For twenty years, my writing energy spilled Christian education curriculum for all ages, fiction, non-fiction and materials for church leaders. Meanwhile, I wrote plays and other dramatic material. From my chronic illness support group lectures and discussions I gleaned material that became HARPS IN THE WILLOWS: STRENGTHS FOR REINVENTING LIFE. About that time I was reinventing my own life due to multiple sclerosis, so the book also came from many adventures in my own experience.
Work with persons within the disabilities community compelled me to write my first QUICK LOOK FOR VOLUNTEER EMERGENCY RESPONDERS: A GUIDE FOR AIDING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, a little book to fit in a responders’ pocket or to be visible and quick reference on a teachers desk. Since 2011, it has proven to be a success. It works!
The second Quick Look Book, EVERY CHILD CAN BLOOM IN THE INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM, is for Sunday School teachers and other teachers who work anywhere with children. It also gives practical ways to tweak teaching to make comfort zones for persons of all ages.
The mosquitoes nearly got me as I collected experiences for the book THE RELUCTANT IMMIGRANT. I set out to visit and experience the trail of my reluctant immigrant, Rika, and other Germans who would have taken the inland Texas trail to New Braunfels. First stop: an historical marker on the beach at Indian Point, Texas. When I stepped out of the car, 3,002 (times 3 million) hungry mosquitoes with sharp proboscis engulfed me. Those same mosquitoes engulf Rika and her family in the first chapter of The Reluctant Immigrant.
Set with three stories of secrets and romance, THE RELUCTANT IMMIGRANT is now set into a collection, THE LONG ROAD HOME ROMANCE COLLECTION, with three books by Judi Ann Ehresman. Immigrants to the western United States faced common hardships, but their personal adaptations are as varied as the landscape.
Drama is a fantastic entertainment, but also a great teaching tool. I think in pictures, so it’s easy for me plot, cast and write teaching skits and other plays. FUN WITH DRAMA and MORE FUN WITH DRAMA, my first two drama books were designed for teenagers. These were followed by the strangely named ABINGDON’S INTERGENERATIONAL PROGRAMS, PLAYS, READINGS, SKITS AND MORE written to promote interaction between persons of different ages. I have now compiled a book of skits and participation stories for persons with special needs published by Ramps’nthings Press called CHEERLEADERS FOR GOD. It’s hole-punched for your notebook and in large , reproducible print. HELP ME! I’M BENT! (a play in two acts) featuring three early Greek clowns, a grumpy old man and a kind-hearted woman was presented as a script-in-hand reading at The Country Playhouse, Houston, Texas.
My latest drama is a new aortic heart valve in real life, and I have been asked to write the story of it, so here goes something new that will keep me from fishing, but there will be time for classical music and sketching out some tunes on the piano. There’s fun ahead!