As they say in the market, it was rather “flat.” That being, some good, some bad, all balances out. Certainly business for Valdata Services declined as I saw three clients close their doors, one being my largest long-term customer. Sad, indeed, and I will miss these great people I interacted with on a daily basis. I wish them all much success (and stability) in the coming year.

Another downer was my inability to get any writing done; that is, if you don’t count the nineteen essays I wrote for school. After a negative experience with a neurotic and overtly rude correspondent, I lost some ambition which is finally beginning to return.

I probably gained 13 pounds this year, and my school obligations discouraged me from getting to the gym, which I subtly abandoned in August. (They actually called to see where I was!)

On the upside, school was great and I’m 9 units away from my degree. The tutoring job I took at the college was rewarding and enlightening. I met lots of wonderful people this year, writers, teachers, high school alumnus, cancer warriors, mountain dwellers, and a few brave souls still working in escrow. I moved to Android this year, and my 6 year old Highlander is still running like new. My brother survived a life-threatening illness. My sons are both working, my grandson is happy and healthy, my daughter is a beautiful, talented and resourceful teen, and my husband realized his dream of building a mountain home. I am incredibly blessed and thankful.

What for 2012?

I have plans, nothing earth-shattering. I need to get back to the Y. I’ll return to my tutoring job in the spring, along with taking 6 units. I’ll complete at least one novel—hopefully the third lighthouse mystery set in Los Angeles. I’m going to try to re-release a couple of my backlist novels soon. Will continue to work with both the SCV Education Foundation and the Circle of Hope*. I hope to do some public presentations similar to one I did on California lighthouses for the library this past January. Three more units in the fall will finish my degree in English.

Syllabus states that student will keep all schoolwork in a 3 ring binder. Doesn’t have to be singular, it could be a section in a larger notebook. Daughter then proceeds to organize her work neatly, in said binder, taking special care the night before a scheduled “notebook check”.

The next day, daughter is paired with another student to do interactive classwork. The notebook check commences, with the teacher walking around to each student’s desk for said check. Daughter, for some unknown reason, has taken all the organized work out of her binder, perhaps for use with the partner as they work on classwork together. When the teacher stops at her desk, he takes a look at her pages, and asks where her binder is. She gestures, it’s on her desk.

Teacher: “Well, you’ve just earned yourself a fail on this assignment.”

Daughter: “Excuse me?”

Teacher: “What’s the matter, you can’t read?”

Daughter, mortified because the entire class is watching and listening. “I’m sorry.”

This “teacher” – in quotes because I’m using the term loosely – has just lost an opportunity to teach. He’s lost it because he’s lost the respect of his student. This student, my daughter, has been taught to respect her teachers, but in the instant that he chose not to respect her, he’s severed the very relationship he needs in order to teach her. He will likely argue that he did teach her; he taught her not to make this foolish mistake in the future. He taught her that she is not worthy of respect because she messed up something so monumental as placing her classwork back into her binder for inspection.

Across the hall, in another classroom, another teacher would have handled this very differently:

Teacher:  “Hey, what’s up with this? Where is your notebook?”

Daughter:  “Oh crap. It’s on my desk!”

When I learned about this “incident,” I was, naturally, enraged. My daughter is sensitive enough without being humiliated by this instructor. Worse, this seems a repeat of the scenario she faced two years ago, in another school with another teacher.

Now, she must go back into a classroom with a teacher who has treated her unkindly, in a subject where her grade was already suffering. She explained to me that he has treated other students similarly, especially girls, and she thinks he’s a sexist. She and I discussed options, including my intervening again with the counselor and/or principal. But my daughter correctly pointed out that it would likely only result in the teacher going on the defensive. There could be repercussions. After all, what does he have to lose? He’s tenured. And don’t even get me started on that issue.

No, my daughter said, the only way to get back at him would be to excel in the subject. Prove she was better than what he thought. But therein lies the paradox, doesn’t it? How can she excel when she feels at odds with this person, the one who’s supposed to teach her?

I guess the bottom line is, my girl did learn something that day. She learned you can’t expect to be treated with respect if you make a mistake. She learned that teachers are allowed to get angry, and to make judgment calls while angry. She learned there is no consistency in the way she is treated from classroom to classroom, and that teachers just can’t be trusted.

I know some will be critical of my tantrum and say that my daughter should be reprimanded for being unprepared. Yes, she can be an airhead sometimes. Yes, she was mistaken in thinking that the binder was just a place to keep the papers organized, and she probably should have understood better. I don’t dispute her error. I do, however, believe that her teacher is a bully. There is no place for sarcasm and personal attacks in the classroom. And as I’ve said many times before:  for students to be successful, they must feel safe and respected in school. Once those elements are lost, learning ceases.

