the surrounding area.  Eventually, though, my friend and I ventured off in different directions. She was soon out of sight and I started following a small stream. All that running water seemed to hold a definite attraction for me so I just gave in to it and enjoyed myself immensely.

Very soon, however, everything changed. I noticed movement of some kind back in the woods on the other side of the stream so I stopped dead in my tracks.  Then out of the trees walked a magnificent white Pegasus making not one bit of sound. Yes, the winged horse of ancient Greek myth.

I can’t explain it to you but I felt no astonishment, fear or even curiosity. No. All I felt was peaceful acceptance of what I was observing. It just . . . seemed natural somehow and I had no need to understand the event unfolding before me.

The Pegasus took no notice of me whatsoever. With its wings folded, the creature simply walked to the water’s edge, lowered its head and drank from the stream. When it had had enough, it shook its head, turned around, and retreated back into the woods as quietly as it had appeared.

I offer you no explanation as to what I saw. I feel no need to do so. The only reason I’m telling this story publicly after all these years is because my friend, Doug Dillon, requested it of me. He seems to feel it might have some value and that’s good enough for me.

After Betty told me this story, I went to the Internet and looked up the creature she had seen. In that search, I discovered that Pegasus is associated with natural phenomena—mainly water.  Click here to see the same article. Betty had no knowledge of this particular aspect of Greek mythology.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Does Music Help Predict the Future?

Strings of odd coincidences create a fascinating paranormal pattern.

Back in 2009, my wife and I went to a concert at The Hard Rock Cafe here in the Orlando area. David Garrett, the great violinist was playing.

The guy is really terrific. He can shift from classical to rock and then into country in a matter of seconds.

In watching him though, my analytical mind started working overtime. Because the man moves that bow so incredibly fast, I wondered what temperatures his bow strings reached with all that friction. Then I started wondering if he replaced those bow strings before each concert to make sure they wouldn’t break.

Not satisfied with those mental meanderings, I continued to wonder if his bow strings broke very often during a concert and if that affected his performance greatly. Finally, I realized I wasn’t enjoying the show because of all that internal questioning.

As a result, I made a very concerted effort to focus just on the music. Didn’t happen. My obsession with the guy’s bowstring’s wouldn’t leave me and, in fact, they strengthened. That really irritated me because I can usually let my thoughts go when I tried but no this time. The compulsion was really getting to me.

In tremendous frustration, I immediately started working diligently to refocus my mind. The thing is, less than two minutes after launching into that effort, Garrett actually broke several bow strings. I couldn’t believe it but there they were just flailing away in the air as they guy continued to play. People all around me pointed and took pictures as Garrett courageously went on playing and ended that set with a flourish.

As soon as the music ended, he studied his broken bow-string, fondled them a bit, looked at the audience, grinned, shrugged, and then went on playing.

With all of my questions somewhat answered, I enjoyed the rest of the show and ignored the bow strings still flopping in the air.

My son, Greg Dillon, graciously allowed me to use the picture he took of a violin for this blog. It pays to have a professional photographer in the family. Thanks Greg. It fit perfectly.

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Strange Coincidence – Fate? Destiny?

Are all coincidences just random events? Are they sometimes happenings with connections that go well beyond those isolated occurrences? My stance as forcefully stated in my young adult novel, Sliding Beneath the Surface, is that the events of our lives are tightly linked to each other in ways we will never understand.

Every once in a while though, those linkages are so strong that they stand out like a road map. Here is an example.

I live in Florida with my wife Barbara and we have more than our share of spiders. The picture of one you see here came from my daughter Nicole Dillon’s photo gallery. Beautiful specimen, if you like such creatures.

Of course, these spiders sometimes decide to join us inside our home and they can be fairly large. They are definitely unwanted guests. Even so, our response is to try and capture them, if possible, and give them another chance, outside.

Over the years we’ve gotten pretty adept at placing a drinking glass over each intruder, slipping a piece of cardboard under the glass, and then carrying glass, cardboard and spider out of the house.

One day we had a particularly large, hairy specimen crawl from behind a picture on the family room wall. Barb declined to capture it and in no uncertain terms delegated the job to me. Dutiful husband that I am, the task was quickly accomplished. Once outside the front door of our house, I decided to release our unwanted guest on top of a large plant Barb keeps there.

I felt pretty good as I dumped the little critter on all that greenery, saving his life and all. Wishing him a long and happy existence, I turned to go back into the house when the plant started shaking. No spider could cause all that commotion.

The shaking stopped and when I bent down to inspect the plant more closely, I saw a very large lizard looking up at me with the spider in his mouth. In just a few gulps, the lizard downed the spider. So much for my intervention in trying to save the life of our hairy house guest, right?

Coincidence? Fate? Destiny? It truly seemed that no matter what I did, my poor little old spider was not long for this world. The exact timing and the location of the critter’s release almost seemed choreographed to end the spider’s life and provide a meal for the lizard.

Beyond clearly pointing out to me the connectivity of all things, that sliver of life also dramatically showed me how little our human plans matter when other patterns of existence lurk just around the corner.

What do you think?

###

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Millon.

Are Poltergeists Real?

A scary paranormal event made my aunt and uncle wonder.

I’m willing to bet that if most people talked with members of their families, they would come up with stories of all sorts of paranormal activity. I’m not just talking about immediate families, I’m talking about grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In my case, my mom’s relatives were the ones who told such tales. For me, I found those stories so interesting because they came from people who never usually expressed an interest or even belief in such things.

