Keep people on their toes, never let them figure you out. Life is more entertaining that way.
prequel
My philosophy for teaching–don’t think about it too much
This sums up my approach to teaching, especially my first year.
Now that I’m in my third year . . . no, this still rings true.
(I do think about it, really, but it’s impossible to judge just how a lesson plan is going to go. Every single day . . . impossible.)
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
Food should be fun, not measured
Yes, my attempts at measuring portions to lose weight showed up in my writing. As you can tell, my diet hasn’t been going well, especially during the Christmas season.
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
There is a use for anger
At our school, we lost a fantastic teacher to cancer this weekend. Along with the grief and feelings of loss, some are angry.
Anger can be useful. Build, improve, and resolve a problem. Right a wrong.
Do something good. Use that anger.
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
The Prequel is a free download this weekend on Amazon!
Need a free gift? The prequel is FREE now through Sunday on Amazon! The Walls in the Middle of Idumea is a great place to begin the series–not too long and daunting, and the storyline is accessible to new readers. Pere Shin is one of my new favorite characters–come get to know him. He’s unlike anyone else you’ve read about!
What readers are saying:
“The Walls in the Middle of Idumea is a great prequel and supplement to the rest of the Forest at the Edge series. Trish Mercer is still one of my favourite authors, with her skill for weaving humour, sadness, truth and hope together to create an incredible story. This book works perfectly on its own, but I also really enjoyed the references to characters that become a big part of the rest of the series.”
“. . . like all the books in this series it is entertaining, uplifting, and wholesome. There’s an actual story and it manages to be compelling without anything graphic. Highly recommend all of her books.”
“Pere Shin was a fascinating and, yes, a flawed protagonist. He sensed that a grievous wrong was perpetuating in the mansion and took the steps that his heart and gut feelings pressed upon him. Integrity wins.”
It’s free right now–get it!
Boys and injuries–like chocolate and peanut butter, they just go together
I’m a mother of five boys. Injuries just happen, especially if there are several boys. Before they’re reached their teenage years, each of my sons has been clanked and clonked and dropped and slammed multiple times. Even my quietest, most sensible son has had stitches for splitting open his thigh by merely tripping over a wheelbarrow. (I saw it happen, otherwise I never would have believed it.)
It’s remarkable how much damage can occur to/by boys simply by running to the kitchen when dinner is ready. My youngest son is now eight, and even though he’s fairly mellow, there will be injuries before he’s an adult. I keep my insurance card handy at all times.
The Walls in the Middle of Idumea will be a FREE DOWNLOAD this weekend. I’ll let you know which days!
Some people are just hard to figure out
I really enjoyed Pere Shin, and I hope he tells me more stories so I can write another book about him. He feels like a friend I’d forgotten about and recently found again.
In many ways, this description of Pere reminds me of my job. Sometimes after a class I feel a little like this. (I’m an introvert at heart; teaching–which I love–is also exhausting!)
And, to be fair, I think a few of my students think this about me as well:
The Walls in the Middle of Idumea will be a FREE DOWNLOAD this weekend. I’ll let you know which days!
“Man (or woman) made of oatmeal” should be the next new insult
Yes, another food-based analogy, because Pere Shin is diet-driven.
The insult referring to someone as “milquetoast” (an old cartoon character name) never made sense to me.
But to equate someone to oatmeal? What could be more bland, lumpy, tasteless, and disappointing?
(Seriously, I don’t mean to belittle oatmeal. It can’t help being so blah. I do like it, though, when it’s made one part oatmeal+one part brown sugar=one “healthy” breakfast.)
The Walls in the Middle of Idumea will be a FREE DOWNLOAD this weekend. I’ll let you know which days!
Some days I’m the butter, some days I’m the molasses. What food are you?
Sadly, I create “fantastic dishes” only by accident, or when I’ve picked up take-out from our favorite Mexican restaurant. I’m no Banu Shin, luckily for our waistlines.
I wrote The Walls in the Middle of Idumea when I was trying to cut out fats and sugars from my diet. I think all of that showed up in Pere Shin’s multiple food metaphors. (I’m still struggling to cut down those foods, and now I really want gingerbread cookies.)
The Walls in the Middle of Idumea will be available as a FREE DOWNLOAD at Amazon this weekend–I’ll let you know when it’s available!
Would you want to know when a significant moment had just occurred?
I can look back on key points in my past when I made decisions which changed the course of my entire life. There are never any trumpets heralding the moment, nor any flashing lights or squeals from a crowd. (But it would have been really helpful if there had been, either as a stamp of approval or a shriek of warning!) Then again, it’s fun to look back and realize, “Oh, so that’s where it all started. Life rather snuck up on me. Again.”
For the month of December, I’ll be posting lines from my prequel, The Walls in the Middle of Idumea.
If you haven’t read the series, this is a fine place to begin (and it’s the shortest book, if that’s important to you).
If you have read the series, it’s a fun insight into characters you already know or have met only briefly. (And it’s still the shortest book at 188 pages, which drew a few complaints, but I’ve got plans for even earlier prequels which will be much longer, so hold tight.)
Next weekend, it’ll be a FREE DOWNLOAD through Amazon. I’ll let you know when those free days are here. Snatch up a copy for yourself and everyone you know for Christmas! (They’ll never need to know you got it for free.)
Forestedgebooks.com 