Alaskan Authors

The Ghost Who Took My Life Away

2009-04-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

Stebbins student Lovina Steve wrote this imaginative and scary story.

Courtney and Pulcheria were walking on the sidewalk. When they reached up to the playground they saw a ghost running to a girl. The girl was just standing there screaming her lungs out. Pulcheria and Courtney were scared. When the ghost saw the girls, it disappeared. Pulcheria looked at Courtney and whispered “Let’s go home before it comes again.” They both went home.

Courtney was at her house sitting down eating popcorn with a candy bar. When she heard something in the kitchen, she jumped up and grabbed a broom and turned on the light. She looked in the kitchen and saw the same girl that was killed near the playground. Courtney dropped the broom and just stood there doing nothing, until she heard the door bell ring. She looked at the door and then back in the kitchen. The ghost was gone.

Courtney went to the door to answer it. Pulcheria was standing there and said, “I saw the girl in my bedroom staring at me.” And Pulcheria slept at her house. Courtney was scared to go to sleep, so she decided to sleep in the morning. When she fell asleep in the morning she saw the girl in her dream. Courtney started to scream in her dream saying, “Wake up, wake up! Wake up you dummy!” Pulcheria came from the kitchen eating a hot dog, she saw Courtney shaking on the floor. Pulcheria dropped her food and picked up Courtney and said, “Courtney are you alright? Wake up Courtney! You are scaring me!” When Courtney heard someone yelling she woke up and she was crying. She told Pulcheria that she wished they never walked to the playground.

Courtney’s mom came home in the afternoon. She saw Courtney standing on a chair with a rope tied around her neck. Courtney’s mom ran to her and said, “Honey I need you to take off that rope and come down so we can talk this over.” Courtney looked at her and cried. She took the rope off and hugged her mom. When they were done talking Courtney’s mom said “Pulcheria’s mom and dad is looking for her. Do you know were she is?” Courtney said “She is upstairs sleeping on the bed.” Her mom went up stairs to wake up Pulcheria. When she went in Pulcheria was in the closet. Her eyes where wide open, she was pale as a sheet, and she was shaking. Courtney’s mom ran out, grabbed a blanket from the closet, and ran back to Pulcheria. When she got back she found broken glass on the bedroom floor. She looked at Pulcheria, who was holding a piece of glass in her hand, cutting herself ten times on the arm. By the time Courtney’s mom took the glass away, Pulcheria was already dead.

The police came over to the house to pick up Pulcheria. Courtney was crying, hitting the floor, and saying, “Why would you want to take Pulcheria away from me? She was the only friend I had!” One day Courtney decided to go look for the girl’s body. When Courtney found the body next to the forest, she said, “So this is you. I thought you were something else. Instead you are Maime.”

Courtney called the police and said, “I found the missing girl. Her name is Mamie Pete. I found her by the forest.” The police came by with the undertaker. Courtney went home and sat down on the coach. When she looked up she saw Mamie. Courtney jumped up , and asked her “What do you want from me?” Mamie looked at her and said, “I just want to thank you.” Then Mamie walked through the wall and she was gone.

Courtney sat down laughing, crying, and said “It’s over! It’s over! She left me alone!” Courtney had a happy day for the rest of her life.

A SCARY TALE

2009-03-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

Twelve-year-old Alice Otten wrote this paragraph after some brainstorming we did in her sixth grade class. When summer comes and she's not writing scary stories, Alice likes to swim and play ball.

One strange woman comes to Stebbins, walking down a dark, dark path. Then one moment, standing still, she hears a howl from the wilderness. Suddenly she is running and panting down the dark, deep path, running on her high heels, then sliding down the ice. Another howl, and then another. She trips on a nasty smelling, creepy crawling, gooey pile of bloodied beetles. She lies on the beetles, crying for help. Then in one sudden move, she dies.

Clear Rivers

2009-03-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last week the eleventh and twelfth graders in Stebbins (Tapraq) collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Clear Rivers

Pikmiktalliq
Daylight fades.
The wolf
Howls
Prowls
Woofs.
Her cubs whisper-bark beside clear water.
She thrusts, teeth like metal.
The rifle gleams,
Teeters on a rock,
Clatters to the ground.
The chase –
Ancient as time
Ended.

