What if it was illegal to plant seeds?

In January, I had the privilege of receiving a book as a gift. Being an author, I understood the value of that autographed paperback. So, with loving care, I picked it up and began reading. I instantly was transported to a new world–well kind of. It actually was a very probably future America where gardening and saving seeds was outlawed, where food comes in boxes and squares all ready processed called Vitees, Protein, Juices, Carbos, and Sweeties. It was an extreme example of what could happen if the GMOs gained political momentum and took over.

The characters are twelve-year-old Clare, her nine-year-old brother Dante, and her twelve-year-old friend, Lily. Today, I have the honor of introducing you to Clare. I was able to do an interview with her!

Me: Clare, I heard you started this whole Seed Savers adventure. Tell me a little about that.

Clare: Sure. When I was twelve I first heard the word “seed” at church, and–

Me:  Wait–you hadn’t heard the word “seed” before?

Clare: That’s right. I’m from a future where kids don’t know what seeds are. It’s forgotten about, like the words “television set.” So I asked an older woman about seeds and she started teaching me.

Me: That would be Ana?

Clare: Yes. Ana became my teacher. And then, of course, I brought my friend Lily in on it, and Dante, my brother.

Me: So now that you know about seeds and real food, do you think you can go back to the Vitees and Carbos and that kind of food?

Clare: Definitely not!

Me: How’s that going to work out?

Clare: I’m not sure. Right now it’s frustrating because I’m in hiding and so we can’t garden. If I were out, and nobody else’s safety depended on it, I would try to grow a garden anyway. I mean, Gruff had a garden on his balcony in New Jersey and he got away with it.

Me: This is true.

Clare: I might even go back to Canada. But I really want to be part of the change. I want everyone to have freedom of choice about their food.

Me: Seems reasonable. Some people are wondering if you and Lily are growing apart…

Clare: I wouldn’t worry about it.

Me: What about Jason? Is this a romance?

Clare: (rolls eyes) Does everything always have to be a romance? Can’t  a girl and a guy ever just be friends? I thought you said this interview was about Seed Savers?

Me: I’m sorry. I think readers just naturally gravitate towards that. Okay, let’s wrap it up on a final note about Seed Savers. Do you think your Movement is going to have a victory any time soon?

Clare: (smiles) Of course. With young people in the Movement, how could we be anything but victorious?

So, if you now are intrigued, go check out S. Smith and her books, Seed Savers. They’re a great read for kids and kids in adult bodies.

 

6 Great Reads for Spring Break

This Friday starts Spring Break for my kids and for me! I can’t wait. I get to go on a writer’s retreat and then the next weekend we’re going to see Lorena McKennet in concert! In between these two events I have four days to relax. I may grab another book, I may just write. I don’t know. But if you’re wondering what to do for Spring Break and need a book to read, here’s some ideas.

Blast of the Dragon’s Fury

L. R. W. Lee wrote the Andy Smithson series. Blast of the Dragon’s Fury is the first of the series. She’s created a very intriguing story of a young boy who enters a new world through a trunk. This world is plagued by a curse that the king believes Andy can fix! Andy finds friends and goes on a quest to help lift the curse. Lee has created a wonderful world full of interesting characters, intriguing ideas, and subtle plot twists. The story is good for ten-year-olds on up. It would also make a good read aloud to a younger child.

Between Heartbeats

Between Heartbeats is a young adult story of exploration and mystery. Diana is a senior in high school when her mom drops a bombshell on her on her seventeenth birthday. Finding out that who she thought was her dad isn’t, causes Diana turmoil and winds her into the middle of a mystery. As Diana tries to find the truth about her birth father, she uncovers a tangle of events that happened seventeen years ago. Donelle Knudsen has created an intriguing story of love of all kinds, from Diana and her boyfriend, to Diana and her parents. She looks at various issues in an objective way with a mother’s heart. I would encourage teens on up to read Between Heartbeats.

