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Introducing the See Jane Advisory Board

Introducing the See Jane Advisory Board

Introducing the See Jane Run Advisory Board gives me great pleasure. The board’s formation came about when the 7 and 4-year-old grandchildren were back seat passengers in our car a few days after Christmas, 2022. Hiram was driving so I directed all my attention to the following conversation. It began when the 7-year-old became curious about the box on the seat between him and his sister. It contained copies of See Jane Run! and See Jane Sing!. The 7-year-old opened the box and used his burgeoning reading skills to read the titles, emphasis on burgeoning as you’ll see below.

“Is Seejane the girl on the front of these books?” he asked.

“Yes, but since there’s a space between ‘See’ and ‘Jane’ it’s pronounced ‘See Jane.'” I explained.

“Oh, I see. Jane is the girl. Why are there different covers?”

“Because they’re two different stories. The first is See Jane Run! and the second is See Jane Sing!”

“What kind of books are they?”

“They’re mysteries. Jane catches bad guys.” I added a bunch more, but all of you have heard the spiel, so there’s no need to subject you to it again.

The 4-year-old piped up. “Are you going to write more of these books?”

I told them about the upcoming titles, See Jane Dance! and See Jane Dig! With that the floodgates of their imaginations burst wide open.

“Grammy, you should write See Jane Christmas!” said the 7-year-old.

“That’s a great idea, and there’s actually a Christmas program in See Jane Sing!

Back to the 4-year-old. “How about See Jane Halloween! instead?”

“I have a better idea,” said the 7-year-old. “See Jane Underground! where they go to London and catch bad guys in the underground subway.”

“Or See Jane Invisible Hole! where they dig a hole and it’s invisible and Jane jumps in and the bad guys don’t see it and they fall in…”

The 4-year-old went on and on, but I missed the gist of her plot line because my mind was on how anyone would see Jane do anything in an invisible hole.

“Grammy,” interrupted the 7-year-old. “You could make Jane statues to sell. And tee-shirts.”

“And earrings,” added the 4-year-old. “And you could give Jane a sword and a shield and a gun to shoot bad guys,”

“Jane doesn’t like guns. She doesn’t own one.”

The 4-year-old gasped and after a dramatic pause proclaimed. “You could write See Jane Freeze! and Elsa from Frozen could freeze the bad guys.”

“How would you two like to be members of the See Jane Advisory Board? I’ll serve treats at meetings.”

“Yes,” they shouted as my husband pulled into the garage.

That, dear reader, is the humble beginning of the See Jane Advisory Board. Leave a comment if you’d like to join the team. I’m not sure how much we’ll get done at our meetings. However, I can assure you that our gatherings will be entertaining and there will be treats!

 

The See Jane Sing! Book Cover Is Here

The See Jane Sing! Book Cover Is Here

The See Jane Run! Book Cover Is Here

The See Jane Sing! book cover is here and ready for the world to see.* Even better, the publisher will soon list it on Amazon. I’ll give you a head’s up, as well as roll out the pre-order bonuses, when the time comes. Here are some tidbits to whet your bookish appetite until then.

  • Midwestern Books will release See Jane Sing! in October or November. That’s a month or two later than originally planned, but not by much.
  • The events in the story start the Saturday after Thanksgiving and end on Christmas Eve. Which means this book is a Christmas mystery. That wasn’t my intent, but I must stay it worked out quite nicely.
  • Hiram, my husband, is of the same opinion. In fact, he gave it the coveted Hiram Seal of Approval.
  • Back to the Christmas theme…the wreath hanging from the “G” in the title was my idea. I’m very proud of my contribution.
  • In my humble opinion, this book has Hallmark Christmas Movie potential.
  • A call to join the See Jane Sing! launch team will be coming soon. It would be great to have you be a part of it.

So what do you think of the cover? Leave a comment below to share your thoughts.

*Those who attended the See Jane Run! book launch party in June got a sneak peek at that event and free chocolate. Which proves that live events are replete with amazing perks!

Country School Christmas Programs and Santa Suits

Country School Christmas Programs and Santa Suits

Country school Christmas programs were a big deal and still are where country schools still exist. That’s why preparing for the Christmas program plays a major role in See Jane Sing! In fact, the progress of the program is a device I use to drive the story’s sense of urgency. Jane wants to solve mystery before the Christmas program as the morning after the big show she will go to her parents’ home in Iowa for Christmas break.

But enough about that.

The purpose of this post is to focus on the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes in the above picture. But first, a word about the amazingly adorable models, Shawn Burghduff and Mary Philippe, who were third graders when they nabbed their starring roles in that year’s program. The picture evokes equal parts joy and sorrow when I see it. Joy to have been their teacher for three years and sorrow over Shawn’s death due to a freak illness when he was not yet thirty. When See Jane Run! is released, it will be dedicated to him.

Give me a minute to stop crying.

Okay, I’m back with some fun facts about the Mr. and Mrs. Santa costumes.

  1. I made the costumes. Except for Mrs. Claus’s striped apron and Mr. Claus’s black belt. Their parents supplied those.
  2. When we moved to Iowa, the music teacher borrowed the costumes every year for the third grade Christmas program.
  3. Before the first borrow, I made a white, ruffled apron and matching mob cap for Mrs. Santa.
  4. My daughter wanted to be Mrs. Santa Claus for Halloween when she was in second grade. I bought granny glasses, washed and ironed the costume, and boom, it was ready. She was adorable, and my propensity to save costumes was vindicated.
  5. I still have the costumes. They’re too big for my grandkids, ages 2 and 4, but that doesn’t stop them from playing dress up in them.
  6. Every time the costumes come out, I think of Shawn and cry happy tears.

Give me another minute to find a tissue.

Okay, I’m back with one last observation related to fictionalized scenes about country school Christmas programs. They take me a long time to write and use a lot of tissues.

Go figure.

Sign up to receive website updates and See Jane Run! book news on Gravel Road’s home page right under the picture of–you guessed it–the gravel road.

Tips for Making Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments

Tips for Making Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments

Cinnamon-applesauce ornaments are a wonderful craft for kids ages 3 and older. These 3 tips can make the activity more fun for everyone.Over the weekend, I made cinnamon-applesauce ornaments with my three-year-old grandson. I had every intention of taking pictures of the completed ornaments and blogging about the revised recipe we created.

However, the excitement and energy of the sweetest three-year-old in the universe drove away every thought of picture-taking and writing down our recipe. Which meant moving on to Plan B: linking to the original recipe for cinnamon-applesauce ornaments (which we doubled) and sharing a few tips to make your ornament creation extravaganza a success.

  1. Absolutely do roll the dough out between layers of plastic wrap. Otherwise, the dough will stick to the rolling pin. Don’t ask how I know this.
  2. If you use a straw to poke holes in the ornaments, clean the straw off every few holes. Otherwise, the straw gets sticky and doesn’t make a clean cut. You could also snip off the end of the straw or use a new straw every so often.
  3. Position the straw to poke holes at least an inch below the top of the ornament. If you don’t, the dough will crack and the ornament will be ruined.