Savannah Hendricks's Blog, page 10

The Night Before Halloween

This is a story, a rather spooky one at that, about a rather spooky time.

This story does not take place on Halloween, no it takes place the night before. When houses are decorated, but lights are off, and trick or treaters are far from welcome early.

One particular dark house, a house not in the middle of nowhere, but right in the center of town, with cobwebs strung about and skeleton bones hanging from trees, is where the story takes place.

This home was not owned by an adult, nope, it was owned by a small boy. One would guess twelve years of age, although it’s wrong to assume. It might be a man who drank too many cups of coffee and smoked far too many cigarettes. It might even be a man who lost his legs at war. It’s rather hard to tell when he is only seen from behind the white lace curtains. And it’s fair to say that in this town, a twelve year old owning a home is not a stretch.  Oh, but please don’t ask why, that’s a story for Santa to explain.

Now you have a picture in your head of this spooky house, in the middle of town, with a “most likely” twelve year old boy, with the outside lights off, but the decorations up….we can begin the story.

I myself, am only but of eleven years old. My mother and father don’t know I have sunk out from my bed, out my window, and down the street to this house.

I walked up to the home, my shoulders back, my head high, my eyes alert. There was music coming from inside, the glow of lights peaked out around the curtain’s edges. I tell myself to breathe, because I noticed that I’ve been holding my breath since I left the curb.

At my feet was a doormat, it was white, with black writing that said: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

How could a twelve year old home owner be so darn stand-offish? With a deep breath, I stuck out my shaky finger and pushed in the doorbell, which had seen better days.

Inside the music stopped, the lights flickered at the curtain’s edge and the sound of a crow cawed like death was upon it. A gust of wind came from around the house and rattled the bones hanging from the trees. The cobwebs took a dive and covered me in a webbed mess.

Then I heard a scream from within.

“Dinner is here!”

I heard the booms of feet running towards the door as I struggled with breaking free from the webs. The words of the doormat under my feet reminded me, ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The front door swung open. I was eye level with the home owner. I pulled off the rest of the cobwebs and we stared at each other. His hair a mess, his face dirty, his clothing has seen far too many owners before.

“Hey,” the twelve year old boy said, his teeth black as beans. “You’re not Chung’s Chinese?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

A crow flew to rest on his shoulder from a nearby room.

“Chung’s Chinese, I ordered an hour ago,” the boy said, trying to peak around me to see if he was outside. “Won’t you come in? Join me, I shall call in the order again, and get an extra helping of each.”

“Your mat says ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK,” I said.

“Step aside,” the boy said, waving his dirty hand at me.

He brushed off the mat with his fingers. “It says ENT”ER” AT YOUR OWN RISK,” the boy said, showing me. My father, before he passed, was a ear, nose and throat doctor. Get it? ENT, he thought it was funny. I think it just scares people away. Now come in, come in, join me.”

And so I did, on the night before Halloween, I had Chung’s Chinese with the most feared homeowner in town. Little did anyone know, there was nothing scary about him, other than needing a bath!

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Fall Picture Books

Head on over to Anitra Rowe Schulte’s blog to read my 5 Picture Books to Fall For, guest blog post.

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Close Enough to Touch – book review

[image error]Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley is a fresh love story. One you probably never would have thought could be. That, is why I loved this story so much. 

The story switches each chapter between Jubilee and Eric. Although the storyline of Aja could easily be a third main character. Oakley captures the voices so seamlessly between that you feel as though you are a part of their lives. Sitting in the living room, having coffee in the kitchen.

This is not your average love story though. Why? Because one kiss, let alone touch, could kill Jubilee…

5 out of 5 stars

Ten Days in the Valley – must watch

[image error]It seems like twenty years ago when Kyra Sedgwick was last on television. As a huge fan of The Closer, when I heard she was back, I knew I must tune in.

Ten Days in the Valley does not disappoint. The writing is not as strong as The Closer, yet Sedgwick makes each scene shine. 

The show focuses on a familiar theme, the disappearance of a child. Which leaves some scenes basic. Yet, the power Sedgwick brings to the screen is golden. I hope she receives at least a nomination for her role.

Episode 3 airs tonight! 

Perfectly Spooky October Books for Kids and Tweens

picture book fun

chapter book fun

tween fun

 

Plant-Based Diet/Lifestyle

As I started to read the book Brain Maker by David Perlmutter, MD (2015), I came across a startling quote in the introduction. What I read shocked me! Across the world there are two and a half million people with multiple sclerosis (a disease which took my mom’s life in 1996). There has not been any form of a cure for this disease and it’s apparently increasing in numbers.