Stebbins 11th and 12th graders

Tundra Haunting

2009-03-24T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last week the ninth and tenth graders in Stebbins (Tapraq) collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Tundra Haunting

Little people capture
From a big world
Haunted by shadows, eerie and silent.
Thrashing
Dazed victims wrestle
With what they maybe see.
Time slows and stops
Forms change
Now there is wisdom.

Stebbins 9th and 10th grade

Blood Brothers in Stebbins

2009-03-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

Last week the seventh and eighth graders in Stebbins (Tapraq) collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Blood Brothers in Stebbins

Monstrous
Mesmerized
The whale trembles
Smells decay in its watery home.
Huge, the hunter charges, looms
Blood surges,
Red as sun
Setting on the village
Play-dead
Or die

Stebbins 7th and 8th graders

Bound up in Tapraq

2009-03-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last week the fifth and sixth graders in Stebbins (Tapraq) collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Bound up in Tapraq

Bounding bundle
Tundra giant on four hooves
The moose
Once angry,
Now silent.
Antlers hang above a window

Play dead, they said
But he attacked
Protecting
What he loved

Stebbins 5th and 6th graders

Spring returns to Stebbins

2009-03-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Last week the third and fourth graders in Stebbins collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Spring returns to Stebbins

A girl taps
The ice, half-frozen
Beneath, a tom cod
Circles, sprint-swimming.
Sun-soaked
The ice rots
The girl circles, dizzy
Like the salmon, leaping
Slippery
Slapping and shiny
With joy

Stebbins 3rd and 4th graders

Mouse in Stebbins

2009-03-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last week the second graders in Stebbins collaborated with me on a poem set in their village. They identified strong showing language from one of my books and used a map to brainstorm ideas from some of the words. Then we put it all together in this poem.

Mouse in Stebbins

Furry mouse
Scampers
Scurries
Squeaks
Under the house
Rustles the grass
Scared

Stebbins 2nd graders

COMING SOON: ALASKAN AUTHORS FROM STEBBINS

2009-03-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Following the Iditarod? Look south of the Unalakleet checkpoint and you'll find Stebbins, an Alaskan Native village of approximately 600 people. Ten miles away is St. Michael, where the Russian-American Company built a fort in 1833. The Yup'ik village Tapraq was renamed Stebbins in 1900. Families here depend on hunting for seal, walrus, caribou, and beluga whale, as well as subsistence and commercial salmon fishing. The people of Stebbins have relatives in Hooper Bay, Kotlik, and Chevak.

I'm visiting Stebbins for three days of writing workshops. We're discussing why writing matters, how authors read to write, how authors write to show, and how we make our writing better. Yup'ik is no longer the first language in Stebbins. Few Yup'ik-speaking elders are left. With the older students, we're discussing a quote from Sarah James: "We are the ones who have everything to lose." We're also studying writing from Velma Wallis, Willie Hensley, George Guthridge, Seth Kantner, and Joan Kane along with exerpts from my own books.

Already I've encountered an enthusiastic and accomplished writer, Donna Erickson, who studied with Velma Wallis and Sherry Simpson at workshops in Unalakleet. She has given me permission to post her narrative "Keep your Stitches Tight." Watch for it here or at 49 Writers. I'll also be posting the best work from Stebbins students right here.

ALASKAN AUTHORS REDIRECT

2009-01-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

You'll now find me blogging at 49 Writers, where Andromeda Romano-Lax and I are building an online community of Alaskan authors and their readers. Come visit, leave a comment, become a follower, make us your home page, offer to be a monthly Featured Author, contact us about an occasional guest post - whatever your level of involvement, we're happy to have you on board.

I'll no longer be posting at Alaskan Authors, but we'll hang onto this domain name while we think about how we can best use it to promote the Alaskan authors and their work. Maybe a collective website where each author has a page with links to their books? Hosting online critique groups or books clubs? Posting snippets of works in progress by both published and hoping to be published authors? Send us your ideas about making good use of the www.AlaskanAuthors.com domain name.

