Well hello everyone! I hope you all are well and had a Happy and Healthy Holiday and will have a Happy and Healthy New Year 2024!   I am still doing my artwork, but I have not published my latest works...  I do want to get back to my book. I am determined to finish it. I had some set backs, but now I am back on track. I am still seeing what my audience will be... I think it will be an age 12-17 age group. At first I thought it might be a novel, but now I am thinking it is more of a mini novel as it is smaller... and under 40,000 words so yeah a novella. It is not finished yet so it may still go to that or more... Will see...

But I am finding I am enjoying writing, but it is hard to find time to work on it being a full-time working Mom.  If you have read any of it so far... Tell me what you think of my writing style... I really don't know if it is any good...  It does have a duel time frame if you did not notice. It bounces from the current time set in the late 1970's back to the 1960's. It will probably finish in the 1970's. What a great time to be living!!  A fun time! Great music!

The idea of the story is to see how this young boy adjusts to hardships in his life and changes to a different location and new friends. The idea of fitting in... New schools and building friendships that last a lifetime... Terrible hardships and the difficulties of growing up... Falling in love... You know mushy and sometimes cringy stuff... You know life is messy at times and not always pleasant. The story is fictional, but has been drawn from some real experiences and some basis in fact.  They say you should write what you have experience in for it to be believable. That is so true! So read it and tell me what you think?

Cheers!

Ida

 Hello Everyone!

Well what an interesting 2 years this has been! I guess The pandemic has put a wrench in many people's plans... I, however, have been soldiering on as best I could... The book is still getting worked on and I have been working on my art.  I finished a lighthouse painting for my sister and a painting of my son when he was little with his Dad at the lake and I did some original floral paintings and some landscapes.  They turned out pretty good! I will try to post those in the future... I am juse very happy that my site is working again!!  Yippee!!! I would love to hear from other artists out there and how the pandemic has affected you or if you have actually had more time to create work!  

My Best,

Ida

Back to work as an artist!

 Hello!

Well who knew we would be in this COVID Crisis? Well the one thing that is nice is that I am home teleworking and I am doing more artwork. And I am back to blogging again.

 I have created two paintings, refinished several peices of furniture. One a classic 1950's chest of drawers and the other some McCoy Couch furniture. A dresser and mirror and a chest of drawers from the 1960's. And now I am started up writing again. I am trying not to go stir crazy being stuck at home more. So writing and physical work are keeping me out of trouble. Work fills my days and my hobbies keeps me out of trouble at the other time... How are others out there dealing with the COVID situation? How is home life working out? We are all teleworking at home. My husband and our son who is in college online and me teleworking from home...  Let me know the challenges...what do you do? How are you coping?

My Best

 Ida

 

 

Well I have been hovering behind the scenes...  I am currently working on more character development. The story is basic on fictional events.  But there are some characters that I drew inspiration from real people. I am working on the next chapter. I have another one already completed, but I have not posted it. If you would like to see more of the story you can join my site and let me know...  I know that the story will get more complex as time goes on... I have many more ideas floating around in my head.

In the meantime... I will get back to writing.  I hope that day-to-day life is treating other people well and everyone is treating each other with patience and kindness during these difficult times we live in... Find joy in your life....!  But for sure I am still here and actively working on this book. I am determined to finish it as I have many more ideas for my next one... Who knows...? It may be my retirement plan to keep me busy?  John will for sure have some more challenges ahead and more conflict will arise as his friendships evolve and he grows up... What surprises will there be? You have to wait and see?

Well after a two year absence I am back. And yes I am still working on my book. I now have my own laptop so I can work more efficiently on it so I will be able to contribute to it more. I have the work copyrighted so it is for my use only. But you are welcome to enjoy what I have posted and let me know what you think? I am on to chapter 8 now. 7 is finished and 8 is humming along... I feel it will probably be around 12-15 chapers by the time I am done. It may go longer depending on how the story works out. I have been working on the basement of my home and adding an art studio there so I can also work on my art. So I am going gang busters on it. It is so exciting to have an outlet for an artist person. It is also a great stress reliever for those out there needing some down time from the hectic day to day things in life... So when I get ready to I can post more, but I cannot post the entire book for fear of it getting stolen. If you like it you can join my blog site. As always... Keep creating!

Ida

A New Post! Chapter 6 Continued...My First Week of School...The demons that follow us... (Chapter 7 is in the works and almost done!...)

