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Issue 1 | April/May2016 |
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on the cover
9 page
contents April/May 2016
columns 17 Sweet Reads
WE’RE GONNA HAVE A (R)EVOLUTION
33 Tales from the Kid’s Table
A FRESH PERSPECTIVE: THE USE OF BOOKS IN TEACHING KIDS EMPATHY AND RESILIENCE
features 24 Laura Fabiani 26 Sima Goel 28 Sally Allen 33 Gwyneth Jane Page 43 Recipes
45 Notes from the Kitchen
MISADVENTURES IN COOKING
53 Amish Tidbits
A VISIT TO SHIPSHEWANA, INDIANA
61 DIY for Real Life
IT’S RAINING, IT’S POURING, TIME TO PLAY!
65 Amber’s Creations
SPRING INTO JEWELRY MAKING
genres 15 SWEET ROMANCE 31 CHILDREN 43 COOKING 51 AMISH 59 DIY/CRAFTS/HOBBIES
plus
on the website Blogging 101 with Heather Powers Karen’s Writing Detours with Karen Albright Lin Issue 1 | April/May 2016 |
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From the Desk of
Babs Hightower CEO
Welcome to our first issue of Heartwarming Hearth. We are excited to bring this new issue to you. I’ve been wanting to bring in new genres to the BTS family. We have Children/Middle Grade, Sweet Romance/ Sweet Christian Romance, Amish, Cookbooks, Crafts, DIY & Homeschool. We hope you have a great time reading the columns and reviews we have in store. Our goal is make this magazine just a big and impressive as the Parent Magazine. We will feature and interview great authors and review great books. We hope you will grow with us. I would like to introduce our staff: Cyrene Olson - Executive Designer Sheri Kraft - Editor Amber Marr - Review Assistant Columnists: Mary Manners - Sweet Reads Jessie Clever - Tales from the Kids’ Table Ute Carbone - Notes from the Kitchen Amber Marr - Amber’s Creations Elizabeth Seckman - DIY for Real Life Molly M. Jebber - Amish Tidbits
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Reviewers: Julie Amber Babs Teresa Laura
Enjoy the first issue of Heartwarming Hearth!
BTSeMag is proud to introduce the first issue of a new magazine to the BTS Family. Heartwarming HEARTH This magazine will cater to: Children’s books, Cooking/Recipes, Christian, Sweet Christian Romance, Amish Romance, Homeschooling, Do-It-Yourself, Hobbies and Crafts. At BTSeMag, we always felt there were areas that we couldn’t cater to in the regular issue of BTS Book Reviews. So the Heartwarming HEARTH was born, as a way to feature authors and publishers that were left out of the regular issue. We hope you enjoy the new issue, and we will work hard to grow this new magazine in strength and popularity as the regular issue!
Please Email Babs at babsh@btsemag.com with any questions and or to be invoiced.
Welcome to our debut issue - April/May 2016.
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Issue 1 | April/May2016 |
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Upcoming
| Industry Insider |
2016 Conventions
BDSM WRITERS CON Everett, WA March 31-April 3, 2016 New York City, NY August 18-21, 2016 http://bdsmwriterscon.com/
WEEKEND WITH THE AUTHORS Nashville, TN May 13-15, 2016 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weekend-with-theauthors-formerly-known-as-a-day-with-the-authorstickets-16789480789
BOOK OBESSED BABE AUTHOR SIGNING EVENT Jacksonville, FL April 9, 2016 http://bookobsessedbabes.wix.com/book-obsessed-babes
THE 2016 ROMANCE NOVEL CONVENTION Las Vegas, NV June 1-5, 2016 http://www.romancenovelconvention.com
PIKE’S PEAK WRITER’S CONFERENCE Colorado Springs, CO April 15-17, 2016 http://www.pikespeakwriters.com/ppwc
READERS AND WRITERS UNITE Houston, TX August 5-7, 2016 http://bookrhythm.com/readers-and-writers-unite-2016/
BTS RED CARPET AWARDS AND NOVEL EXPERIENCE CONVENTION-THE NOVEL EXPERIENCE EVENT Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA April 6-10, 2016 http://www.btsemag.com/redcarpet/awards-2016-at-novelexperience
KALLYPSO CON Casper, WY August 26-28, 2016 http://kallypsomasters.com/kallypsocon/kallypsocon-2016/
RT BOOKLOVERS CONVENTION Las Vegas, Nevada April 12-17, 2016 http://www.rtconvention.com RICHMOND’S READER REHAD Richmond, VA April 30, 2016 http://richmondsreadersrehab.weebly.com/ BOOK EXPO AMERICA McCormick Place, Chicago, IL May 11-13, 2016 http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/Show-Info/Event-At-AGlance-Hours/#page=Event-Hours
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ROMCON Denver, CO September 30-October 1, 2016 http://www.romcon.com/romcon-2016 IMAGINARIUM CONVENTION Louisville, KY October 7-9, 2016 http://www.entertheimaginarium.com/ SHAMELESS BOOK CON Orlando, FL October 22, 2016 http://shamelessbookclub.com/shameless-book-con/ MIDWESTERN BOOK LOVERS UNITE READER AND AUTHOR CONFERENCE Bloomington, MN October 20-23, 2016 http://www.midwesternbookloversunite.com/
COVER AUTHOR Showcase An Interview with:
Read an excerpt from:
| COVER AUTHOR | AUTHOR OF SWEET, CONTEMPORARY ROMANCES
Jim Cangany Jim Cangany writes sweet, contemporary love stories. Take Two is the second book in his Irving University Series. He lives in Indianapolis with his saint of a wife Nancy, his sons Seamus and Aidan, and kitty cat Maria.
HH: When did you start writing? I started writing seriously in 2011. This was a couple of years after my wife underwent treatment, successful by the way, for breast cancer. I was looking for a way to come to terms with my experiences as a caregiver, and writing gave me that outlet. HH: How did the Irving University series come about? My wife and I are fans of women’s college basketball and I wanted to write a story giving women’s hoops a spotlight I think it deserves. HH: What is the best part of the writing process for you? Having my characters surprise me. I start my stories 10 | HeartwarmingHearthbtsemag.com
with an outline to keep me from ending up in the weeds, but beyond that, the characters take control and they “direct” the story. HH: What is the book you wish you’d written? There are so many—The Lord of The Rings, anything by Kristan Higgins. If I had to choose it would probably be John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. My older son has a chronic health condition and that book provided him with an avenue to be able to talk about his struggles. As a father, I’ll forever be in Mr. Green’s debt. HH: What comes first, plot or characters? For me, it’s the characters—the hero, heroine, and maybe one other major character. Once I figure out what they want, the plot comes into focus. HH: What do you like to do when you’re not writing? I’m as huge of IndyCar racing. I also love to read and I’m a life-long Star Trek fan. HH: What surprised you the most when you became published? I don’t think I truly appreciated the sheer volume of books in the world until I was published. As a writer, it’s so hard to get noticed and develop a following with literally millions of other books from which readers can choose. HH: Your biggest piece of advice to aspiring novelists? Write what’s in your heart, what you care about. Readers can spot a fraud from a million miles away and if you’re not fully invested in your stories, they’ll know it. HH: Where would you like your career to be in 5 years? I’d love to be writing full-time. When I finish with the Irving Series, I’ll be moving to a series with IndyCar type racing as the backdrop, and who
| JIM CANGANY | knows where that will take me! HH: What is your writing routine? I have a full-time day job, so I write on my lunch break and after work, with a goal of five hundred words per day during the work week and one thousand on the weekend. It’s a pace that’s slow, I’ll admit, but it’s also steady, and it’s amazing how quickly those words add up.
Enjoy an excerpt from: Independent and fiercely driven, Marie Grayson is making a name for herself at Irving University. As part of her new job, she is assigned to work alongside gorgeous filmmaker, Heath Rodgers, as he produces a documentary featuring the university’s women’s basketball team. What Marie doesn’t know is that she’s been the star of Heath’s fantasies since high school, when she defended him against a group of bullies. Since that fateful day, Marie has always had a special place in Heath’s heart. But that was in the past... Heath is bound and determined to make it the present. And the future...
“Gotta be honest. You totally saved my bacon with Shay’s interview today.” “In that case, I get the last breadstick.” Marie and Heath were on the floor in the living room of her condo. All that remained of a large supreme pizza and breadsticks were two slices and the stick, which Marie picked up with deliberate slowness. Heath took a drink of his sparkling water. “I’m serious. I’ve been doing this for years but totally misread the situation. If you wouldn’t have been there,” he shook his head,” no, I don’t even want to think about that.” Marie’s cheeks grew warm at the compliment. It wasn’t that he rarely complimented her. On the contrary, he always had something nice to say about her latest hair color, or split times in the pool, or even her affinity for ska music. This was different. Heath was talking about his livelihood and, without a hint of irony, had just told her she saved the day. Sweet Jesus, between his golden boy looks and the way he treated her, how could she not fall in love with him. Uh oh. There it was, the four letter pink and purple elephant standing motionless in the corner. Marie had no problem admitting she liked Heath. She might even like him with a capital L. But love? She wasn’t ready for that. After all, what was the point of falling in love with Heath when he was going to be walking out of her life in a few months? They had a great thing going. Why let something as heavy as love mess it up? “You okay?” Heath’s eyebrows were knitted and he’d gotten into a kneeling position. “Yeah. Why?” He sat back down. “You’ve been holding that breadstick in the same position for probably thirty seconds. You looked like you’d zoned out.” “Just thinking.” She bit off a chunk and chewed. By all the gods, that was a lame-o response, but he’d caught her off guard. Maybe she’d get lucky and he wouldn’t make the obvious move. “What about?” Dammit. Issue 1 | April/May 2016 | 11
| COVER AUTHOR | It wasn’t his fault she left the door open wide enough to drive a dump truck through. Well, he never lied to her, and at least once he fessed up to her about their past, and that was all that mattered to her. The least she could do was be honest, too. “Us, I guess.” “Why does that sound like a bad thing?” She tossed the uneaten portion of the breadstick in the pizza box and got to her feet. “I don’t know. It’s just … “ she stomped to the kitchen and pulled a Sun King Wee Mac from the fridge. She popped the top and poured the rich, nut brown beer into a pint glass and waited for the foam to settle. “I like you, Heath. I really, really like you. And I’m beginning to think that maybe I even think about you with the other word.” He joined her in the kitchen. Without a word, he ran the backs of his fingers along her jawline. Something caught his eye, and he looked down. It was a breadstick crumb. “You’re incredible. You know that?” With a flick of his index finger, the crumb was launched into the air and landed in the sink. “You’re the most opinionated, outspoken person I know, and yet, you’re scared of a little four-letter word.” “I am not.” She took a drink and wiped some foam from her mouth with her palm. “I mean—” “I love you.” Sure, he said it New Year’s, but everybody said similar things on nights like that. This time, she couldn’t dismiss the words. “See? It’s not hard at all, especially when you mean it.” He took her hand. “Care to give it a try?” His hand radiated warmth. His eyes displayed kindness. His words revealed patience. She could do this. She took a deep breath. “You love me.” His jaw clenched for a moment then relaxed as he smiled. He cocked his head to the side and let out a long laugh as kind and comforting as warm chocolate chip cookies. “And that is a perfect example of why I love you.” He led her by the hand back to the living room and to their dinner. “Talk to me. What’s on your mind?” 12 | HeartwarmingHearthbtsemag.com
“I’m sorry, Heath. You are the most amazing guy, and our time together has been better than I could have ever dreamed.” She swallowed. This was proving harder than her first hundred mile bike ride. “I just don’t see a future for us.” “Why not?” His tone was so gentle, so nonjudgmental, it made her heart want to break right smack dab down the middle into two useless pieces of muscle. “This is my home, and I really am happy here. Helen may be a monster, but you know me, I’m a fighter. I’m not going to let her win. Your home’s in Texas, or wherever your next shoot is located. How’s that supposed to work?” “Do you want it to work? Because, if you do—” “Don’t, please. For weeks, I’ve been telling myself what we have isn’t meant to last. I should enjoy it while I can. Don’t get in too deep.” She made a motion of wiping her hands. “No muss, no fuss and we part on the best of terms.” “But now?” God, the man’s patience was so endearing, it made her uncertainty and confusion all the more unbearable. Uncertainty and confusion were everything she hated and, after living with her jerk of a father for eighteen years, she had promised herself to never let another man spark those feelings in her again. Yet, here was Heath, leaving her uncertain and confused. This time was different though. He was generating this wild, rumbling turmoil in her because he was good, and kind, and gorgeous. And he loved her. And she loved him. The realization, or rather admission, was like a parting of the clouds on a rainy day. Yes, she loved him. Having just admitted it to herself, she was in no way ready to admit to him, though. That was too much, too soon. “But now, I don’t know.” She snuggled into his lap. “What I do know is I want to spend as much time with you as I can, regardless of what happens.” The lights were off when she awoke. She shrugged off the covers and wandered into the living room. The place was spotless. Her empty beer can was in the recycle bin and their glasses were in the dishwasher. There was no other evidence of their dinner. Even the
| JIM CANGANY | pizza box was gone. She must have fallen asleep while snuggled in his arms, and he managed to get her into bed, clean up the condo, and slip out the door without waking her. Holy ninja, the man was good. The cuckoo clock made two soft cuckoos. It was time for a warm glass of milk. She went to the fridge and found a square, orange Post-it note stuck eye-level to the door. I know last night was a challenge for you. I also know we have something special. When you get a chance, give Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ a listen. I promise, it’s true. H Marie had heard of the song but didn’t know it, so she downloaded it while her milk warmed in the microwave. By the time the machine beeped, the song was cued up. Its easygoing reggae groove proved to be a perfect match for the sleep-inducing drink. By the third replay, she was nodding off as much as she was grooving to the beat, so she turned off the music and shuffled back to bed. As she drifted back to sleep, she smiled. Heath had never lied to her, and now he promised that everything would be all right. She didn’t know how he could keep that promise but, for some reason, she believed he would.
Enjoy these other titles:
JIMCANGANY.COM
Issue 1 | April/May 2016 |
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Contemporary | Romance | Christian | Literary Fiction
SWEET ROMANCE
the HAPPILY ever AFTER
Issue 1| April/May 2016 |
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trends
reading trends in sweet romance
Sweet Reads Mary Manners
We’re Gonna Have a (R)Evolution When is the last time you stopped by your local bookstore (either brick-and-mortar or digital) to gather an armload of inspirational (translated—Christian) romances? Has it been days, weeks…years?
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| Sweet Reads | If you err on the side of a longer bout away from such pages, it’s most likely because you’ve said (or at least thought): “Aren’t inspirational romances the know-it-all sort…preachy in nature and for the most part (gasp!) boring?” If this is the case, I challenge you to settle into the driver’s seat for a trip to the bookstore or dust off and rev up your e-reader and then peruse the Christian bookshelves to find and download a few breathtaking (that’s right…I said breathtaking) inspirational romances sure to bring you into the new age of Christian fiction. Because where Christian romance is concerned, it’s certainly true… we’ve come a long way, baby! There are virtually no boundaries when it comes to the evolution of Christian romance. The publishing industry takes on a bold front when spotlighting tough topics such as adultery, alcoholism, abuse, death, emotional and physical handicaps, betrayal, and forgiveness. You name just about any current topic, and you’re most likely to find it forged in ink between the proverbial covers of an inspirational romance. For instance, there’s the award-winning Devotion, by Marianne Evans (Pelican Book Group— available now). The tagline says it all…“A single act of infidelity, a lifetime of forgiveness.” Ms. Evans explores the topics of infidelity and boundless forgiveness as she beautifully weaves a love story written for the ages. But the Christian romance industry is certainly not limited to heavy topics such as those listed above, and angst is not, by any means, all you’ll find among the inspirational romance shelves. 18 | HeartwarmingHearth.btsemag.com
To be certain, many Christian romance novelists hone their skills at crafting stories laced with humor and a hearty helping of mischief as well. Take, for example, Zoe M. McCarthy’s Calculated Risk (Pelican Book Group—available now), a lighthearted romp that showcases the age-old take on how opposites attract…with a modern twist. The cover art sets the tone for the treasure found inside. Which brings us to the subject of chemistry between the hero and heroine, and let me assure you that whether we’re talking Christian historical or contemporary romance, there’s plenty of it! Today’s heroes are found to be tough and strong, yet tender and imperfect. The men are not afraid to show their vulnerabilities, yet they know how to take charge. And, to complement the male side of the story, today’s heroines know how to hold their own… no shrinking violets here. Doctors, lawyers, veterinarians, and detectives are just a few of the roles women play, along with wedding planners, shopkeepers, singers, and teachers. The list goes on and on. When it comes to a romantic weaving of hero and heroine, Christian romance indulges the senses in every aspect of the word. Sensuality abounds in an embrace, a tender kiss, a loving touch…all without taking the reader over the threshold of the bedroom door. As award-winning author Marianne Evans so aptly states, “There’s beauty in the ache…so we evoke the feelings and senses of our characters: the textures and glide of satin skin, the sweet kiss of a caressing breeze, the scent and warmth of the
| Mary Manners | neck that’s nuzzled, the gentle give of lips sweetly kissed, the spice of an orange slice bursting on the tongue…” Ahh…if that doesn’t hook you, we need a stronger fishing line! As you can see, inspirational romance explores the sensual side of a relationship between hero and heroine versus one that proves purely physical. Now, let’s take a moment or two to talk about preaching…something you will not find in today’s inspirational romance novel. As I’ve stated, the characters found in Christian romances today are far from perfect—reflecting life in today’s society—and as the hero and heroine both change and grow, we are brought alongside, learning, as well, from the manner in which they live out their stories. Many times throughout a story, the hero and heroine will face adversity, which brings about a gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) strengthening and honing of their faith. Like the beacon of a lighthouse, their ability to remain strong through the many trials they endure proves the illumination that guides the reader. So, I challenge you to join the inspirational romance (r)evolution. Take an evening to explore the Christian romance marketplace. Try cuttingedge publishers, such as Pelican Book Group or Harlequin’s Love Inspired. Seek out a book or two to load to your e-reader and pledge to dive into the first chapter. I promise you’ll move on to the second and beyond, and soon you’ll be reaching for an entire collection to fill your shelves while you recommend favorite titles to friends and family. You can thank me later for recruiting you for the (r) evolution…after the final page is turned!
ABOUT THE COLUMNIST Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband, Tim, and the cherished cats they’ve rescued from local animal shelters...Neyland and Gus. Mary’s inspirational romances have won multiple awards, including the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award and the Bookseller’s Best. She enjoys running marathons and sipping flavored coffee while devouring books. She writes romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone. Connect with Mary on twitter (MaryManners1) and at her website: http://www.MaryMannersRomance.com. Issue 1 | April/May 2016 |
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reviews
sweet romance | christian romance | mainstream Painting Rain
Lead Me Home
Annette K. Larsen Sweet Romance
Amy K Sorrells Sweet Christian Romance
Amid open fields and empty pews, small towns can crush big dreams. Abandoned by his no-good father and forced to grow up too soon, Noble Burden has set his dreams aside to run the family farm. Meanwhile, James Horton, the pastor of the local church, questions his own calling as he prepares to close the doors for good. As a severe storm rolls through, threatening their community and very livelihood, both men fear losing what they care about most . . . and reconsider where they truly belong.
Review: This book is an incredible story of doubt, despair, family, faith, hope and grace. While it is primarily the story of the Burden and Horton families, it is also the story of the entire town of Sycamore, Indiana. Noble Burden has a dream of being a famous country singer, but he has shelved it to run the family dairy farm and care for his mother and brother after his father left town. James Horton, pastor of a local church and single father to a teenage daughter since the death of his wife in a car accident, has just learned that the doors of his church will be closing for good in a matter of weeks. When a major storm rolls through town, everyone pulls together and certain priorities are redefined. This book is the first I have written by this author. It is wellwritten and easy relatable for most readers. Many of us have had dreams we had to put on the back burner in the face of real life responsibilities. Many of us have suffered loss that has caused us to draw into ourselves and ignore the rest of the world. And many of us have found those circumstances causing us to question God. The main thing I took away from this story was that God is always watching over us, and that His grace and mercy are always available if we are willing to accept them. Highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys clean Christian fiction. Reviewed by Teresa
How do you heal your heart after tragedy leaves you broken? If you’re Princess Lorraina, you paint. A year ago Lorraina watched Tobias die, and she still doesn’t know how she’s supposed to heal—or forgive. In an attempt to reinvent herself, she steps outside her comfortable life as princess and seeks the tutelage of a master painter. Struggling to learn what’s being taught, she finds herself drawn to someone who not only knows her secrets, but who she once considered far below her notice. Now she is compelled to seek him out despite knowing their relationship would be forbidden if discovered. Staying away from him doesn’t seem possible when discovering him may be the key to healing her heart and rediscovering herself.
Review: This is the third book I read by Annette K. Larsen after
being instantly charmed by her fist novel Just Ella. Painting Rain is the fourth book in the Book of Dalthia series. Each book is a stand-alone and tells the story of each of the Princesses of Dalthia. Painting Rain tells the story of Lorraina, the fourth sister. She is not yet married and I remembered her as being portrayed as aloof and unfeeling in the previous novels. A year ago, she watched Tobias, the young man she loved, die and she has mourned his death. That event has made her question who she really is and how she could change to be the person she now wants to be. Once again, I was captivated by Larsen’s writing. She knows how to create believable characters that are strong, yet vulnerable. This story is very character-driven and sticks mainly to how Lorraina becomes her own person. Lorraina does this by indulging in her love of painting. She begins to study under the tutelage of a master artist and through this experience learns about herself and what she wants in life. I loved learning about the artistry of painting, such as how they created their own paints, prepared the canvas, and the different techniques used. There is romance in this story, but at its heart, this is a comingof-age story. I thoroughly enjoyed Lorraina’s personal journey, and I particularly liked how Larsen showed that happiness does not only come from discovery of loving another person. It comes from being fulfilled through one’s own means of dealing with life. The love between the two characters reflected this. This wasn’t some flighty love based on purely physical attraction, although the young man was swoon-worthy for sure. It was solidly based
on true friendship.
I love YA historical fiction with such great messages for our teen girls. And I admire authors who write clean romance with substance. Having read this novel, I now want to read the third book I missed in this series titled Saving Marilee. And I hope to read many more from talented Annette K. Larsen. Reviewed by Laura
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reviews non-fiction | memoir | biography
Giving Candy to Strangers Stan Holden Business & Entrepreneurship
Too many sales people are focused on the end result, the outcome—the close—and another notch on their gun! But, what if you approached “sales” from a heartcentered standpoint, with curiosity and playfulness, as though the world were your sandbox? What if you created relationships for no other reason than to help others and make new friends? I know what you are saying, “How can it not be about results when it comes to business?” The bottom line is important, but if you detach from this burden while you are creating relationships, you will find that the health of your bottomline will improve on its own!
Review: We all know and admire those who can do things with
out-of-the-box thinking. Being different, innovative and creative in business does require a risk level but it also brings greater satisfaction both to the business person and the customer. Stan Holden is such a person and he has been successful in business by approaching it through a heart-centered standpoint and by building lasting and meaningful relationships. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Giving Candy to Strangers which felt like Stan was sitting across from me dispensing his wise and proven-true advice on how to approach business dealings. The book is divided into eight parts, each made up of short chapters. He discusses how to create connections without an agenda and overcome any objections in doing so, how to nurture your existing relationship and how to build relationships through social media. He also talks about doing cold calls and using humor to create connections. This section cracked me up! The book is filled with appropriate and motivating quotes, fun facts and also cartoon drawings for each part. It is a fun book to read and although written in a light-hearted humorous way, it is no less valuable than any other business book out there. Actually, if you are in any type of business or just want to improve your work, I suggest this is the first business book you should read. Why? Because it deals with the fundamentals of good dealings with people, which in today’s dog-eat-dog competitive world, is much forgotten. I am going through each tip Stan outlines in his book and have already implemented some successfully. Yes, it will bring you out of your comfort zone, but it will also make you experience the satisfaction and joy in connecting with people who can become not only customers but life-long friends. It will make you smile again as you work and it will make you remember the fun part of the daily grind.
Reviewed by Laura
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Unlocking Worlds Sally Allen Reading Resource
In Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers, Allen deftly weaves personal stories with fifteen thematized, annotated, and illustrated reading lists for what to read next. By sharing some of the treasures in her library and the secret lives they reveal, she gives us permission to embrace the shameless book lover inside each of us.Unlocking Worlds is a testament to how reading passionately—and compassionately—can unlock the world beyond our back yard. Celebrating books and those who read them, Allen shows how the solitary act of reading can be a powerful thread that creates community and connection. Thought-provoking and eloquent, Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers is a must-have for anyone who can’t leave the house without a book in hand.
Review: The minute I began to read Unlocking Worlds I knew
I had found a kindred spirit. Sally Allen begins with an anecdote of how she brought along her current read (at the time Goldfinch) tucked in her purse as she went to meet a friend for coffee. You know, just in case her friend was late. That’s me. That’s a lot of us, right? I even bought a new purse recently based on the specs that I could fit a book in it. Unlocking Worlds lives up to its name of being a companion to book lovers. Allen who has a PhD in English Education writes without airs, but with a true understanding of someone whose life is revolved around literature from early childhood onward. She writes about her discovery of book blogs and “how despite the illusion that reading is solitary, we readers are always in conversation--with books, of course, but also with other readers and critics.” How true, hence the appeal of book blogging. The book is divided into chapters that list books that touched her and made her reading experience memorable for various reasons. It was like being part of Allen’s book club where she went into the reason she liked these books. I was intrigued. I made a list of books I now wanted to read because of what Allen discovered through them. She even includes a bibliography at the back of the book of all the books she mentions in her text. Allen even addresses the issue all book lovers have, agony of not being able to read all the books we want. Who could understand such a thing but another book lover? The book is interspersed with quotes at the beginning of each chapter. My favorite is the one that summarizes the book: “the great advantage of being a literary woman was that you could go everywhere and do everything.”Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady Unlocking Worlds is the perfect gift for any book lover. It’s such a pleasure to read and infuses you with warmth and nostalgia. Why nostalgia? Because as Sally is reminiscing about the books she’s read as a child, teenager or adult you will inevitable do the same. Thank you, Sally, for telling the world why we love books so much. Reviewed by Laura
Fleeing the Hijab
Life Outside the Box
Sima Goel Memoir
A true account of Sima Goel, the Iranian teenager who crossed the most dangerous desert in the world rather than accept the restrictions of life in Iran of the early 1980s. Her quest for freedom is a thrilling, timely inspiration for people longing to create a life of meaning. The Ayatollah Khomeini had decreed that all women in Iran must wear the hijab, whether they were Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or Baha’i. Blacklisted by her school, unable to continue her studies, mourning the murders of innocent family members and friends, and forced to wear the hijab, Sima realized she had to leave her beloved birthplace and find a country where she could be free to follow her dreams.
Review: As Sima’s government changed with the arrival of
Ayatollah Khomeini, the Iranian way of life was slowly and painfully snuffed out until its citizens lost all rights and joy of life. Books and expression of thoughts about freedom were banned, women had to wear the hijab and not one hair could be seen or she risked having hot oil thrown in her face, the police arrested people for no apparent reason, shooting them down without trial or justice. Sima loved freedom and from the age of thirteen protested with the university students and freedom fighters but this became more and more dangerous, especially after she was betrayed by a school friend. Finally, rather than stay in hiding she decided she needed to escape. She was smuggled into Pakistan after crossing the desert on foot with her sister. She then lived as a refugee in a hopeless situation until finally she managed to illegally get into Canada, where she was helped and given the chance to continue her education, to work and to start a new life. Sima succeeds in transmitting her story to us with vivid details so that the people, setting and heart-pounding situations came to life. I could smell her mother’s cooking, see the bustling streets of Shiraz and Tehran, feel Sima’s despair and pain as she hid from her enemies. She describes her childhood and her way of life in Shiraz, living in a large home with a beautiful garden and surrounded by roses and orange and fig trees. Her relatives lived in the same neighborhood and she writes lovingly about her relationship with her grandmother and her sisters. Sima’s writing is honest and raw at times as she holds nothing back about her feelings as she struggled with a repressive regime that stripped her of every right. What is most extraordinary is that this happened over thirty years ago and yet her story is written with utmost details. This is a touching story that made me smile and it made me cry. It made me undergo a slew of feelings as I read it. It inspired me and motivated me. If there is one memoir you plan to read in the coming year, let it be this one. It’s one of the best I’ve read this year. Reviewed by Laura
Marilyn R. Wilson Biography | Inspirational
Get inspired to step out of your box and into a world full of potential. From the corporate world, to the arts, to working with the disenfranchised – the message is clear. There is no such thing as a normal way to live your life and no one right solution to any problem. Selected from amongst over 100 interviews, the stories shared here open a window on the journeys of seven women and three men who have charted their own path, including Ruthie Davis – top U.S. luxury shoe designer and the winner of the 2014 AAFA Footwear Designer of the Year award – and Geir Ness whose perfume is a staple in Nordstrom, Disney World and on Disney Cruise Lines.
Review: “How do you define success? There is no secret. Just do and be brave.” Often we equate personal success with money, fame and personal possessions. The biographies of the men and women in this book prove otherwise. I read with interest the different journeys each one took to achieve their personal goals. What was the catalyst or spark that inspired each individual? For some, like Ruthie Davis it possibly began with her first pair of red patent leather Mary Janes. Ruthie later became an acclaimed shoe designer. For Geir Ness, the time spent outdoors hiking in the mountains led him to create his parfume “Laila”, a scent reminiscent of wildflowers. Shane Koyczan was bullied as a child. His love of reading and film later on inspired him to write poetry. Every one of these talented individuals had their own personal struggle to contend with, lack of money, no backers, the loss their company as well as the death of someone they loved. However, sheer determination, gutsiness, mistakes and hard work soon put them at the top of their respective fields. What is common, though, to almost all of these entrepreneurs, is the open-heartedness and generosity they extended toward those less fortunate. Their dedication to helping others proved to be the greatest sign of their success. As I read through this book I found myself researching each person on the internet as I needed to put a face to the name. I had never heard of any of these people and am glad to have read Marilyn Wilson’s book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to pursue their passion or become an entrepreneur. Marilyn summed up the purpose of her book as follows: “By choosing to embrace your mission, and let it lead you where it may, life becomes a daring and, dare I say, an exciting adventure!” Reviewed by Laura
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feature interview
Laura Fabiani HH: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? LF: I am an author, book blogger and owner of iRead Book Tours, a virtual book tour company that offers a variety of services to authors for book publicity and promotion. In 2008, I published my novel Daughter of Mine. It was a story that had been brewing in my head ever since I had returned from my trip to Italy, after having visited relatives and friends in Rome and Naples. As I began to market my book, I discovered the wonderful world of book bloggers and organized my very first virtual book tour. Soon afterwards, I started my own book blog called Library of Clean Reads, where I have been reviewing books, interviewing authors and sharing in bookish memes for the last 8 years. I have a degree in Special Care Counselling and have worked in various schools and institutions. My clientele ranged from the blind as well as physically and mentally disabled children and adults to seniors with Alzheimer’s Disease. I love learning and reading a variety of genres, including non-fiction books. I am married with two children and live in Montreal, Canada where I grew up in a loud Italian immigrant family, speaking three languages from the age of six. HH: Tell us about your novel Daughter of Mine. LF: Daughter of Mine is a contemporary fiction novel about a young woman who discovers she was adopted and begins her search for her birth parents in Italy. What she finds out is both shocking and revelatory about her family and her best friend. The story took root when I put together bits and pieces of different tales I heard about life in the small towns in Italy, while sitting at the kitchen table. Everything happens and revolves around food in an Italian family. Writing my own novel has allowed me to experience the process of editing, publishing and marketing a book, proving valuable now as I help authors promote their own books. HH: You’ve been book blogging for a long time. What would you say is the recipe for being a successful book blogger? LF: I’ve seen book blogs come and go. Some bloggers have moved on to other ventures, while others have begun to experience burn out. Any book blogger will tell you how
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tempting it is to say yes to every interesting request for review that fills our inbox, creating the never-ending dilemma of too many books and not enough time! The secret is acknowledging that we can’t read every book we’d like. It took me awhile to figure that out, naively assuming that I could just squeeze in one more book this month. The recipe: Be balanced, learn to say no, and choose your books carefully. Take a break when you need to and never lose your joy of reading. HH: How has book blogging helped you both as an author and as a virtual book tour coordinator? LF: As an author, I learned first and foremost to respect a reader’s opinion of my book, whether it was positive or not. My experience as a book blogger also showed me how much readers and consumers have influenced the way books are marketed. It opened up the world of the author-reader relationship which was practically non-existent before book blogging took over the blogosphere. Having developed a good relationship with other book bloggers throughout my years of visiting and commenting on their blogs has greatly facilitated my virtual book tour company start-up. Being a book blogger myself has helped me understand how to approach other book bloggers and how to develop a good working relationship with my tour hosts. HH: How is iRead Book Tours different from other tour companies? LF: I’ve worked with several tour companies before I started my own two years ago, and I occasionally still review for some tour companies, so I have respect for the work these companies do, especially now that I do this full-time! Generally, tour companies are geared to promote popular genres such as YA or Romance and their sub-genres, which are huge in terms of the number of books published and the blogs available to host them. I have found my niche with literary fiction, children’s and MG fiction, thrillers, sci-fi and especially non-fiction in the form of memoirs, self-help and inspirational. Most tour companies don’t promote nonfiction because they are harder to pitch to bloggers, but we have worked hard to find the right bloggers and audiences for these categories and have promoted them successfully. iRead also guarantees reviews for our authors, which is the number one question I get when I am approached by authors. We currently have an average of 95% success rate of reviews posted. Our largest tours have been 50+ reviews. This has
been possible through hard work from my staff and my awesome and committed tour hosts. Also, I’ve felt it important to establish an Incentive Program to keep my bloggers motivated and appreciated for their time and effort. HH: So where are you headed in 2016? LF: I have been working on establishing the iRead brand. I currently have two sister tour companies: Italy Book Tours, which caters to books set in Italy or written by Italian authors; and Je Lis Blog Tours, launched this year and catering to French-language books. We are tapping into the French market and discovering French book bloggers, who are very enthusiastic! In April, I plan to launch The iRead Review, which offers professional reviews and caters to Indie and small press authors. It will be similar to Kirkus Reviews in terms of how it functions, but much more affordable. The iRead Review is made up of a team of professionals in their field who also love to read books. Among them are librarians, authors, professors, freelance writers, experts in the medical field and more. HH: Is there anything you’d like to share with the readers? LF: I’m very excited to be featured in the very first issue of Heartwarming Hearth! It’s great to see a magazine dedicated to genres that aren’t spotlighted as much as those in the mainstream. Hats off to Babs Hightower for seeing a need and filling it. In honor of this issue, I will give a 10% discount to any reader of this magazine. Just contact us and mention this interview. We look forward to answering any of your questions and helping you promote your book!