EDITORIAL POLICY

2008-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

We welcome your comments. Be advised, however, that it is our policy to delete the following:

• Comments that are abusive, off-topic, or excessively foul in language
• Comments celebrating the death or illness of another person
• Comments containing racist, sexist, homophobic, or ethnic slurs
• Comments posted elsewhere on the site (thread spam)
• Comments posted with the intent of provoking others

We encourage authors to approach us about promoting their work. However, we reserve the right to make editorial decisions about what we promote and how it is promoted, and we discourage comments made solely for the purpose of soliciting or advertising products or services that are not within our scope and mission.

Email addresses on file at 49 Writers will be neither sold nor, as a matter of policy, distributed without permission. We send emails judiciously and at our discretion. While we are happy to post news and information on the blog, our policy precludes third party email solicitation using our address bank.

Our community of readers benefits from a diversity of voices. If you would like to write an occasional guest post or if you’d like to be featured as a guest blogger, check out our guest blogger hints and guidelines.

GUEST BLOGGER HINTS, IDEAS, AND GUIDELINES

2008-12-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

By serving as a guest blogger, you're helping build the community at 49 Writers, and you're also seizing an opportunity for free (though not blatant) promotion of yourself and your books. Our goal is to feature an Alaskan author each month. We'll post your photo and a photo of one of your books. In return, you email one or more short posts a week - by short, we mean a few paragraphs that you write in fifteen minutes or so.

If you're not interested in a month-long commitment, we still love to publish occasional guest posts of interest to our readers. Contact us with your idea and we'll see how it fits in.

Even well-published writers can be put off by the idea of blogging. What will I talk about? How will readers respond? And most off-putting of all, how much of my valuable time will I spend writing something for which I won’t get paid?

The good news: Blogging is fun. It’s easy. And while we won’t be sending a check, we can (just about) promise a nice pay-off in connections with readers and spreading the word about the great stuff you write (and get paid for).

When blogging, you don’t need to labor over every sentence. Be spontaneous! Have fun! Celebrate your voice! (But please, while we want you to get excited, tuck those exclamation marks away for another use.)

Now - serious tips, some from our own experience and some gleaned from The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging – with 260,000 registered members posting up to 20,000 comments a day, we figure they know what they’re talking about.

• Your audience: Our readers love books and writing and Alaska. Some are well-published; others are somewhere on the road to publication. Others have no aspirations to write but love to know how writers think (scary, isn’t it?)
• What to write: What engages you will engage your readers. Spin off something you read or heard or saw online. Or share a random thought, a snippet of what might develop into a full story or article if you had the time or inclination. Or focus on a specific detail, whether it’s the view from your window or a factoid that gets you riled up or pondering. If you’re really stumped, try a short op-ed formula: state your point, illustrate with an anecdote, give a short history of the debate, argue your side, consider the opposition, and end with a good walk-off. But that’s only if you want to op-ed.
• How to write: No need to fully develop your ideas. Get them out there and let readers join the dialogue. Write like you speak. Your readers want authenticity, not perfection. And write short. More than 800 words probably won’t get read.

And courtesy of Gretchen Rubin (Happiness Project Blog), a few for-what-they’re-worth, take ‘em-or-leave’em tips:

• Be funny (not required, but a little humor never hurts)
• Give smart information (when you have it; some days it’s all we can do to type a complete sentence)
• Reveal your character
• Tell a story
• Give a picture of what it’s like to live where you live

Skim through our posts, and you'll get an idea of how blogging differs from formal publication. Pay special attention to the posts that generate comments. They're not necessarily the longest or the most thought-out; often, it's the short and immediate that connects with readers.

A few mechanical points: Use ALL CAPS for titles of your own books, italics for titles of other books. You can include links to other websites and blogs within your post - in fact, we encourage it. Just copy/paste the URL into your post and we'll magically transform it into a link.

Ready to sign on? Fill out our contact form if you haven't already. We'll assign you a month or give the green light to your topic. Copyright remains yours, of course; if we receive a request for a repost on another site, we'll run it by you first.

ALMOST LIKE CHRISTMAS

2008-12-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

The anticipation. The longing. The excitement of waking up early on the long-awaited morning to find...

Alaskan Authors and 49 Writers have merged! No, it hasn't happened yet, but it will in just two more days. More scoop and heads-upping tomorrow, but today Andromeda suggested we share the results of our reader survey (her reader survey, really - I just begged and pleaded with you to hop over there for a moment to share your thoughts). So here it is, copied with permission from 49 Writers, No Moose:

Your favorite features are about Alaska books (95%), as well as personal musings or commentaries (90%), though the numbers were fairly well spread out, which tells us you like a mix, and that's what we'll keep doing. You also appreciate the sense of community fostered by the blog (75% said that).