Here’s a picture I took of Mom in St. Augustine with Matanzas Bay in the

background. I took her there before her death in 2007 to show her some of the locations I would be using in Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy, Sliding Beneath the Surface. She was always fascinated by the paranormal

Her family all came from the New York City, Connecticut region. One summer when I was a teenager, we had a big family gathering and I got a chance to speak with one of her cousins and her husband. Both were involved with real estate and told a story about visiting a particular house they were trying to sell for some clients. It was nighttime and the owners were away.

The place was dark and they approached using flashlights. But just as they got to the front door, noises exploded from inside the house. Frightened and thinking vandals must be inside, they rushed back towards their car. They told me it sounded like a group of people was destroying everything they could find. As quickly as it started though, all those noises stopped.

After waiting a few minutes, they crept back up to house. No more sounds, and in fact, looking through the windows with their flashlights, they couldn’t see any damage. Thinking that rather odd, they decided to go in and look around. Pretty brave if you ask me, but they did it. Once inside, they found no damage whatsoever and nothing out of place. That frightened them even more than the sounds themselves and they had no explanation for what happened. Now we would probably identify such an experience as poltergeists.

So, the next time you have any kind of family gathering or reunion, ask people about their strange experiences. You might be very surprised with who comes up with some very weird but interesting tales.

###

If you are turly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Kobo (Canada)

Huge Success in a High School Intensive Reading Classroom

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.

The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Teen History Novel Motivates Reluctant Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.

The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Inspiring Struggling Readers in High School

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.

The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Protective Grandpa Ghost?

An investigation into paranormal events involving a family with a child as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is the Director and Lead Investigator for California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI). 

Being an almost full time paranormal investigator for the past 5 years, I have been able to understand spirits a little more. Mostly they’re like us…they have feelings and when something upsets or startles them, I can sometimes feel that emotion when I’m near them. I’ve felt their anger, hurt, confusion, and joy.

During an investigation at a rather upscale home a few years  ago, another investigator had an “image” in her head of what the spirit looked like. When we went into the owner’s study, we noticed some pictures and the investigator said, “That’s him! That’s the guy I’ve been seeing!” When we spoke to the homeowner, he indicated that was his father, and that he had passed away nearly 30 years ago.

The activity in this home had started up about two and a half years ago and their nearly three year old daughter was seeing something in her bedroom which frightened her. She now would not sleep in her room.

We were told about the activity that happened in the nearly 5000 square foot home. I emphasize that the home was only four years old because many people believe a property needs to be very old or historic for anything ghostly to happen. This home was near native land, but after some research, we were told it was not an ancient Indian burial ground, as nearly all property is jokingly believed to be in California.

Once the investigator who recognized the man from a photo as the deceased grandfather, he was able to actually speak to  him. The spirit relayed information that there was a dark presence outside of the home, and he, the grandfather, was there to protect his new granddaughter.  We’ve found that spirits can appear when something notable happens in a person’s life—such as a crisis or a birth—and this spirit came calling when his granddaughter was born.

We told the spirit that he was actually scaring his granddaughter, because she didn’t know how to verbalize what she was seeing. The emotion I felt afterwards was so intense. My heart sank and I could almost feel the room become so pressurized I couldn’t breathe. Tears ran down my face. I told the grandfather spirit that he could stay, but he needed to keep his distance from the family since the granddaughter didn’t exactly understand why he was there.

The family was extremely grateful that we were able to find the reason for the haunting and talk a little sense into the spirit. Even though we knew why he was there, being able to make the daughter understand was going to be a different task for the family. They were okay with that, as long as they knew who or what was in their house.

This is the reason I’m a paranormal investigator. When I experienced paranormal happenings in my life while growing up, I didn’t have someone to contact in order to help me understand. To have situations like this, to actually feel what the spirit feels is something unique for me. Yeah, and this what keeps me searching for answers as to why spirits stay here and how we can learn to live in harmony with them.

Thanks so much Peaches. Great work and wonderful story.
Click here to see the CPPI website.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Love Conquers Death in a Hospital

After death experiences often bring the paranormal world that permeates our existence home to us in very startling ways. There are a lot of stories about such circumstances but one in particular has stayed with me for many years. Why? Because it was so startling and came from someone who witnessed it–a nurse.

I came by this testimonial when my step dad lay dying in a Central Florida hospital. His passing was long and difficult. Family members were stretched to their limits.The medical staff was wonderful, doing their best to help us understand what was going on and make us comfortable.

At one point, the only people in the room besides a nurse and me were my mother and my wife Barbara. We continually talked to my step dad, trying to ease his passage into the next world even though he was unconscious.

“Part of him knows you’re there,” the nurse said as she checked his vital signs yet once again.

“I guess you’ve seen a lot of this, huh?” I asked.

She looked at me, nodded and said, “Oh yeah. Too much of it if you want to know the truth. But then again, one case I had always sticks with me and gives me hope for us poor lost human beings.”

I encouraged her to tell us about it and she did.

“Well,” she said, “it was a night like this for another family. A young father had died and his family sat around his bed for a long time weeping and comforting each other. We let them stay as long as they wished. Every once in a while I would check on them to make sure they were OK.

“During one of those visits to the room is when it happened. Just as I walked in the young man who had died sat straight up in his bed with his eyes wide open. He looked at his wife who was holding his hand and said, “I’ve been to the other side but I’ve come back to tell you it’s OK. All is as it should be. Please don’t worry.” With that, he closed his eyes, collapsed and, well, died again.

“I’m telling you, that man was clinically dead the first time. There was no doubt about it.”

If you are truly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble.