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I’ve seen quite a few posts lately about the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Here’s something to remember about it. Part of the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and the East Bay and part of the freeway in the collapsed due to the earthquake. It happened during commuting time and, normally, more than 200 cars would have been driving on that par of the freeway and more on the bridge. I knew several people who ‘should’ have been in one of those places but, due to various unpleasant events, weren’t able to be driving there at the usual time. Two local teams had made it to the World Series that year, and were playing in San Francisco so hundreds of people who would normally have been commuting had gone to the game instead. I think of the players in other teams who messed up so their teams lost games and didn’t make it to the World Series that year. So when bad things happen, we never know if they might be preventing something worse.

Once upon a time there was a handsome man with a good job. He married a beautiful wife, they had two wonderful children, and lived happily ever after. The End.Boring!As an author I know if there’s no conflict, there’s no plot. This year, 2020, has one of the most exciting plots in the history of the world.Since we now know what’s going on all over the planet, we’re aware of things happening in distant places as people weren’t in the past. But, even just in the USA, there has never been so many major problems in the same year.We’re enduring a major epidemic, racial riots, nasty politics, economic problems, fires, and hurricanes.At least we haven’t had any major earthquakes, an atomic war, or an invasion by creatures from outer space.I hope the drama we’re experiencing has a happy ending and next year we can get our excitement from reading books.

Lots of babies were born about nine months after the start of World War II. They called them “war babies” and a rumor said men got their wives pregnant because they thought that would keep them from getting drafted, so they were unpatriotic.The real reason was that people got so emotional because of what was happening.That makes me wonder if we can expect a lot of babies to be born toward the end of this year – or even sooner – because of all the stress people are dealing with due to the Covid-19 virus, racial riots, nasty politics, economic problems, fires, and hurricanes.On the other hand, maybe people are reluctant to bring babies into this sorry world.It will be interesting to see what happens..

I’ve been having some computer problems and discovered they were because my computer’s memory is full. Tomorrow I’ll be getting a new one with a much bigger memory and will have everything transferred from this computer to the new one. I don’t know how long that will take, so if I’m offline for a few days, that will be the reason.

For some reason I’ve been thinking about a stick horse I had as a kid. I made it from a broomstick with an old sock stuck on one end. The sock was stuffed and eyes, ears, etc. were partly drawn on and partly made of pieces of fabric glued on. I named the horse Melodiette Pepperminta Blue Harebella Horse and pretended to ride it around outside with my friends, who had their own stick horses. I also made some dolls by sewing them from fabric, and made doll houses out of boxes for the small furniture and plastic people. And, of course, I drew and cut out lots of paper dolls and their wardrobes. The kids in my neighborhood could go out to play without any grown-ups around and we all used sticks as swords or guns, and used our imaginations all the time. In some ways the world is much better and safer (?) for children today, but it’s a shame kids don’t have the freedom we did. I hope they still make things and use their imaginations.

Guardian Angel Publishing, the house that published my books, is definitely going out of business.I’m sad, but understand that it’s necessary.I still have a few copies that I might be able to sell at conferences and school visits in the future, but those things won’t happen again for a long time.This is just one more of the unpleasant things we must all deal with in these troubled times.

It may seem strange, but I think these times of racial unrest are a good opportunity for kids to read my book, Slime & All. The book is about a giant, talking worm who needs a friend and a boy who helps him and makes more friends himself as a result. Although the book doesn’t mention race at all, it’s about accepting others who are different. And the main human character in the book is African American like the illustrator, Alexander Morris, himself. The book is suggested for kids from four to eight years old and would be useful for kids who are being home schooled. It’s available on Amazon, through the publisher, Guardian Angel Publishing, and bookstores can order it through the distributor.

In this time of racial unrest it might be a good idea for kids to read my book, Slime & All. The book is about a giant, talking worm who wants a friend and the boy who helps him and makes more friends himself as a result. This book will help kids learn to accept others who are different from themselves. It’s for young readers who will probably enjoy the illustrations by Alexander Morris. It’s available on Amazon, local bookstores can get it through their distributor, or it can be ordered directly from Guardian Angel Publishing.

There are a LOT more good people than bad ones in the world. The bad ones get the publicity because they’re unusual. Think how boring the news would be if it only told us about people going about their everyday lives and being pleasant to everyone. Back before Covid-19 it was the bad guys who wore masks. Now all the law-abiding citizens wear them and it’s the ones who refuse to follow the rules who refuse to wear them. And, strangely, unless they’re also wearing a hat and dark glasses, I can easily recognize anyone I know who is wearing a mask. I wonder how the bandits in the wild west kept from being recognized when they robbed people. Dark glasses hadn’t been invented back then.

Since kids are starting school, mostly in unusual ways, this seems like a good time to let people know about my book, Signs of Trouble. It’s about kids who get separated from their Special Ed class on a field trip and use what they’ve learned about safety rules and recognizing signs to get reunited.All young kids, not only those with Special Needs, need to know those things.At the end of the book are activities and discussion questions to help kids learn them.The book is available on Amazon and local bookstores can order it.