The Seed Savers series

Yes, I all ready gave this series a high five in my post for February reads, but since then, I’ve read book three. I can’t wait to read books four and five. S. Smith has create a very realistic look at a future America where GMOs have taken control in the government, and it’s illegal to own seeds or to garden. In book 1, Treasure, we were introduced to Claire, Dante, and Lily. The three kids learn about gardening from an elderly lady from Claire’s church. When the government raids Claire and Dante’s house and imprisons their mom, they take off on a journey to find freedom. In book 2, Lily, Lily has been left in the city. She meets new friends, Rose and Arturo and learns about her family history. She’s rather surprised by what she finds. In book 3, Heirloom, Lily takes off in search of her father. Her departure is more thought through than Claire and Dante’s. She heads south on a hazardous journey meeting new people in the seed saver organization. Heirloom shows some young love budding and slowly introduces some of the history of how seeds became illegal. The story is written in such away that the reader is led on the journey with the characters. I love how S. Smith has created a believable future world and how the children interact with their world.

The Field

I first heard about The Field this past fall. Lydia Thomas, the author, was a guest author on the Facebook party for the release of The One Who Sees Me. I was intrigued with the idea of her book: Three girls who disobey the king’s edict and go into the field. Growing up, I remember reading simplified versions of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. The Field followed the same allegorical style. I finally was able to read it recently. In my family, we have a comparison on fantasy. We say that J. R. R. Tolkien was a genius with fantasy by being detailed and complex; whereas C. S. Lewis was a genius with fantasy by simplicity. After reading The Field, I would use the same comparison. John Bunyan was the detailed and complex allegorist, but Lydia Thomas is the simple allegorist. Both are geniuses in their writing styles and story lines. I love how the plot unfolded among the three women; even though it mainly focused on two–Deliah and Lily. Lydia portrays the true struggles that believers face in everyday life, from the struggle to listen to the deceiver to self-worth issues. If you’d like to read The Field or other excellent Christian books, including The One Who Sees Me, and are willing to leave a review on Amazon, check out the newsletter describing all nine books.

If this list isn’t enough to keep you full of books over Spring Break you can check out my list for February Reads. Let me know what you’re reading.

A Simple Technique to Change Your Perspective on Heaven

Voices mingled throughout the room. Dear faces chatting, talking, sharing memories. As I glanced around the mezzanine, I wondered when or if I’d ever see these people again. A year of my life filled these halls, these friends. The bittersweet emotions looking forward to returning home, yet sad about leaving waged war inside me.

Anyone who has been on exchange, lived in another country, or moved from one place to another has experienced these pangs. Today, eighteen years after leaving Cuenca, Ecuador, for the last time, I felt the familiar tug on my heart. Where are those people I once knew? What are they doing today? It is amazing what can bring the memories. Little things, a look, a smell, a word, a song, all can cause the nostalgia to return. Today, a song sung in church made me remember the services in Cuenca.

To keep the feelings in check, I keep in contact with some of those friends from years gone by. Facebook is a great source for this. We can see each other’s photos, catch up on kids, and read about each other’s lives. For some of those friends, I’ll never know. I’ll not know if Señora María ever made a profit from her tourist shop on Gran Colombia. I have no way of finding out about street vendors who sold jewelry in Parque Calderon. It brings sadness to me to know I didn’t have a way to keep in contact with these people I’d visit on a regular basis for a year.

As I think through my friends, they’re spread out all over the world from Japan to Cameroon, from Peru to Brazil. Ecuador, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, South Carolina, Philippines, India, and Mexico all have a little piece of my heart. I often long for everyone to come home for one big reunion. I’d love for all my friends to meet each other and share their stories. Unfortunately, half of my friends couldn’t understand the other half due to language barriers. I’d have to be the translator.

As I consider gathering everyone together, I am reminded of a passage from the Bible. John chapter fourteen and verse two is a beloved verse. There’s even an old gospel song written based on the King James Version of the Bible.

I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old.

However, my pastor has explained that in essence the word mansion isn’t in the original Greek. It’s actually a word for many rooms. Now doesn’t that sound great? I’ve got many rooms over the hill top? It just doesn’t cut it. However, my pastor goes on to give this scenario. Family reunion time rolls around. Everyone’s coming in from far and wide. Where are you going to put them up? Do you have room in your house? Will someone have to get a motel? What if heaven was like a giant family reunion with room for everyone?

