S. Smith's Blog, page 33

Kid Review of Seed Savers:Treasure

 

For a kid’s perspective on Seed Savers:Treasure, hop on over to This Kid Reviews Books to see what ten-year-old Erik thinks.  Thanks again, Erik!

Five Firsts

You’re never too old to do something for the first time.  Here are five things I’ve done for the first time this year:

1) Traveled to San Diego and back by car.  It gave me a new appreciation of California.

Mission San Juan Capistrano–an unplanned stop

 

2). Petted a dolphin!  (They are so soft and squishy. )

 

 

3) Had my picture taken with a Burmese Python (just a few days ago.)

I forget the python’s name, but the guy is my husband, Cy.

 

4) Started a website and blog (not an easy thing for someone whose favorite decade was the 1980s).

 

5) Published a novel.  You know you want to.  Go ahead and do it!  (I meant, of course, write a novel; but if that’s not your style, go ahead and read mine. )

 

What’s something you’ve done for the first time this year?

Book Update Seed Savers

Although book 2, Lily, was scheduled for release in August, due to the fact that the covers for the series are getting a makeover, there will be a slight delay in it’s release.  I”m very excited about the new covers, but it is a busy time of year and I’m not sure when they will be ready. I will certainly let everyone know when the date draws nearer.

Until then, remember that Seed Savers: Treasure  is still available with the original cover in paperback, Kindle, or on order through your local bookstore.

Peace.

Pet Peeves, or What Is That Whining Sound?

Okay, you can skip this if you want to, but a couple of things have happened this summer that really make me want to grind my teeth (I say want to, because thanks to my dentist I make a conscious effort to never even clench my teeth, despite my aversion to ever wanting to appear slack-jawed).  But I digress.

So the Hubby and I took the Teardrop out for another spin the other day because it was hot.  And there was a meteor shower.  And  I needed to get away from the house, the garden, etc. in order to focus on my book for a few days. So camping is a no-brainer.  The peacefulness of being out in the trees, under the stars, the chirp of little birds, a babbling brook in the background, away from the din of everyday life.  Until….yes, you may have guessed it–the campers next door with the boombox (or car radio) blasting heavy-metal music loud enough for everyone to hear.  Why?  Why?  I say to my husband, “Why are these people who must listen to music while camping  never listening to classical music, John Denver, or even the Carpenters?”  But before I’m done speaking I know the answer.  Because those kind of people would not be listening to music while camping.  They, like me, would be listening to the birds, the trees, the crackle of the campfire; enjoying nature.  ”Whatever happened to someone with a guitar around the campfire,” I lament.  I could deal with that.

Scenario #2, about one month ago:

We are at at open-air venue to listen to a live show of a nationally broadcast radio show.  We’ve been sitting in the hot sun for over an hour in advance.  The show begins.  You guessed it again.  Three women squeeze onto a patch of lawn just behind us and proceed to talk through the entire show.  THE ENTIRE SHOW!!!!!!  The music, the dialogue, EVERYTHING.  I turn now and then to offer what I hope is my best middle school teacher stink-eye, but never actually ask them to refrain.  I want to.  I want to say, “Hey, the show will air again tomorrow; why not listen to it on the radio and TALK THROUGH IT THEN?”  I know my seventeen year-old would be embarrassed silly so I hold my tongue.  I ask you, what is with these people??????  I continuously look around the audience to see if anybody–I mean ANYBODY ELSE in the whole stadium–is talking like these chicks.  No.  I see no one.

Okay, so the whining sound is me. Granted, a lot of things are annoying: people talking loudly on cell phones in the checkout line, in public restroom stalls (ew, really?), but those things are really just annoying.  The radio-blasting campers are taking away an experience countless others came and paid to have.  Likewise the gabbing ladies at the show.  Those tickets were not cheap and I wasn’t paying to hear their stories.  I don’t understand the mentality.  Naturally I shine the spot-light on myself in these circumstances; have I ever been equally complicit in an act of destroying another’s experience?  No.

Oh…there was that one time on the top of the houseboat on Lake Billy Chinook. “The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew, the minnow would be lost.” APPLES ON A STICK!!!!!!

If An Introvert Speaks In A Room Full Of People Does Anybody Hear Her?

So on Sunday I had to do some public speaking.

