A Guest Post and a Bunch of Thanks

          Pat Hensley asked me--months ago--to write a guest post about what the National Writing Project is like. Thankfully, she was patient, because I finally got around to it a week or so ago.

         If you are a teacher and need to get re-energized, check out my post at http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/   If you are a teacher and want to get some regular new ideas to utilize technology in unique ways, check out Pat's blog. (And thanks, Pat, for asking me to write about something I love. It's a pleasure to write about things we're passionate about.)

       And now, my chance to thank some of my followers.  From this point on, I'll welcome/thank them when they join up as a follower...

photo by evphotogirl

Dianna and her blog...If you haven't ever read Dianna's writing, you should. She's a freelance journalist and copywriter, as well as a teacher at the university level.

Donna and her blog.  Anyone who has an elderly parent will connect right away with Donna's blog.  Her father is in a nursing home, and her writing about him is quite poignant. (And Donna, I tried your solution, but it made the text white; I have not given up.)

Katie Gates has a book!  Her book (The Somebody Who, available at Amazon or at her etsy site) will resonate with anyone who is living with someone who has alzheimer's.  Katie has the ability to write with passion about things that fire her up, and you're drawn in right along with her.  She also writes with humor about going to Trader Joe's, or about having a crush on Dick Van Dyke, and intertwines the serious with the levity.

Check out life at Willow Manor.  Check out her writing...Her poetry--especially--will amaze you.  (Page down and find her Magpie Tale---look for the photo of the pair of black gloves. You will never look at a pair of gloves and just think of them as merely utilitarian again...)

Linda and her blog does indeed write from her heart. She writes of her kids and grandkids, about writing, and she has many publishing credits under her name.

I don't know too much about reflections, but I appreciate her following me.  I hope she doesn't view me as a cure for her insomnia!

Lou Turner and her publishing house have delivered the best news in the world to me.  She is going to publish my book!  (If you cannot hear the angels' voices sing those words, if you cannot see gorgeous pastel rays of light coming down from the sky as you read those words, reread them.)  If you are interested in broaching a small, independent publisher about your work, contact her.

And finally (for today), I read Underground Teacher's posts as soon as they're posted. In fact, I look forward to them, and miss when she takes an occasional day off from blogging. She is idealistic, overworked, concerned, and overwhelmed...A typical teacher these days.

For everyone who checks in once in a while, for everyone who comments or follows...Thank you, and I hope this new year is off to a great start.