A. W. Downer

What a fun idea! For Christmas, my publisher, Chicken Scratch Books, is hosting a Book Tasting to celebrate their first 15 books published. Authors will read the first few pages of their books to give you a “taste” for the book. Then you can decide which books match the readers on your gift list! It’s… Continue reading

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The next release to drop from Chicken Scratch Books is another by Hope Bollinger. You may remember her as the author of The Cassandra Curse. I just finished the ARC (it comes out next month), and I bawled my eyes out. I cry easily, especially when I find something deeply moving, so the fact… Continue reading

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’m trying to catch up on the ARCs I’m behind on (Advanced Reader Copy). A Touch of Blue came out October 1st, and I finally got to read it. I really, really enjoyed this book. I mean, I really enjoyed it. It has the staying quality of many classic kids books, and I can… Continue reading

We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming for a health item. Today is ME/CFS International Awareness Day. It’s on May 12th because it’s the birthday of Florence Nightingale. I love that fact as she was one of my favorite historical figures in my 4th grade history book. I had plans to go to… Continue reading

If you’ve visited my website in the last month, you may have wondered what was happening. Were there coffee beans in the banner? Well, my theme expired, and I didn’t have the energy to do anything about it until class let out. I’m noticing some other things that need updating on the site as well.… Continue reading

Some writers in my spec fic group recently recommended the webtoon Space Boy. Space Boy has to be one of the purest stories I’ve ever read. The characters feel so authentic and real, but there aren’t really any terrible characters. There are characters who make terrible choices, but they feel like read people who have… Continue reading

Update: Apparently there was some kind of auto-recovery, and the house came back! Yay! My elementary-aged daughter loves designing houses using a free house plans software. Today, she spent all of her screen time working on this really amazing house with ball rooms and chandeliers and rooms for cat families, etc. But she didn’t save… Continue reading

In spite of my health being not great, 2022 was actually a pretty good year for writing/authoring. I had my first ever author event at This House of Books in Billings, Montana. I represented Chicken Scratch Books at a homeschool conference in Houston, Texas. Talking with all of the homeschool families, and especially kids interested… Continue reading

Now that it’s after December 20, I can finally share the digital art I made for The Silver Eye Secret Santa 2022! One of things I have enjoyed about reading The Silver Eye is the fandom. I love how the author gets to interact with the fans and see their reactions in real time. Some… Continue reading

For your Christmas Present, I am going to introduce you to The Silver Eye. I have long admired the artwork of Laura Hollingsworth, but somehow, I missed the fact that she is writing a webcomic. Then about three months ago, she posted in a writer’s group we both belong to that all her notifications for… Continue reading

I had grand plans for all the posts I was going to write this fall, but this fall has been a season of survival. I had to let go of my blog and marketing my book for a little in favor of personal needs, like my job and being there for my family. I went… Continue reading

I am quite behind on my book reviews. Actually, I’m behind on everything. Since my diagnosis with ME, that’s pretty much become my life. But in the midst of everything I have to do in order to survive, it’s good to take a little time to myself when I can. So hopefully, I’ll catch up.… Continue reading

Fundraiser update! We have enough donations to purchase 6 handbooks! Thank you for the support! I currently have 10 students enrolled who NEED handbooks and 6 more who would benefit from handbooks. To purchase 4 more handbooks, we need to raise just $80 more. To purchase each enrolled student a handbook, we need to raise… Continue reading

This June, I had the opportunity to lead my first in-person story workshop for ages 8-13. I had a blast. All of the organizers were wonderful, and the venue was beautiful. I was a little nervous about leading a 4 1/2 hour workshop because of my health, but with my wheelchair, it went fine. The… Continue reading

I’m so excited tomorrow to go to the family picnic and new member meeting of the homeschool group I was a part of in high school. SHINE even sponsored a full-fledged graduation for me and the other seniors my last year of high school. We joked that we were a graduating class of eight valedictorians.… Continue reading

We take this break from our regularly scheduled programming to share a word about patriotism. I’ve been learning a lot more about American history lately–focused on US history, but I’m trying to learn more Canadian history, too. I know sadly little about Canada, and it’s our next-door neighbor! One of the things I’ve really appreciated… Continue reading

Hey everyone! This weekend, I’ll be at the Called to Teach Homeschool Convention in Houston, Texas. If you are in the area, stop by the Chicken Scratch Books booth to say hi. I’d love to meet you and sign a copy of Best Friends Playbook for you! You’ll also have the chance to meet my… Continue reading