On May 8, I was asked to share for about 5 minutes during the message time at my church (with other writers), making the connection between writing and faith.  You do the math–almost three months to be anxious about five minutes of my life.  So it began; this thing riding around inside of me–the knowledge that I somehow needed to tie my writing to my faith; the knowledge that I’d be standing in front of my congregation and saying “look at me, I wrote a novel.”

(Photo credit: zhouxuan12345678)

I am an introvert.  I come from a long line of farm people.  Most of my relatives on my dad’s side are still farmers.  It’s a solitary job and I think it stays in the genes awhile. So I was both somewhat grateful that I knew three months in advance (“oh, I don’t have to worry about this for awhile”) and also annoyed (“darn–now I have to worry about this for three months”).  And then somewhere midsummer came the second email, asking if I had a preferred passage of Scripture to be read in conjunction with my bit of sharing–ooh, now that was hard.  My book is a middle grade novel taking place in a future where gardening is illegal.  My poetry runs the gamut, but a large portion is garden and seasonally inspired.  In the intervening weeks, the biggest connection I could come up with between my faith and my writing was that I had quit a job and was relying on my faith to get me through the dramatic change…and that without the job, I had more time to focus on my writing: not exactly a direct connection.

Long story short:  I decided I wanted to begin my time in the front with humor.  I also sort of wanted to explain why it would be news to a large percentage of my church family that I had published a novel in April and to a smaller percentage that I had quit my teaching job back in October; why I hadn’t stood up and shared any of this during the weekly sharing times; why some people might think I was unfriendly or standoffish; why I had been absent for a lot of Sundays recently (I was working up the nerve for my pulpit time).  An explanation, of sorts, a coming out of my introvertism.  My plan was to open by reading from the Introvert Bill of Rights.  Then, I would circle around and tie in the Scripture with why I write, and then tie that back to connecting faith and writing.  I’d hold my book up once or twice, and end with reading a short poem.  Although I’d been listening to Home (Phillip Phillips) all week to gain strength for being an author, blogger, speaker, all I could think of as I sat in the pew, awaiting my turn was “make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh, make ‘em laugh.”

As the moment drew closer all I hoped for was to be able to speak over the loudness and tempo of my rapidly beating heart, that my mouth wouldn’t go so dry it would be stuck shut, and that I wouldn’t speak too quickly, like a stuck acceleration pedal. Yes, it would be great if I were interesting, funny, and pleasing to look at, but it wasn’t necessary.  Surviving without humiliation would be adequate.  (My gosh, even just writing this has put my heart all aflutter!)

I think it went okay.  Sure, I forgot one of my one-liners; yes I left out perhaps one of my best faith tie-in sentences.  But I didn’t read my notes–I looked out and made eye contact; I saw when people were having difficulty hearing me and leaned in closer.  And I did make them laugh (even though I wish it had been louder.)  And here’s the funny thing:  I got more positive feedback afterwards about my defense of introverts than about anything else.  Who knew the whole world (or at least, it seemed, a large portion of my congregation) consider themselves to be introverts?  I remain surprised (if not suspicious.)

And now a confession:  I’m feeling a warm afterglow; and not just from the fulfilling conversations following the service.  I’m actually thinking about the different faces I took in while I was up in front speaking.  People with their heads tilted, listening to me. Eager faces focused on what I had to say.  Dare I say it, I’m enjoying the moment in retrospect.

What do think–are you an introvert?  Do you get energy from being around other people, or is it more draining?  What’s your definition?

Confessions of a Fifty-Year-Old Phillip Phillips Fan

I admit it, right up front:  I don’t know how many years American Idol has been on t.v.  Until a few months ago I couldn’t have picked Ryan Seacrest out of a police lineup.  Of course I knew about Idol.  I listen to the radio, read the newspaper, am subject to t.v. commercials; it’s just I had never actually watched the show.  It was, I guess, beneath me.  I tried Dancing with the Stars once, when Clyde Drexler was on, and between the judge banter and the ho-hum dancing, it only confirmed my belief of the vapidity of the many contestant and “poorer cousin” reality t.v. shows.

And then in April the Husband and I took a thousand-mile road trip.  Along the way we stayed a couple of nights at the home of old friends.  They watched Idol the two nights we were there.  I don’t know how many singers start the season, but the first time I watched, they were down to about six.  And there he was, Phillip Phillips.  Like the rest of us, apparently, I was hooked.  I caught nearly all of his remaining performances, much to my family’s dismay and embarrassment.  True, I had to use the secondary, smaller t.v, the one in the room without heat.  But I wrapped myself in blankets and watched Phillip not get sent home week after week, willing him to win, but steeling myself for the worst. My infatuation with him embarrasses my twenty-year-old daughter the most, but even she was impressed with Phllip’s tender heart at his tearful win.

