The Proposal

Many thanks to Tess Thompson for sharing my guest post at Inspiration for Ordinary Life.

Early February 2015

When I walked into the kitchen, I knew something was up. There was tension in the air, electricity. I felt it.

The kitchen is small. Stove to the right. Refrigerator on the left. Sink on the back wall. Husband Tom stood at the stove frying piles of chopped veggies in his favorite cast iron skillet - green zucchinis, purple onions, yellow peppers, red tomatoes.  He focused on building his signature frittata, his back toward our daughter's boyfriend, Elliot, who leaned against the narrow counter space between refrigerator and sink.

"We're not usually together, I mean alone, without Erin," Elliot said when I walked in. "I should've said something sooner."

I heard hesitation, a nervous tone in his voice. "What's up?" I asked, nudging Tom to attention.

Read more ...

Wide Open Spaces

The past two weekends I've headed out of Seattle and crossed the Cascade range to Eastern Washington. Last weekend I was in Ellensburg, this weekend in Spokane.

Ellensburg

My four sisters and I were once all country girls, raised on an Issaquah Valley farm. Now only one of us  lives the farm life with sheep, chickens and a donkey, with wide open spaces, a night sky bright with stars and silence so deep your own breathing can awaken you in the night. It's a life I could not now live, but one I love to dip into every now and again to remember my roots.

We gathered to celebrate a birthday. This is something we've begun doing every few months: five middle-aged women coming together, still learning the changing meaning of life, love and sisterhood.

Spokane

Friend and writing partner, Pamela Hobart Carter, and I drove to the far side of Washington state to present at the Spokane Regional ESL Conference. Another sun-filled, snow-free, gorgeous drive reminded me to get out of the city more often. 

We arrived early enough Friday evening for some exploring around Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. Saturday morning we went to Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute where I once visited one of my sisters while she completing her degree.

We spoke to a room full of ESL faculty interested in what we have to offer: short books in easy English for adults.

In the late afternoon, I did a signing at the fabulous Auntie's Bookstore. I look forward to returning on May 23rd to do a reading of Walking Home, scheduled for release next month.

The fun thing about signings is the folks you meet. Among others, Pam and I met Nathaniel Banks. When he mentioned he runs a non-profit to fight obesity, Pam pointed out my book titles (Running Secrets, Biking Uphill and Walking Home) and the activities of each of the protagonists. In doing so, she established a link between emotional and physical health in my work I held only on a subconscious level. Wonderful!

Our return to Seattle was as glorious as the drive over: the perfect end to two weekends on the road.

The Birth of No Talking Dogs Press

South Seattle College is an urban community college with a large English as a Second Language program. It's my work home where I've taught  immigrants and refugees for almost thirty years.

Unlike my former students in Venezuela and Mexico, these students are living in an English-speaking country. As a result, their speaking skills develop while their reading and writing skills tend to lag.

As a language teacher, I am unwilling to contribute to functional illiteracy in America. I focus on reading and writing instruction, but I’ve never been a big fan of the ESL reading textbooks full of exercises. Worse yet are the abridged classics. Can you imagine falling in love with a 48-page Moby Dick? Cliff Notes are more interesting than many books designed for new readers. 

 

Years ago I started using Young Adult novels to enhance language instruction. I hoped to also foster a love of reading. I created my own activities for a number of books from Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan to Petey by Ben Mikaelsen. Newbury award winners with adult characters and themes worked well in advanced and even in intermediate ESL classes. I had plenty of great books to choose from until I started teaching lower level classes. 

 

One day I whined to my friend and writing partner, Pamela Hobart Carter, about the challenge of finding high quality books at about a second-grade reading level. (Most are picture books.)

“I’ll write one for you,” Pam said.

I decided I could do the same. We completed a dozen short books over a two-year period. I used photocopies of the manuscripts in my classes, and my students enjoyed them. They wanted their own copies to take home.

That’s when Pam and I decided to publish. Keeping the books as inexpensive as possible and free of instructional activities were musts. We decided the best way to get what we wanted was to self-publish. No Talking Dogs Press was born.

We will launch our work at the Spokane ESL Regional Conference in late February. Our first two titles, James and Barry Study Black History and The Old House on South Sixteenth Street, are available on Amazon.

We invite you to follow our website for updates as we release more titles. We hope you will share our work with new readers and the folks who work with them.

A Great Start!

Winter Quarter 2015 began with ESL students from twelve different countries in my first class and two scheduled readings. 

 

Many thanks to Rebecca Crichton of the Northwest Center for Creative Aging for inviting me to share my work at Horizon House and to the lovely audience of readers! A special shout out to the wonderful gentleman who pushed a podium my direction so I didn't have to juggle the mic and a book at the same time!

I also want to thank Peggy Sturdivant for the opportunity to participate in It'sAbout Time Writers Reading Series at the Ballard library. It was a pleasure to share the podium with K. Michael Overa as well as the Hugo House guys, Robert P. Kaye and Ian Denning.

A great way to start a new year!

A Truly Humiliating Experience

I'm grateful to author, Mary Rowen for including my guest post in her Music Tuesday blog series yesterday.

I am not a music person. My office is silent when I plan classes or grade papers. I don’t plug my ears with earbuds when I walk. NPR plays on my car radio. When I write, I prefer to hear the words in my head. Should I write in a public place, the music must be loud enough to drown ambient conversations. And though there are musicians I appreciate and enjoy – Dylan and Cohen, Marley and Cliff, Muddy Waters and Louis Armstrong – when I listen, I want to listen. I’m not fond of background music. Our home is a quiet place.

In my teen years, I attempted to teach myself folk guitar. Didn’t we all? Wasn’t that the thing in the 1970s? I didn’t get far. I lacked both patience and a singing voice to accompany the guitar. “My bags are packed, I’m ready to go …” was such a disappointment to my own ears, I gave up.

Still, when my daughter began kindergarten, I was convinced of the importance of a music education, and Erin started piano lessons. Read more . . .