“Tiziana Manoretti is an only child in her late twenties blessed with loving parents, a promising career, and a best friend who fiercely protects her. When her mother falls seriously ill and the relationship between her parents becomes suddenly strained, a carefully hidden family secret is revealed and Tiziana’s seemingly idealistic world is turned upside down. After discovering she was born in a Naples orphanage and subsequently given up for adoption, Tiziana sets out for the small town of Gaeta in an attempt to find her birth parents. Meanwhile, her best friend Christopher is sending her mixed messages, causing her to wonder if there is more to their relationship than just companionship. As she becomes intertwined with a handful of interesting characters who help her uncover her past, Tiziana needs to decide whether her feelings for Christopher are deeper than she realizes. She discovers herself and others all while her family’s resilience and love for one another is tested when confronted with a shocking truth. The answers lie in a box found in a closet in Italy, and Tiziana must determine if she wants to embrace the heartache and the pain from her past in order to learn forgiveness and find peace in the future.”
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feature Sneak Peek
Fleeing the Hijab by Sima Goel It was the last straw! The Ayatollah Khomeini had decreed that all women in Iran must wear the hijab, whether they were Muslim, Jewish, Christian, or Bah’ai. Thirteen-year-old Sima had gone out into the streets of Shiraz to demonstrate for freedom under the Shah’s oppressive rule, and now that he had fled the country, this was the result: a new regime, and a much more repressive rule.
To me, Shiraz is more than a spicy, blackberry-and-plum-flavored red wine. Shiraz was a place touched by the golden light of the sunset streaming over the mountains onto its blue-glazed houses. It was an essential aroma of hookahs smoked by wizened old men crouched in its teahouses. Shiraz was my home. Shiraz was also the home of my family, of Baba, my father, and of Mamán, my mother. Shiraz was the home of my grandparents. Shiraz was the home of my great-grandparents, of my ancestors for the past 2,500 years, before the Shah of Iran’s dynasty, before the advent of Islam, before the conquests of Darius the Great. Shiraz has been home to Jews since the Babylonian Conquest in 597 BCE. Shiraz has been home to my Persian Jewish family forever. In my eyes, Shiraz was the center of the universe and the most fascinating part of it. Most of the year, from almost anywhere in the city, I could see the snow-capped mountains that surrounded our green, fertile valley. Snow fell on the mountains far away, but never in the city. Shiraz was renowned as the capital of Iran for many centuries. It was famous for its beautiful women, whose exquisite eyes and eyebrows were captured in the poetry of Iran’s prominent poets. A glass of red wine was another subject immortalized by poets. One may wonder why, in a Muslim country, the poets would write about wine. Wine, specifically a glass of red Shiraz, rendered people more transparent, more authentic, more empathetic. So the poets believed. The poetry of Iran and of Shiraz runs in the veins of every Iranian. As a young child, I was expected to memorize and recite the words of our most important poets. Poetry was part of our very existence. It filled out
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our speech, ran through our thoughts, gave us our understanding of life. Iran’s two most famous poets, Sa’adi and Hafez, were born and lived in Shiraz, the place that inspired their widely known poetry. Even in death, these two were immortalized, their tombstones located in popular mausoleums that were considered sites for pilgrim- age. Shiraz was known as the city of poets, wine, gardens, and flowers. Shiraz was also celebrated throughout Iran for its lush gardens brimming with brilliantly coloured, heaven-scented roses and its cascading stone water fountains. The Shiraz that I was born into was unlike any other part of Iran or any other part of the world. For me it was a paradise. The only friends who are free from cares are a goblet of wine and a book. Give me wine . . . that I may for a time forget the cares of the world. Hafez of Shiraz
With a strong sense of social justice, teenage Sima Goel defended a Baha’i classmate, triggering events that got her name on the Iranian Islamic government black list and forced her to escape Iran. Read about how a political refugee became an established professional in Canada
Sima Goel
feature interview
Sima Goel Fleeing the Hijab
HH: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I am a Canadian citizen living in Montreal, where I am a doctor of chiropractic and the mother of two young men. Born in Shiraz, Iran and I fled at the tender age of 17; frightened I entered Pakistan, where I stayed for several months before arriving to Canada. Upon my entrance to Canada I spoke neither English or French and I was penniless. HH: How would you describe your book to readers? My memoir, Fleeing the Hijab, is my love letter to the Iran of my childhood, to the dreams of a young girl and to the injustices I saw. My memoir is a story of love, luck, will, forgiveness and faith. I was fortunate to have a powerful role model in my mother, whose courage propelled me to leave Iran in the company of smugglers, and who sent me on the first step of my dangerous journey out of my country. I was blessed: I made it to the west and I was spared the misery of many other young people in my country, many of whom suffered torture, prison and even death for speaking out. My story is an account of resilience and faith: I never gave up, I never stopped speaking my truth and I never gave up my faith in a better life. HH: What are you currently working on? I am working to spread my message, that love and tolerance, respect and empathy are key to welcoming and integrating new citizens. Refugees leave their native land because life is untenable, and so they come looking for a new place to spread their roots and feel safe. We must welcome them, but we must also be clear that we want to integrate them and show respect: we do not want to be obliged to change our ways, values or laws. HH: Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why? I have written a chapter in Health Secret Revealed, which I am very proud of. It is about how our body can heal itself when it has all the ingredients for good health. Fleeing the Hijab is my memoir about my life and lessons I learned. I am currently working on a template for a follow up memoir. I imagine that having to discuss you favorite book woould be like saying which of your children is your favorite, and that would be impossible for a person like me. I have too much love in my heart to every discuss favorites!
travelled road of authentic life. HH: What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing? And the most rewarding? It was very difficult to begin writing. I became flooded with painful memories and emotion I thought I had dealt with and buried it in the back of my mind. I had a young family and a newly established chiropractic clinic and it was heart wrenching to return to the past, to places and people I lost. I re-wrote my book at least ten times before approaching a publisher. It was agonizing and healing at the same time. Of course the most rewarding part of writing is connection with my readers around the world and learning their thoughts and how my story resonated with them. HH: What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? I have many ideas for future endeavours. I maintain an online presence and hope to write more about faith, self-compassion, forgiveness, healing, growth and its relationship to the current political situation we see developing around us. HH: Is there anything you’d like to share with your readers? I believe that faith and love are seeds to be planted, not for our benefit, but for the generations that will follow. Which brings me to my favourite type of tree, the walnut tree, takes close to 30 years before it is mature enough to give produce a crop. What resonated with me so profoundly is that what we do today will serve a purpose for our future generations. I write and lecture today to safeguard those who follow me. This is a form of self-compassion and love: to share my experiences, to heal myself, to protect those who follow.
HH: What books have most influenced you as a writer? I read Little Black Fish, written by Samade Behrange, when I was thirteen years old. This book shaped my life to follow my path on the less Issue 1 | April/May 2016 |
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feature Sneak Peek
Unlocking Worlds by Sally Allen In Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers , Allen weaves personal stories with fifteen thematized, annotated, and illustrated reading lists for what to read next. Sharing some of the treasures in her library, she gives readers permission to embrace the shameless book lover inside each of us. Unlocking Worlds is a testament to how reading passionately—and compassionately—can unlock the world beyond our back yard. Celebrating books and those who read them, Allen shows how the solitary act of reading can be a powerful thread that creates community and connection. Thought-provoking and eloquent, Unlocking Worlds: A Reading Companion for Book Lovers is a must-have for anyone who can’t leave the house without a book in hand.
