Weekend Coffee Share, Schooling in the COVID Era

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Eclectic Ali.  It’s a half-caff day! I am introverting because it’s better than trying to communicate with a mask, something I am growing tired of.  I’ve been back to work since 8/12 and started teaching students on 8/20; while it’s been great seeing work friends and trying to joke and get to know my students, they don’t get it through the mask mumbling. I can’t wait to communicate and laugh freely, to high-five and hug without fear. But that’s not where we are.

This starts year 21 of teaching for me.  It is hard sometimes to teach in a mask, and the air from my speaking makes it hotter inside the mask.  Yesterday, I put on the face shield and took the mask off, staying way in the front of the room.  In the back of this picture above, you see the desk shields.  Students have to look around them to see what I’m writing on the board.  They also have a lot to adjust to just as we teachers do.
I finished my physical therapy for the frozen shoulder. I’m not 100% (and the doc had said that would be the case), but still, the difference is amazing! I’d say I am somewhere between 80 and 90% now.  Of course, I’m continuing the exercises I learned in physical therapy.  This is the second time I’ve been through it, but I forgot some important details from the 1st time to the second even though it was only four months.  I also was quite fearful to do too much after I’d hurt my shoulder this time, thus, getting the frozen shoulder.

So, it was good that I was pushed little by little to exercise it, and I stuck with the same PT which made it easier to trust the process and to believe it when he said I could do this. Believe me, I can do things now with my arm and shoulder that I was afraid to do for years!  We talked about limits and he thinks I could do anything within reason. I can be the judge.  I’ll ask the doctor about this next month, too. Should my next adventure be skateboarding, skydiving, axe-throwing?

Anyhow, for now, my adventure is teaching middle schoolers in- person during the COVID pandemic, keeping them safe from others and themselves while opening up their minds to Literature and our language. At the moment, I feel ready to head up this mountain. Actually, sky-diving sounds good right now, since I’m such a risk-taker. 🙂

I got my exercise in for today on the Gazelle exerciser on my porch and did my arm/shoulder exercises.  Other than that, I am indoors, socializing on social media and actually, doing a little bit of writing!  I am working on the novel in progress, Ellie the Time Traveler, and she is going to intersect with Malachi in true star-crossed lovers fashion! Love can be bittersweet…..

That’s all I’ve got for today! I am feeling pretty good, glad to be writing again and not wearing a mask for a while.  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

 

Advertisement

New release is live today!

Do you remember the days of your youth when you insisted on being independent, surviving on a diet of coffee and Ramen noodles?  Do you remember the search for your future destiny, sometimes thinking you might do anything for a paycheck?  Meet Malachi.  Follow him on the roller coaster ride! 

Malachi, Ruse Master is live today and ready for purchase in Kindle book, paperback, or on Kindle Unlimited.

Visit the Book Blast at the NN Lights Book Heaven Book blog; there’s a preview of an interesting excerpt:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/malachi-ruse-master-bookboost

You can order your copy or learn more at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086VYJYZX

Weekend Coffee Share. My Calling. 8/10

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee share, hosted by Allison at eclecticali.wordpress.com

 

I’ve had a fruit V8 and now it’s time for my half a cup of coffee. You may enjoy whatever you like!  It will likely be another hot day.  It has already been a good morning.  Back to School season is in full swing, and I have been up before or at 6 a.m. all week, working non-stop either physically, to prepare my room, or mentally, to prepare my lessons.

I stayed up ’til midnight last night and woke up promptly at 6:30 a.m.  No 8-hour sleep-in for me.  I’m already getting into the grind, but I rebelled. After laying in bed, stretching and mentally preparing myself for not being able to sleep late for a year, I spent 20 uninterrupted minutes sitting on the porch watching Bixby’s nose twitch and ears perk. He enjoyed it too, I’m sure.

We observed a lot, like the fact that the sun felt good and my new neighbor gets picked up on a Saturday by a big truck blaring Spanish talk-radio, and some other neighbor’s brakes squeal, and the next door neighbor goes out on his ten- speed at 8 a.m. Also, there was still dew on the ground, so I knew I couldn’t get sunburned, on the porch, at 8 a.m. Nice start to the day! Now my brain is awake.
I need to continue porching it through the fall season, too! 

This video is from a July morning on the porch.  I thought you would enjoy it.  Bixby features frequently in my blog posts and Weekend Coffee Shares.  He is my adopted shelter dog and also a girl’s/writer’s best friend.  We go on adventures together and we sit and observe the world together.

