Category Archives: Story

Half Broke Horses, a Book Review

Book Review: Half Broke Horses   Jeannette Walls

 

Are you looking for a heroine? I was given the book Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls, what a story! I owe my friend a huge thanks. I love a good story, adding horses, is even better. This novel is based on the life of the author’s grandmother. Her lifetime tumbled from the ranch, horse breaker, schoolteacher, pilot, wife, and parent. This dynamo of a woman lived a real life that is the stuff legends are made of. The author calls it a novel as she needed to fill in detail that was not left in the treasure of family stories.

I love historical family stories. That is what made this book such a delight to read. The author Jeannette Walls has taken the oral history of her grandmother’s life and made us never forget it. I highly recommend this book to the reader who loves historical stories, the West, and a powerful woman.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Are you afraid to walk in the dark, dark.   When something goes bump in the night do you shiver?   Does a wolf howl raise your heart rate?     Do you love a campfire and story?                                                  I’ve got a story for you!   In fact, I have Thirteen Spooky Stories      … Continue Reading

Ancestors at Sea

Did your ancestors work  the sea? What immigrant ship did your ancestors arrive on?  Tell family stories with accuracy to detail, with a visit to a nautical museum or website. Here are some places to begin your voyage of discovery, the family stories from the sea. The whale boat above, is an image from Mystic Seaport,… Continue Reading

5 Ways to Preserve Family Stories

The teen sat on the park bench, hungry, tired, jobless, a boy of New Haven, Connecticut. He wondered what the world would hold for him. He sat staring into space, after awhile his focus landed on a beautiful girl across the street, near the corner of Church and Chapel Streets. She was made of wood! It was… Continue Reading

5 Tips for Memorial Day Family Stories

Memorial Day 2015  Who in your family has a story that needs to be collected before it’s too late? How did they serve our nation? Where were they sent in the service? What branch of the military were they in? My father; the late Herman F. Marshall, a member of the U.S. Army, during WWII.… Continue Reading

Revolutionary Family Stories

From “The British are coming , the British are coming”, to  “We the people”, the time of the American Revolution spun a great many family stories. Some of the names, faces and characters are well known from our history lessons. Many are unknown and buried in  a couple of centuries of dust.      To unearth… Continue Reading

Simple Pleasures – Christmas Spirits

Simple Pleasures – Christmas Spirits

A few years ago this story fell in my lap. I was hunting for something to share over the holidays and piece by piece this came to me. It was as if the story had been waiting to be found and  left a trail of clues for me to follow. “Christmas Spirits” is historical fiction.… Continue Reading

Participatory Storytelling

Participatory Storytelling

Re-posting a blog on Participatory  Storytelling, crossing platforms and geographic area to engage people in a  blogs, Facebook, tweets and other social media to tell a final story when all the components are gathered. I loved the Three Little Pigs segment to access via QR code. Check it out looks like fun! By: Robert Pratten Link:  Participatory Storytelling… Continue Reading

Teach Storytelling to Middle School Students- YES!

Teach Storytelling to Middle School Students- YES!

Saying yes to teaching a spring vacation storytelling class was a “no brainer”, as the kids say. I love helping kids discover their voice and the power of story….. Day One  Four rotations will come to me over the course of the day. Each group will have a high school aged guide. They will stay… Continue Reading

How To Skype

How to use Skype for live image conversation, meetings and  how to workshops.You could be practicing a story with a friend far away! This video is great but it starts a little to far in the experience for a very new user. First be sure your computer has a built in web cam or purchase one… Continue Reading

5 Tips to  Make Your Presentation a Story to Remember

5 Tips to Make Your Presentation a Story to Remember

Dedicated to the students at the E.O.Smith High School  Depot Campus a Big Picture School.  Good Luck on your exhibitions! 1. Dress For Success 2. Speak to be heard and understood, don’t just talk- tell the story 3. When using photos – make them high quality ( they are speaking for you)                                         Above a… Continue Reading

Connecticut Harvest a Corn Story

Connecticut Harvest a Corn Story

Corn Harvest in Connecticut is  a story of 2011 rain and mud. For every day spent out trying to chop corn into much needed corn silage there is three days of rain. In the spring we had so much rain we couldn’t plant all the fields some had standing water in them.                                         Ruts in the… Continue Reading

“Change The Story” A TedX Talk

“Change the Story”   A TedX Talk / CalgaryIs our non-profit, community group, church or civic  group stuck in a changing world? Do we need to look at things in a new fresh perspective, a new story?  I found some great advice and motivation in this Ted Talk filled with ” the intersection of leadership and STORY!”  “Carolyn,                                                               … Continue Reading