Si, Se Puede--Yes, you can!

1. Finding out that it's probably not a good idea to turn news on around 9:30 am PST. Today tRump continued rambling on how the economy will bounce back and be better than ever. But besides his usual lies, he now is calling the Covid-19 virus, 'Chinese virus'. So racist, but he doesn't care. His words lead to others harassing those of Asian heritage. So, so wrong. It's like Thumper on Bambi said: 2. My insurance company Cigna has this welcoming program which includes on-line coaching. Today I spoke with my coach on my anxiety and also ankle recovery. Just these 20 minutes helped a little. That is until husband came back home from a 'quick' trip to Target He was able to buy organic milk for $8 a gallon. Absolutely no feminine products out there. **Thank god I ordered more online. 3. Looks like my weekly online critique group is now using Zoom! I'm excited as I'll be doing this in April! Got to continue writing, especially during...

1. So more and more places are asking to close restaurants, bars, and social gatherings. At 12pm PST New York governor is asking for his residents to do a shelter in place for three weeks. Already the major in San Francisco is doing this. Fellow author Heidi R. Kling is sharing her experiences during this time, plus offering a free serial. **Update as of 7:00pm PST-California governor new rules include this: All bars, restaurants, and 'non-essential places' are closed. Restaurants can have pick-up/drive through services. Gyms are closed-including my favorite yoga studio-YogaWorks. Joanne's classes are all canceled till April. Rumors are circulating around that LA might do a shelter in place. Ideas that are floating right now in Senate include: giving every adult $1000 and child $500 to help during these coming weeks. Having the National Guard called in to help with numerous things like getting food to the elderly; children on free lunches; and other things. 2. Later...

1. Woke up to email from my yoga studio saying they'll be closing the studio until the end of the month. 2. Husband left to go shopping. He said it's totally craziness out there. No milk. No garlic. No ground beef or hamburger. No hot dogs. Hardly any pasta of any kind. But there was veggies and fruits. Yes, he loaded up on those. **Come to find out tRump was speaking. Seems everytime that man opens his mouth, chaos happens. And sure enough the Stock Market crashed. 3. Younger brother posted photo of a Starbucks: Empty Starbucks: And here's the headliner on local newspaper: Also I'm taking a hiatus from FB. Too much misinfo out there. There was an article someone posted on horrific news in Italy that caused my anxiety to spiral quickly. My teen told me how easy it is to create 'fake' news and he said, "Mom, if it's really true? Wouldn't everyone know?" 4. Speaking of teen, he works at Chick Fil A. With new recommendation ...

So woke up to more bad news from Italy. I have cousins over in Lucca. Been contacting a cousin on Instagram to see how they're doing. Then got photos from brother who went shopping yesterday. This is what they found at local store in Merifee. This whole quarantining has been frustrating for me as I'm still immobile and using crutches and a wheelchair. I'm thinking my next physical therapy session might be canceled this Tuesday. At least I got one session in with homework-which I've been doing. Since I finished revision, hope to get back to another revision for book three in the Goddess series. This one is set in Rome! Also been reading SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson which is amazing: Hoping that tRump doesn't speak tomorrow. It looks like whenever he gets on air, people go nuts with hoarding food and other items. And a big shout out to those who work in restaurants, fast food places, grocery stores right now. If you do shop, please don't yel...

So we're now officially in a pandemic. Seems COVID-19 is doing something that has never happened while I've been alive. Close down countries like Italy and China. Fear has caused people to run out and hoard such items as toilet paper-seriously, what's with that? There's no hand sanitizer anywhere. Oh, and to add to that our country has an idiot in chief as president. Someone who didn't take this deadly virus seriously. Who three weeks previously called it a hoax. Le sigh. I've been quarantined since I broke my ankle. That's almost 2 and a half months of being immobile and only going out for doctor visits and once to church. But yeah, church is canceled too. To keep sane, I did finish revisions on my latest story with a Latina protagonist and sent it off to my publisher. Hopefully she'll love Espie and her world: **Love sister-in-law Angie, who is photogenic and shows the mood of my protagonist in this photo. Watching season one o...