The book goes on to discuss Clostridium difficile colitis, otherwise known as C-Diff which is something I come in contact with at my job on a monthly basis, and was not aware that it kills a number of Americans each year.  Brain Maker did include a discussion of babies having C-Diff already in their gut and being able to “handle it.” It goes on to discuss how the increase in C-sections requests versus out of medical necessity have thus increased the population of health issues. More C-sections equal a different route out over the helpful microbes passed during the exit through the birthing canal

As the book progresses it takes a look at Alzheimer’s disease and the notation of inflammation within the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient. The focus is on gut health and so it discusses how coffee can improve the gut’s health and thus lower your risks of type 2 diabetes, stroke, Parkinson’s, cancers, and Alzheimer’s. It also mentions heart diseases simply because of the intestinal bacteria and the way that it digests the coffee bean fiber.

In addition, the book discusses depression and anti depression medication and the way that it affects the gut (the neurotransmitter activity with chemicals found in the brain that are produced in the gut). Yes the book does have an entire chapter chapter on autism and gut bacteria.

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Second, I read How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Gregor (2105). Another book showcasing how a plant based diet is beneficial. While this book focuses on the same diagnosis as Dr. Perlmutter’s book, it speaks more to what to eat and what not to, over gut health. This book is a door-stopper, literally, it’s huge. Dr. Gregor also runs Nutrition Facts website which I find myself visiting weekly.

I know there are many varied opinions. But, gosh golly gee, I feel so much better. My entire body, when I follow a plant based diet. Sure I miss foods, but once you beat the craving, it’s almost like a food you never missed.

In this process of switching my diet up I’ve learned about many fruits and vegetables that I never knew about, let alone tried. While I have cheat days, they become less appealing every time. I find myself craving the new way. Keep in mind, I didn’t think I could switch to a new diet when I first started. Yet, here I am, happy to have made the switch.

Welcome October!

[image error]October is a welcomed month in Phoenix. It means the summer is finally over, as is monsoon season. October means open windows in the morning and a few in the evening come mid-month.

For me, October is much more than fall weather (although I love that). October is a time to look back on what happened so far this year, and signals three months until the year is over. It’s a time for questioning what worked and what didn’t. And what I can do in these three months to make those things that didn’t happen, happen. 

It’s also a time to take a deep breathe and remind myself of the things that were accomplished.

Happy October ya’ll! 

Write for YOU!

I’ve been working on a specific manuscript for about a year or so now. It has received a lot of positive responses and feedback.

It received a full request and a revise and resubmit along the way. But, I’m here to tell you why it’s important to write the story for YOU.

On my revise and resubmit I was told that the main character sounded too wise. I revised it.

Revised, and submitted out into the world, where it was mentioned the character needed to sound older.

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While it’s important to fully consider and embrace notes from industry leaders, it is always important to write the best story, for you. Otherwise your poor character will end up with a stress induced heart attack from all the switching back and forth.

Writing can be Exhausting

Writing and submitting is much like landing a job interview. You search where to send your story, tweak your cover letter to match the organization, and submit.

Unless you are an artist or writer it’s hard to understand how creativity can he tiring. How much life it can suck out of you. Looking back at the job interview scenario, we can see how waiting for a response can be stressful. Either for the job or the manuscript.

So, why do I bring up this comparable? Because if you fail at landing a job it’s the same feeling of a manuscript being rejected. Regardless of why (better candidate) you need time to rest and recharge.

Even working on a new project might be too much at the time. Your ability to be creative can only flourish when it has time to recharge. 

The Way to Bea and Kat Yeh – book review

The Way to Bea is not as good as The Truth About Twinkie Pie, but nothing ever will be! Not even if it’s the same author. It’s not to say I didn’t love her latest book, The Way to Bea, I did (and I’ll get to that in a second), but how does anyone top their favorite book, ever?

Okay, have you ever wanted to hug a book? That is what happens when you read a Kat Yeh book, any of her books (The Friend Ship, The Truth About Twinkie Pie). I swear, you will stop halfway through and hug the book.

In The Way to Bea (middle grade book), at least one sentence in each chapter caused me do a double read. It was that good. I had to read it twice, with a nice long pause thinking about it afterwards.

The Way to Bea, in one word would be…heartbeat. I think what makes this story special is all the little stories around the central focus. The teacher, the parents. Everything is knit together as though Yeh was working on a scarf, not a book.

The Way to Bea taught me about Labyrinths and haikus. Like all Kat Yeh stories, it warms your heart, it causes you to feel for the main character. It causes you to think about yourself. You will instantly love all the characters in The Way to Bea, even her parents. (They are the type of parents many of us wished for, even if they didn’t always pay attention).

Five out of five stars for The Way to Bea, releasing September 19th. You can pre-order it, so you should, you must, go, hurry.