Dear Kids and All Readers, Are you altruistic? Kids, in case that’s a new word for you, please allow me to become Lanny the Lexicon for a moment and define it for you: Altruism (noun) means being generous; volunteering; helping others–one or more people, animals, or organizations–without expecting anything in return. Altruism is a good deed…
Dear Kids and All Readers, Did you know that Friday, May 13, 2022, was the only Friday the 13th this year? Years that have 365 days and begin on a Saturday will have only one Friday the 13th. 2022 meets those criteria. Our next Friday the 13th won’t happen until January 2023. What’s the big…
Dear Readers, My research for Book 5, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, continues as I seek “the real” Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849). I plan to spin a mystery around some aspect of Poe’s life, but the story will be set in present day California. What I have discovered to date is that Poe used his writing…
Dear Kids, English Teachers, Librarians, Playgoers, and All Readers, Sometime between April 23 and 26, the “Bard of Avon,” William Shakespeare, was born in 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. The exact day of his birth is not known, but his baptism was recorded in the Parish Register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford on Wednesday, April…
Dear Readers, As I mentioned in my April 14th blog, my research for Book 5, Jacaranda Street: Gravestone Image, has begun. It will be mystery spun from some aspect of American writer Edgar Allan Poe’s life but set in present day California. He is arguably best known for his poem “The Raven” (1845). I hope…
Dear Readers, As of today, April 14, my Book 4, Saffron Street: Island Danger, is off to the editor! That means many things, but for this moment, it allows me to start thinking about Book 5. My next Botanic Hill Detectives mystery will have a problem wrapped around a long-deceased woman and the American poet,…
Hello, Adult Readers, Standing in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, I’d like to introduce–or reintroduce–you to a female Ukrainian poet named Lyuba Yakimchuk. She was born in 1985 in Pervomaisk, Luhansk, in what was Ukraine’s industrial east. She and her family lost their home and fled as refugees in 2014 when Russian-backed militants occupied…
Hello, All Readers and Stargazers, This July marks thirty years since my trip to beautiful, ivy-covered Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. My then eleven-year-old daughter and I had the honor of attending a three-week science symposium there in the summer of 1992. I was part of the San Diego educators’ team. One of many…
Dear Teachers, Parents, and Readers, Recently, I shared to my personal Facebook page a friend’s thought-provoking post. It was from a public group on Facebook called “Compass Group,” which I have joined. It has 219K followers. In addition to some stunning nature photos from around the world, there was an article about the four types…
Dear Kids, Teachers, Librarians, and Parents, I have spent part of yesterday and today preparing for one of my favorite activities as a children’s author: a school author visit! Tomorrow, February 11, for forty-five glorious minutes, I will have the privilege of joining virtually fifty-two fifth graders and their two teachers in Pennsylvania. I’ve smiled…