Why the confession now?  Simple, I was watching the Olympics and heard that voice.

Excuse me, I have to go download a song.

Time For A Poem Break

How to Write a Poem

 

Sit in the grass and

watch the words play.

 

Hopscotch and Leapfrog,

jumping to and fro

and over each other.

 

London Bridge is falling down

a word now caught in place

put in jail

throw away the key.

 

Or perhaps it is Red Rover

Red Rover

back          and          forth

the word runs,

trying to break through.

 

See now, how they square dance

how they swing

around and around.

 

Do not hurry them.

Eventually they will

stop.

They will

settle down.

 

Then–

grab a pen

call them home,

and invite them

in for dinner.

 

 

The Very Late, I’m So Sorry, Promised Sequel to Why We Love It Here

Yes, this is the overdue sequel to Why We Love It Here–a few shots from camping at a place called Alsea Falls Campground in northwestern Oregon.  It was our first time there, and just my husband and me in our tiny teardrop trailer.  It was hot at home and cold at the coast and this place was right in between, with the perfect temperature to be comfortable and also to swim.  We were there on a Monday night, so had most of the campground to ourselves.  I always tell people that we prefer a campground with water (to drink and to swim in), and we can do vault toilets just fine–no need for flush or mirrors or showers.  Mainly, we like our space and the ability to listen to nature.

We had plenty of space.  The trees were magnificent and when the wind blew, they swayed back and forth and whispered to us and each other in their various languages.

It was also delightful listening to the birds and watching the chipmunks.  Insects were minimal.  And camp eating is always fun.

Single portion white wine with canned dolmas.

A perfect pancake.

Gotta love the hanging greenery.

The falls of Alsea Falls.

Always in search of a swimming hole.

Wild tiger lilies.

Happy camping!

Keeping the Children in Books for the Summer

As an author of middle grade books, I’m always on the lookout for sites that help get the word out about children’s books.  When my kids were younger, we brought home boatloads of books from the library on an almost weekly basis. The best way to find a book was to ask the librarian, or comb through the bookshelves (both still wonderful ways to find new books.)  Now with the internet, another great way exists to find out about books.  Today I’d like to mention a few such sites.

Middle Grade Fiction Finder is a site that focuses on ebooks for ages 8-12.  The books are grouped according to price ($1 and under, between $1 and $5, over $5) and category.  Categories include: adventure, school/family/friends, detective, espionage, fantasy, historical, mystery, and paranormal.  There are also more age suitability breakdowns.  All books on this site have been reviewed.

Kindle for Kids is another site focusing on ebooks for the middle grades.  The ages listed here are 6-13.  This site doesn’t have reviews for every book, but lists books for the appropriate ages along with the book covers, blurbs, and links to the author’s website and places to purchase the books.  Categories for kindle-for-kids include: adventure, animals, fantasy, ghosts/horror, humor, and sci-fi.

This Kid Reviews Books is one of my favorite sites because “this kid” is Erik,  a ten-year-old kid who reviews books for kids of all ages.  There is no focus on ebooks here–all books are fair game if they are for kids.  His “card catalog” includes these age divisions: 1-5, 6-9, 9+, and 12+.  Also included are a list of his favorites, book/movie comparisons, and more.  Check it out .

Bookworm Blather by Michelle Isenhoff is another website that covers all ages of children, ebooks and traditional, classics and self-published.  She reads and reviews a lot of books (and is also an author with her own books) and this site is substantial.

Okay, that’s it for today.  I hope this has been helpful.

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds

A friend sent me a link to this video the other day; said it reminded her of my book. Thought I’d help in spreading the message:

 Seeds of Freedom
by The ABN and The Gaia Foundation PLUS 1 month 4 days ago

A landmark film narrated by Jeremy Irons. Find out more at seedsoffreedom.info

The story of seed has become one of loss, control, dependence and debt.

It’s been written by those who want to make vast profit from our food system, no matter what the true cost.

It’s time to change the story.

Produced by The Gaia Foundation and the African Biodiversity Network, in collaboration with MELCA Ethiopia, Navdanya International and GRAIN.

Thanks to all those involved in making this film possible.

Produced & Directed by Jess Phillimore

Camera – Jess Phillimore, Jason Taylor, Damian Prestidge.