This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home. This is not Veterans Day, it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom. ~ Tamra Bolton
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. ~ John F. Kennedy
May we never forget our fallen comrades. Freedom isn’t free. ~ Sgt. Major Bill Paxton
One of my friends passed away in 2020. Shortly thereafter, an imposter hijacked one of her writing blogs. She reformatted it, put her own likeness (or who knows, maybe it’s even a false likeness) on it, and took credit for all of Donna’s books, and claimed Donna’s reputation as a speaker and editor as her own. A mutual friend who is a computer technician reported it to the blog’s host, but nothing was ever done about it.
Another friend started a blog with her name in the web address a few years ago and worked hard on it for a several months, but circumstances in her life changed and she set it aside and forgot about it. I looked it up one day, and it had morphed into a porn website. I immediately sent my friend an email, but she learned that since she no longer owns the domain, there was no action she could take against the usurper. She just hopes no one comes across it online while searching for things she’s written.
There’s a couple of lessons here.
First, don’t just abandon your blog. Some evil person may hack in and set up shop, turning your website into something you never intended or something that harms your reputation. If you decide to give up your blog, take it down. In WordPress, that option exists in the General Settings menu, all the way at the bottom.
Second, decide what you want to happen to your website when you die—and tell your family or include it in your will or in the instructions to the executor of your estate. Do you want it to live forever on the web? That means someone is going to have to pay the yearly blog plan and domain renewals—make provisions for that. Do you want only family or friends to have access to it? Someone will have to set that up, too. Do you want someone to take it over? Plan for that now. In my case, I would like my blog to remain up for the current term of my plan, and then I want someone to delete it for me. (I need to mention that in my final instructions to my family.)
Have I sent you into a complete state of panic? Have no fear. Take a deep breath. Here’s some help from the internet.
Banjo joy!
When I was teaching music, every year I collaborated with the third grade teachers to put on a patriotic program for Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day. One of the those teachers was the very creative Judy Eidsvaag, who designed easy-to-make paper costumes to transform the students into service members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.
One day, Judy brought some of her paintings to school. We teachers were blown away by Judy’s talent. I have prints of three of her paintings on the walls of my house.
Since retiring from teaching, Judy has pivoted to writing and illustrating children’s books. She graciously consented to an interview.
Doing Life Together: When did you first start making art?
Judy Eidsvaag: From the time I could hold a crayon, I remember enjoying art! Those fat Crayolas smelled wonderful and they felt just right in my chubby fingers. Growing up, whenever any of the 4 children in my family was sick my dad would go out and buy “the patient” a new coloring book and fresh crayons – such a loving and delightful way to recuperate! Elementary school offered many opportunities to create and showcase art and I recall receiving awards and attention for the quality of my work. I took several elective art classes in high school and remember it being the best part of my day.
DLT: What did you study in college?
JE: Post high school, I earned an A.A. in Art from Nassau Community College then joined the workforce. Fifteen years later, I returned to college and earned my B.S. in Elementary Education from SUNY in New York, then moved to Florida and received my M.S. in Elementary Education from Nova Southeastern University.
DLT: What jobs have you had in your life?
JE: My first job was working in the Claims Department at a Long Island insurance company. (Years later, my husband and I discovered we’d worked across the hall from each other during this same period but had somehow never met!) Subsequent jobs included a secretarial position for a mortgage company and working as an assistant in the TV commercial production department for 2 large NYC advertising agencies. I soon tired of being a “little fish in a big pond” and settled into a small-but-growing travel marketing company in NYC that had several big travel industry clients. In that environment, there were many opportunities available and I was able to gain experience in sales, marketing, promotional copywriting and international meeting planning and I have a nice portfolio of work from this period.
DLT: What inspires you to paint?
JE: I do enjoy having a distinct idea of what I want to paint, however, these visuals usual occur in bed late at night right before I’m ready to doze off. Although I have been known to get up and actually paint at 2am, I often just do a fast sketch on a pad on my nightstand and hope I can recreate the feel and colors of my late-night ideas.
DLT: What is your favorite medium?
