The older kids are amused – Photo by Ed Haskell
The Headless Horseman, Tailypo and the Yeti – favorites all – visited San Lorenzo Park last Saturday eve for the annual Ghost Story gathering. There’s nothing like a campfire to get me going! The kids, both old and young, seemed to be amused! I thank the MCCARLM folks for inviting me to participate!
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
Third Flatiron’s new anthology focuses on the theme of longevity. Edtior Juliana Rew graciously included a story of mine among this collection of strong stories. “Abe in Yosemite” explores a major historical what if: how might Abe’s life have turned out had John Wilkes Booth failed to assassinate him? I got to spend time with Abraham Lincoln again, always a worthwhile thing to do, and I think I did some of my best writing. Here’s the Amazon link:
Filed under Front Page, published story
King City High School creative writing students perform “Assassination”.
Some of you might recall “You Are There”, Walter Cronkite’s great, long-running TV series. Cronkite served as host and interviewer in historical reenactments of critical events from our shared past. The show brought history to life with unprecedented immediacy. I’ve tried to capture that immediacy in a readers’ theater script about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I based my retelling on Jim Bishop’s excellent book The Day Lincoln was Shot. By adding several fictional characters and some dialog to the events Bishop detailed, I hoped to create a narrative that would open history for young readers. I decided I needed to find some young readers and hear their thoughts!
King City High School Creative Writing teacher Ashley Russ invited me to share the script with her students. I made two visits to her creative writing class. On the first visit, advanced students Axel Solis, Irie Flores, Gabriela Valencia, Martin Delgado, Emma Deleon, and Gabriel Aguilar read the script twice and made editorial suggestions. I used their suggestions to revise my writing and took it back for a final reading. It went exceedingly well. Both the students’ performance and their intelligent comments afterward convinced me to go ahead and publish “Assassination” on TPT. Here’s the link to the script:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Assassination-Common-Core-for-the-Civil-War-4478213
P.S. I also created vocabulary and reading comprehension activities to accompany this script. They’re also on TPT.Here’s the link for the activities:
Filed under Author Visits, Front Page
The students and teachers of Chalone Peaks Middle School created a great Civil War reenactment last May. Deep learning about our shared history, superb teamwork and great fun defined the day. It was the 18th time Bull Run, Gettysburg and the Civil War camps of both armies were brought to life by all the participants. As usual, I learned from both the students and the history. I would have shared Dave Park’s wonderful photos of our 18th annual event sooner, but I missed the link back in May. Better late than never! Enjoy!
Ambush!
Skirmish
The doctor is in!
Load
Brothers fought.
Lee listens.
Harriet Tubman teaches.
Filed under Front Page, The Civil War Remembered
Tiburcio Vasquez, bandit
My Fantasma Malvado was a finalist in the recent Arcanist short story competition and has just been published in the contest anthology. “Malvado” is one of my Joaquin Murrieta stories, based on Central Californian history and legend. I had great fun introducing Joaquin to Tiburcio Vasquez and having them team up to go after buried treasure. I used this story most successfully with Chalone Peaks students for several years, so I’m especially pleased that it’s been published. I hope it will find many new friends through this fine anthology! Here’s the Kindle link:
Filed under Front Page, published story
My very first Bogerd story – The Ogre’s Secret – found a home in Broadswords and Blasters, issue 6. Friend and raconteur Ed McKean gave me an idea for this one long ago. John Miller and I worked together a few years back on teaching materials intended to drop students into a Minecraft world of vikings and castles. That project inspired me to look at this story again and get it up to speed. It’s a romp and nothing more, but I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Filed under Front Page, published story
Students and teachers of Chalone Peaks Middle School once again created a great event yesterday. Helped by parents and loyal reenactors, everyone worked together to make the 2018 Civil War reenactment a learning experience without equal. History came alive before young people’s eyes and will live in their minds always.
Author at work (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
Lincoln sharing his thoughts (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
Harriet Tubman revealing the evils of slavery. (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
Confederates advance (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
Union soldiers defend. (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
BOOM! (Photo by Vibeke Hanneman)
Filed under Front Page, The Civil War Remembered