Sorry I haven't been here for some time. First some good news: 1. I worked hard on my historical women's fiction novel during NaNowrimo. Did TONS of research and really got into voice of my protagonist. 2. Had a YA author go over CANDLE IN THE WIND. I plan to go over editorial letter and query this story out again. Now the not so great news: I broke my freakin' ankle 3 days before Christmas. Yup. Here's some of my instagram links: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6a67T2gNIM/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6b0a-NgqOe/ https://www.instagram.com/p/B6l9axpgQvg/ And of course the Xray: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Z2L1Ygx63/ Finding out much it sucks to get sick/break anything during the holidays. My specialist is out till after the holidays, which means no surgery until next frickin' week. And yeah, I need surgery. Makes you want some hard stuff. And yes, this is painful. But to look on the positive side? It's making teen realize that ...

My Grandpa Baccellia used to tell us about these women all dressed in dark who would walk up and down the river in the early 1900s. Some say it's not women but a man who haunts that site. Here's a little more info: American River: The ghost of a man who drowned in the river is said to haunt the banks. We did walk along the river, but did not see anything. We did not know which spot of the river the phenomena are said to be observed, however. There's something about water and ghosts. Urban legends are filled with them. This picture of the American River with the infamous thick Sacramento fog brings up feelings of hauntings! One of my sisters had an experience while at girl's camp. One of the girls in her troop was messing around and fell into the fast moving water. No one could get to her. Later that day my sister said she saw the girl by the camp. Then she vanished. The next day they found the girl. Her body was stuck in some either a small underground cave or something...

I haven't posted here for some time. Thought I'd share some fun tidbits on my YA paranormal series CROSSED OUT. In keeping with the Halloween mood, I thought I'd share a few urban legends that are in my YA paranormal and urban diverse fantasy EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. In CROSSED OUT, Stephanie ends up going to Hillary's, her arc nemesis's, home. Hillary dares her to go into the bathroom and call on Bloody Mary. Hillary knows a little about Stephanie's secret--that she can see the dead. But Stephanie refuses to let Hillary get to her and goes into the bathroom, little knowing that her 'gift' might summon someone else. Lady Gaga does Bloody Mary too: In my book EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA there is the urban legend of La Llorona, the weeping lady: There are many versions of this story. One claims that La Malinche, the trusted aide of Hernan Cortes and his mistress was the basis of the story. I also found many other vers...

1. MR. WOLF'S CLASS by Aron Nels Steinke This story reminds me so much of my own first year teaching at an inner city school close to East LA. My first year I also had to redo the whole classroom(my school was like, 'uh, we don't have any bilingual materials. It's all on you.' So yeah, I ended up making my own curriculum. Thank god for this one La Habra Teacher of the Year who shared her own materials!) This graphic novel is very realistic with the portrayals of not only the diverse students, but the new teacher too). 2. GRAND THEFT HORSE by G. Neri This graphic novel shows the world of horse racing and the girl who dared to fight a system. Loved the idea of a Native American protagonist who refuses to look away at animal abuse in horse racing. 3.  BE PREPARED by Vera Brosgol Omg, this book brought back memories! Like the author, I HATED camp. Only in my case it was Mormon girl's camp. I was 12 years old and let...

Today I'm going to share my thoughts on a few other Cybils finalist graphic novels. Two have protagonists that try to survive wars in their countries and the other one is a fun super hero novel with a Latina protagonist. 1.  QUINCE: Fifteen-year-old Lupe receives super hero powers during her Quinceanera. What's so adorable about this story is Lupe isn't the stereotypical super hero, but a regular Latina teen. Her beloved abuelita is her mentor and shares she also had these powers when she was fifteen. Totally loved! 2.  ANNE FRANK'S DIARY: This is a beautiful adaption of Anne Frank's diary. It includes other insights into Frank's life, like her questioning her sexuality and the conflicts between her and her mother, that I don't remember reading back when I was a teen in the 80s. This adaption is perfect for the current political climate and will bring awareness of the horror of the Holocaust. 3. ESCAPE FROM SYRIA: ...

