Finishing Pearl Buck’s 1954 book of essays, My Several Worlds, took much longer than planned, and I had a hard time putting into words the mix of feelings I had while it. Buck had such a deep love for China and its people, the better side of its ancient culture and an awareness of its flaws and conflicts. The contrast between her refreshing honesty and today’s chaotic events was too much to look at some days, but yes, I finally finished it.

I am looking forward to Saturday, Nov. 12, when I’m sharing a PowerPoint on “Frederick and Anna Douglass: The Family Life of a Very Public Man in the 1800s.” This free Zoom presentation through the County Library of Rochester & Monroe County and the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, is from 10:30 a.m. to noon. It is part of the “Mourning in the Morning” series. Register at: https://calendar.libraryweb.org/calendar/Central/mitm1122.

I’m happy to say I had a good day at the Rochester Children’s Book Festival at RIT this past Saturday. It’s an honor to be a member of Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators (RACWI) and have a place in the room. Also, I had to agree with one area author/illustrator who said it was humbling to watch long lines snaking back and forth and out of the door of the main room, for fans lined up to get books signed by Tui Sutherland.  

It was a pleasure yesterday to read three Alliance of Independent Author posts from September. The first article was a guide on how to manage overwhelm by Melissa Addey and Sacha Black. Almost funny, it was so timely, as well as reassuring that others flip and flop their way from being creative and productive to overloaded and disorganized. The Indie Author podcast with Tanya Anne Crosby was good. Crosby shared her successes with traditional publishing, her shift to self-publishing and then starting her own publishing company. Wow! Thank you to Dan Halloway, Howard Lovy and all at ALLI who make the resource work.

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