The first few days of 4^th grade were pretty uneventful. I started getting my first assignments right away as I had a little catching up to do. I started to get familiar with the students in my class. And as usual there were some strange kids in this class. There was this girl that sat to my right. She had glasses and long hair. She seemed pretty smart. And there was this strange kid named Frank who sat off to the side. He had a strange nasally voice and he was always raising his hand with numerous questions. Many of the kids seemed to know him from other classes as they almost always let out a big groan when he raised his hand. And then I noticed behind Emily was that kid that I saw hanging out with her in the neighborhood that day I saw them on their bikes. He was the tall kid. Now that I saw him closer I noticed he had Red hair. His name was Eric. He was tall and had a big warm smile and freckles on his cheeks. His eyes were a brilliant green color. There were a couple kids from my neighborhood in the class, Frank the strange kid being one of them and George was another. I sure hoped they were cool with me and maybe, just maybe I could make a friend or two? Mrs. Willard was a really nice teacher. She seemed to really care about teaching, which was nice. I always loved school. My favorite subject was math. At the end of the week I was so excited that it was Friday! I was collecting my things out of my locker which I shared with George when I heard Emily’s voice behind me, she was standing next to Eric.. So Eric, do you want to hang out this weekend and maybe go bike riding to the park? Yeah, I guess, what else is there to do around here… What about you George? George was standing next to me waiting to get his stuff next. George looked at her and kind of gave a lopsided shrug of the left shoulder. “I guess so”, said George. George was a shorter kid with a stocky build and blond hair with striking blue eyes. I was a little taller than George and had a slim build with brown hair like my mom and my eyes were brown like hers. “So John…” said Emily with a long pause in-between… “Do you want to hang out with us after school? I looked up at her from inside the locker. Me? Hang out? Of course hang out John. I was caught a little off guard as I didn’t really know these two kids she was with at all? They could be crazy! Or worse yet! They could be into sports of something and I knew I could not handle sports! I don’t even know how to hold a football let alone throw one! I had a bike, but I wasn’t that good at riding it yet. All kinds of thoughts were racing in my head in what seemed to me were like nano seconds. Emily obviously was growing inpatient as she asked me again. Well John are you going to answer me? Do you want to come riding with us? Before I could think more about it I said… “Sure.” Oh god, I said sure? Couldn’t I come up with a better thing to say than that! I imagine Eric and George are thinking that this is some loser standing in front of them… “Well okay”. Said Emily. Let’s meet at my house after we drop our school stuff. So we went our separate ways. I walked to my aunt and uncle’s house which wasn’t too far. Each step I took I was thinking to myself… Well now what? I hope I don’t crash my bike that would be really embarrassing… At least I did practice some over the summer. I dropped my stuff off at the house and asked my aunt if it was okay if I rode my bike with Emily and a couple of her friends. She said okay, but be back by dinner time. So off I went to Emily’s house.

As I approached the house I saw Emily, George, and Eric sitting on their bikes in front of Emily’s house. I rode up to them and Emily turned and noticed me. Hi John. Hi Emily, I said. I discovered that Emily was the leader of this pack and had a plan in store for us. And I believe they knew exactly where we were going. But I did not have a clue? So Eric, George, should we give John any warning or should we tell him where we’re going? “No way”, said Eric. “Let him find out right George?” George just kind of looked back and forth at Emily and Eric and said, well I don’t care, whatever, he’s going to find out eventually isn’t he? With that they told me to follow them. I thought we were going to the park, but I was wrong, so very wrong...

They took off fast peddling like mad and it was all I could do to keep up. They bounced up and down the curbs, zipping around parked cars. Their bikes would cross paths with each other and look like they were about to collide, and then at the last second they would miss and continue down the street. It was like watching a ballet with dancers moving with great precision and grace, each move choreographed. I was just happy to keep the bike pretty straight and keep up with them.

