My critiquing friends and I meet once a year for a weekend of writing. This year we met at my house. It’s great fun to be away from usual distractions and work on our writing.
Annual Writing Retreat
Book Trailer for “The Way We Do It In Japan”
Neighborhood Library
On a recent walk, I discovered this adorable library and decided to contribute one of my books.
A New Venue
I discovered a new venue for book signings and sharing about my writing journey this Christmas season. Senior living communities provide a very receptive audience
Here the photographer at Rose Villa in Milwaukie asked me to sit for a photo before the signing began.
Meeting Up With Old Friends
The Oregon Christian Writers Conference is always a highlight for me. This year among others, I visited with Sam Hall, who took the photos for my book, Jesus Loves Us All and Laura Bradford a friend I met last year.
The Power of Yes
I’m excited to have a story, “But I Can’t Touch Bottom,” in Chicken Soup for the Soul’s book, The Power of Yes! which just released this month 
OCW Conference
The Oregon Christian Writers Conference is always a highlight of August for me.
This year I shared about my new book, Amazing Youth of WWII. It’s half finished now, and editors and agents begin to get interested at that point.
Some have asked to see the full proposal. Some want to wait until it’s complete. That will be another year. The research is very consuming. Here are some photos of my time there at the conference.
Amazing Youth of WWII 50% Complete
As I celebrate the fact that my book, Amazing Youth of WWII is about 50% complete, I want to tell you the story of one of the people who is featured. Chiune Sugihara is unique in that he was the Japanese consul in Kovno, Lithuania, and Japan sided with Germany in the war.
Sugihara struggled all night. Outside his window stood thousands of Jews who would be deported to concentration camps if forced to stay in Europe. Should he disobey orders from Tokyo and hand out transit visas to them. Sacrifice his career or his conscience? Which?
Researching New Book in Jerusalem
I’m excited to be in Jerusalem researching my upcoming book, Amazing Youth of WWII. I believe that today’s young people will be inspired as they read the stories of these youthful heroes in the past who did right regardless of the consequences to themselves.
School Visits In Japan
While visiting my son an d his family in Japan, I was invited to Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ) to read and share from my books. For two whole days, I visited classes from kindergarten to fifth grade. What fun we had! I read The Way We Do It In Japan to the younger children and read from The First Christmas In Origami to the older ones, answered their questions about writing and did some origami with them.
The parents of one little girl, pictured below, whose name was Geneva, rearranged their schedules to bring her to see me, though she didn’t attend CAJ. They had read and enjoyed The Way We Do It In Japan all of her short life. She was so very excited to get my other books, as well.