All comments and opinions welcome.

While some of our programs and events have a limited number of generous sponsors, we could still use some help. For $100.00, “Friends” get a seat at our Principal For a Day luncheon, where past keynote speakers have shared lively, valuable “state of the districts” information about our five school districts. Also included is a ticket to Teacher Tribute, an enjoyable evening at the Performing Arts Center where one teacher from each of our public schools is honored. Along with a listing on our website, a book will be donated in your name to our “Bag of Books” as part of our Read With Me! program.

The SCV Education Foundation is the only one of its kind, serving all five SCV school districts. Originally a part of the SCV Chamber of Commerce, this education committee was created in 1984 to develop partnerships between local business and the public schools. In order to focus solely on education and to be eligible for foundation grants and more corporate support, the Chamber and the Education Committee decided to form a foundation. In November 1995, the Chamber Education qualified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable foundation and is now called the Santa Clarita Valley Education Foundation. For more information on the Foundation, its programs, events and board members, visit their website at http://www.scveducationfoundation.org. To join the Friends For Education, contact me, or click here and don’t forget to mention my name so I’ll get my Brownie points.

And by the way, if you or your company are looking to become a strategic partner or sponsor for educational endeavors, I hope you will consider talking with us. Your tax deductible donation aids in our mission “to provide support, programs and leadership for the promotion and welfare of K-12 public school education in the Santa Clarita Valley”.

My extremely cool school.

Okay, I thought that might be kind of funny. Why? Because I have just been offered a job as an English tutor! At my school! My C O L L E G E school!

Yep… [buffing nails lightly on t-shirt] I will be joining the staff at College of the Canyons this fall. I was recommended by my wonderful English professor, and I suppose I’ve been deemed qualified. Where does the “funny” part come in? Well, it’s just that…um…I don’t know all that much about the parts of speech. I think I was absent that day. I know how to write, I know what works, what sounds correct – but I’m not well-versed in why. The good news? I get training! The better news? I get paid!

On the serious side, I’m very honored and extremely excited. This is a great opportunity to help others while broadening my own skills. A win-win. The job is part-time, and one that I can easily work around my other jobs:  mother, wife, housekeeper and, uh, business owner. Oh, and student, author and non-prof secretary. Did I miss anything? How about grandmother?

So welcome me to the world of dangling participles, multi-word adverbials and syntactic units! (Wish me luck.)

Excuse Number One: I’m back in school. Taking two classes, both them rather writing-intensive. English 101 (sigh; FINALLY) and History of American Film. Now, even with all that writing, I still should be able to come up with a blog once in awhile, but for…

Excuse Number Two:  Blockage. Have had trouble writing. No trouble with creativity, or thoughts, or ideas for what to write; just haven’t been able to start. It’s like this… if I don’t perceive that I have enough time to put into a writing project, no matter how small, I won’t start it. It’s a rut, I know, perpetuated by…

Excuse Number Three:  Identity. My blog doesn’t know what it is, or what it wants. Does it want to opine? Reminisce? Inform? Entertain? Bore people to death? This not-knowing-what-kind-of-content-I want is debilitating in itself. Readers, I understand, prefer consistency, and entertainment. What I had for lunch or how I cussed out another driver isn’t interesting, to me or to anyone else.

So, henceforth, I’ve made a plan to stick to a rudimentary routine. We’ll see if it works.

Meanwhile, it’s back to eating chocolate and watching the world go by.

As some of my followers know, I am and always have been very involved with our local school districts. I’ve logged countless hours in the classroom, chaired events, served as a PTA executive board member. I attend district meetings, act as liaison between schools, and sit on the SCV Education Foundation Board. I’ve watched with saddened interest as our embattled schools deal with unprecedented budget cuts; listened to our downtrodden but courageous superintendents and administrators share their frustrations; sympathized with educators, many of them close friends.

So when the local high school district announced earlier this week that they were dispensing with promotion ceremonies for 8^th grade junior high school students, I immediately took interest. The estimated savings is $40,000.00, not an insignificant amount. What makes this even timelier is that I have an 8^th grade daughter, who’s been planning her attire for this morning event, normally held at our nearby community college.

I wish it didn’t have to be, and I mourned the news for about a day. The schools have promised to acknowledge their successful exiting students in some way on their individual campuses.

Frankly, I was surprised and actually disappointed in the response by the community. The students, understandably, are upset, and have rallied in opposition. Chalk it up to their age and that egocentricity young teens hang their hats on. It makes for great texting and Facebook chatter, another reason to dis the authorities. Except for the electronic methodologies, we did the same thing. What’s really upsetting to me is the number of parents and other adults who are up in arms. These must be folks whose heads have been firmly buried in sand over the past year or two, as the rest of us have watched this very serious budget disaster progress. Teachers, admins and clerical staff are losing jobs. Furlough days are taking students and educators alike out of the classroom. Class size reductions, something our schools have been so proud of, are history. Programs are competing for funds to stay alive.