You want more events and opportunities listings and a reliable calendar that can become THE go-to place for Alaska readers and writers. Heard ya' -- doing it! And we'll need your help to keep the listings current. Please send all announcements after Jan. 1 to Deb Vanasse, who will put them into the Friday Alaskan Authors Roundup; we'll both keep a calendar of listings running at the bottom of the blog.

You don't care that much about contests. (We'll still try to do one every few months, but thanks for giving our wallets a rest.)

Other comments that warmed my heart included:

You are just fine as is. Would hate to see you become like someone else.

You're great the way you are--an original and fun-to-read and informative blog

I like opportunities for lots of folks to weigh in on writing issues/questions, because I like to hear how other writers are dealing with some of those issues.

It's a super blog, and one I find myself checking several times a week. Just keep it up. You have a good mix of material, and you're great at updating it regularly. I wouldn't mind more recommendations about other websites, blogs etc. in the publishing industry, but I do enjoy the ones you already recommend. Thanks!

You're doing a great job, Andromeda, keep it up. And congrats on getting some blogging help, to prevent burnout (I hope).

Yee-hah and amen! (That's Deb talking.) Thanks to Andromeda for putting this all together.

LOOKING BACK

2008-12-29T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's that reflective time of year. Being an odd combination of practical, disciplined, and impulsive, I make a business/writing plan every year but refuse to punish myself over any goals I fail to meet. Today, I'm looking back even further, to when I first started publishing, both offline and on.

Politically hopeful, economically devastating, 2008 was a year of transition for me. Defying all logic, I plunged into a full set of life changes in 2007, including a transition to writing full time that began when I moved to Anchorage in April. Living on half a pension and the diminishing returns from my investments, I focused first on the bottom line, taking on any and all writing projects that would keep my bank account in the black.

Now I know I can support myself by writing, even if it means shopping at Value Village instead of Nordstroms. In the last months of 08, with the economy in a tailspin, I've given myself permission to return to my first love, fiction, and to move beyond the children's market, where I first published. That's not to say that writing for children is in any way inferior to writing for adults or that I won't return to it one day. But I have stories to tell that go beyond the genre.

Like many, I tiptoed through the backdoor to embrace my passion for writing. In college, I studied journalism, then switched my major to English. Given the tough road to employment for English majors, my advisor suggested certification in teaching, and in 1979, I became one of three high school teachers in the Yupik village of Nunapitchuk, Alaska. Teaching was a joy, but I set my sights on Alaska's twenty-year teacher retirement so I'd have the time, and hopefully the money, to write.

Twenty years went by fast. I got a Masters in Humanities because an MFA seemed impractical while working fulltime and raising a family. In 1994, I took a summer writing course for teachers. Claire Rudolf Murphy encouraged me to develop a story into a novel for young adults, and when I was done, she suggested I send it to her editor, the venerable Virginia Buckley. In 1997, A Distant Enemy came out, followed by a Out of the Wilderness in 1999, the year I retired from teaching.

My plan to sashay from teaching to writing failed to take into account the outrageous cost of college for my children. So I detoured into real estate, working the market in what proved to be its best years, for the first time making really good money, but always with an eye on exiting once I'd made what I needed to help the kids. Rising early, I'd juggle some writing between real estate calls. I drafted two novels and got an agent. In retrospect, the novels suffered from my lack of attention and my agent, while enthusiastic, didn't have the perspective to see they needed work.

I did what good kids' writers should do - signings and school visits and speaking at state and national conferences. But there were too many plates to juggle. I scaled back, discovered a fantastic regional publisher, and did commercial books that continue to sell nicely.

Fairbanks is a great community for children's writers, thanks to Nancy White Carlstrom starting a chapter of SCBWI that remains active decades later. Anchorage - not so much. I attended the Bouchercon sponsored by Alaska Sisters in Crime in the fall of 2007 not because I wrote mysteries but because I was desperate to connect with other writers. There I attended a couple of sessions on blogging, including a panel by five mystery writers blogging together at Naked Authors. Wouldn't it be cool, I thought, if Alaskan authors could blog like that? A couple authors at the conference seemed enthusiastic, but when it came down to the wire, I did a solo launch of Alaskan Authors a few days later.

