blog about the novel writing process
I’m Stepping back, to gain a little perspective. Please listen with me to “From a Distance”. (audio file) (Seriously, I mean really CLICK on the audio link above and listen to the song while you read) Breathe. Shortly after the election, gasping for air, feeling as if I were turning to stone like the woman […]
Gaining Perspective: “From a Distance, You Look Like My Friend” Read More »
“On the Day of Trump’s Election, spontaneous protests broke out across the United States. People saw the danger represented in Trump’s politics and refused to comply with business as usual. Out of those protests, a nationwide call has gone out for a General Strike on the day of the Presidential Inauguration, January 20th.” the
General Strike Called Nationwide for January 20th Inauguration Day Read More »
December 1, 2016 Standing Rock, North Dakota Dear Friends and Relatives, In late August I responded to an utterly compelling, impossible-to-refuse Call from Spirit to go to Standing Rock, North Dakota. Since I’ve returned home, everyone I’ve met has expressed a deep hunger to better understand the current situation at Standing Rock and to know
Standing Rock Insiders Urgently Request Help as Violence from DAPL Mercenaries Escalates Read More »
“Water Is Life” Thursday, September 22, 2016. “Water,” as the Indians say, “is Life”. I’m sitting in a hotel room in Sioux City, Iowa looking out of my window at the wide Missouri River. Today the river is agitated and grey-green under storm clouds. I left the encampment at Standing Rock, North Dakota yesterday, and
#NoDAPL The Dakota Access Pipeline: Protecting Our Water at Standing Rock Read More »
Please Listen to Tish Hinojosa’s song, “Something in the Rain” Today, a new generation of teachers has awakened to the pesticide issue, and the embers of Farm without Harm have caught fire again. The new group, which meets once a month in Salinas and once a month in Watsonville, has named itself Safe Ag Safe
Is Your Child Being Exposed to Dangerous Pesticides? U.S. EPA Chief Pruitt just gave the okay to Chlorpyrifos, a brain harming pesticide the agency knows to be extremely dangerous to children. Want to know what else is your child is being exposed to? HERE’S HOW TO Become a CITIZEN RESEARCHER. “Kids today are sicker than
CITIZEN RESEARCHER Read More »
Rough Cut: {The True Story of “Prudenciana” Elementary School} A California History snapshot: Designed and painted by artist Guillermo Aranda, Mary Flodin, and Amesti GATE students in the late 1990’s, the mural above depicts the cultural and natural history of the land where the school was built, from the time of the native Ohlones through
Rough Cut: Prudenciana Elementary School Read More »
Rough Cut: {The Heroine of my Story: Aurora Bourne} Please tell me what you think of Aurora. I’d really appreciate your feedback! Aurora surfs. A young friend of mine, a women’s champion surfer, vetted my surf scenes. They were fun to write. But my editor says they don’t do anything to “move the plot”. Most
Rough Cut: Introducing my Protagonist Read More »
Rough Cuts: {Watsonville Brown Berets, a snippet cut from Fruit of the Devil. This is a true story from back in the day . . .} Sunday morning, August 28, 1998. Prudenciana Elementary School. Watsonville. Aurora opened the door to the computer lab. Jose Santos, the new technology assistant, was down on his hands and
Rough Cut: The Shipper/Packer/Cooler Industry and the Brown Berets Read More »
I went down to West Cliff Drive in the rain this morning to watch wild twenty-foot surf pound the cliffs. Waves raised by this latest winter storm were so huge they crashed all the way up onto the road, spraying foam and leaving seaweed on the street and sidewalk. Nevertheless, there were lots of people
Our Safe Strawberry Working Group met last night at the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council Offices in Salinas with the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner, Eric Lauritzen and seven other county, state, and federal pesticide regulatory officials. This meeting was a follow-up to the June 2 public meeting that overflowed the Cesar Chavez library in Salinas,
Don’t hold your breath waiting for politicians to move this country to sustainable energy policies. Focus on the marketplace if you want to help our country transition to sustainable energy. Right now is the perfect time to go solar if you own a house. We did it, and we love watching our electric meter run
Electric Cars Spark Change Read More »
I’ve taken the last 6 months away from my novel to go back to classroom teaching in the Pajaro River Valley. My middle school classroom – a well-equipped computer lab in a state-of-the-art Google Classroom paperless school – is surrounded by agricultural fields. Many of my 7th and 8th grade students are children of freseros
Organic and Sustainable Agriculture – Re-Designing the Food System Read More »
In 2010, I retired from public school teaching after 25 + years of service and started writing my novel about pesticide exposure near schools in the Pajaro Valley. This December, I learned that a long-time friend/colleague of mine who’s been teaching adjacent to strawberry fields in Watsonville for 30 years has been battling cancer. When
Nothing’s Changed, but This Changes Everything Read More »
It was our great honor and pleasure to celebrate this New Year with Congressman Sam Farr and his friends at Sam’s family ranch in Big Sur, California. Camped out on an exquisite piece of undeveloped land perched on the edge of the Pacific, we witnessed the procession of epic numbers of California Grey Whales south
Congressman Sam Farr Bringing in the New Year at Big Sur Read More »