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If you follow my blog you might know I collect stuff...most of it junk...sometimes I even put it to use.  I always have big plans and sometimes I follow through( kind of like my writing). When I first moved here to the high desert the landscape took some getting used to.  When I walked in the early evening, if the sun was just right, I noticed the entire side of the mesa sparkled.  What was this mystical phenomenon of the desert?  Maybe there was a poem there or a whole book? Silly me. [...]

Last week I visited Fox Chapel Country Day School in Pennsylvania.  Kind of humbling.... I didn't get top billing but birthdays are important.And check out the Tap-Taps kids had made. And Painted Dreams.These kids were well prepared even though it was first day back to school after Thanksgiving break.Me: KrickStudents: KrackThis is how story telling begins in Haiti.  A promise between storyteller and audience.  And stories I told.  From my life growing up, life as a writer to Haiti, Malawi, Kenya, and the Navajo Nation...As I have said these kids were well prepared [...]

It is Thanksgiving at the Williams home.   My youngest son knows to come home from college with his own favorite blanket, quilt and pillow.  He knows that there might not be a bed for him at the inn.  And he knows if there is a bed it probably won't be his.  In fact he doesn't know who might be in his bed or ....to put it another way he does not have a bed in our house that is his own.  Some things never change.A week or two before the holiday I [...]

It may have been Vegas with the lights and bling but at the booths and at the workshops it was all inspiring, energy and passionate dedicated teachers, librarians, parents, writers, publishers and editors.   All offering great hope for education of future generations.Many thanks to Eerdmans Books for Children for making it possible for me to be a part of this conference.The bling was pretty much all outside.Except for the inside where there was more sensory overload with music and lots of smoke.Flashing lights a must. New York was there too!This is where we [...]

In the Navajo tradition when snow falls on the mountains, it is time to tell stories.  One of my Navajo friends remembers life in the hogan in winter.  "The fire was warm and my grandfather would lay back on his blanket, his arms behind his head and gaze up at the ceiling.  I would wait for the stories to begin...stories of the creation, stories of his youth.I too remember my grandparents telling stories.  After a Sunday dinner, the adults sat around the linen covered table.  We children crawled under the table thinking the [...]

What do Navajo Fry Bread and Writing Have in Common?Navajo Fry Bread.  A simple staple on the rez.  Looks so easy.... There is a real knack to this:  round it over your fist, stretch it, knead it, flatten it, make it round.  Apparently I have not mastered the technique.   This one ended up on the ground.I didn't  have a grandma to teach me the tricks...there are always tricks of the trade. There are always tricks of the craft or skill...think Navajo weaving(see previous blog).      I don't think she is amused....This one is [...]