Please welcome Guest Author, Terry Crawford Palardy

For thirty years I worked in classrooms of grade one through eight, both general education and special education, in all content areas. I was blessed with what one of my principals called the “Golden Ticket,” or certification that covered all of that and more. Today’s teachers are not as fortunate: they are asked to narrow their credentials to fewer years, and most recently, to one area of specialization. It’s a little like medicine … very few family doctors, many specialists who seldom meet with or converse with each other. As a result of this narrowing, students as young as eleven may see as many as seven different teachers in a day. This was common at the high school level when I went to school, but is now filtering down to upper elementary grades.

While there, I didn’t sit idly by and watch the changes occurring in my profession; rather, I wrote about them, and noted the repetitive cycle of such changes… phonics to whole language back to phonics; arithmetic to modern math back to basic algorithms… science text books to collaborative experiences back to individual multiple choice standardized tests … because I was there for thirty years, I was able to witness and participate in the full cycle of educational change, from beginning to the extreme opposite and back around to where we had started.

Every three years throughout these changes, I listened as budgets were debated and contracts were negotiated. And I realized that the sways of the economy had a different effect on teachers related directly to whether they were young, or confidently established, or peacefully finishing their careers. And I took note of those differences, and arrived at a rational assessment of how the budget fluctuations impacted public education.

I took these observations and submit them to a professional scholarly journal, the Phi Kappa Phi Forum. I worked as their Education and Academics columnist for a term of three years, and then, by invitation, beyond. When I retired I resurrected those columns and self-published them as a small book, realizing that the cycle would repeat again, and again, and knowing what to expect would help those caught in the maelstrom of change to confidently hang on and move forward. You can read those columns and their chronicle of change in the book titled Teaching Volume I: Education and Academics at the Turn of the Century.

Of course, while all the financial arguments and educational reform requirements were evolving, students were moving through the system with their teachers. One receives only one year of first grade, and one year of second, and so on, regardless of where the budget swings land. And so I wrote a second book, lighter in tone and featuring the teachers and students, the social side of education, and collected those in a book titled Teaching Volume II: Stories Reflecting the Classroom. A little prose, a little poetry, a bit of humor and some of sentiment make those pages lighter reading and a pleasant counterbalance to the serious tone of the first book. Friends who have read them have suggested that they be available to new teachers, to parents sending their oldest child to school for the first time, and to school committee members as required reading. While I’m flattered by the idea, in reality, the likelihood of that happening is slim. But my role in recording the cycle of education and some of the stories is fulfilled. My books are there for the reading, for those who are looking.

If you, as a parent, or taxpayer, or local advocate want to know from the inside what those changes have brought to the classrooms, please look for these two books. They are each available at Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble online, in print (see links below)

In an effort to make them available to the next generation of teachers, they are also on Kindle for $.99.

Teaching I - Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Education-Academics-century-ebook/dp/B006I19D3K/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Teaching I - Print: http://amzn.com/1463526571








Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Stories-Reflecting-Classroom-ebook/dp/B006IIIM44/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

Teaching II - Print: http://amzn.com/1463683421


You can find some of the reviews for these two books on Amazon.

I’m planning to step out of the non-fiction genre for my next book. I’ve been reading and reviewing a number of mystery novelists, in an effort to better ground myself in that genre. To see those reviews, visit me at http://terrysthoughtsandthreads.blogspot.com/  I’ll be back to let you know when my school-based murder mystery is close to completion. Meanwhile, please take a look at these first two books … they cost less than a cup of coffee, and offer you so much more!

You Can Visit Terry at: http://www.beyondoldwindows.com/
http://terrysthoughtsandthreads.blogspot.com/


Find Her Books at: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00580PJ9Y
Also Stop by Her Page at Facebook, Terry's Thoughts and Threads

Please welcome Terry by leaving a comment below.

Everyday Life by Margot Justes

Life seems mundane. You get up, brush your teeth, make
coffee, drink coffee ( a few cups to get started)and generally get ready for
work. After work, you run errands, make dinner, if you have kiddies take care
of their needs and the day is over. You go to bed, get up, and start all over
again. It's hard work.

What does one do to relieve the stress, and provide a form
of necessary escape, albeit it for a brief span of time? I read and write, that
is my escape.

I've raised my kiddies, delight in my grandchildren, but after
I'm done with work, time is essentially my own. I write romance stories, that is my love, escape,
obsession if you will.

Writing allows me to escape the everyday sameness. I can
kill off characters I don't like. I can fall in love with the perfect hero;
he's my creation, therefore he's perfect for me.

I feel a sense of accomplishment when I've finished a story.
A sense of apprehension when I start, and a sense of terror when mid-stream, there
is nowhere to go, and finally a sense of dread I'm on the wrong track. I write-by the seat of my pants-I think-that
is the correct cliché. I get an idea and run with it and see where it takes me.

That to me is the perfect adventure-I don't know where my
characters will wind up. It's a surprise. I like that, and it works for me.

