A few weeks ago, our local newspaper ran several pages of summer programs for children. Some are daily “camps” filled with activities and run all summer. Others are enrichment programs that teach everything from archery to zoology. Times haven’t changed. Working parents need safe “holding stations” for their children, like Marta in Her Mother’s Hope …
One grand benefit to having parents who build their own home is left-over materials. Dad gave us permission to use whatever was in the scrap pile, and use it we did. My brother took over the old chicken hutches, cleaned and reconstructed them into a hide-out with a ladder that could be pulled up to …
My mom and dad built their home from the foundation up, literally. I remember when they broke ground and laid out the lines, poured concrete and put up the walls. I still love the smell of sawdust. The scent sends me back to happy childhood memories. Both of my parents worked. Dad was a policeman …
My mom was my advocate, advisor, confidante. It sounds almost cliché to say she was my best friend, but she was. No matter what choices I made, her love remained unconditional. She didn’t always agree with my views or actions, but she gave me gave me room to grow and the freedom to speak my …
Writing about Marta and Hildemara in the Central Valley of California brought back lots of memories from my childhood – and time I spent with my grandmother in Livingston. Both of my parents worked, so my brother and I spent time each summer with Grandma. We both looked forward to it! It gets HOT in …
Teachers play a role in building Hildemara’s faith in Her Mother’s Hope. Last week, while in Fort Wayne, Indiana, I had the good fortune to reconnect with a friend I met through email. Sharon, now retired, taught Latin in a public high school. She had been using the Mark of the Lion trilogy to encourage …
When I’m writing, there’s always a reason for the names I choose. Even place names. Paxton is the name of the town where Hildemara and Trip end up. Paxton was the name of the street in Oakland where my parents lived as a young married couple. The street is long gone, bull-dozed and under a …
The drive for Education In the beginning of Her Mother’s Hope, Marta’s father tells her education is wasted on girls. This came from my grandmother’s story. She was taken out of school before high school and put to work. What she made was used to pay tuition for her brother. She wrote “I wanted to …
Marta has one brother and one sister, Elise, living under the same roof with her. She and Elise are opposite in personality, but love one another deeply. Elise brings a tragic element to the story, and what happens to her is the cause of Marta’s determination to toughen her own daughter, Hildemara. I was an …
We had to put our German Shepherd down yesterday. Shabah (“ghost” in Arabic) had lost 16 pound over the last few months and had displasia. He could hardly hold himself up. He was walking on the tops of his back feet and often crossed his legs and couldn’t untangle them. Some evenings, I would follow …