 

Since I have mentioned Back-to School, I want to tell you how truly wonderful it is to take the road less traveled.  I went to a training this week that was not packed full, none of my friends were going to  it.  It was about helping kids understand advanced text.  The instructor spoke to me right away and offered me a matchbox car.  That was fun!  Then we had to talk to others about why we chose the one we chose.  We loved talking about that.  When we answered a question, he asked our name and asked the whole ‘class’ to say “Thank you, Pam.”  There were about 40 people in there, but we talked, we moved around, we used our brains.  We were actively learning, and that’s what we need to do with our students.  This was a wonderful break from an over-crowded meeting room with people on their laptops while someone at the front ‘talks at us.’ It got me really pepped up for what I need to do daily, which is, get to know my kids, and then inspire them to do the work that will help them learn the most.  I think about writing full-time, but I know my work in the public school system is not yet done.  It isn’t easy, and many spend just 1-5 years teaching in public schools, but what is best for the kids? I want to do what is best.  This is were we determine or help affect the culture of our nation in the future.  It feels like an important calling to me.  Writing keeps me sane, but maybe my writing will also inspire someone and get them thinking about how we treat each other?  That can be done in any genre.

On the writing front,   the Malachi manuscript is still with beta readers, and I am entertaining ideas for the cover.  I will be taking my last Teaching Gifted endorsement course this fall, so I may have to slow down progress on that manuscript, but I am holding to a goal of publishing it in the first few months of 2020.  Progress is being made on both of my Detours in Time series books to be produced in audio version.  I’m excited!  Detours in Time may be available for audio purchase in about a month! I just finished listen to the first narration and have sent corrections requests.  Yikes!  This is an awesome feeling.  My narrator for Undercurrents in Time is also getting started.  I’ll share more on that later.  In the meantime, here is a brief clip of the narration for Detours in Time:

https://www.untiedmusic.com/emory/Chapter_11_teaser.mp3

That’s what’s going on in my world!  I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  I know I need to exercise now, but I think a hot bath may also be on my schedule for today.  I think I have worked for it.  🙂

Weekend Coffee Share, 7/13. A Writer’s Life.

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, where the Florida temperature may tempt you to take your coffee iced, hosted by Allison at Eclectic Ali

Be sure to check out my flash fiction for this week (there is one, a quick read on one young man’s struggle growing up): Take a Hike #RDP

This week, I was fortunate enough to have lunch with a writer friend at Whole Foods Tuesday and lunch with a teacher friend on Wednesday!  I am passionate about writing and passionate about teaching, so both days, I was fueled.  Sometimes it doesn’t feel like much is going on with my writing, but I really do have a lot in progress and a lot of ideas in the hopper.

In fact, I wrote a Facebook post about this, as I really am working on a lot this summer, but I tell people, “No, I’m not working a summer job.”  People need to appreciate the work a writer does, though.  Here is the post:

I am a Writer Living the Dream, Edition 1~
1. Since I am an introvert (mostly), I am find staying inside a few hours this morning at my laptop, promoting the Undercurrents in Time Kindle and working on the next book, “Malachi,” a natural thing to do. I’ve posted on Facebook & Twitter about the promotion. Crossing my fingers. Sold 1 yesterday and 1 today.    Undercurrents in Time is the sequel to Detours.  You can check it out or order it here: Undercurrents in Time on Amazon

-1. Conversely, being able to sit so long at the laptop doing “book stuff” (which includes sometimes seeing what everyone on Facebook is up to), makes me stiff and causes lower back pain. So, I get up when it screams at me. I got up to type this, in fact. 
2. In my blog world on WordPress, I am promoting some other authors who are part of this online Book Club where authors or readers read and give reviews, sometimes getting reads and reviews.  I also plan to put more Flash fiction there in the next weeks; I am just itching to do so. It will be on my own schedule, though.  The blogs on other authors are for members of Rave Reviews Book Club and RWISA (an International Writer’s Association).  They are under the category of Authors Discovered and can be found by clicking that category to the right of the page or try clicking this link to see the most recent posts on the various featured authors:   https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/category/authors-discovered/
3. I’ve sent the first few pages of the work in progress “Malachi” to a writer friend for thoughts and ideas. I am not sure who I am marketing it towards, but it intersects with events and characters in Detours in Time Book2 (Undercurrents in Time).  Mom said, it’s really different, that I am “branching out.” This could only be a good thing, right? Though I’ve read it’s good to find your own niche, however, I want to do different things as well, and I don’t like formulaic advice. Gotta be me! I also have contacted two professional beta readers about this new manuscript. I have typed the whole book including the ending! Now, I just need to see if there are plot holes that I can’t see, as it is my own personal work of art. We aren’t that objective about things we create and love. I love all of my books and my characters, how could I not?
4. I sent a newsletter yesterday to 365 people who don’t seem to care. Each time I send one, 5-7 unsubscribe, but that happens when they may have signed up just to get a freebie. My freebies are only short stories or previews now. Learning as I go. Haven’t tried for new subscribers in a while, but I will soon.
5. This felt good, though: I chose a chapter that I think is quite interesting in “Malachi” that I will put through Calbri (not sure about the name) to put in BookFunnel as a free sample. I’ll let you know when it’s available!
6. With the writing of “Malachi,” I have interjected the character of Ellie from Undercurrents in Time. Lines come to me while I’m driving or brushing my teeth. I’m writing down bits here and there and then will develop my outline for the book to follow “Malachi,” starring Ellie, who is another unique character from Undercurrents in Time. They will both intersect in Ellie’s book as well (yet to be titled).
7. I anxiously await the narration to be done on the Detours in Time audiobook as I am hoping I will gain lots of new Detours readers/listereners in that way, and it should come out this fall, between Sept. and Nov. is the plan. I have decided on text for the audition for Undercurrents in Time as well so I need to set that up on the Audible production site.
8. When people ask if I am working this summer, I say no. I guess I love doing this stuff, but let’s be honest:  It is work. Call it a labor of love!

