my cochlear implant processor It’s been a tough year. Well, more than a year. Fifteen months ago, I lost the hearing in my left ear. All of a sudden, without warning, I woke up to screaming in my head, and it was gone. It felt like someone had scooped out the left side of my head. It's such an odd sensation to suddenly lose one whole side of hearing. It didn’t come back. Because my hearing loss was profound, I had two choices. Do nothing or get a cochlear implant (CI). I

Old Map of Daerland I’ve always liked maps. Real or imagined, they’re artistic and quite useful. I was cleaning out desk drawers and unearthed a forgotten map of Daerland I had sketched back when I realized I needed the layout to write the story. Of course, things changed as the story grew, and my illustrator did her magic for the final version for the book. Map-making is a great activity for kids young and old. We read Treasure Island in my 4th grade class and when I annou

Writing Activity for Kids...or Anyone Mix & Match Story Elements Get your creative juices flowing… Do you know those “mixed being” books? The ones where you flip sections of a page to mismatch the head or torso or legs and make a funny creature? This is a sort of “mixed being” writing activity using characters, setting, and plot. I learned this at a Loft Literary Center class from Lisa Bullard. I use this activity with students of varying ages and it’s always a big hit. It'

Do you ever have plans for a project and just don't know how to get started? Yeah, that's me in most artistic endeavors...especially when...