Nurturing Creativity Through Poetry Writing

After a few years of teaching high school English, Michael was disillusioned with uninspiring conventional curriculum. Good students simply tolerated the boring content-driven curriculum better than the less academically inclined students. He started reading about an old concept, through a new term: Emotional Intelligence. An epiphany struck: If emotional intelligence (EQ) development was more of an indication of future success than IQ and was vastly more teachable, why did schools not emphasize the development of emotional intelligence?

For the next 25 years as a high school English teacher, Michael drew and learned from vast resources to better understand, articulate, and embed Healthy Habits of the Mind in his everyday lessons. He developed a list of Healthy Habits of the mind which he could discuss with students. Appreciating a curriculum that became relevant and engaging, students invested energy and often discovered their own creativity and voices.

Eventually, Michael understood how developing writing skills and Emotional Intelligence strengthen and reinforce each other. Students who took more risks, succumbed to fewer fears, and developed a revision mentality were better at all life’s tasks, not just writing.

Ogmond

When the problems with the Earth’s inhabitants’ civilities, humanity and care for the planet reached it limit…

When pollution, greed, selfishness, and lawlessness created a universal problem…

One man had answers and took necessary actions, applying his special skills, discoveries, and knowledge to save and restore the civilizations and the planet.

This man’s name was Ogmond.

Olive Everything

Olive is a young girl who loves everything. She loves all her clothes and wears more than she needs. She loves all the things her mother makes for breakfast and asks for some of everything. Rather than making a choice, Olive says yes to this, yes to that, and nothing is left out. This becomes a problem when she starts school and is expected to wear one outfit, have one breakfast food, and there are so many other things she must choose. Choosing one thing over another feels like something is being lost, and Olive worries that she’ll never get a chance to have the things she didn’t choose. Her father helps her see that making choices is a privilege, not a loss.

Omar's Artichoke

What possible good can come from a 16-inch square of dry dirt in a big grey city? It’s just concrete dust and city dirt surrounded by sidewalk.

What happened next when Grampa gave a rumpled bag with a wilted spiky plant to Omar took the five year old’s life in a new direction, sparking a new interest, a daily conversation. That 16-inch square garden became the center of his and his grampa’s life.

That summer they spent watching over the grey-green spiked artichoke plant in its impossibly improbable garden surrounded by sidewalk.

Who knew that almost magical changes could happen to that scrap of dirt and stringy plant with just a bit of help from a little boy and an elderly man.

Ooops!

Excited to own a brand-new pair of white sneakers, Turtle wondered if he should be careful with them. Will he able to run fast? Will he be able to jump high? Will his friends like them? Turtle just wants to test out and show his friends how special his new sneakers are!

Squirrel is busy climbing a tree, Rabbit is hopping around the carrot patch, Bee is buzzing through the garden, and Firefly is glowing his twinkling light.

Will Turtle get a chance to use his new sneakers? Will they be as good as he imagines them to be?

Ordained to Die

They are coming! Run!

The governors now rule the territories, finalizing and strategizing as they have been preparing for eons against an immortal enemy. Panacia seeks to strengthen its power and makes deals. Janacia seeks peace and prepares in fear of what is to come. Yet, as hostility steadily grows between the powerful continents, the secret to saving it all might lie in the hands of one desert tribe-woman kidnapped from her home by the king in the mountains. Will she make it out alive?

Owed to My Mother

Nadine has always excelled in her career and had just reached the next level of her success, which brought her to the company’s illustrious complex outside of San Francisco, CA; but as she begins to get settled into this new chapter of her life, she learns that her mother’s cancer is now stage 4 and she’s forced to make a choice between staying where she is or going to be with her mother.  She chooses her mother and the story that unfolds from there is filled with heartfelt humor, ridiculous sarcasm and examples of their forever love.
This book is historical fiction and based on a true story, and nothing exemplifies that fact better than the sacrifices made between this mother and her child.  Be sure to have your Kleenex handy when you read this book, because whether you laugh or cry, you’re going to need them.

Pacific Musick

January 1938... For two years, Pan American's magnificent Martin M130 flying boats have been safely and routinely carrying passengers from San Francisco to Hong Kong. It's a trip considered by many to be a fairy tale ride through deserted Pacific islands, equipped with luxury hotels and dining facilities. But the corporate expansion continues. New Zealand will be the stepping stone to Australia and Singapore. The Martins can't be spared. The shorter range Sikorsky aircraft will have to be used. As with Hong Kong, this route will be blazed by Pan American’s Chief Pilot, Edwin C. Musick. So perilous is this operation that one fueling stop is made on a tiny atoll, approximately one hundred yards in length. It's barely able to hold the five men shown below. Flight crews will be there overnight, on an ocean-going freighter. On one of these flights, Musick has an engine problem and is faced with a choice. Does he dump fuel to comply with John Leslie's always accurate performance numbers, knowing that could lead to a catastrophic fire? Or does he, this time, just this one time in his life, break with procedure?

Party on the Moon

Party on the Moon follows the rise and dominance of the world’s top event producer as she navigates a corrupt industry, its insidious players, and the malcontent clients upon whose riches her empire is built.

Our mercurial lead character’s success is fully intertwined with the deterioration of her moral code, fueled by copious amounts of sex, drugs, and malicious behavior that only seems to enable her success. As she grows older, she starts to fear that her life has passed her by in one big party blur and she is lacking any real connection to the outside world, as well as a legacy that could potentially continue on.

The book’s curious title foreshadows an ending fit for a provocative and intriguing character that burns the candle at both ends…just long enough to hopefully find salvation.

Peanut Learns to Share

Peanut is having so much fun while on vacation with her new swing she was recently surprised with, that is until a second surprise threatens to ruin everything.

Peanut is forced to face her fear of sharing.

Find out what the second surprise is and if Peanut is able to learn to share before it is too late.

Peanut, the Guinea Pig

Peanut finds herself lost and all alone in a strange place as a result of her own actions. Completely separated from her beloved owner, will she ever find her way back home? She’s quirky and her adorable little personality will entertain and capture the hearts of readers. Follow Peanut on her journey as she tries to find her way back home and see what valuable lesson she learns in the process.

Pedro and the Red Eyeglasses

Pedro is a short-sighted green turtle who lives in Mexico. His world is turned around when a little girl in a tourist boat falls into the water and loses her eyeglasses. Down, down they go to the ocean floor, where Pedro finds them and his life is changed forever.

This is not just a story book but also introduces children to green turtles – where to find them, where they breed, how long they can stay underwater. Did you know they can rest for up to five hours at a time before coming up for breath. Could you do that?

Children learn about eye health and, if they need to visit an eye doctor, the many colored fun frames they can find at the clinic. The book also teaches kids how important it is to wear a life vest when they are in a boat. Don’t just sit on one!

Finally, they learn that the ocean is in danger and how they can help by picking up the trash that washed up onshore.