It was on a crisp, late winter morning that I found myself pausing in the driver’s seat, keys in hand. I was meeting a friend for coffee, and my current read, Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, was sitting on the passenger seat looking, with its worn and torn dust jacket, like a sad little puppy that doesn’t want to be left behind during a shopping excursion. To bring or not to bring? I’m not above reading at inappropriate moments, but really. Of course I brought it with me. When deep into a great book, a need possesses me to carry it with me wherever I go, never to let it stray too far from my thoughts or person. Also, I was at a particularly compelling point in the narrative. What if the line was long or my friend was late? What if an asteroid hit the parking lot just exactly where I had parked my car? It’s best not to take any chances. Later, with The Goldfinch tucked in my purse and parked on the seat next to me, I was explaining to my friend my strong conviction that books and reading can be galvanizing forces for community and connection. This point is beautifully illustrated on page four hundred sixty-three in The Goldfinch (hardcover edition): “[S]he had only to mention a recently read novel for me to grab it up hungrily, to be inside her thoughts, a sort of telepathy.” At this moment in the story, Theo, the narrator, is referring to the woman he is in love with, but his idea could apply more broadly, to family and lovers and friends and complete strangers, including those we’ll never
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meet. The shared experience of a book is the shared experience of a world. When we hold it in our hands, we hold at least one commonality, a magnetic pull that prevents us from floating out and away and alone into the ether, a gravitational force rooting us to solid ground. Not a minute later, a complete stranger who was approaching the café’s coffee line exclaimed with delight at The Goldfinch’s spine peeking out of my purse. Then she looked at me with a smile best described as radiant. A brief but enthusiastic exchange about the book’s merits ensued, with another person on line chiming in—How far along are you? It just gets better and better! I never wanted it to end! The Goldfinch! “See what I mean?” I said to my friend. Despite the illusion that reading is solitary, we readers are always in conversation—with books, of course, but also with other readers and critics, especially now.
Awardw i n n i n g writer and teacher Sally Allen holds a PhD from New York University in English Education, with an emphasis in writing and rhetoric, and a MA in English Literature. In addition to writing about books, she teaches writing, literature, and communications.
sallyallenbooks.com
feature interview
on the Shore. I could go on and on, and the list changes as I read more!
Sally Allen
HH: What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing? And the most rewarding? When I’m on to an idea, I want it to appear on the page the way I see it in my imagination, preferably Unlocking Worlds: Reading Companion immediately! My greatest challenge as a writer is having patience with myself, allowing myself to slow HH: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? down and let an idea come together. When I can do that, Professionally, I hold a PhD in English Education and a MA in English I can enjoy the process of exploring and rethinking, Literature, teach writing, communications, and literature, and write about crafting and shaping. Ultimately, that is what I would books and the reading life. I am also a mom, wife, daughter, sister, cousin, call the most rewarding part of writing. and friend – all roles I’m thankful for and that I treasure. Finally, I am a reader, a person who has spent many happy hours curled up in an armchair HH: What can we look forward to seeing from you with a thick hardcover book and a tall glass of iced coffee (yes, even when in the future? winter throws its worst at us). I’m in the early stages of what I hope will turn into a book about the enduring life lessons folded, very HH: How would you describe your book to readers? entertainingly, into the pages of Charles Dickens’s Unlocking Worlds is my love letter to the reading life: to books, David Copperfield. It’s a doorstopper of a novel that is authors, reading, and readers. I wrote it to share what I value about reading funny, tender, moving, and very wise! and books, how they relate to my life, and the ways they have influenced how I think about the world. With the 15 annotated reading lists I included, HH: Is there anything you’d like to share with I hope to inspire readers looking for their next great book and to connect your readers? with those who have read them. My passion for books and reading includes not only my private experiences with them but also the HH: What are you currently working on? opportunity to share, learn, and grow as a community Over the last year, I’ve been drawn back to the books I read and loved of readers, and as humans trying to do the best we can as a child and the classic books I first read in school. For a long time, I’ve in a difficult world. I write about the reading life on my been interested in how what we read shapes us and how literature teaches website’s blog and value hearing from and connecting us how to live. Currently, I’m exploring both in my reading and writing. with fellow book lovers there! HH: Of the books you’ve written, which one is your favorite and why? Ah, this is a difficult question, a bit like picking a favorite child! The first book I wrote was my doctoral dissertation, which studied how student writers quote source texts. Very esoteric, I know! I found – and still find – the topic fascinating for enabling me to hone in on one important way we process the books we read. Unlocking Worlds is my first nonacademic book. I loved writing from the point of view of a lay reader looking for adventures between the pages of books. I hope readers will find adventure there too! HH: What books have most influenced you as a writer? Writing for me is about connecting, so the books that most inspire me to write are those that open my heart and show me the good in people and the world. I also feel inspired by authors whose beautiful language reveals new possibilities for communicating an experience. Some of my favorite titles in these categories include Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, and Haruki Murakami’s Kafka Issue 1 | April/May 2016 |
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reviews non-fiction | memoir | biography
Shivers & Signposts: The Journey Continues Len Richman Memoir
Shivers & Signposts: The Journey Continues is Len Richman’s second exploration of a life measured out by a distinct rhythm of his own devising. Picking up where his first memoir, Raindrops Glimpses Moments: An Unconventional Memoir of an Unplanned Journey, left off, Richman shows in Shivers & Signposts that he still has much to do, and much to say. Richman attacks life with uncommon vigour. Never motionless, he moves forwards - and sometimes backwards - suffusing each manoeuvre with unique energy…vitality and constant evolution.
Review: Part memoir, part social commentary and part exploration of attitudes of healthy ageing, this book is a collection of Richman’s reflections on one’s man need to live a full and balanced life as he entered his 70th year. Well-written, filled with thought-provoking quotes from years of reading classical and respected writers, this book, like its predecessor, provided me with gems of wisdom, but this time on a healthy outlook on life as one grows older. Richman speaks openly and honestly about his feelings as he entered into retirement, about his preoccupation with time and its passage, about the difficulties in making decisions to slow down and not letting others dictate how he was to spend the rest of his life. Always having been boundless in his energy and his love for teaching and learning, the journey of his life now took an unexpected turn. And it is this phase in his life that Richman focuses on. He summarizes his theme when he states in the last pages of his book, “Shivers and signposts of discomfort encompassing loss, fear, endurance, seeking, and arrival at a tenuous level of flourishing have been logged in these pages.” I was touched by these author’s feelings and reflections, but far from feeling sad, I was uplifted as he “decided that retirement is a nasty, negative word that should be replaced with redirection, reinvention or renewal”. This prompted an inward thought of fifty shades of darn right! Of course, this also rang true with me as a kindred spirit and an entrepreneur at heart who started a global business in my midforties and redirected my life with work that pulls at my creativity and love for the written word. From a generation that labels forty as the new thirty, I could appreciate both Richman’s paradigm shifts and his acceptance of reality, but one that spurns a person to keep on the journey rather than to wait out one’s days, so to speak. Richman has penned the kind of memoir that I will benefit from re-reading at a later time in my life when his words will have an even greater impact on me. Reviewed by Laura
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Children | Middle School | Homeschool
New Readers Children
Children
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trends reading trends in children
Tales Kid’s Table from the
Jessie Clever
A Fresh Perspective: The Use of Books in Teaching Kids Empathy and Resilience
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| Tales from the Kid’s Table |
When I was ten or eleven, I read Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons (HarperCollins— available now). Over twenty years later, I’m still quoting it. Some books we read for adventure and escape. Some books we read to learn something while a chosen few teach us a different way to observe the everyday life around us. Walk Two Moons was like that for me as a kid. It gave me a new perspective when I didn’t know what perspective was. It taught me about patience and understanding when I really just wanted to think about myself. Teaching empathy and understanding is common in middle grade novels and children’s books as books are used as a tool for young people to learn and grapple with complex issues that may seem scary or foreign. Recently I sat down with middle grade author, Kathleen Cherry, whose latest release, Everyday Hero, takes a look at Asperger’s and the specific challenges that a person with this condition faces every day. Everyday Hero gives us that lens to look at the everyday life around us with greater clarity. Jessie: Hi, Kathleen, tell us a little bit about what you do when you’re not writing. Kathleen: I am a school counselor and have worked with children of all ages within the public school system. I am currently working on my qualifications to become certified as a school psychologist. Jessie: Your latest release is a middle grade novel focusing on Asperger’s, but all of the books you’ve written tackle a very important subject for children. Tells us about the books you write and what you hope to accomplish with them.
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Kathleen: I like using books in my work as a counselor. I believe they are a great way to introduce a subject, to develop empathy, and support children as they explore their own experiences. Jessie: Such as you did in your latest release, Everyday Hero. Kathleen: Everyday Hero describes a developing friendship between two girls, Alice and Megan. The narrator, Alice, is under the autism spectrum while Megan is an outsider, a vulnerable tough girl coping with a difficult home situation. The girls become friends, and through this and its incumbent challenges, Alice learns that she is a good friend and a hero. Jessie: What made you write Everyday Hero? Kathleen: I am drawn to stories about the courage of the everyday. For an individual under the autism spectrum, so much can be challenging, and the successful negotiation of mundane events is a personal triumph. I wanted to debunk the stereotype and show an individual under the autism spectrum as a true friend and hero. I wanted to demonstrate how those who struggle with the everyday have, by definition, tremendous strength. Jessie: Who do you see as the intended audience for this book? Kathleen: Kids—approximately ages 9–12. A children’s book must entertain kids—a child can sniff out a lecture wrapped up as a story within a nanosecond. Jessie: Books often help children cope with and learn about complex emotional issues. Why do you believe books are a good tool for this? Kathleen: Books can present a variety of ways in which an individual can cope with an issue or experience a situation. They help children develop empathy and, through the characters, gain understanding. They are also a wonderful and nonthreatening way to open discussion. Jessie: I’m sure some parents are uncomfortable teaching their children about such disorders as
| Jessie Clever | Asperger’s. How do you recommend parents should approach their children about the topics covered in this book? Are there any resources you can suggest? Kathleen: There are so many wonderful books and resources available that I don’t like to mention just a few. It also depends whether one is seeking a resource book meant for parents or teachers or a fictional representation to be shared with children. As well, some books may be a good fit for certain children and not for others. This largely depends on his or her age and developmental level. A few websites, which offer some great resources are: Autism Awareness Centre (https:// autismawarenesscentre.com), Canucks Autism Network (http://www.canucksautism.ca/), and Parentbooks (http://www.parentbooks.ca/). I would also suggest that anyone interested talk to either her school or community librarian. Schools and Child Development Centres often have great resources as do any local organizations aimed to support children with special needs. Jessie: What’s next for you? Do you plan to write more books to help children learn about and handle complex emotional issues? Kathleen: I have another manuscript close to completion although it is not yet under contract. It is also in first person, but the topic is lighter. However, it also discusses the empowerment of its central character and the development of resilience. To learn more about Cherry and her books, visit her at kathleencherry.ca.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Taking her history degree dangerously, Jessie tells the stories of courageous heroines, the men who dared to love them, and the world that tried to defeat them. Jessie makes her home in the great state of New Hampshire, where she lives with her husband and two very opinionated Basset Hounds. Find her at jessieclever.com.