JE: For the past 5 years or so, I’ve been painting with acrylics although I also dabble in watercolors and pencil sketches. I enjoy working in acrylics for their beauty combined with easy cleanup, quick drying time and how forgiving they are when making errors.
DLT: Why did you decide to write and illustrate children’s books?
JE: I was driving alone to California one hot summer a few years ago. The vast stretches of open land combined with the oppressive heat, lack of shade, food and water sources made me wonder what creatures could possibly survive in this desert environment. After a bit of research, I found my answers and wrote a poem about it.
DLT: Describe your creative process from idea to finished project.
JE: Usually for me, the words come first, then I create visuals to match the words. This is especially true for the This Desert’s Alive series which was originally written as a poem for a greeting card. However, with a greeting card, you only have space for one or two graphic images. But I had so many visuals in my head after writing this poem that I knew this had to be a picture book. So as far as my procedures, first I write the poem and the book’s introduction, then I choose 2 sentences at a time and illustrate them keeping in mind how they will appear as a 2-page spread. When all of these are finished, I paint a very large diptych painting that includes all of the creatures from the story in their natural surroundings as the grande finale ending to the book. Then, I do more research and write 2 or 3 interesting facts about the animals for inclusion on the Interesting Facts pages. The cover design and title page are created somewhere along the way. Finally, I create some activity sheets using the vocabulary and ideas from the book. The paintings are then turned over to a photographer and a production person for formatting and uploading to a large computer file. After careful review of the file, it is uploaded to a printing company, a proof of the book is created/approved and then the books are printed.
DLT: How long does it take you to finish writing and illustrating a book?
JE: Since these books are non-fiction, there’s a certain amount of research involved, but since the sentences are so short, the writing happens in a day or so. Illustrations may take one to five days each of actual painting time with “life breaks” in between. One challenge I face with each illustration is coming up with a layout that shows the animals in their environment while leaving an area that will accommodate the unique “photograph and text” embedded into each page. So start to finish, the creative part of these books has been taking about 3-6 months to complete.
DLT: What is the hardest part of the writing process?
JE: Authors are often their own worst critics! We read, re-read, then read again but are still never satisfied! Have at least 3 others whom you know will give you an honest opinion read your work. Consider both their compliments as well as their criticisms to finish your masterpiece.
DLT: You’ve written two This Desert’s Alive books. What’s up next?
JE: I’m in the process of completing the illustrations for a third book in this regional series, This Sea is Alive, about the Sea of Cortez which is often called “the world’s aquarium” thanks to its varied and abundant sea life. I’m contemplating a second “sea” book after this one and also have a story book in the works.
DLT: What advice would you give to budding artists?
JE: Paint frequently to improve your technique and don’t be afraid to try new approaches.
DLT: What advice would you give to someone who aspires to write and illustrate picture books?
JE: We’re living in an age where anyone who truly wants to produce a book can do it by self-publishing. Invest the time and effort in your work and find a good support network of like-minded people for sharing ideas and advice. You may or may not earn millions of dollars from your product, but I can guarantee you the moment you feel your first book in your hand, you’ll feel like a million bucks!
I’ve recently become a fan of flash fiction (and have written some myself). I was intrigued by the premise of this volume of 100 100-word stories by Walker, author of 25 books and a creative writing instructor at Hampton University.
From reading The Library of Afro Curiosities, I learned that a 100-word story might not have a traditional story arc, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. It might instead be a single incident; or it might be a realization, along with the backstory leading up to it. It might be a single sentence, as the story “Searching for Water Where It Never Rains” (which to me seems more like a prose poem than a story).
Some of the stories do not tie up neatly at the end, but leave the reader with an unresolved question. I like that; it’s a technique I’ve used in my own short-short fiction.
Every word counts in writing this short. Walker is good at putting together words loaded with extra value. Here are three phrases from the story “Wishing.” “. . . her Stan Smith Adidas white like lies . . . her soft lips tasted like the sweet syrup of purple popsicles on a Saturday in July.” “My mind was a wheel of fortune . . .” Again, Walker’s words hit me like poetry.