Today I'm going to spotlight THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER by Jen Wang. A 2018 Cybils finalist. Here's my YA Books Central Books review: The Prince and the Dressmaker What worked: I really loved this story of a dressmaker and the prince who likes to wear dresses. Prince Sebastian does this in secret until he 'discovers' the shocking outfit Frances made for a client. He hires her, but tries to keep his identity secret. What happens next is the start of a relationship where an unknown dressmaker designs Prince Sebastian dresses. Little by little he gains confidence in stepping out in the designs. But not everyone is so open to his 'secret'. Lush illustrations set in Paris are the backdrop where two very unlikely characters come together and along the way discover friendship. Only two people know Prince Sebastian's secret. Frances loves the challenge of designing the prince dresses, but fears that keeping his secret might in fact hold her back fr...

Today's Cybil's book finalist pick is HEY, KIDDO by Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Here's my YA Books Central review: What worked: This is an amazing memoir told in graphic novel style of a teen that deals with family addiction. It starts off with his grandparent and parent's history. Readers learn what lead up to him living with his grandparents after his mother lands in jail. I really loved this novel! The author shows what it was like growing up around a love one being a drug addict. It shows the secrets, whispers, and guilt that all family members carry around. Krosoczka shows how art saved him and also helped him cope with the pain he held inside. He includes actual illustrations of his childhood and teen years. There's also photos of his mother and him. This is the perfect book for a class discussion on how addiction shouldn't be a hush subject. Only when discussions on sensitive subjects like addiction happen, will loved ones not blame themselves.  K...

I'm excited to be a part of the Cybils-Children and YA book bloggers literary Awards. This year I'm on the second panel, meaning I get to read the finalist's books! This year I get to read these graphic novel books and help choose which one is the best book of 2018! So many great titles here! I thought I'd share my reflections on each of the nominated books. In the meantime, this is a great list of books to read! Stay tuned for my first book reflection. Hint, this autobiographical graphic novel is amazing as it addresses a number of sensitive topics that include kids dealing with a parent that is addicted to drugs without being preachy.

I'm excited to announce that my short story, A SHOT OF CHRISTMAS MAGIC, is included in the anthology MISTLETOE & MAGIC! Some fun short stories include one by YA author Michelle MacQueen: THE K WORD: CAMERON Cameron Tucker really likes his friend Peyton. All he can do is think about her. Then a cruel comment ruins everything. Can he still let Peyton know how he really feels? I love how MacQueen is able to get inside the mind of Cameron and let readers see how he struggles to let Peyton know his true feelings while still having a hard time with his peers perceptions. Peyton isn't the 'perfect' girl that is shown on social media. But who really is? Cameron's feelings are shown in a realistic way and how he needs to step up to the plate if he wants to keep Peyton as not only maybe a future love interest, but as a friend. Michelle MacQueen is @michellelynn_author over on Instagram @authormichellel over on Twitter YA author Amalie Jahn's story AFTER ...

Excited to share an exciting announcement! Stay tuned!!!!! **And YES it has something to do with writing!

I'm excited to announce.... I'll be a part of the Cybils this year!  I'm on the second panel that will judge what was the best YA graphic novel of the year! Round 1: Mel Schuit Let’s Talk Picture Books @spiky_penelope Lexie Cenni For the Sake of Reading @PRationality Christa Seeley Women Write About Comics / This is a Metaphor  @christasbooks Cecelia Larsen Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia @ceceliabedelia John Mutford The Book Mine Set @bookmineset Maggi Rohde Books for Squids @mama_librarian Megan Kelly Devour Books @33megan33 Round 2: Kim Baccellia Si, Se Puede @ixtumea Cheriee Weichel Library Matters @CherieeWeichel Helen Murdoch Helen’s Book Blog @hcmurdoch Ardo Omer Put A Blurb On It @ardoomer Benedict Hutchinson A Goblin Reviews Graphic Novels Yay!!!! Can't wait to see what books will be nominated!