Summer This and That

No matter how slow and lazy summer promises to be, it's always a sham. School lets out, I blink twice, and I'm getting ready for another term.

Last week our local church hosted a teachers' preparatory class for new teachers. I'm not new (seven years and counting!) but since I live in the area, I got to eavesdrop on the classes and lectures. By the end of three nine-to-nine o'clock days, I read over my scribbled notes, yawned, and decided I felt more inspired.  

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Yesterday I attended an author event at our local library. The lovely Tonja Drecker, author of Music Boxes​, a middle-grade fantasy novel, inspired us with her journey as a writer and spoke about her debut book. 

Music Boxes is "an enchanting mystery young readers will enjoy" and a "modern day fairy tale." 

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I was excited to see that my book, Full Moon, Half a Heart, was not only featured on Home School Book Review Blog, but it also made Book of the Month. Here's what blogger Wayne Walker says about his mission: 

I am a minister and homeschooling father. After a bad experience with an inappropriate book, I began previewing the books that our boys read and posting my reviews on an e-mail list. This led to doing children’s book reviews for several different magazines and websites, and ultimately to this weblog.

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Last but not least: paperback copies of both Growing Toward the Sun and Full Moon, Half a Heart are now available at Faith and Life Bookstore in Newton, Kansas. 

I'm especially excited about this, because I grew up near Newton. The book is set in nearby Reno County, but while writing the opening scenes of Growing Toward the Sun, I imagined the old Alco store on the edge of Newton. The store is gone now, but in my memory, it's still new and shiny and means an exciting shopping day with Grandma. 

Happy Summer (or what's left of it)!