What if heaven was like a giant family reunion with room for everyone?

Think about it. My friends from Ecuador  would have a place to stay right alongside my friends from Japan or Washington state. No one would have to give up a room for someone else, but you could bunk together if you wanted to. Imagine the late night conversations as Kantharao from India explains his struggles in keeping the orphanage a float, and Ruth tells about her grandkids learning about Jesus. In another corner, a conversation plays out between my missionary friends in Cameroon and my friend from Michigan. No one has to say good-bye, and everyone can meet each other. While this family reunion happens, I’m then invited down the hall for someone else’s reunion. Maybe to meet Kantharao’s family and friends from around the world, or to meet my daughter’s exchange family from Finland.

As you continue to make friends, think through this idea of heaven. Are those friends going to be a part of the huge family reunion? Can you relate to my longing? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment.

A Song for the Holidays

With Christmas around the corner and family plans of getting together for the first time in several years, I have been thinking of my grandpa. Gramps Pat had a wonderful bass singing voice. He sang in choir and serenaded us at Christmas time. Our favorite that he would sing as far back as I can remember was Oh, Holy Night. He would sing under protest. “It’s too high.” “I don’t remember the lines.” These were his favorite excuses. I was not much older than seven when Mom surprised him. We all gathered around on Christmas Eve. We had read the story from the book of Luke and had sang some carols.

“Dad, will you sing Oh, Holy Night?” Mom asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Please, Gramps?” We pleaded.

“I don’t know the words.”

That was what Mom was waiting for. She produced from behind her back a cookie tin. “Here, Dad,” she said as she handed it to him.

With curiosity, he took it and opened it. Inside were several slips of typed paper. Gramps’ deep hearty laughed followed. Mom had typed up the words. Never again could he have the excuse that he didn’t know the words. He sang it every Christmas after that until 1999. In April of 2000, Gramps took his singing voice to go sing for Jesus in heaven. Every Christmas since when I hear Oh, Holy Night, I think of him. The first ten years or so after, I would break down and cry at least once in the season when I heard the song.

I thought I was past that stage until tonight. As I was at the art gallery, a man came in with one of the artists. As he waited for her, he sat down and began to sing, Oh, Holy Night. I paused in my steps and listened, a wistful look on my face. What a joy to hear a grandfatherly man singing Gramps Pat’s song.

What about you? Do you have any special song for the holidays? Any song you have to hear before it’s the season? Let me know in the comments.

What Makes Thanksgiving?

It’s Thanksgiving, the beginning of the holiday season. I remember growing up that Thanksgiving was the day we would see the first Christmas commercials. It was the day Santa was ussured in at the end of the Macy’s parade. It was a day to sit and relax with family and friends. We’d go out to the church camp and spend the day with a potluck meal.

As I’ve grown, family and friends have stayed the mainstay for the holidays. Last year, I wanted to have a relaxing Thanksgiving. So I talked with each of my kids as to what made Thanksgiving for them. We came up with a list of foods and I fixed them. When we went to sit down, the boys were upset. I tried to figure out the frustration and found that it wasn’t food that made the holiday but people coming over. Fortunately for us, my parents and our oldest son and his girlfriend showed up early for dessert and were there while we had our meal.

The first of the series will be on sale Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

 

It was this strong basis of family and friends that I drew from when I wrote the Dragon Courage series. I wanted to give my kids a taste of normalcy and put it in a different place. The interactions of the characters throughout the series come from interactions I’ve had with my own kids and my own family. The scenes around the dinner table are straight from my own dinner table. The toddler complaining while mom fixes a meal is exactly what happened with my young ones. Only at meal time did they need mom. They were fine until I walked into the kitchen. Then they were clinging to my legs. It’s rather difficult to fix a meal with a two and a three year old attached to either leg.

