Laurel A. Rockefeller's Blog, page 22
August 1, 2023
Travel Tips: Items You Need that Most People Forget to Pack
I love to travel probably way beyond my financial and logistical capacity. After all, I do have my feathered friends who need care every day. Likewise, despite my pestering, Amtrak, United Airlines, and American Airlines still refuse to all birds on board. This means that when I’m finally able to move back east, I will have to use private ground transportation.
This does not mean, however, that I don’t constantly prepare for that next trip, both domestic and international. Both my under s...
July 31, 2023
Legendary Women of World History Textbooks: Book Descriptions and Links
The Covid pandemic forced most schools to close in person and start online learning programs so that everyone could stay home under quarantine lock down. In response, I decided to offer “student-teacher” editions of the Legendary Women of World History biographies. I also adapted the historical novel “The Arban and the Saman” and the USA socio-economic analysis “American Poverty” to textbook format.
Here are all 15 textbooks with their descriptions and retail links.All titles are wri...
July 27, 2023
Food Related Items to Pack for Your Next Trip
I love to travel probably way beyond my financial and logistical capacity. After all, I do have my feathered friends who need care every day. Likewise, despite my pestering, Amtrak, United Airlines, and American Airlines still refuse to all birds on board. This means that when I’m finally able to move back east, I will have to use private ground transportation.
This does not mean, however, that I don’t constantly prepare for that next trip, both domestic and international. Both my under s...
July 26, 2023
Excerpt: Henry V Leaves for War in France
The very first biography I adapted for the stage was “Catherine de Valois.” Catherine has always been a favorite queen for me, a fascination inherited from my appreciation for Shakespeare’s play “Henry V.” In Shakespeare, Catherine de Valois was a one-dimensional character and clearly seen from a man’s eyes. The Catherine you meet in both the regular biography and the stage play is, naturally, seen from a female point a view and with all her human complexities.
In the following scene, ...
July 21, 2023
Life in America series: Book Descriptions and Links
It all began with a Yahoo Voices writing challenge: write a flash fiction western. Though I am known for writing books less than 50,000 words long (hence flash fiction is easier for me than for many authors), I have stayed away from the western genre. Not my thing. But with a challenge in place, I tried my hand at it and came up with a story about Irish immigration to Nebraska. The Life in America series was born: books that focus on USA history and the American experience.
The Lif...July 19, 2023
Excerpt: Prasutagus Falls in Love
Boudicca was one of the first books I ever adapted for the stage. Though all the Legendary Women of World History plays are period dramas, Boudicca introduced the challenge of how to stage a war that involved tens of thousands of combatants. In the process I learned a great deal about theatre.
Find Boudicca: a Play in Three Acts at a retailer near you including Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, and Barnes/Noble.
ACT I, SCENE IICrowded Roman street market in Camulodunum. BOUDICC...
July 14, 2023
Legendary Women of World History series: Book Descriptions and Links
It all began in March 2014. Women’s History Month in the United States. I casually polled people around me, asking them to name 10 women, living or dead, from across history. Fewer than 5% could do it. When I reduced the request to 5 women, fewer than 10% could. Initially upset at the lack of history literacy around me I decided to do something about it. Beginning with reading the account about Boudicca by Tacitus, I wrote and published Boudicca in less than 4 weeks. The Legendary Women of...
July 7, 2023
The Peers of Beinan Series: Book Descriptions and Links
My writing career began in 2010 when I discovered Netflix had a cherished show from my childhood available for rent: Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince. Starring Christopher Burton, the series followed a boy-prince from the planet Antars on his adventures on Earth – aided by a protective droid and Benji, the dog.
Excerpt from Benji, Zax, and the Alien Prince. This favourite episode, “Good-bye Earth” had a particularly strong influence on The “Peers of Beinan” series, especially in its earli...July 5, 2023
Study Question Excerpt from “Eleanor of Aquitaine.”
Covid 19 has changed many things for most people around the world. When quarantine hit in 2021 schools closed everywhere, disrupting education for millions. Recognizing the educational value of the Legendary Women of World History I decided to make textbook versions of each of my books in which I add study questions after each chapter. It’s a format that I saw time and time again in my social studies textbooks from around 4th through 9th grade, the years when everyone has the same history cla...
June 30, 2023
Lyrics: Vive le Roi Henri (national anthem of Bourbon France)
New France was a dream of Cardinal Armand-Jean du Plessis, duc de Richelieu and first minister to King Louis XIII. One of many investments the good cardinal made towards the long term future for France. Across Bourbon France, this song celebrating King Henri IV served as the French national anthem in both France proper and her colonies all the way through the French revolution.
In Founding Mothers, the song is associated with Marie-Madeleine Jarret de Verchères (1678 – 1747). Avai...