Despite the title, you don’t have to be Black to derive meaning and enjoyment from the book. Some characters make multiple appearances among the stories. I recommend this book to anyone who likes short fiction and/or wants to write it. It’s especially good for people with short attention spans or no time to read—you can read it all in a couple of sittings. Hey, this review is as long as three of the stories.
In the 1990s, when I still had small children at home, I went to a writer’s conference where an author presented an in-depth workshop on writing for children. Inspired and wanting to experience more, I went to the library to check out some of her books.
Every single one of them dealt with young girls exploring lesbian behaviors. (She hadn’t mentioned that at the conference.)
My gut reaction was, I don’t want my girls to read these books. I’d rather they didn’t know anything about this.
Flash even further back, to the 1960s. I had my first period when I was 10. No one prepared me for it. I thought I had a horrible disease. When I showed my mom my bloody underwear, she said, “Already? Oh, honey, this is just a part of growing up. This is going to happen every month now.” No further explanation. (My mother had her first period at age 16. She was staying with relatives at the time. She was also not prepared. When she confided in her aunt, she was told, “Well, you must have done something bad.” It was the 1930s.)
When I was 11, my Girl Scout troop leaders wanted to show us a movie about menstruation, and they sent a letter to our parents about it. My mother wanted me to see it. I had no idea what it was about. But the principal of our Catholic school (a nun) got wind of it and called all the members of our troop into her office and told us not to see it. She said she wanted us to stay little girls as long as we could. She didn’t know that I already had my period and didn’t know why. I think she was afraid we’d hear something about s-e-x and wanted to protect us from it. When I told my mother what Sister said, she told me I was no longer going to see the movie.
Two years later, a friend found out how the sperm gets to the egg. (All we knew about where babies came from was that a man has a sperm and a woman has an egg, and when they get together, a baby is conceived. We knew nothing about the mechanics.) She told a group of us that “the boy puts his you-know-what you-know-where.” It took us a while to figure out what you-know-what was and where you-know-where was, but when we figured it out, we were adamant we would never ever let that happen. That’s probably a good position for an eighth grader to take.
It’s hard for a child to grow up in this day and age with explicit content everywhere and not know the facts of life until age 13. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Surely parents have the right to withhold information from their children that they believe they’re not ready to process. But do they have the right to withhold it from everyone’s children? And do they have the right to suppress other information, like the role slavery and racism have played in United States’ history, or how colonists annihilated hundreds of thousands of the original residents of the western hemisphere?
When I was a child, I read voraciously. When I had read virtually every book in the children’s room of our town library multiple times, I graduated to the adult area. As a preteen, I read murder mysteries, historical romances, and science books. I found answers to questions my parents were reluctant to talk about. Many times I read passages that shocked me with their sexuality, violence, or depravity. I never told my parents what I was reading because they would have forbidden me to read it. Yet, I never acted out what I read.
If anything, my reading educated me, entertained me, prepared me, and helped me to recognize when I was in a situation that could turn dangerous for me.
From the perspective of my advanced years, I believe that for every book, there is a person who needs to read it. There may be books that the average person really doesn’t need to (or shouldn’t) read, like how to make an atomic bomb at home or how to kill someone and make it look like an accident (if those books actually exist), but that’s not necessarily what’s being banned. If you look at a list of commonly banned books, you may very well see books you’ve read yourself and enjoyed and would be mystified that anyone could object to. Often, the bans are supported by people who have never read the books and don’t even know what they’re about—they’re not interested because someone else already said they’re bad. What if you were going through a crisis, like being confused about your gender, or dealing with an incarcerated parent, or finding drugs in your child’s bedroom, and you couldn’t get your hands on appropriate literature because someone else found it objectionable?
As many as a million books are published each year in the United States. That should be cause for rejoicing. Let’s not limit people’s access to them.
Allison Boley
Carol Boley
dgood648
Joy
Andrea R Huelsenbeck
Betty Mason Arthurs
Linda Carlblom
Peggy Levesque
tuesdayschildren100
Judy Robertson
Doing Life Together 