So, as you go about your holiday season this year. Remember your family and friends. Spend time with them. Make memories that will last. Play a game together, read them a book, watch a fun movie together. Whatever you do, enjoy them. If you were like me growing up and your family is miles away, find friends or others who need family and be their family. There is always someone who needs some family.

A Lost Art

This week an event happened that caused me to think. On Thursday night, I had open house and stayed at school for the evening. My husband, Eric, took the boys on a photo shoot. When I returned home after 7:30, I was the first one to arrive. I found a note from a disappointed nineteen-year-old daughter. She had expected to eat supper with us all around the table. Her schedule had been busy with work in the evenings and time with friends, that we hadn’t had an opportunity to check in with her. What struck me most about that event was the assumption my daughter had–we would be together for dinner. Her assumption was accurate, because since we were married, Eric and I have made a point of having sit down dinners around the table.

The kids have grown up learning to sit and listen to adult conversations, and as they grew, they became part of that conversation. I used to read to them after dinner. We have met various characters who have become part of our family culture. I started out with biographies, and then moved on to stories the kids wanted to share with the family. The last book we read was D J MacHale’s Pendragon series. We only made it to book 9, and it took several years due to various interruptions. The reading gave way to conversations with the kids about their day or joking around. Some of my favorite memories right now are centered around our dinner table and laughing with my children.

Our dinner table was a place to teach our kids’ friends how to interact with a family. Many of their friends had never sat down at a table except maybe at Christmas or Thanksgiving. They learned how to ask for food to be passed and how to ask to be excused from the table.

It was around the dinner table that our kids learned how to interact with adults–not just parents. We have entertained missionaries from around the world: Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, Ethiopia, and more. Besides the missionaries who visited from church, we have had numerous visitors. These aren’t just our friends that we know and love. Our visitors are travelers along Highway 101. We have enjoyed getting to know people from Seattle, Colorado, Eugene, New Hampshire, Boston, New York, England, France, Bolivia, Spain, Germany, Palestine and countless more. Many are college age students who are hiking or biking their way across a part of the United States. We have sat and chatted about politics, their impressions of the US, and anything that came to mind. After dinner we have jammed adding a violin and drums to our guest’s saxophone. We enjoyed target practice once. Numerous times, we entertained our visitors with fire dancing, but only once did our guest join the show.

Our kids have also enjoyed game nights around the table. When they were little, we had game day on Sunday afternoons. We played Star Wars role playing. As they grew older, we moved on to Scrabble, Uno, and Munchkin. The group of friends have changed, but the table has stayed the same. We sit down talk with one another across the table, having fun and enjoying each others’ company.

Was it easy to keep up this tradition of the dining room table? No. We struggled. There were some weeks where we didn’t sit down often at the table, but we made it a priority. In so doing, we have created memories and taught our children the value of face to face communication. One hard and fast rule has always been, “No electronic devices at the table.” The only exception was if we were reading a book online such as The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,or if we have some quiet classical music playing while we eat. The kids tried to push this rule only a couple of times. They never got far.

As a parent, I believe this one tradition has been very valuable. We got to know our kids. We were able to feel the pulse of their world. When friends would come over, we got to know them as well.  Our table with young children resembled Duskya and Cerulean’s in Dragon’s Heir:

The meal contained light banter and the general commotion of any meal with two little children.

Once we had teenagers, it reflected Duskya and Cerulean’s table in Dragon’s Cure:

The evening meal followed with much talking and friendly banter. The clean up continued in the same vein.

Both of these scenes although summed up with just a sentence or two reflect the many memories around our dining room table with our children. So, if you have the opportunity to create a family tradition, I would suggest reinstating the family dining room table. Use it for more than just a fancy tablecloth (although my kids learned how to deal with a fancy meal as well at our table). Let your table become a place of laughter, stories, and memories.

Inside the mind of a Mom

This year has been an interesting year. I had two seniors in high school who graduated the same day from two different high schools fifty minutes away from each other. I also published my first book. As the summer wound down, my emotions became more fragile. Any mention of the empty nest or sending children off to college struck home. I knew I would soon have only one child in the house after having four for the last year.