The continued on for a number of blocks as we wound our way through the neighborhood towards town… As we got closer we took a left on this small road that led to this older neighborhood down bu the river. They told me it was called Peaceful Valley. We started driving down the streets and I noticed how different these houses were from the one I lived in. They were very old, and a number of them were run down. We continued into the neighborhood until we stopped at this one lone house on a large fenced lot. We pulled up our bikes in front of this old house. “So why did we stop here?” I asked. Eric looked and me and said. “Do you really want to know?”. “Yes”.  George, meanwhile, was looking nervously around. “Just tell him Eric”, He said, “And then we can get out of here.”, “Well this is the house of a serial killer.” “What are you talking about?” I said. “You do know what a serial killer is don’t you?” “Yes, of course I do.” Emily was getting annoyed.“Knock it off Eric, just tell him what happened.” “Well, around three years ago there were a bunch of kids that went missing over a span of around 2-3 years, mostly around our age I guess, and the whole town was upset. The police department was trying to figure out what was happening to these kids. They found the bodies of a couple of the kids down in the river, their bodies had washed down stream and were found by some bums. At first they thought the bums were involved, but they were later let go. They helped the police track down the killer. It took them 3 years to solve it. My mom & dad told me not to go out after dark and to always stay with friends. That is why we always hang out together. I was standing there in shock. I stared at the house. Other than being run down, it didn’t look much different than any other house in the neighborhood, except that a killer that lived there. I felt a knot in my stomach like someone had punched me in the gut. I thought I was going to throw up… “God you guys, you really don’t want to quit talking about this?” Was George’s reply. It was an especially sensitive subject for him as he had a close call with a stranger about 1 1/2 years ago and he told his parents about it. The scary thing is the stranger matched the description of the killer from pictures of him in the paper. So naturally he was a little spooked. He was riding his bike alone down by the river. He was taking a different route then normal back to his house from school and he almost rode right into this man who was walking down by the river… He swerved to miss him, but the man turned around and tried to take a swipe at him and then shook his fist at him and told him to watch were the hell you are going! He didn’t know what he was doing down by the river… After that he always rode with friends and took a different way.

Emily also said she had noticed him up in their neighborhood. She said when she went to the park with her parents she would sometimes see him at the park just sitting on a bench watching the kids play on the swings. No one was with him, he just sat there, staring and smiling. It really gave her the creeps and her parents even asked him to move on as the children were uncomfortable with him there. He complied and smiled and left.

Eric never had the chance to meet the man, but what he had to say sent chills to my bones. He was quiet when he told me, his voice softened… John, sometimes life can change so quick! He stared off to the side… One of those kids that got killed. It was my little sister Sarah. She was one of the ones they found in the river… I remember that day about two years ago. I was at a friend’s house and my little sister was home with my mom. Dad was at work. My sister was too young to go to school yet so she was playing in the yard, my mom said she just took her eyes off her for just a second to answer the phone, There yard was fenced, but he must have been watching the house and when she was alone he reached over the fence and grabbed her. She was playing with our puppy outside. By the time my mom came out she was gone.. I will never forget her screaming in the neighborhood. They didn’t find her body for about 2 weeks. I had always wished I had been there and maybe I could have prevented it from happening. His eyes welled up with tears, but he stood straight and strong. I swear someday I’m gonna be a cop and catch people like that. Emily went over and put her hand on Eric’s shoulder. “I’m okay Em.” “It’s just hard sometimes.” Eric got off his bike and went over to the yard and found a rock and he pitched it with all his might at the house… Not satisfied—he picked up another even bigger rock and broke a window… It was like he was trying to get rid of something, maybe the hurt inside that he couldn't get out... The feeling that maybe things could have been different--if only... We each went over picked up a rock and threw it at the house… It was a simple gesture of defiance. Some type of closure for a terrible thing, a terrible awful thing that no child should go through or family for that matter…

We walked into the yard and looked around… I finally got up the courage to ask… Are there still kids missing? Yeah, said George. They never found the rest of them. They even dug up the yard and looked in the house. They say the ghosts of the missing children haunt this old house. I looked at them with bewilderment? Haunted? How do you know? Just come out here at night some time… Can we go home now? Cried George in his best whiney voice… Yes, let’s get the hell out of here was Emily’s response… With that we got back on our bikes and went back to Emily’s house…

 

Chapter 6 Attending a new school. They should have warning signs posted!---Here is the beginning of Chapter 6 as promised. I am working on more as we speak. As usual you can look at the older posts to read the book from the beginning. On my original draft I am re-working the grammar on it. This version posted is before the grammar is corrected so you are seeing the first draft.

Chapter 6        Attending a new school. They should have warning signs posted!