So, that pretty much sums up my week!  On Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., it was 80 with 88 degree humiture, and my dog and I couldn’t quite take coffee hour on the porch; we had to go inside.  I took him to the park Thursday around 10 and he was panting so much.  I need to start waking up earlier!  My summer Netflix habit has had me staying up until midnight watching Ozark, an awesome but dark show sort of like Breaking Bad but set in hillbilly country, and the first season of Outlander.  This is what teachers do in the summer, isn’t it?  I’m sure I won’t have much time once school starts.  Have a great week and enjoy what is left of summer!

Character Background: Tabitha and the Professor. #pointsofview

 

 

Tabitha and Milt are characters from the award-winning time travel novel, Detours in Time.  Why are they such good friends?  Follow Tabitha on a typical day and get a dose of what goes on in her mind.

“Tabitha, Tabitha? Have you heard anything I’ve been saying?” Candace raised her voice to be heard, frustrated at her friend who was gazing out the window vacantly.

“Yes, yes. Of course I heard you,” Tabitha replied, a little too insistent.

“Okay, so what’s his name?”

“Um, Walter?” Tabitha offered.

“No. His name is Matt, and you are not listening! If you’re not really interested, just tell me. I don’t want to set up a meeting and have you disappoint him.”

“I guess I’m not really interested,” Tabitha answered.

“It’s been years, Tabitha! You’re thirty and you’re going to turn to dust!”

Tabitha snorted in laughter. “No, I’ve got some time left. Seriously, you exaggerate a bit much.”

“What’s going on with you and the doctor?” Candace asked slyly.

“Dr. Braddock? No, um, nothing. I mean, I have been working with Milt more lately.  Instead of just cleaning I’m also helping him organized his office, but nothing has come of it; it’s just work.”

Nothing had come of it, except learning that he was researching quantum physics and how to travel in time. Not that she’d ever tell anyone. When she came clean and told him what she had seen, he begged her to promise not to reveal what she knew. In fact, he confessed that he already discovered the secret to time travel. Tabitha couldn’t deny that they were growing closer. She’d proven herself indispensable when she created a filing system for keeping his lab notes in order. It was obvious he appreciated her. Despite the age difference, she found him intensely interesting. Still, they’d probably always just remain friends.

“We’re just friends, Candace. We work together well, that’s all. I’m really organized; he’s not. He’s totally brilliant; I’m not.” Even in her denial, she couldn’t forget the dream she’d had about kissing him. She shook her head to dispel the thought. “Just friends.”

“You don’t even seem convinced of that.  And–I noticed how you call him by his first name!”  Candace smiled deviously.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Candace. Stop trying to read my mind. I’m just not, I just don’t need a man right now. Is that all right with you?”

“Okay Tabitha, that’s all you had to say. And don’t knock yourself; you are pretty bright.” She glanced at her watch. “Oops, gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow!” Candace blew a kiss on the air and grabbed her jacket as she jogged out of the cafe.

“Okay, later Candace!” Tabitha had someplace to be as well. Dr. Milt Braddock needed help that evening organizing his tax papers. I could use the extra money, Tabitha reasoned. That’s all this is about.

She strolled out of the cafe slowly, picturing the smile lines around Milt’s eyes.  Smiling, she walked into a young couple.

“Sorry!” she called as they laughed and walked on.

“Daydream much?”  one of them replied.

I have got to get a grip, she thought.

**Read Detours in Time and learn what Milt and Tabitha discover together in the future. Available in Kindle, K.U., or paperback. Universal link:   Detours in Time Amazon link