I'm Back

I'm back from a fun-filled family vacation. We went to LA -- Disney, Universal Studios and every museum we could possibly squeeze in -- the Getty, LA Art Museum, the La Brea Tar Pits. I will post marvelous artwork if I can find the USB cable.

I'm back to writing passages. Today's topic? Camels. I'm excited about that. Who knows what will be next!

I read books during my vacation. I finally finished Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey. This book made me squirm, shiver and shake. A girl who is part dragon. A poppy-addicted Mom. Did I mention a whole clutch of Dragons? Yes, go read it now. The first Newbery contender I've read this year.

Next up is Judy Gregerson's book, Bad Girls Club. This one uses POV to chilling effect. It's one of those uncomfortable, makes you think, shift in your seat, reevaluate the way you respond to the world books. Kudos.

I've been thinking about what comforts us. My list is short: my kids, mashed potatoes, books, and letters.

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. C. S. Lewis

I have a shelf of comfort books, which I read when the world closes in on me or something untoward happens. Anne McCaffrey

Like Anne, I keep a box of comfort books under my bed. What's in the box? The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander, Collected Poems by Emily Dickinson, The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Three Against the Witch World by Andre Norton, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, The River by Gary Paulsen, Miracles on Maple Hill by Virgina Sorensen, Among the Impostors by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Chaos by James Gleick, Moon Have You Met My Mother by Karla Kuskin, How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card, Austenland by Shannon Hale, The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg, The Amplified Bible.

What are your comfort books?

We are at our very best, and we are happiest, when we are fully engaged in work we enjoy on the journey toward the goal we've established for ourselves. It gives meaning to our time off and comfort to our sleep. It makes everything else in life so wonderful, so worthwhile. Earl Nightingale