Forty thousand dollars can save an art or music program. It can buy copier paper for the production centers. More, teachers can gain back those precious instructional days that would have been spent on promotion activities. Is it really so hard to let go of a pomp ceremony to celebrate our children having survived two years of middle school? What kind of message does that give them?

Let it go, parents, aunts, neighbors. Instead, spend that energy on thinking about what you can do to help our schools get through these next, few—euphemistically called “lean”—years, and explain to your outraged middle schooler that life will go on.

A. Montgomery, J. Sheratt, G. Carline and Yours Truly

Have you heard the simile, “busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs”? That’s one of my favorites, and a good descriptor of my last week. Started off last weekend with my attendance—or should I be saying “appearance”—at the Duarte Festival of Authors. What a fun day! Not only did I make some new friends, I got to catch up with writer pals Jeff Sherratt, Gayle Carline and Alyssa Montgomery, all Echelon Press pubbed authors. Also ran into Patty Kokinos, author of ANGEL PARK. Patty is just a delightful person, a smart, savvy cookie who’s also warm-hearted and compassionate. She’s now touting the second release of her fictionalized account of what’s wrong with our schools. Take a moment to check out her website.

As luck would have it, Gayle, Jeff and I were all on the same mystery panel. An enjoyable, educational experience. A highlight of the day was meeting the most affable Ray Bradbury. Alyssa had him autograph a new, hardbound copy of THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, and both Jeff and Gayle gave him copies of their books.

Sunday found me at WeHo- West Hollywood Book Fair. Weather was sparkle-bright, people were nice, as always. In the Sisters in Crime/L.A. booth I rubbed elbows with buddies Diana and Darrell James and several other top-notch mystery authors. Got to meet Eric Stone, author and my editor on “Just Like Jay”, slated for publication next summer in the SinC/LA anthology, “Murder in La La Land.” Eric was gracious and complimentary, and he made a fan of me.

On Monday I attended the local “State of the City” meeting and got to listen to our city council members tell all about everything they’ve done/are doing for our fair berg. Salmon lunch was tasty, conversation was good. Touched base with several people I haven’t seen in awhile. Tuesday I got my flu shot, yee-haa, and Friday I attended the press conference for friend David Gauny, (do you like his website?) who’s throwing in his hat on the city council race for 2010. Loads of fun. Capped off the week with Taste of Expo Friday night, sampling the wares of twenty local restaurants. Well, I only sampled three of the twenty.

Took it easy all weekend, naturally! My daughter-in-law returned home from Singapore today, I’m so happy to report. (My son came back 3 weeks ago.) We are all present and accounted for. Our weather has been cool the past few days, a huge relief to many. I know I will miss the warm weather, I always do. I can’t wait for late April and our lively California sun. It’s just me, I know.

A girlfriend stopped by today and gave me a miniature Heceta Head lighthouse! She went there on vacation with her family and, having read POINT SURRENDER, she thought to bring me back a gift as this is the lighthouse on the cover. It’s so cool.

Getting lengthy so I’d best shut up now. This week should be calmer, but I know I will be back into the weird book I’m writing so it will likely fill in any free time I’d otherwise have. Oh well. It’s what I do.

Okay, I’m also writing a new book. Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t be, with school, and the edits to CAPE SEDUCTION due on my desk at any micro-second. (Katie?) I’m also just gearing up to participate in the upcoming political campaign of a good friend. Fun, but time consuming.

Oh, the book? You want to know about that. Well, it’s about… a secret. I mean, the story is a secret. It’s different, WAY different than anything I’ve ever ventured into. I guess you could call it a romance, of sorts, and it involves two unusual, needy people who persist in getting into trouble and rescuing each other every few years. What’s so different about that? Well, not much, actually. It’s just that one of the characters is rather… androgynous. Or maybe a little gender-bent. There I go, spouting off secrets. Zipping lips now.

Have you heard about Echelon Shorts? Well, similar to Bermuda Shorts, only a lot more fun. The authors of short fiction at Echelon are blogging about their great stories. Hey, I think I’m there today! Yep—I’m there, yapping about WHEN HARRY MET SOLI. I love this little story. It’s great fun, about a little boy who is convinced he is the real Harry Potter. Easy, 30-40 minute ebook read for $3.00. Enjoy it today…

Let’s see… today is September 11^th, a day we do, and don’t, really want to remember. What I do recall was my husband sitting beside me on the bed as we watched (again and again) the towers burning, collapsing. He said to me, “the world will never be the same after this.” He was right, of course. Some good info on Patriot Day here.

