The Scampering Horse

There was cheese: fancy cheese. Cheese so fancy it has names with three words. Also, grapes and berries to eat with the cheese, because Rob Wells loves cheese. When you love something, you put it on a cutting board, slice it up, and share it with your friends. This is my second writers retreat, and I am working on the same book. It is a fun little book that gets more fun all the time. It is fiction for middle graders book. Also, writing is hard. I am a slow writer. Part of it is that I don't write on my book every day, so my skill is still developing. Part of it is that it is my first project, and that means I don't know what I'm doing yet. Writers who know what they are doing have things called "outlines." These so-called outlines have plotlines, characters, big problems, little problems, hooks, etc. My book started with an idea, and I have more ideas, and I write and discover as I go. My writer friends who publish books tell me consistency (that means wr...

Once I ran away, well twice I ran away. The first time, I was a little girl. I think I was one of the spirited ones. The kind of girl like my current 3rd child. She and I keep things interesting. I was probably 3 or 4 years old. We lived in the house on Chaco Street in Grants, New Mexico. I could hear my mom in the front yard and I went to find her. I went out the back yard gate. She came through the front house door.  It must have been summer. The sun was really bright in my eyes, and I was sleepy. I was walking on the sidewalk, and there was a lady watering her lawn. She asked me if I was lost. I didn't think I was lost, I was just looking for my mommy.  Then I remember being in the front seat of a police car. The police officer was black, he had dark skin and a police man hat. Then I was at the police station. They let me pick any candy out of the vending machine. I chose something I had never had before. It was called "Hot tamales." I hated my candy choice. W...