It was getting close to the end of Summer and Uncle George had already gone back to work after taking an extended vacation… Aunt Ida said it was time for us to go get registered for school. She taught at nearby Roosevelt elementary where she taught 3^rd grade. We headed out the door and down the street to the school. I was real nervous… I didn’t know anyone there? “I don’t know anyone there Aunt Ida.” I said nervously… “Don’t worry John, you will be fine.” She said. “Besides, it is the same school Emily goes to and a number of other children in the neighborhood go there too…” That didn’t reassure me much. There could be a whole lot of crazy going on in that school for all I knew… But it did make me feel better knowing that Emily went to that school and she didn’t seem too bad… For a girl anyway… “Aunt Ida.” I said; “Will Emily be in my class?” She said, “Unfortunately John she is in 4^th grade since she is a year older than you, or almost a year older I should say she will be in a different class.” Great I thought… I could be stuck in some class with some real weirdos… I am going to stick out like a sore thumb! I was not a kid who liked all the normal stuff kids like. I preferred to read, and I loved to do school work, and I didn’t like sports like football or baseball or things like that. After we talked for a while before I knew it we were approaching the school. The school looked like my school I remembered in Seattle, but a little more old looking. It was all brick with a small entry way in the front. My school was newer and more modern.  We made our way inside. the front. It was pretty small compared to the school I went to and it was really old looking inside. Kind of like the house that my aunt and uncle lived in. In a way I kind of liked that. I could almost feel all the students walking the halls and imagined it filled with students when school started. For now it was pretty empty except for a small line of people wating to register their kids for school. Since my aunt was a teacher there I was able to get in before the crowds started showing up just before school started. We went to the office and got the registration forms. As my aunt was filling them out I wandered through the school. There was wood everywhere. The floors, the stairs, wood trim around the doors and the doors were a solid wood and were really heavy… I started peering inside one of the classrooms down the hall… “Well hello there?” “Who may I ask are you?”said this young woman in a nice pretty floral dress. “I’m John, I am going to school here in September.” I said. “Well nice to meet your John, I’m Mrs. Willard. I teach 4^th grade here.” “Oh, well it is nice to meet you too.” “I wish you were my teacher.” I said. “Oh well John I’m sure I will be seeing you around.” She said. And with that I left and went exploring the halls some more. The halls were filled with pictures here and there on the walls of art projects and various picture of students and teachers. As I walked down the hall I could feel the old floor creak and moan with each step and the sound echoed in the long hallways. The walls were tall and I felt dwarfed in size in comparison. I felt a little bit like an alien visiting another world like watching episodes of the Old Outer Limits television show… The beginning of each episode always scared me, but I still watched it because I found it exciting. There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission and so on… I think that is why I preferred westerns. But I still did like a good scare off and on…  Aunt Ida came down the hall and found me looking in another classroom… She happened to come up behind me and startled me a little. “Hi John.” She said. I jumped a little and turned quickly around like I thought I might be in trouble. “Well.” She said. “Did you happen to look at the name on the top of the door to this room? “No.” I said. Then I looked up and it said. Mrs. Ida Johnson, Third Grade. “Oh, this is your room?” I said. “Yes it is John.” “Maybe you will end up in my class?”  I was hoping I would. I liked my aunt a lot! She was pretty cool as far as aunts went. We headed back to the house.

The first day of school was unnerving for me. My aunt and uncle had shopped for school clothes ahead of time and got me all ready. I had my school box and book bag all ready. Uncle George let me use one of his cigar boxes for my school pencils, etc. for my desk.My aunt and uncle escorted me in to my first day. I hated how the other students stared at me. The other kids had their parents bring them to school and their parents were much younger than my aunt and uncle were. I was feeling really self consious when Emily spotted me down the hall… She came skipping up to see me… “Hi John.” “Your first day at Rooselevelt huh?” she said. “Well you will get used to it.” “The teachers here are really nice!” Emily said. “Thanks Emily.” I said. And she skipped on down the hall her pigtails bouncing along with each skip. My aunt and uncle escorted me to my classroom and it was my aunt’s classroom. What a relief, I thought. I settled down into my seat that had my name on the desk and got ready for my first lesson.

The first few couple weeks of school went pretty uneventful. Except that my aunt was surprised to find out that I really understood most or all of the concepts taught in third grade. In fact! She was so impressed with my skills that she recommended to the school principal that I be moved to 4^th grade. I was not too surprised. School had always been pretty easy for me. I often got bored in school so my mom would get me books out of the library to read and would give me extra school lessons at home. My mom went to college herself and graduated with honors. Unfortunately she met my father and she fell in love, or so she used to tell me, and then she quit her career goals to be a mom. So I guess she tried to focus much of that onto me.

So I was moved to 4^th grade. I was the youngest 4^th grader in the class. I was a little bit scared of what the other students would think, but as I entered the classroom I saw sitting in the front row was Emily and she was smiling at me. And at the head of the class was Mrs. Willard. She said; “Well John, it looks like you will be in my class afterall.” She smiled at me and showed me where my seat was and it was right next to Emily’s seat. Well what do you know… Maybe there is hope for this group of weirdos. Or maybe they weren’t so weird afterall? Maybe I might be okay…One could only hope?