Some of the things I’m particularly fond of, shared in no particular order, not even alphabetical: (Note: There are links in some of these. Hope you’ll follow them. Hope you’ll come back!) These often show up in my writing.

Cats. I’m currently very interested in feral cats, and in the development of kittens. I feed that interest by following the Feral Cat Rescue TinyKittens, which has a 24/7 YouTube feed.

Wordplay. I enjoy wordplay and puns – some would say I enjoy them far too much.

Music. My mother used to sing to me in her warm, rich, mezzo-soprano voice, and that richness still runs through my veins.

Figuring things out. Whether it’s a conundrum with my website, a crossword puzzle, or some other bafflement, I like to try to untie the knots and figure the thing out.

Books. I read a lot of middle grade novels, picture books, mysteries (cozy and occasionally not-so-cozy), self-help books on a wide range of subjects, etc., etc., and so forth.

Encouraging people. My dad used to live by the motto “Any good or kind thing I can do, let me not defer nor neglect to do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.” I’m trying to follow his example. I don’t always succeed, but it’s one of my touchstones in life.

Teaching. My mother contended that “we are all teachers,” and I agree with her. Although I have no formal training in teaching, I do a lot of it, and love it.

Hope. That’s a thread that runs through everything. I have a tendency to be anxious about things, and so I need to bring myself hope as well as bringing it to others. We all need to know there’s hope, despite how dark things become.

And much, much more. As Tennyson says in Ulysses, “I am a part of all I have met,” and I would contend that everything I have met is a part of me, for good or for bad.

I hope you’ll look around my website, read some of my blog, and I hope we’ll be friends. A person can never have too many friends.

I’m a member of SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) and CANSCAIP (The Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators, and Performers). I am part of Mary Kole’s Thriving Writers group. I spend a lot of time in the KidLit411 Facebook Group, as well.

With Emma Walton Hamilton, I co-host the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group. Membership is open to writers and illustrators of children’s books — aspiring, emerging, and published. We focus on posts that will help us hone our craft and learn more about the art of writing and illustrating for kids.

My Facebook Pages:

Beth Stilborn Writes — https://www.facebook.com/bethstilbornwrites

Flubs2Fixes Freelance Editing — https://www.facebook.com/flubs2fixes

My Bluesky:

@bethstilborn.bsky.social

Thoughts on Reading

Amazing, isn’t it? Awe-inspiring.

Marks, lines, dots on paper form words, meanings, emotions, dreams –

The writer takes the basic stuff of life,

and with carefully chosen words creates things dark or light,

that which inspires, that which challenges;

celebration, grief, fear, relief, joy, sorrow, combining at last into a unified whole.

So in life, our experiences – the basic stuff of life –

the dark, the light, the sorrow, the joy,

inspiration, challenge, celebration, grief, dream and memory

all build upon each other to one day form a unified whole.

It’s good, once in a while,

to pause and reflect

on all that has been written in our life story thus far –

and to give thanks.

© E.A. Stilborn, revised August, 2018

 

I wish I could remember learning to read. I’m fascinated by the process of how those marks and squiggles on paper become recognizable words in a child’s mind.

What I do remember is the forbidden cupboard in the corner of the classroom when I was in first grade. The readers (and likely other things) were stored in there, and we were NOT to open that cupboard. We were NOT to look at the readers that were still to come. Knowing that didn’t stop me from dragging a little wooden chair over to that cupboard at recess time, climbing up, and standing there reading to my heart’s content. I am forever grateful to my teacher for not enforcing the rules in that case.

From then on, I have spent many hours reading and re-reading, devouring books. For an only child growing up on a farm, books provided friendship, adventure, new ways of thinking – a world outside my own.

 

Thoughts on Writing

It was a natural step from reading so avidly to writing. I don’t think anything can approach my first attempt at verse (thankfully):

I hate measles,

They give me the sneezles.

I hate measles,

They give me the sneezles.

Looking back on it now, it seems rather repetitive, not to mention of questionable medical soundness. However, it was a start. I dabbled in writing from then on, trying various forms.

One night, many years after that first attempt, my mother asked me a simple question over the phone, as we talked about the anxiety that had me in its grip. Mum asked, “Why don’t you write?” That got me on the path from dabbling to writing seriously. It also gave me a focus in those anxious times. As with my gratitude to my Grade One teacher for silently encouraging my reading, I am forever grateful to my mother for that one simple question that opened up the world of writing to me.

I was soon filling notebook after notebook with novels, and parts of novels, and ideas for novels (oh, the writer’s cramp that ensued before I got a computer!) as well as hymn texts, picture books, whatever caught my fancy. Now, although some of my hymn texts have been published, my chief focus is fiction, and I love it. I concentrate on middle grade fiction, although the occasional picture book text grabs me from time to time. I am not yet published, but I’m working toward that goal. I live, and write, in hope.