Happy New Year!

2011 has been an exciting year for me! It was fun to be part of the Paul D. Camp Literary Festival again and I had the pleasure of speaking at Virginia Wesleyan College in Professor Bill Ruehlmann's class for the third time. He's such a pleasure to work with and quite an inspiration.

I had some book signings at a craft show and at the Simon Family Center in Virginia Beach. I also sold books at the Olde Towne Art gallery in Olde Towne Portsmouth. It's such a blast to be around such beautiful artwork. It inspired me to start painting again.

Releasing Poetic Dreamer made nearly every poem I've written now published. Guess that means I need to get busy writing new ones. I've re-released Being Frank with Anne and hope to get busy marketing that again. The new book has Anne Frank's picture on the front cover. I love it. Book Graphics did a great job with the design. You can see it on my widget.

A big thrill this year was publishing inkBLOT, a YA suspense novel with Nancy Naigle under the pen name, Johnson Naigle. I got quite a surprise this week when I found a wine bottle with an inkblot label (brand) and a note inside. It mentions knowing about a certain famous online novel titled inkblot and asked if it was the same vintage. Then it said- quite a plot, Happy New Year. There was no signature. I love mysteries and whoever left the bottle left me quite a mystery. That was so cool!

Another publishing effort this year was publishing Hall Pass, a collection of funny high school stories in ebook form. I hope you enjoy that book on your Kindle or Nook.

We're going to have a new addition in our family in April and we're happy about that. It's going to be a girl!

The Diary of Anne Frank at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk

The Virginia Stage Company is putting on a great presentation of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Wells Theatre in Norfolk. Talented actors and actresses put on a great performance and the four story set was skillfully crafted for a realistic reenactment of the Secret Annexe. The play is being directed by Chris Hanna. This is moving and well done. I am honored to be a part of this event with my book signing for my poetic interpretation of the diary, Being Frank with Anne. This play runs through October 10. There is an Anne Frank/Holocaust exhibit in the theatre lobby as well.

Thoughts on Miep Gies- the Woman Who Hid the Frank Family

When I read about Miep Gies passing away at age 100, I thought about how she’d seen so much take place in her life. I thought about how she’d helped hide the Frank family during the Holocaust and how she’d helped preserve Anne’s diary by giving it to Anne’s dad, Pim. A short bio on Miep’s life said how she hadn’t read the diary before she gave it to him. It went on to say that if she had, she would have had to burn it for fear of incriminating herself. When I was young, the Diary of a Young Girl made a major impact on my life. Wat resonated was the importance of justice, equality and finding the silver lining in spite of bad circumstances. Anne represented the kind of courageous and optimistic person I wanted to be. I was never able to shake the enormity of her book and as an adult, I wrote a book of poetry based on her diary titled Being Frank with Anne. The journey of this book has proven interesting. Anne’s first cousin, Buddy Elias read and reviewed it. He is now CEO of the Anne Frank Fonds in Switzerland. He suggested that I send it to the foundation there and from there it went to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, where it was archived. The Anne Frank Center website bookstore also displays it. While all of that was exciting, I also thought about how Erin Gruell, (Freedom Writers) had flown Miep to California to meet her students. Then I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have contact with Miep? About that time, there was an article in the newspaper about her turning 100 years of age. One of my daughters found online her email address. I contacted Miep by email. You can imagine my surprise when I received an email from her. She was requesting copies of my book and the CD of the abridged version. After sending her copies, I heard from her in the Netherlands. Excitedly I tore into the envelope postmarked that country. She expressed gratitude for my having penned the book. I felt very humbled by her expression. To think that she had risked her life trying to preserve the lives of others is something truly to admire and remember. Today’s blog is in memory of Miep Gies. \

Contest for Twelve is for More Than Doughnuts

Everybody likes something free. The first person who orders my book, Twelve is for More Than Doughnuts from www.lulu.com and can fill in the blank about the premonition I had and shared at the end of my book will win a prize. I had a premonition about A ______ Lady and then met her. If you can correctly fill in the blank and give me your contact info, I will send you another one of these books for gift giving or you can request a copy of Hot and Bothered By It or Being Frank with Anne.