I don't quite get the same sense of nirvana when I read, but
it's a very, very close second. I escape to another world, another period in
time, and I look forward to the happy ending.

I'm reasonably well read, but at this stage in my life I
look to romance and humor for my escape. The perfect get away. There is a reason
romance writing is a multi-billion dollar industry. I'm not alone.

Till next time,
Margot Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
www.mjustes.com

Waiting

I've been waiting for over two months for about four buds to flower on a plant in my kitchen, which hasn't bloomed in a few years. My waiting started when I first noticed something small was forming in one spot instead of just new leaves. After investigating, I found more of the same happening.

The buds are getting larger and I can see a small bit of the flowers, as you can tell from the photo on the left. Still, I can't see the entire flowers. I can hardly wait to see what they'll look like.

How does this relate to writing?
A good book will keep the reader waiting and guessing what will happen next.  A good author will not spill the beans too soon, but string the reader along to find out how the character(s) will get out of predicaments and hopefully live happy and fulfilled lives at the end of the book. In the case of a series, the author will need to take care to offer some sort of denouement at the end of each book, yet leave the reader curious about future books in the series.

In my debut mystery novel, Two Wrongs, the two main characters play a waiting game. For both, it's about how to exact revenge. When Danny's sister, Mary Alice, is murdered, he believes he knows who did it and testifies against Kevin. The fact that Kevin is sent to prison isn't enough. He wants Kevin dead for what he did to Mary Alice. Kevin has a very different waiting game, waiting to get out of prison, then planning his own sort of revenge.

What kind of waiting game is in your own book or someone else's that you like?



If you'd like to read Two Wrongs, a tale of vengeance and the healing power of love (yes, there is romance included) you can find it for 99 cents on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and other ereaders.

All that Talk....

One thing I've noticed about book promotion. There's a lot of talking going on.

New book. Buy. See. Sign up, etc.

Everywhere you turn - Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs... it's authors-- promoting to others, yes, but doesn't it seem sometimes like you are promoting to other authors, or talking to yourself?

Authors with backlists have endless promos, some good, some funny, some just never-ending.

Sometimes you stop simply since you feel like you're talking too much. You know, me, me, me.

So, what do you find to be the best promos?

What promos do you like - and admit it, hate?

What turns you off as a reader, or author?

Yes, you can talk. Please speak your mind!

Getting the Word Out by Margot Justes

Our anthology Hearts & Daggers is out on Kindle, and of
course we're happy about it, but we'd love others to be happy about it too. How to get the word out? We did the FB, Twitter, and blog route, but we wanted greater exposure that would not cost an arm and a leg. I think I can safely speak for Amy Alessio and Mary Welk, and say we need our appendages.

We tried something new-at least to me, it was new. We took
advantage of Amazon's Prime program, for 90 days Hearts & Daggers is free to all Amazon Prime members.

We also took advantage of the 'free download'-for 2 days the anthology was free for all Kindle
owners & all the various Kindle compatible apps. I do know that means applications. It does doesn't it?

The numbers are in, we made it to #10 in romantic suspense
and we reached #199 overall. 1700 +copies were downloaded. Granted they were free, but that was a substantial chunk of downloads for us. To make things even better, once the price went back to $2.99 we continued the momentum and the anthology is selling.

Was it worth it? Speaking for myself-absolutely. I think
this is great a way to spread the word, and for mid-list authors word-of-mouth
advertising is crucial.

I even sold a few copies of A Hotel in Paris in paperback. I have my rights back, and will re-release A Hotel in Paris by mid March. The cover is fantastic, and I absolutly love it. I'm making a few changes, but the premise remains the same-it's the first thing I ever put on paper, and A Hotel in Paris is very special to me.

Now that I'm editing it again, the memories of Paris are so vivid that I want to go back for a week, just to say hello. The city was my first love. Paris will always haunt my dreams, and pull me in.

Till next time,
Margot Justes
Hearts & Daggers
A Hotel in Paris
www.mjustes.co

Hello from California! by DL Larson

We, my husband and I, left cloudy Chicago for sunny but cool Los Angeles! We will be visiting old friends today and then heading for our real vacation tomorrow where we will arrive in Honolulu.

I hope to spend this vacation practicing writing as a travel journalist. Cruising the islands has been a dream of mine and my husband has all sorts of excursions set up for us at several islands. We will take a few scheduled tours at some places and head out on our own at others. It's bound to be fun, relaxing, and I hope educational for those wondering about the tropics of the United States. Check back next week and I will tell you what we've experienced.

Right now, we're headed for brunch and sunshine and meet up with friends.

Have you ever done travel journaling? If so, share with us your experiences, ideas, ect.

Til next time ~

DL Larson

A Detour to My Tour Today

Just a short detour to my Blog Book Tour today for my romantic thriller,
Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, where my topic is: Are Your Friends the Same Age As You?

Please stop by at http://lesleatash.com/ and tell us about your friends.

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel