Celebrate the Small Things: Always Something Good to Celebrate

Hi. It's been awhile since I've blogged officially. April, to be exact, but a little nudge from Lexa, our fearless "Celebrate" leader, gave me the incentive to turn on the computer, place my fingers on the keyboard and type. 

So what have I been doing since April? I could list all the things I haven't been doing in rather boring detail, like not writing my next novel or sending out a quad-zillion query letters, but that would depress you, as it has me. More on that in another post... Meanwhile, I do hope to attend a writer's conference in October.

But here, here. There is always something good to celebrate. Don't you agree? Here is a small sampling:

---Gardening, gardening, gardening!! Slowly but surely, our large property is taking shape. The sandy loam soil is full of rocks. For every bucketful of soil, I swear I get half as many rocks...but they are nice River rocks, nicely varied in size and color. So here is my mantra: Got rocks? Make a rock garden! Photos someday I promise.

--I re-connected with my college roommate after many, many years (we think 40). Is that possible? She was traveling my way to pick up a new puppy....a darling toy collie, and spent the night. She was still the nice girl I remembered :) We talked and talked.

--Visited good friends at their farm and river ranch. Vince and our friend played guitar in an old grain tower and the acoustics.....absolutely incredible! They played "Amazing Grace," so you can imagine how beautiful it was.

--Vince restored an old Holiday 1985 speed boat and I mended the Bimini. We have been taking lovely moonlight rides on the lake. I'm surprised at how much cooler it is on the lake. It's been in the hundreds here and it doesn't cool down that much at night, but it feels at least ten degrees cooler on the water.

--Family reunion. I got to know a side of the family I rarely see. I spent time talking to six kids in one family, encouraging them in their life pursuits. I remember those who encouraged me as a girl. It felt good to do the same.

--Two nieces married....one tomorrow, actually. Boy, weddings aren't what they used to be. Tomorrow's wedding is at a campground and was organized by word of mouth (the other one, on Facebook). Seventy or so are supposedly coming. Being more traditional (i.e., a formal invitation), hubby and I almost backed out. But of course, we are going. Family will be there, and that's what weddings are about.  

Our friends and neighbors made this video of our new boat. 

Smile. 

There is always something 

good to celebrate.

Celebrate the Small Things: To join, visit Lexa's Blog for the rules. We post every Friday about something we are grateful for that week. It can be about writing, family, school, general life or whatever. Originated by VikLit, co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Katie @ TheCyborgMom

(Scroll down to see 'Celebrate' bloggers)

Friday Barnes Girl Detective by R.A. Spratt and Phil Gosier: Book Review

 
Friday Barnes: Girl Detective
Author: R.A. Spratt
Illustrator: Phil Gosier
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2016 
Reviewer: Sharon M. Himsl
Age: 8 to 12, Middle Grade
Pages: 255



 
Possibilities soar when spunky eleven-year-old Friday Barnes solves a bank robbery and receives fifty thousand dollars as reward. Emboldened, she announces she’s sending herself to a boarding school with the money, Highcrest Academy. “But why,” asks her father. “Because I want to do something different,” Friday replies. 

Friday’s parents and four adult siblings, all of whom are geniuses, have devoted themselves to studying theoretical physics. They only assumed Friday, also a genius, would do the same. Friday was born to her mother late in life, and with the exception of a doting uncle, often fends for herself alone. She even made an electric bicycle once when her parents failed to pick her up from school events. Friday’s vast knowledge from reading books and learning how things work has made her into a good debater—and a detective. Friday uses her gifts to convince her parents. Now the plan is to attend school unnoticed, so she can quietly observe and learn. 

The first day at school goes wrong when a car accidentally bumps into her in the school parking lot. She is only slightly hurt, but word gets out she is different. Not only does Friday dress weird in brown cardigans, she is extremely smart. Acceptance comes from her equally geeky roommate Melanie, and oddly, from Friday’s ability to solve mysteries at school, one being the strange swamp yeti. 

She ends up solving a diamond smuggling operation, but Ian Waitscott, the smartest and cutest boy in class remains her enemy. Unfortunately, Ian’s dad went to prison as a result of the bank caper Friday had solved earlier. When police arrest Friday at the end, readers may wonder if Ian played a role. The next edition reveals the outcome. A rollicking read overall, Gosier’s cartoon illustrations are entertaining and a good match. A cute story, and one I would give my granddaughter. 

The Classics - CLOSING LINES: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

"Only two more things need to be told. One is that Caspian and his men all came safely back to Ramandu's Island. And the three lords woke from their sleep. Caspian married Ramandu's daughter and they all reached Narnia in the end, and she became a great queen and the mother and grandmother of great kings. The other is that back in our own world everyone soon started saying how Eustace had improved, and how "You'd never know him for the same boy," everyone except Aunt Alberta, who said he had become very commonplace and tiresome and it must have been the influence of those Pevensie children." (Published 1952)


I love the classics and plan to alternately share more "CLOSING lines" over the coming months. Comment if you wish, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, or were they really? 

The Classics - CLOSING LINES: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

"Lieutenant Berrendo, watching the trail, came riding up, his thin face serious and grave. His submachine gun lay across his saddle in the crook of his left arm. Robert Jordan lay behind the tree, holding onto himself very carefully and delicately to keep his hands steady. He was waiting until the officer reached the sunlit place where the first trees of the pine forest joined the green slope of the meadow. He could feel his heart beating against the pine needle floor of the forest." (Published 1940)

I love the classics and plan to alternately share more "CLOSING lines" over the coming months. Comment if you wish, or read for inspiration. Writing styles were different then, or were they really? 
  

