It’s the week before finals at our high school. And it shows–whether in my brain-fried students, two of whom called me completely different names the other day, or in myself, who later the same day stopped at a green light for no apparent reason, yielding my husband’s alarm and taking over the driving after […]
Graduations, Movie Music, Movie Soundtracks
I have lately been perusing through a delightful antique volume I received from my grandmother, the 1892 edition of Modern Manners and Social Norms by Mrs. Julia M. Bradley. (Okay, I have a thing for old books—no wonder I like to write historical fiction. 🙂 ) It’s been helpful in researching my current […]
Antique books, etiquette, Modern Manners and Social Norms, Victorian letter writing
A few weeks ago one of my students asked me, “Mrs. Giron [both they and I were still getting used to that name], are you a Who-Lockian?” “A what?” I asked. “A Who-Lockian. A fan of Dr. Who and Sherlock.” “Oh,” I said. “Well, I guess thanks to my husband, I’m […]
Dr. Who, Screwtape Letters, Sherlock
Well, I’m back, friends! And what a week it was in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC as my sister and I soaked up the green with our drought-dry California eyes, explored this area of our country so saturated with history, and enjoyed the hospitality of dear friend Sandra Barnes and her gracious family. (By the […]
It’s been quite a week! This past Saturday, I took a wee trip into the past—and the setting of my next novel—at Fort Tejon, California, with their monthly Frontier Army Days Living History event. I used the magic words “I’m a writer” and watched as the floodgates of the interpretive staff’s knowledge and even […]
Our little gray kitty cat knows a number of words. She knows “Outside” and “Food” and her name, “Rosie.” And of course the ubiquitous “Here, kitty, kitty!” She’ll come to that call—at least when she wants to. Another phrase she seems to understand is, “It’s okay.” We use it often to reassure […]
Special Note: Stay tuned for a special “same day blog” with Jennifer Major next week! And now, for our current program… For the first time in my life, I’m following a couple of current TV series. I’ve been watching through PBS online or Amazon Prime streaming, as we have neither cable nor a […]
When I was down beside the sea A wooden spade they gave to me To dig the sandy shore. My holes were empty like a cup In every hole the sea came up Till it could come no more. ~Robert Louis Stevenson I’ve been down beside the sea. Thanks to the shared space of some […]
It’s Laura Ingalls Wilder’s fault that I write historical fiction. Well, not entirely. God has something to do with it too. But I distinctly remember my mom pulling the car up to the library with me when I was little. I would jump out of the car and dash in, straight back to the shelf […]
It’s always a little hard to come down from the mountaintop of a performance weekend—all the weeks and months of hard work leading up to a show, and then it’s over in just a few days. I’ve heard it called the post-show blues, and I know many from our Josephcast have been dealing with those […]