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reviews children | middleschool | homeschool
I Love My Pet Elephant Lauren Micchelli Children’s Fiction
A colorful tale of friendship and fun between a little girl and her best friend - her pet elephant! I Love My Pet Elephant is a delightful medley of reality and fantasy, with shenanigans and adventures brought to life through vibrant illustration and simple rhyming text. Review: I Love My Pet Elephant is an adorable book that is fun and sweet. The text is in rhyme, easy to read and conveys so much in a few words. We are not given the name of the little girl but she speaks in the first person so that children will be able to relate. Her love for her pet elephant named Pete comes through in how they play with each other. They are a duo that do everything together, different activities during the different seasons, like sledding in the winter and swimming in the pool in the summer. The illustrations are colorful and joyous. My favorite is the one with the little girl flying on Pete as he flaps his giant ears. For my son, it’s the first illustration that shows the little girl sitting on Pete’s trunk as she hugs him and they look at each other with affection. So sweet! This is a simple story about friendship. The fact that Pete is big and not the usual kind of pet makes it interesting, since his size can be useful in some cases and cumbersome in others but this does not deter the little girl from loving him. She loves him just the way he is. A delightful tale suited for young children that makes good use of the imagination and rhyming text. Reviewed by Laura
The Travel Adventures of PJ Mouse Gwyneth Jane Page Children’s Fiction
PJ Mouse, an adorable little stuffed animal, was lost and alone until young Emily heard his cries for help. Now, along with his new family, PJ gets to travel the world - discovering exciting new places, people, and animals along the way! Come join PJ on this, his second adventure, along the coast of Queensland, as he snorkels at the Great Barrier Reef, chats with a Loggerhead turtle in the midst of a great undertaking, and explores the tropical rainforest- until he has to be rescued by one of the local friendly wildlife. Review: Who exactly is PJ Mouse? He’s the little stuffed mouse that a young girl named Emily finds one wet day under a bench. She takes him home, mom cleans him up and from then on he is a part of the family, joining them on their holiday adventures, this time across Australia.
My son and I enjoyed the story. We thought PJ was very funny. And his expressions of “Oh dear” and “fiddlesticks” were cute and endearing. He is a mouse that worries, gets lost and ends up in trouble without meaning to. Emily and her family are easygoing, but PJ is the one who internally wonders about things. Once again, in this second book of the series, PJ experiences new things on his travelling adventures with Emily and her family. The best part was the visit to the Great Barrier Reef where PJ snorkels and meets a Loggerhead turtle. We learn more about these turtles and observe with PJ how they lay their eggs at night on the protected beach. And of course, he is rescued once again by a lorikeet bird when he gets lost. Whereas the first book focused more on places, this book focuses more on animals. My son and I enjoyed this aspect immensely. The illustrations in this book are more colorful and detailed than in the first. This series not only has a classical look to them but they are reminiscent of books such as Winnie the Pooh. It’s refreshing to find writers who can write these types of books that seem to be dwindling. The next book in the series takes place in England. Another great adventure with PJ Mouse! Reviewed by Laura
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Legend of the Timekeepers Sharon Ledwith Children/Middle School
There is no moving forward without first going back. Lilith was a young girl with dreams and a family before the final destruction of Atlantis shattered those dreams and tore her family apart. Now refugees, Lilith and her father make their home in the Black Land. This strange, new country has no place in Lilith’s heart until a beloved high priestess introduces Lilith to her life purpose-to be a Timekeeper and keep time safe. Summoned through the seventh arch of Atlantis by the Children of the Law of One, Lilith and her newfound friends are sent into Atlantis’ past, and given a task that will ultimately test their courage and try their faith in each other. Can the Timekeepers stop the dark magus Belial before he changes the seers’ prophecy? If they fail, then their future and the earth’s fate will be altered forever. Review: This is the beginning/prequel of the middlegrade series The Last Timekeepers. It gives us the history of the arch, the Timekeepers, and the battle between good and evil. The story is realistic and enjoyable. You feel as though you are right there with Lilith and her friends. It is a true page-turner, with several nail-biting scenes. Lilith grows and matures throughout the story in a most appealing manner. This is a book which will definitely grip and hold the attention of young readers. It may even be enough to draw their attention away from social media and video games. This is a 150-page book, so it is a quick and easy read. If you enjoy time travel and/or sci-fi, this series is for you. Recommended for readers 10 and up. Reviewed by Teresa
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reviews children | middleschool | homeschool
The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis Sharon Ledwith Children/Middle School
When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they’re given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn’t a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis. Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers--legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial--Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don’t, history itself may be turned upside down. Review: While this book is marketed for a younger audience, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and don’t feel the writing or the content are too “childish” to appeal to an adult reader as well. The plot of this series gives the author the chance to not only give us her view of Atlantis, but to use time travel to introduce young readers to various historical/legendary events or people. In this introductory book, the teens get to meet Robin Hood and his friends. The “timekeepers” are a highly varied group, which added to my enjoyment. The five students are not friends as the book begins, and in fact can barely stand one another–I learned some new, creative insults from them! The two adults, a teacher and a the uncle of one of the students, are not exactly mainstream, either. But the seven of them begin to see each other in a new light as they display talents which, when combined, make them a strong team and help them reach their objectives. Looking forward to future installments in this series. Reviewed by Teresa
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The Descendants Jaclyn E. Brod Children/Middle School
It’s the year 2030 and the world has been waging a war thanks to Doctor Grant who experiment’s on human beings. But there’s only one experiment that can save mankind, but wills she be able to before she dies? Review: The world looks bleak in Jaclyn E. Brod’s futuristic world created in The Descendants. Employees within Dr. Grant’s lab are nothing more than slaves doing her bidding. The guards are protecting the Confinement – but from what or who? When head guard Theo is reassigned to guard duty in the lab, he comes to the realization that maybe the prisoners aka Experiments are not the evil creatures they all have been lead to believe. Joining forces with Jaxs, a female Experiment, Raven the Reaper, and a handful of his most trusted subordinates, Theo and his group devise a plan of escape. Will the plan work and will they live to see another day? The Descendants is a pretty good story about those who blindly follow finally realizing that their leader may be up to no good. The character development and world building is done slowly but nicely. There is definitely a shift in Theo’s character as the horrors of what transpires in the Lab breach his conscience. Unable to continue standing idly by, Theo begins to really look at things in the Lab; how things are run, who the other Experiments are, why there is a huge metal box… Some of the dialogue is choppy but the storyline and characters are interesting. The book is engaging and it’s hard to put the book down until you know how the book ends. There is a small amount of suspense built into the story and you wonder who is going to win – a classic pairing of good vs. evil. The book is suitable for teens +. Reviewed by Amber M
feature Sneak Peek
The Travel Adventures of PJ Mouse PJ Mouse, an adorable little stuffed animal, was lost and alone until Emily heard his cries for help. Now, along with his new family, PJ gets to travel the world - discovering exciting new places and people along the way. Come join PJ on his first adventure across Canada as he hikes on a glacier in the Rockies, finds a salt lake in the prairies, and walks on the ocean floor in Nova Scotia.
pair of feet. “No sweetheart, why?” replied the bigger pair of feet. “I thought I heard someone yell for help.” Then a face appeared just above the feet. “Oh, look Mommy! There is a little stuffed animal under this bench. He’s all wet and dirty, but can I keep him, please?”
Chapter One: In Which PJ Falls Out of a Bag and Into a Puddle THUMP. PJ fell from the bag, hit the ground with an “Ouch,” rolled for a bit, and ended up in a puddle with an “Oh dear me, what happened?” PJ looked around and sighed in despair. Nothing but puddles! Oh dear, oh my, I think I have been lost, thought PJ. And just when I was so happy to finally be going home from the store. It really was quite comfy riding in the little girl’s bag. It doesn’t look like she is coming back, PJ thought as he watched her feet disappear into the distance. Oh dear, dear me. Whatever am I to do? “Oh help, please help!” PJ cried, but no one seemed to hear. Oh fiddlesticks, I do believe it is going to rain some more. PJ lay dismally under the bench getting very, very wet. He watched all the feet rush home out of the storm, wishing that he was going home out of the storm too. He was truly getting quite saturated. “HELP, oh help! Please, can anyone hear me?” A couple pairs of feet came to a stop in front of the bench. “Did you hear a noise Mommy?” asked the smaller
Gwyneth Jane Page is a Canadian self-published author. Married with four children, her second oldest, Megan, is the illustrator of the PJ Mouse book series for children. Gwyneth is currently residing in Australia while working on her fourth book, set in New Zealand, and launching her books in the Land Downunder. Gwyneth enjoys running, hiking, travelling, reading and time with family and friends.
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feature interview
Gwyneth Jane Page
friends or family. How would you describe your books to readers? Charming. Funny. Adventurous. PJ is adorable; you can’t help but love him. At the same time the books are educational and I have tried to put the ‘feel’ of each place into the books. Parents have told me that once they get the books their kids can’t put them down and they read them more than just once. I wanted the stories to capture some of the simplicity and innocence of youth, the love kids have for their one special stuffed animal that they can’t be parted from and the wonder they feel in the discovery of new things. I wanted kids to feel that they know PJ Mouse and that they have explored parts of the world, at least in their imaginations.
I am married with 4 kids (ages 22, 21, 16 and 14). We have always travelled with our kids from the time they were tiny. I love the time together as a family, away from everyday demands and I also value the education that exploring the world gives to my kids. Having fun with my family and being the best mom I can be are my top priorities.
What are you currently working on? I am working on my fourth book, which is set in New Zealand. It is written, but I like to go back through and edit quite a few times before going to print. My daughter Megan is working on the artwork for it as well. I have also moved to Australia recently and will be here for at least a couple years, so I am working on launching my books here. Of the books you have written, which one is your favorite and why? It is a toss up between the one on Queensland and the one on England. I love the places visited and the animals that PJ encounters in the Queensland one. However, I loved developing PJ’s relationship with Star Bear and the cat in the England one, specially though him writing postcards home. I also had a great time writing the chapter where PJ chats with the very British hedgehog and learns some of the hilarious place names that England has.
We have lived in Victoria, BC and on the Gold Coast in Australia. We have good friends in both places but I prefer the climate and lifestyle of the Gold Coast. In the future I would really like to move to England to be closer to my extended family and to be able to travel to various parts of Europe easily. Exploring the world is my favorite passtime, but when I am not travelling, I also enjoy hiking, snorkelling (if I am in a place where it is available), running, reading, dancing, and dinners out with
What books have most influenced you as a writer? I would have to say Winnie the Pooh and Anne of Green Gables. I appreciate the character development in these books. - you really get to feel that you actually know these characters and that they are real. I also like the imaginitiveness, not just that the author puts into the creation of the
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? I grew up as an only child and lived all over the world. I loved going to all the different countries. It made my childhood very memorable with so many distinctive scenes that stand out in each place. The down side to living in so many countries (USA, England, Canada, St. Lucia, Peru) without siblings, and having to make new friends all the time, is that it was a bit lonely. I now greatly value having a larger family and being very close.
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books, but also of the characters themselves. And I find these books charming. They are simply ‘nice’ books. So much now seems to have an edge to it and we have lost something in the process. I wanted to get back to books for kids that were just nice and charming. What do you find to be the most challenging part of writing? And the most rewarding? I find the most challenging part of writing is developing different characters just through the written word. These are people (or animals) that are not real, and that you will never get to meet or interact with to figure out their personality, yet they all need to have their own personality traits and be different from eachother, and this has to be portrayed just through words on the page. In addition, for children, you cannot over describe things or they will tune out and get bored. So you have to develop the characters just through what they say or do. The most rewarding part of writing is getting feedback from my readers. I have had parents tell me about reading the books to their kids and how they were all belly laughing so hard they just couldn’t stop. Or people have sent me pictures of their kid’s faces when they get their own PJ Mouse, or told me how their kids just couldn’t put the book down. I have had people ask me to ‘please, don’t stop writing’. Since this is still all quite new to me, you can’t imagine how wonderful this kind of feedback is...it still takes me by surprise. What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future? I plan on carrying on with the PJ Mouse series. There are so many wonderful places in the world, and I want to share these places with kids to help them appreciate how amazing our planet is. I also feel I am just starting to develop PJ’s character and his interactions with Emily, Star Bear and Fuzzy Beast. I look forward to finding out what else PJ gets up to. I have toyed with the idea of writing a book on parenting. Becoming a parent is a lifetime commitment for which we get no real training but it is so important. I think it is something that can be quite overwhelming at times and you only have on the job training for....figuring it out as you go. I often want to help young parents, but I am still in the process of learning to be a parent myself, so not sure I have the ‘expert’ advice that people really want or need. Is there anything you would like to share with your readers? I guess I would just like to express my gratitude to
my readers for all their positive feedback and support. Launching books into a very competitive market place is no easy task, specially as a self published author, so the response from my readers really kept me going.
Join PJ Mouse, Emily’s adorable, slightly featherbrained stuffed animal, on this, his second adventure, along the coast of Queensland, as he snorkels at the Great Barrier Reef, chats with a Loggerhead turtle in the midst of a great undertaking, and explores the tropical rainforest - until he has to be rescued by one of the local friendly wildlife. Educational and fun for the young reader, the PJ Mouse books encourage kids to overcome their fears of the unknown and appreciate, and care for, the world around us.
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Cooking | Recipes | Food Prep | Healthy Eating
in the kitchen
COOKING & RECIPES
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more beyond the books
Notes from the
KITCHEN Ute Carbone
Misadventures in Cooking
Good things happen in kitchens—recipes are shared and great food is sampled along with good conversation. I hope you’ll find these Notes from the Kitchen filled with warmth and good sprit, a place where you can find a few good recipes, some interesting cookbooks, and maybe a story or two. Since this is my very first column, I thought a story would be a good place to start. Here’s one told to me by some friends that still makes me laugh. I’ve changed the names to protect the innocent from embarrassment.
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| Notes from the Kitchen | When my friend, Jon, was first married to his lovely wife, Maria, he decided to surprise his bride by cooking dinner for her. This was some time ago, in the days when we all still had newspapers delivered to our doorsteps. The Thursday paper in our city had a food section, filled with good (and not so good) recipes. Maria clipped the recipes she liked and kept them in a file. On the morning of his romantic surprise dinner, Jon hunted through the file looking for something a guy whose cooking experience was limited to toasting bread could make. He found a recipe for Easy Lemon Chicken. Since the word easy was right in the title, he figured it would be one even he could handle.
Jon followed the recipe with surgical precision. The sautéing chicken turned a glorious brown. It looked delicious, and the smell...well, truth be told, it smelled kind of like someone had sprayed vampire repellant around the room. Jon figured maybe this was what Easy Lemon Chicken was supposed to smell like. It wasn’t bad, exactly. Just overpowering. He set the table with the wedding china, opened a bottle of wine, and lit a single candle while he waited for Maria. She came home a few minutes later, and there stood her husband, eyes full of love, spatula in hand. Beyond him was the table set with fine china, wine sparkling in the glow of a single candle burning.
Easy Lemon Chicken: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts ½ cup chicken broth 2 tablespoons lemon juice Lemon slices (for garnish) 1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add chicken breasts and cook until browned, about 4 minutes a side. 2. Pour broth over chicken. Cover and turn down to simmer. Cook until chicken is no longer pink in the middle, about 30 minutes. 3. Remove chicken to plate, leaving broth. Add lemon juice to skillet and cook until mixture is reduced, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chicken and cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. 4. Garnish with lemon slices and serve.
“Surprise!” Jon kissed his wife and pulled out her chair. “I made lemon chicken.” Jon went to the kitchen and retrieved the serving dish— the chicken golden in a steamy broth, lemon slices arranged artfully around the plate. “It looks wonderful.” Maria cut into the meat, tender and juicy. She took a bite and promptly swallowed a gulp of wine to keep from gagging. “What’s wrong? “ Jon asked before taking his own bite, running to the kitchen, and spitting it out in the sink. “It’s a little...off,” Maria said, trying to be kind. “I don’t understand. I followed the recipe exactly.” Jon retrieved the newspaper clipping and smoothed it out
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| Ute Carbone | next to Maria’s place setting. She studied the recipe and then nodded. “How much garlic did you put in?” “One clove, just like it says” Dinner ruined, Jon figured he might as well try for sympathy, so he added. “I’ve got to tell you, mincing up the whole clove took some doing. All those little bits.” “Honey,” Maria said gently as she could. “One of those little bits, that’s a clove. What you put in was an entire bulb—I’m guessing somewhere around thirty cloves.” They threw out the chicken and ordered up a pizza. All in all, it was still a romantic dinner, being as the thought counted for a lot. Since then, Jon has cooked quite a few dinners. After he learned the difference between a clove of garlic and a bulb, they’ve all been pretty tasty, too. May all your cooking adventures be good ones!
ABOUT THE COLUMNIST Ute (who pronounces her name Oo-tah) Carbone is an awardwinning author of women’s fiction, comedy, and romance. When she’s not wandering the woods near her New Hampshire home or dreaming up a new story, you might find her in the kitchen combining ingredients to create new, and sometimes even delicious, concoctions. For more about Ute and her books, please visit: http://www. utecarbone.com/ or sign up for her newsletter, Letters from the Garret: http://eepurl.com/YCbMz
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reviews
cooking | recipes | food prep | healthy eating
Ditching the Drive-Thru J. Natalie Winch
Healthy Living/Food
After an exhausting day at work, hitting the drivethru or nuking a pre-fab meal is all too often the go-to decision for feeding a family. Cooking a meal from scratch using fresh ingredients can seem beyond the average person’s time, energy, or financial means. But with mounting evidence pointing to processed food and our industrial food system as the culprits behind many of our nation’s health problems—including obesity, diabetes, and cancer—it’s now more important than ever to be fully informed about what goes on your family’s dinner plates. Review: After I read the last page of Ditching the DriveThru by J Natalie Winch, I got up off my couch, walked over to my kitchen whiteboard and wrote,” Have you eaten your daily vegetables and fruit?” . (This is an ongoing battle with my kids!) Winch’s simple and logical approach is exactly what most of us need. “When we commit things to writing, we make the ideas part of our concrete world because we can see them. Even if your goal is something as simple and succinct as.... You need to write it down so you are forced to keep looking at it.” Small and manageable steps is the theme throughout this book. The author does a great job of educating the reader about diet myths, produce and pesticides, the rearing of livestock in “factories”, processed foods and the food industry’s bottom line. The fact that the author is not a doctor or a biochemist is not a disadvantage. She is a mother who cares about the health of her family and did some digging to understand how to accomplish that. It’s not rocket science, but unfortunately the food industry has made it so confusing for the public at large that most people believe that as long as it goes into your mouth and down into your intestinal tract, it’s food. Winch shows that this is simply not the case. She advocates buying from farmers, cooking your own meals with real ingredients and even provides a step by step food plan for an easy, seamless transition towards health. Her use of humour and literary characters to drive home the point (she’s an English teacher) make this book an easy, worthy read. Reviewed by Mary F.
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feature recipes
Simple Shepard’s Pie
Bread ‘N Eggs
My dad’s recipe. It is easy but good. I use Bob Evans Original Mashed Potatoes (24 ounces) for the convenience and the homemade taste. Serves 4 to 6
This is an old recipe handed down from my great grandma. You can add optional ingredients such as bacon and cheese to give it even more flair. I’ve never seen this recipe anywhere before, I tend to believe my grandma made it up. :) Serves 2
by Myra Nour
½ onion, chopped 1 pound hamburger 1 (24-ounce) container of mashed potatoes, instant potatoes or homemade 1 (15-ounce) can of sweet peas Grated cheese Preheat oven to at 350° F. Sauté the onions, brown the hamburger, and then mix together. Using half the container of potatoes, put a layer of potatoes on the bottom of an 8 by 8-inch casserole dish. Then add a layer of half the hamburger-and-onions mixture, a layer of half the can of peas, a layer of the rest of the hamburger and onions, and a layer with the rest of the peas. Top with the last of the potatoes.
by Cyrene Olson
4-5 slices of bread, cubed (can be any type) 1 tablespoon onion, chopped 2 tablespoons butter 3 eggs Salt and pepper to taste Pinch of Italian Seasoning (optional) Melt the butter in a fry pan, and toss in the onions. Cook until transparent and tender. Throw in the bread cubes and keep flipping until the bread is lightly browned and toasted. Add the eggs and keep stirring until eggs are cooked through and coated on the bread cubes. If you want to add other ingredients, this is the time to add. Add seasonings to taste.
Bake for 45 minutes. Take out and top with grated cheese. When the cheese is melted, about 5 This is done as soon as the eggs are cooked to 10 minutes, it is ready to eat. and formed around the bread. Enjoy!
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Amish Lifestyle | Amish Romance
AMISH Romance
Amish Life
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trends reading trends in amish
Amish TIDBITS Molly Jebber
A Visit to Shipshewana, Indiana Need a getaway? I’ve got the place! Let me share with you my trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. I loved it, and maybe after reading this article, you’ll want to visit this great Amish/Mennonite community. Go online to the Shipshewana website, http://www. shipshewana.com/ to plan your trip.
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| Amish Tidbits |
In the summer, this town is full of pink, yellow, red, blue, and orange colors, and more with their beautiful and vibrant flowers. The variety of flowers decorate and scent the grounds outside stores and restaurants, along the medians, and in the yards. Butterfly gardens were plentiful. I’ve walked through many flower gardens but none this beautiful.
My husband, Ed, and I took a relaxing and comfortable buggy ride. The Amish driver told us the town works hard to create this colorful display all season. He drove us by the restaurants, stores, and the Menno-Hof.