Today, my eighteen year old received his acceptance papers to a one year Bible College five hours away. He will be leaving the first of October. I was excited for him, but then realized that my little boy was growing up.

My nineteen year old has decided to go to the local community college. She will stay at home for the first term. Even though she is at home, between a night job and classes, we won’t see her much. Again, I am glad for her, but sad that my little girl is growing up. Tonight she realized that our youngest will be in high school next year.

Where has the time gone? Wasn’t it just a year ago that they were the ‘twins’, the one only 17 months old feeding the one month old? It goes by in a blink of an eye.

With this realization, the other happening today weighs heavy on my heart. One of my uncles passed away. I barely knew him because of where we lived, but I remember my cousin with fondness. She lost her mom, my aunt, just a few months ago and now her dad. This leaves my dad and his younger brothers as the patriarchs in the family. The realization that Dad is the oldest of his family now is sobering. I know too soon life will cycle through. I don’t want to think that way, but watching my kids grow up makes me realize that in time I will be the grandma. It will be my job to hold the family reunions and keep us together just as my grandma did before me.

Tonight, I can curl up and cry, but tomorrow I will be the strong mom ready to face the future with my kids. I’ll be prepared to encourage and cheer them on. I’ll brag about their college plans and be proud of what they have done. For this is what a mom does. She takes life, cries, laughs, and beams with joy.

Amid the Busyness

This week marked the second week of school. This year I have in essence three new classes. I have never taught leadership before. After being the class officers’ adviser last year, I wanted to take this class on. The other class is Spanish Culture Studies, and elective that I designed to help give a taste of Spanish through the culture more than the language. The third class is my seventh grade Spanish class. I taught seventh grade last year, but it was that group’s first exposure to Spanish. This group had a half semester last year as sixth graders and struggled. So, I wanted to change things up. All three classes are more student run. The leadership class will have projects to do and create ideas then put them into practice. The Spanish Culture Studies will explore topics of interest of the students. It will be a hands on type of class. The seventh grade class was able to choose their own topics of interest as a class and we will explore Spanish through those topics. All of those ideas sounds fun and good, but I have to create lesson plans that match them and include standards of what we are aiming for. All of this is suppose to happen before I begin teaching the unit. Needless to say, my first couple of weeks of school were quite busy.

However, I can’t stop being mom. Seven o’clock each morning, I have left and gone south past the high school to drop my eighteen-year-old off at work in a field where he is changing irrigation pipe. My thirteen-year-old earned a part in the local adult theater group’s Christmas play which means extra trips north throughout the week.

I have been so busy with school and family that several book events have fell to the side. Wednesday while at school, I had a moment to check email and saw a Twitter notice of a blog post. It was my post on Vox Dei’s webpage! I had forgotten it was to air that day. As my eighteen-year-old says, “Face palm!” The next day, I had another similar experience. I checked email just before lunch during my prep period and found a Twitter announcement of my cover reveal for The One Who Sees Me. How could I have forgotten that! I knew I needed to get a better grip on my calendar.

Saturday loomed big in my vision. I had to be ready for the book signing and release party of Dragon’s Future. My husband and eighteen-year-old would be off at a men’s retreat which left my nineteen-year-old and thirteen-year-old at home.

Grandprize packet of swag and a signed book went to a high school senior.

My thirteen-year-old and I enjoyed the Cranberry Parade at the local festival, and then we headed to the art gallery and used book store which was hosting the signing. After frantically trying to find parking, I was able to elicit help from some friends to carry books and supplies to the gallery. My three hours were fun and profitable. Many came through to purchase books, and I even met a journalist for the local paper who wants to do an author interview. We’ll see what happens.

In the meantime, I am ready for another week of school. I will try my hardest to be better at budgeting my time between family, school, and author work. It is a challenge this year, but it can be done.

Why the SCA Was Good for my Family

This weekend was the forty-first  celebration of Egil Skallagrimson Memorial Tournament, known as Egil’s, in the Barony of Adiantum, Kingdom of An Tir, in the known world of the Society of Creative Anachronisms (SCA). As our family participated, I began to think of all the things that the SCA has done for my family and our kids. Now, granted, not all events will be kid friendly and the SCA isn’t for every family, but for our it has been a good fit.