Enter Andromeda Romano-Lax, who began blogging at 49 Writers, No Moose with the same idea of creating a forum and platform for Alaskan authors and their work. Acknowleging our similar vision, we began almost immediately to look toward merging our blogs down the road.

And here we are, down the road and approaching the intersection. Beginning January 1, Andromeda and I will both be posting at 49 Writers, No Moose. Knowing how you love to read and re-read my deep thoughts and passing fancies, I'll transfer all my archival posts over there, and next year we'll find other good uses for the Alaskan Authors domain.

Andromeda and I couldn't be more excited about the growing online community of Alaskan authors and their readers. Welcome aboard!

COMFORT AND JOY

2008-12-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

Though it's far from family Outside, Alaska is a great place to enjoy the holidays. There's always snow (usually fresh) and good reason to enjoy a warm fire. If you can't find fun outdoors, you're just not looking. Indoors, no excuse is needed for snuggling up with a good book.

Here's to all good books, written and yet to be written. Merry Christmas!

NAVEL GAZING

2008-12-23T12:01:00.001-08:00

In the midst of a beach read, my daughter pointed out that she liked the term "navel gazing." I broke my "not over fifty" bikini vow so was engaged in some literal navel gazing at that moment. Take-away point: belly skin burns.

I just finished reading a book on blogging - yes, the irony of reading about an electronic form in print - as an exercise in navel-gazing. Lots of blogs are born every minute, so there are lots of little blog navels to behold. I'm just looking at mine, of course. And Andromeda's over at 49 Writers, if that doesn't sound too kinky or weird.

Blog stat services tell us who's reading when and from where. What they don't tell us is why. Do you like posts about books? Interviews with authors? Random thoughts from authors who happen to live in Alaska? Musings on the joys and traumas of writing and publishing? Whatever pulls you in, we'd like to know. Swing by 49 Writers and take the one-minute survey (I know, I know, I've mentioned it before) or email me at debv@gci.net.

I'M BACK!

2008-12-22T09:48:00.000-08:00

Let me just say that non-stop flights from Anchorage to Maui on Alaska Airlines are a very good thing. The red-eye return took a little getting used to, but a couple of hours in my own bed and a full day of fun back home revived me quite nicely. My daughter had a tougher time of it. She battled snow on Vancouver Island to get to Maui, and thanks again to snow, she had to overnight in Seattle and take the train to Portland, where she's now hunkering down for the holidays.

On yesterday's solstice, fog settled in and then lifted to a long and glorious sunset that inked the mountains in shadowy pinks and blues. The boxer went for a long trot in the snow. She's toughening to the cold. Unlike the poor folks to the south, we're hoping for a good dusting of snow to celebrate the lengthening days.

Please remember to take a moment for the survey at 49 Writers, where I'll be posting beginning January 1. Your thoughts will help much with our 2009 launch.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

2008-12-19T10:55:00.000-08:00

Confession: I am pretty much completely out of the loop this week. But I do want to make sure you take a moment for the survey at 49 Writers. Your input is vital as Andromeda and I wile away the last few days of 2008 forging a new and improved blog for you in 2009.

Watching a hula revue last night (yes, this is what's passing for literary stimulation here at the beach), I was struck by the similarity of dance as story across cultures. Drums, graceful hand gestures, skilled movements, an overriding sense of gratitude for the provision of the land. Cover some skin, add dance fans, and you've got something very close to native dancing, Pamyua style. And in case you haven't heard, Barrow's Suurimmmanichuat dance group will be performing as part of Barack Obama's inauguration festivities. Read all about it over at the Alaska Dispatch.

FOLLOW YOUR GUT

2008-12-18T11:29:00.000-08:00

Does karaoke count as creative work? As in, I have no talent so I have to compensate by flailing limbs and gyrating? Ah well. I'll be back at real work next week.

Recently an author did an experiment. He asked writer to critique stories which, unbeknownst to them, had already been published. They told him all sorts of changes for making them publishable.

That's not an excuse to ditch good critiques. Rather, it's a reminder to solicit valid feedback and then follow your gut.