The MennoHof is an informative and interesting place. This was my favorite stop. They sell books from
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Amish authors writing about their way of life. The Amish and Mennonite beliefs and lifestyle are depicted through talks and displays in several different rooms. A lot of Anabaptists (name of Amish and Mennonites before they split) suffered persecution for believing in Jesus Christ. They were kept in dungeons, burned at the stake, beheaded, and tortured in the 1500s in Rome and Zurich as an example. Find out why the Mennonites split from the Amish. You won’t be bored! Next we shopped at the Shipshewana Flea Market. I found wonderful handmade Amish dolls and enjoyed talking with a beautiful elderly woman. She was a delight, and her stitches on the doll are perfect. She attended the flea market with a friend, and she said she wouldn’t return. She doesn’t usually sell her dolls. I felt quite blessed to have met her because the flea market is very commercial, and this was one of the few Amish offerings. I would recommend it if you like flea markets, but wear your comfortable shoes! It has about nine hundred vendors! It was clean, and it had great finds for your kitchen and home. It is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tressie, a local Amish woman, has made the majority of pies for the nearby Shipshewana Auction Restaurant for over twenty-eight years! Delicious! We bought tickets for the Amish play in town, Josiah for President. The actors are not Amish, but the play is based on Amish principles. The play was in the Blue Gate Theater and very entertaining. The food at Mrs. Yoder’s Restaurant was wonderful. Homemade corn pudding, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh vegetables, and butterscotch pie dessert!
| Molly Jebber | Touring an Amish farm is always on my list, no matter how many times I’ve visited them. I enjoy the lush pastures, handmade furniture, and Amish history, but our trip was cancelled due preparations for an Amish wedding. The Amish man apologized but beamed, telling us his daughter was getting married. He said the women were busy making food and arranging the barn to make room for the hundreds of people that would attend. I walked away more excited for his family and less disappointed I didn’t get to tour the farm. His enthusiasm was infectious! The Blue Gate Garden Inn staff couldn’t be friendlier. The ice cream shop inside was an added bonus. The variety of flavors was endless! The rooms were spacious and clean, and I can’t wait to stay there again. I swam in the much larger-than-normal hotel pool, and it felt so relaxing after walking all day! I hope you’ve enjoyed your trip to Shipshewana, Indiana, today!
ABOUT THE COLUMNIST Molly Jebber is a New York– published author, writing Amish Historical Romances. Her Keepsake Pocket Quilt series, Change of Heart and Grace’s Forgiveness, as well as The Amish Christmas Sleigh are available in stores and in ebook formats. The third book in her series and a new series are coming out soon. Romantic Times rated her books 4.5 stars. She’s been featured in USA Today’s “HEA” column and received rave reviews in numerous magazines and media across the country. She’s a touring speaker for Stonecroft Women’s Christian Connection, and she speaks to many other groups about her writing journey, about her books, and the Amish. She offers classes for beginning writing on a variety of topics. Visit http://www.mollyjebber.com for her speaking events and writing classes across the United States.
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reviews amish lifestyle | amish romance
The Alliance
Jolina Petersheim Amish
When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it’s a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won’t start. Review: I have read two other Mennonite fiction books by this author, but this one is incredibly different. This is an apocalyptic tale, where a cataclysmic event changes life as the characters had known it. The Mennonite community, and the Englischers who are stuck there when the incident occurs, have differing ideas about how to protect their supplies and their lives but are forced to form an uneasy alliance. This story is captivating and emotionally charged. It leads the reader to wonder what you would do in a situation like this one. Would you stick to your faith and put your trust in God to get you through the disaster, or would you put your trust in other humans to keep you safe? The main characters are Moses Hughes, an Englischer, and Leora Ebersole, a Mennonite. Their views clash on more than one occasion, even as they begin to have feelings for one another. There is also a love triangle which includes another Mennonite young man who has strong feelings for Leora. The story ends with a cliffhanger, and I can hardly wait to find out what will happen in the next part of this adventure. Reviewed by Teresa
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DIY | Crafts | Hobbies
Do-it-Yourself & Crafts
Tips You Can Use Today
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trends trends in Do-It-Yourself
DIY
for
REAL LIFE Elizabeth Seckman
It’s Raining. It’s Pouring. Time to Play! One of the things I miss most about my boys being little is how cheap and easy it was to entertain them. Back in the day, catching bugs in a jar was a big deal..
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| DIY for Real Life |
But now that all my boys are in double digits—my baby will be sixteen at the end of April—bugs are nothing. Now, entertainment comes at the high costs of things like sporting events and video games. The older they get, the more complicated and more expensive the toys. Sigh.
Let’s face it. A rainy day (sans thunder and lightning) is nothing but pleasure. Another way to enjoy some time in the rain and
If you are not at that point yet or are lucky enough to have grandkids or nieces and nephews, remember to take time to enjoy the simplicity. One of my boys’ absolute favorite things when they were little fellas? Rain. Yeah, I’m talking about the drops of water that fall from clouds. It’s totally free fun from Heaven! With spring coming, so are warm-weather showers. Be ready to take advantage of them! Invest in some small plastic boats from a dollar store to float in puddles and gum boots to tromp through the wet and the mud. An umbrella is fun, though my kids preferred to flip it upside down and use it to catch the rain rather than block it. A raincoat couldn’t hurt, but it’s hardly essential gear. It doesn’t take much to be ready for a downpour!
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create a keepsake? Watercolor splatter art. On a plain piece of paper (computer paper, construction paper, cut-up brown paper bag— shoot, if it was once a tree, it’s usable!), let your little Claude Monets do their best work. Once the picture is painted, gear up and head on outside and allow nature to put the final polish on their works of art.
How about a few practical tips for the adults? 1. Save your empty plastic peanut butter jars. Cleaned out, they are perfect for storing small items. You can even screw the lid into the bottom of
| Elizabeth Seckman | a shelf and create hanging storage. They’re easy to label, and they’re clear, so you can see what’s in the jar. 2. Don’t toss those old shirts that aren’t fit for a Goodwill donation. Cut them into squares and make yourself a supply of reusable dust rags. 3. Use your kitchen scrub (you know, the kind with the hollow handle and scrubby sponge on the front) brush in the bathroom. Dish soap is tough on soap scum, so fill the wand handle with dish detergent and use one to scrub the tub. Add a little vinegar to the wand, and you doubled your cleaning power. 4. If you have a removable showerhead in the bath, you have a great place to wash large, awkward items, such as coolers and mini blinds. Soak those mini blinds in a tub filled with vinegar and dish soap, spray them off, and they’ll sparkle. No tedious slatby-slat cleaning ever again. 5. A better, and cheaper, way to freshen your car? Grab a box of dryer sheets at a dollar store, open, and shove under the passenger seat. Now your car smells like fresh laundry instead of feet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elizabeth Seckman is the mother of four boys, five if you count their father. She’s the master of finding the easy way out of work, so she has more time to daydream and hang out with imaginary people (she calls this writing). She’s a multi-published author of women’s fiction. Find out more about Elizabeth at www.elizabethseckman. com.
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trends trends in crafts/hobbies
Amber’s CREATIONS Amber Marr
Spring into Jewelry Making Many of my favorite childhood memories involve making things with my mom and sister.
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| Amber’s Creations | My mom always encouraged our creativity, so instead of watching television or playing video games, we did crafty things. Even as an adult, I still have some of those creations safely packed away. Some of the things we made were simple—like mixing plain applesauce and ground cinnamon to make ornaments or making ornaments out of unflavored dough. Other things were more complex and required paint, glue guns, or yarn. Regardless of the ability level, spending time being creative was always fun. My mother taught me how to do needlepoint, like candlewicking and cross-stitch. When I was younger, I made a pillow and did a candlewick pattern
ject with her to work on during down times between scenes and performances. One of my favorite pastimes is making jewelry. This was not something that I did growing up. It was not until 2004, after working through a hard time in my life, that I began making my earrings, bracelets, zipper pulls, and other jewelry items. My sister was my teacher in all things beads and jewelry. She taught me how to create patterns with different shapes, colors, and styles of beads. After I picked a pattern, she then went on and showed me how to turn my design into a pair of fashion earrings, a bracelet, or even a necklace. I was hooked from then on and still create jewelry pieces today. Spring is right around the corner for us and with that comes sunshine, flowers, and the reemerging of butterflies, dragonflies, ladybugs, and animals of all shapes and sizes. A really easy, fun, and cute activity to do with your children, other children, or even by yourself, is to make a simple pair of earrings featuring a metal charm of your favorite bug, animal, or other design. You’ll need to pur-
on the top and entered it into a county fair. I still have the pillow packed away...somewhere. Each cross-stitch pattern I completed would be framed for hanging. I even made cute cross-stitch designs for the tops of old-fashioned spice jars. I recently was able to locate my bag of cross-stitching supplies and hope to get back into my needlepoint this summer. Learning how to make various craft items runs in my family. My paternal grandmother inspired me to learn how to be creative using plastic canvas and yarn. I would make coasters, tissue boxes, items for a baby’s room, or cute butterflies and ladybugs that I would attach magnets to for the refrigerator. I also passed that craft to my stepdaughter who loves making plastic canvas items. She was in a play at Christmastime, and she took a plastic canvas pro-
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chase earring findings, the charms you want to use, and tools: needle-nose pliers or flat pliers. I’m fortunate to have a couple different craft stores close by, so whenever I need anything, it is just a short drive to gather what I need for a project. Earring findings are the type of posts that goes through the ear that you want to use. There are earstuds, hoops, earwires, or leverbacks. Make sure to get ones with loops that open on the bottom of them, so you are able to add your desired charm. Charms are the next items you will need. Pick the type you would like for each earring. The charms can match or mismatch and be symmetrical or asymmetrical—whatever style you are going for works for this project. Check the weight of what you choose;
| Amber Marr | some charms are heavier than others. My earlobes are slightly torn, so I have to stay away from heavy earrings. The earrings are easy to make with the components indicated above. You simply take the pair of pliers and open the loop at the bottom of the earring. You can open the loop by pulling straight out a little bit (not too far) or opening it to the side. Then, slide your charm on (facing the correct way), and close the loop. If the charm falls off when you pick the earring up, the loop probably needs to be closed just a little bit more. The earrings are perfect for you to wear or to give as a gift.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Amber is a reader, reviewer, and blogger at Sapphyria’s Book Reviews. She manages Sapphyria’s Book Promotions and is employed as the review assistant for BTS Book Reviews. Currently in her final semester at a major university in Michigan, Amber will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in May 2016. Her dual major includes Organizational Administration and Psychology. She is also employed full time at the same university from which she is earning her degree. She is married and has one stepchild, one dog, and two cats. In her spare time, Amber creates unique pieces of jewelry and uses eBay and Etsy to display her wares. Visit her at http:// saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/.
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