The SCA has been a good outlet for some unique hobbies. Every family should have some hobby that everyone does together. Our family’s hobbies just are a little different. My kids have picked up boffer fighting thanks to events. What is a boffer? It is a piece of PVC piping, wrapped in a water noodle and duct taped all around to create a sword. Children, and some adults, use them as practice weapons and for mock battles. My kids love the things. I find bits of water noodles all over the house from them creating their one-of-a-kind swords. They are content to just use these at the various medieval events we go to, but they now have block party battles with their friends. I’m sure there are some parents wondering what these teens are teaching their younger sons. My oldest teenagers have even taken it to youth group as an extreme capture the flag or king of the hill game. Another unique hobby that our whole family has taken up is fire dancing. Yes, you read correctly–Polynesian style fire dancing. We first saw it at an SCA event and my husband, who has spun a staff most of his life, decided he could add fire to it. So, he did. He learned to blow fire and then as the kids got old enough, he taught them to do it as well. I am the reasonable one and play fire-safety for them all. My daughter just learned how to use the hand torches this winter and is in love with them. So, if you come over to our house as a guest and stay until after dark, you may be treated to a fire show–complete with staff, fire breathing, poi, flaming sword, and hand torches.

My oldest son fire dancing.

My children have gained new vocabulary from SCA. Poi was one of those. They are wads of wick that are attached to chains. The wick is soaked in white gas and then set on fire. The fire dancer twirls the chain and wick creating interesting swirls. You already have heard the term boffer which is a household word. At our first event, the kids quickly learned the term biffy or plural biffies. Since the events we go to are overnight camping ones, the biffies are very important places. These are commonly known as outhouses. Even when we aren’t at an event and we see a green, blue, or grey portable outhouse, we call it a biffy. Garb is the clothes that we wear to an event. The kids often ask if they can wear their garb to school instead of normal everyday clothes. Some words have taken on new meanings. Men are lords and women are ladies. A car is a dragon, a tent a pavilion. The SCA has enriched our vocabulary through the various events we have gone to over the years.

My middle son in garb.

Every family with young children need a place where their children can learn about the world in a safe way. The SCA events provided that for my family. Every event was a place where our kids could interact with strangers safely and learn manners. If they found something that they liked in a merchant booth, we made the kids ask about it. If they wanted to boffer fight with the kid next door, they had to go ask the child or the parent for permission. One story that stands out took place at An Tir-West War in California when our oldest son was about five. In the middle of the night, he left our tent to use the biffy. We were awakened by a sleepy adult voice asking, “Is this your child? He wandered into the wrong tent.” We could just imagine the look on both our son’s face and the couple in the tent when he unzipped their tent and tried to crawl into bed with them!

Last but not least, the SCA has provided family memories. I realized this when we pulled into Egil’s on Friday night and the older two started to remember the location. It was where they met Cheerio. It was where our memories of House Black Arrow are strongest. We camped near the place where my husband put out Lord Devon’s face (which was on fire from fire dancing) with his chest. The memories continue all the way back twenty-four years to the April event in Portland, Oregon, Genelta’s Feast where my boyfriend proposed to me at court. (I said yes–twice; once for him and once so the queen could hear!) There are many fourth of July War memories from sitting on a rock to watch fireworks, to getting behind the battle lines without knowing it and finding a crossbow bolt streaking across the ground, hopping, and hitting our daughter smack between the eyes. The memories will stay with my kids as they go out into the world and become their own families. They may or may not choose to continue going to events, but they might. Either way, they’ll look back on all the different times we camped at an event and smile–even through the waterlogged Egil’s events.

So, if you’re looking for something to help your family create memories, build vocabulary, unite it in creative hobbies, and give it a safe place for your children to grow, you can look up the closest event. If you live outside of the United States, don’t worry. The known world exists in Australia/New Zealand, Asia, Europe, and Canada. So, take a peak. You just may learn some new and exciting things and begin building memories.