LONE WOLVES

2008-12-17T14:07:00.000-08:00

A couple of postcards make up my body of work for the past couple of days, but I did cart Writer magazine to my poolside perch, where I read NBA finalist Anne Spollen's article "A lone wolf meets the pack."

In writing about how she eschews writers' groups, I suspect Spollen channeled the thoughts of a fair number of Alaskan writers. A lot of us are lone wolves by nature if not circumstance. Support - no thanks. We'll tough it out.

Like Spollen, I'm not interested in rah-rah groups. And while I love a good critique, I'd rather swallow the cold, hard truth about my WIP from a writing friend who knows my thick skin and like me, wants my work to be my best. Still, interaction with creative, focused writers energizes my work.

As we plan for next year, Andromeda and I hope our blog will give writers the best of all worlds - no-strings camaraderie and a platform for promoting our work, a place for lone wolves to howl together when they feel like it.

BEACH READS

2008-12-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

A little time at the beach, and I'm wondering if there are Alaskan equivalents of the beach read. Or does Alaska not lend itself to that type of reading?

PIPI HOLO KA'AO

2008-12-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

That's Hawaiian for "A well told tale travels far and wide." Have a few to tell already but mostly I'm stockpiling Vitamin D for the rest of the winter. I do miss Alaska, but there's something about the beach...

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

2008-12-12T10:35:00.000-08:00

The optimism was short-lived. Nielsen reports book sales for the first week of December are down 2 million as compared to last year. The bright spot is children's fiction, up 24%, mostly attributable to a couple of blockbusters. We won't detail all the latest layoffs and pay freezes in publishing. Suffice to say no one's holding out for $77 per hour.

Writers, one of Alaska's political blogs wants your help. The Alaska Dispatch, launched last August, is soliciting commentaries and stories from Alaskans and former Alaskans. For details, read their post, "Where Do We Go From Here?"

Kudos to Willie Hensley, interviewed here earlier this week. His memoir Fifty Miles From Tomorrow was a Publisher's Weekly Pick of the Week.

Finally, if you've been keeping up at 49 Writers, you know that Andromeda Romano-Lax and I are plotting furiously toward a blog merger to launch (we hope) January 1. Look for us to double the fun (and serious stuff, too) with new and exciting features. We'd love your input, so leave a comment or two about any changes you'd like to see.

FROM THE ROAD

2008-12-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Fairbanks author Debbie Miller reports from Boston, where she's doing school visits - the children's author's version of a book tour. In the works, she has:

Survival at 40 Below: Life in the Arctic: illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. (Walker, 2010) This picture book explores the unusual adaptations of animals that live above the Arctic Circle including the Arctic ground squirrel, wood frog, Alaska blackfish, musk ox, caribou, chickadee, and willow ptarmigan.

Wild Moments: a new anthology edited by Michael Englehard (University of Alaska Press, 2009) This is a collection of essays by many nature writers from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Each essay relates to a meaningful encounter with a wild animal. Debbie's essay, "Glad Singer", focuses on the American Dipper, the only aquatic songbird in North America. Other Alaska authors in this collection include Richard Nelson, Nancy Lord, Peggy Schumaker, Carolyn Servid, and Hank Lentfer. This one comes out in February.

Thanks, Debbie, for checking in.

BRING ON THE ALPHA

2008-12-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

Winter solstice is just eleven days away. For us Alaskans, that's a big deal, because it means that we'll turn the corner and start gaining daylight. Right now, we're down to about five hours of daylight in Anchorage. Make that close to three in Fairbanks. And the folks up in Barrow - well, let's just say they might as well walk around with their eyes closed.

Which is how a lot of us spend our time in the winter. Lest we feel slovenly about the temptation to sleep, it's good for us writers to review studies on alpha brain waves. In particular, researchers say we're likely to wake from power naps bathed in alpha waves, which inspire concentration and enable access to our elusive subconscious.

Not that this is an excuse for writers to sleep the day away. In fact, if you nap too long, you're more likely to to delta waves that make you feel groggy and even more sleepy. And you can bring alpha waves to the fore with other activities, such as yoga and meditation. Even closing your eyes and rolling them upward activates a burst of alpha wave energy.

Still, I'll take an excuse for a power nap on just about any day in December.