My Favorite Books as a Kid, IWSG, CassaDark Coming soon!

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!--from the IWSG home page, check us out!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Our awesome co-hosts for this month are: Joylene Nowell Butler, Jacqui Murray, Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery!

My Favorite Books as a Kid

In the middle of cleaning out the clutter in my house and boxing old books to donate to the library, I found some treasures. Hidden amongst Early Reader mermaid novellas that my daughter had loved, were some of the books that I had cherished as a child. These were the books that sparked my fascination with words and story-telling.

I asked my parents to read Tweety so much to me that my dad started reading the words backwards to make it more interesting for him! Then when I was about seven, I decided I was going to make my own copy of it (not sure why, I guess I was fascinated with book-making from a young age) so I wrote down every word from each page and tried to trace the pictures.

These three were my other favorites. I loved the irony that Grover was the monster at the end of the book, it made me laugh every time. Ho-Hum was about a little boy who went to the zoo and saw all the animals yawning which put him to sleep. I think my mom read this one to me to put me to sleep too-yawns really are contagious! Here again I was drawn to the humor of the boy wanting so badly to visit the zoo and then falling asleep there. 

The middle book was my favorite of all of them which is probably why it lost its cover. Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish was my favorite because first of all it was about dinosaurs, my favorite animals, and it was the book that my grandpa most often read to me. Which brings me to the IWSG Question of the month:

Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn't around anymore? Anyone you miss?

Other than my parents, my grandpa probably had the biggest influence on my young life. We had so much in common that he was easy to bond with. When I was very little he read to me. We shared a love of nature, animals, and gardening, and he helped inspire a fascination with travel and adventure in me. Almost every weekend in the summers we went fishing together. Usually, we didn't catch anything but we talked about everything and enjoyed watching the pink-orange sun slip beneath the horizon.

our favorite fishing spot

Gramps teaching my son to fish

A lucky day!

Throughout my life he has always been there. In my competitive skating days, he built me a backyard ice rink, so I could practice every day in the winter. When I was in college he supported me in my decision to marry my husband and later he helped me and my husband build a deck off our first house-he was 78!

Always active and trying new things, he took up singing lessons when he was 89. He always had a lesson to teach me and this was that age doesn't matter, if you want to go do something do it!

One of the last times fishing with him and my girls

We lost him in 2013 at the age of 91 and I miss him every day. His spirit inspires me to this day and I carry him in my heart where ever I go.

Jeremy Hawkins Tribute

On January 3, 2022 we lost one of our own IWSG members. I met Jeremy the first year I started my blog--way back in 2012 and he was always there to give a helpful comment. I never met him in person but his warm and caring personality came through in every blog/social media exchange that we ever had. Jeremy will be greatly missed. You can support his family by buying one of his t-shirts that he designed.

CassaDark Releasing April 5!

Alex J. Cavanaugh is releasing his latest book in the Cassa series CassaDark on April 5th!

Come back on April 6th to read my interview with Alex where we talk all sorts of writing stuff and he gives us insight on how he chose to follow a new character line in his series!! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful February! 

Stay safe and healthy! 💕💕

Kathy :)