Today is also my super duper smarty-pantz niece’s 18^th birthday. I can’t believe she made it this far without talking herself—and me—to death. Happy Birthday, Litter Box!

Heading out to the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow night with friends. Our last deal of the year. Blame it on Rio! With fireworks finale! Can’t wait.  (Note to self:  take extra cushion for aching back.)

Okay, chums, have a great weekend and hopefully I’ll be back on track next week…

Australian students using netbooks in the classroom.

Since Governor Swarzeneggar’s recent move to make digital textbooks a reality in California, I have been watching the process unfold and have listened to a dizzying array of public reaction. Typically, many people fire off opinions prior to becoming fully informed on the subject. Some fear that economically-disadvantaged students would not be able to keep up without computers and/or internet connections at home. Others cite the high cost of ebook readers as the shortfall of the project.

One thing’s for certain: there is a lot more to be researched and said. I’m not entirely sure that the Governor was totally up-to-speed himself as he proposed his mandate. And how could he be? Technology is changing rapidly, as hardware (ereader manufacturers) and software (textbook publishers) providers all scramble to provide the latest and greatest and more, do it first.

As previously mentioned, the Kindle DX is currently in use on several college campuses as students determine the strengths and weaknesses of the portable electronic book. One issue is the device’s inability to display in color, which diminishes the impact of science textbook photos and diagrams. History books, too, suffer under the monochrome limitation.

After reading about One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) a non-profit organization that strives to “empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child,” I thought, why not here? While it is certainly a worthwhile, altruistic goal to modernize education in Peru and Cambodia, why can’t we improve education in Bakersfield or Hemet in a similar fashion?

Naturally, when I was first introduced to the popular new “netbooks“, something clicked. Netbooks are fully-functioning laptop computers, missing only a CD/DVD drive and a pound or two in weight. Smaller keyboard, smaller screen, but internet capable. Beefy enough to handle word processing and ebooks. Retail priced lower than the Kindle DX. In color. Wrap it up with a rubber collared bump guard and you have a student-ready learning device.

No waiting around in Evansville, IL. The school district is acquiring thousands of netbook computers for their students and teachers. This pilot program will see the rental of these units to families for $70.00 each. The District is picking up the $45.00 balance of the $115.00 yearly rental fee. See the whole story here.

I envision a time when a high school will have its own wi-fi intranet, where teachers will upload and download lesson plans and tests will be instantly posted from students’ netbooks. I see textbooks with interactive, mini-videos embedded within. Who wouldn’t rather watch a reenactment or actual archived footage of an historic event than read through four dry paragraphs recounting same? Today’s students are point-and-click fanatics.

Read here about an Australian school where netbooks have already been implemented. Be sure to read comments made by 4th & 5th grade students. (Top photo courtesy Anne Mirtschin.)

As I mentioned above, there is still much ground to be covered. I look forward to being on the front lines.

There is a lot to write about with regard to digitally formatted books. Right now, my focus is on how to sell more of them. I buy almost exclusively ebooks myself, most of them from on-line bookseller Fictionwise. And no, I don’t read them on my computer. I have a small PDA (“Personal Data Assistant”) device — you may recognize the pioneer name “Palm Pilot” — that I download books onto and read at night in bed. I love it, and now have difficulty changing back to paper books on occasion. Since I read in bed, paper books don’t work because they require light, space and they make noise. Not to mention that they take up space on the shelf when they should still be standing in the forest. But that’s another issue.

By now, you’ve probably heard of the Kindle, Amazon’s offering in the digital book arena. Two of my friends own them and I must say, they are pretty nice. Kindles, along with their nearest competitor, the Sony Reader Digital Book, work for a variety of different scenarios. However, as they both utilize the revolutionary “eInk”, they don’t light up at night, and they don’t display in color.

Nonetheless, either of these (and several other) ereaders work  just fine for the reading of any of my seven available ebooks. Fictionwise, in fact, makes my titles available in no less than thirteen different formats for different readers. Prices range from 85 cents to $5.95 for my latest, full-length romantic mystery, POINT SURRENDER. Is that a bargain, or what? The paperback sells for $12.95 plus shipping. The savings is about $8.50, and it wouldn’t take too long to make back the price of the ereader, would it?

I believe that once the price on the ereader comes down to under $100, we will start to see greater momentum on the ebook front. The fact that California, Texas and other states are experimenting with digital textbooks is a good sign.

I’d like to know what others think. Others who are still on the fence, or starting to think more about going green with ebooks. What would make you switch?