The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos: Book Review

The Scar Boys
Author: Len Vlahos
Publisher: Egmont USA, 2014  
Reviewer: Sharon M. Himsl
Age: 14 to 17, Young Adult
Pages: 237

Len Vlahos captures the angst of a shy teen boy who is isolated from his peers because of his ugly appearance. Set in the 1980s, Harry tells his story with a measure of humor and witty sarcasm. Harry feels like a “monster,” but truth be told, if appearances count, he is, at least physically. Bullied at age eight by classmates and tied to a tree in a thunderstorm, lightning strikes the tree, leaving Harry with hideous facial scars. Harry endures years of physical pain and emotional damage, but learns to cope with the help of a psychiatrist. 

Friendless for the most part in school, Harry is surprised one day when Johnny, one of the popular kids, befriends him. Life takes a dramatic turn. Harry discovers a vast love of guitar music and finds acceptance among his peers. Together he and Johnny form a rock band called the "Scar Boys." Life in the band is great at first, until the summer of high school graduation, when the band goes on tour. Harry is shocked to learn that Johnny plans to quit the band in college. Devastated, Harry could care less about college. Guitar and the "Scar Boys" have become his life--and identity. 

Harry’s world topples. Adding to complications, he has fallen in love with band member, Chey, who doesn’t seem to mind his scars. Problem is, she has fallen in love with Johnny and Harry is jealous. In a flare up, Johnny abandons the tour midway. Driving home, he's involved in an accident and permanently loses a leg. For the first time, it is Johnny who feels like the “monster.” He even pushes Chey away, to spare her the agony of seeing him permanently disabled. Harry, who has long been on the receiving end of the friendship, swallows his pride and reaches out to Johnny. He convinces him he was wrong about Chey, and possibly about the band. Music can heal him too and so the friendship matures.  

Written as Harry's college admissions essay initially, Vlahos digs deep into the hearts of these teens, sharing a story partly based on personal experience. Chapter titles are songs from the 1980's period. 

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

2016 A-Z Reflection: Pioneer Women in Aviation

I survived! My thanks to Arlee Bird and the April Challenge team for another successful year. I am proud to say this was my fourth A-Z. 

As was the case last year, I nearly backed out, and perhaps should have this time. When you live in the desert, April is your best gardening month. I wrote most of my posts the night before and gardened somewhere in between. Each post took 6 to 8 hours to research, write and edit, which meant a few all-nighters, and believe me, I’m getting too old for all-nighters. Talk about brain drain! Although not physically exhausted in body and limb, I sure slept a lot afterward.

Once I made the commitment, I stayed the course and focused on that 'waving raised flag' at the finish line. I have always been motivated by deadlines imposed by others apparently, but not so much when self-imposed. This brings up an interesting discovery about myself as a writer. I am not very self-motivated when writing toward a goal I have personally set. I don't know why. A flaw of mine (yes, I have my share) and one I regret. But I think I need a more tangible goal, one that spells S-U-C-C-E-S-S.

Accountability to the publishing community, which for me, the A-Z certainly qualifies, has a tangible finish line. Success awaits me! A work-for-hire writing experience is another case in point. I wrote and had a book edited over a four-month deadline once, for the educational market. I had an editor cracking the whip the entire time. Today, I still hear her voice in my head: ”stay focused, don’t go off on tangents.” It has helped me tremendously in writing nonfiction for the A-Z. The jury is still out on whether it has helped my fiction. I need to ponder this some more.

I loved my topic this year, almost as much as last year’s “Inventions by Women.” Why, you may ask, do I write specifically about women? First of all, I enjoy history and learning about the different events that have shaped our culture and world, but to be honest, most history is based on male achievement and told from a male perspective. I knew from college that women did indeed contribute a lot to world history and culture, but you had to sign up for the right history class to discover this, none of which was a required course. This is not to say that male achievement is any less worthy or important!! I could have just as easily written about “Pioneer Men in Aviation” and thoroughly enjoyed the process.

However, given the history of women with low self-esteem (my family included) who felt oppressed as girls (and adults), blocked from their full human potential, and as late bloomers struggled/struggle, I wanted to show that realization of dreams is possible at any age. I wanted to show that others have struggled in their pursuits and made a lasting mark on history. I wanted to inspire and encourage both young and old that they could too. 

My niece Jammie joined the Air Force and achieved her dream to fly at a young age, and has made aviation history as the first female F-22 pilot. We are all so proud of her. Today she is home raising two young children, another great feat in her list of achievements.

2008. First Female F-22 pilot Capt. Jammie Jamieson
with husband Capt. Kevin Jamieson

Despite the craziness of the April Challenge, I am retired from my day job, so trying to garden and write on the fly certainly had their perks. Ten arborvitaes are now in the ground and the vegetable garden is fully planted. I visited a large number of blogs too, but unfortunately, most were ones I knew. There just wasn’t enough time to strike up new blog friendships. I hope that those visiting for the first time will return. I regret not having more time.

Below are some photos of my husband and me in the RV8. I guess you could say we are the latest pioneer aviators on the list. Vince built our plane over a twelve-year period in the garage, and took several months more to paint it. (I take credit for the upholstery). He is the first member in our family to build an airplane. He was inspired to fly by the old “Sky King” TV series in the 1950s. We laugh sometimes, because the geography of our new home and location looks very much like Sky King’s ranch land. Vince never stopped dreaming, even when it meant building a plane himself to bring the dream to realization.  

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing