Dear Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary, and Jean M. Aul,
Thank you so much for your guidance with this shy, introverted young girl. I was seven when I began reading Beverly’s books about Ramona, Beezus, and Henry, but at the tender age of twelve discovered the more grown up books about teenage life. Thanks to you, I managed to avoid the stupid mistakes teenagers do, such as jumping to conclusions before gathering all the facts, petty jealousies, and being afraid to take chances.
Thank you Judy, for writing books with Life Lessons in them, from everything about wanting to be popular to being ashamed of someone’s family. Most importantly, I learned how to talk to boys! I also loved how you showed how getting caught up in hormones can lead to a more ‘adult’ relationship, though I vowed never to do that in high school.
Thank you Jean for showing me how a woman should be treated during her ‘first time’, and through your books, learned more about Early Man and regretted my decision to stay away from anthropology/archaeology.
Sincerely,
A Devoted Reader
PS: I also learned about talking to boys through the works of Rosamund Du Jardin and Anne Emery, whose books I would dearly love to reread. Their books, as well as Judy’s, influenced my desire to write about relationships and to have a series.
Lavryl Spencer influenced my desire to put social issues into my books, and it’s thanks to Brynn Paulin and her Cress Brothers series that I even ventured to put a menage and light BDSM into one of my books.
As of yet, I have no idea where the ghosts and fairies were inspired. My still-no-finished zombie story was originally influenced by the second season of The Walking Dead, of which I watched maybe the final four or five episodes of that season.
Update On My Mother and Our Roof:
Mom is being released on Thursday! She’ll still have outpatient PT twice a week, but Dad is very thrilled to have her home again.
Dad is also a little down, since he just learned the Japanese lady he’s been shuttling around for the past ten years has decided to move back to Japan in April (she turns 100 on April 5th). He’s losing his income and the company of a very vibrant woman who shares his love of classical music and enjoys having him explain some of our English idioms to her.
As for our roof….I couldn’t find a good ‘before’ picture, and the workers finished putting the shingles on the front half on Tues. Apologies; it was gray and cold when I took the 3rd picture. The first one, I wasn’t able to zoom in.
Before:
During:
After:
Molly's Musings/Kenzie's Korner 
Great influences. Glad to hear your mom is doing better. Sorry your dad is losing income. Great roof
Thank you Cathy:) Spoke to her yesterday after she was ‘paroled’ and at her celebratory lunch with a dear friend; she’s in good spirits!
You read many of the same authors as I while growing up. Those wonderful authors managed to teach without devolving into heavy preaching that tries to beat moral and life lessons into the reader.
They were wonderful, weren’t they? I hope my own books follow that example, of not coming across too preachy. My goal was if at least one person read any one of my books and learned to recognize the pitfalls and to avoid them or even get out of the situation sooner, then I’ve done my job.
So many lovely childhood books. As a teacher, I was grateful to all the authors writing high-quality YA fiction that tempted/tricked my reluctant students into becoming avid readers.
My mom introduced me to biographies in the 2nd grade, and also Little Women. I was instantly hooked! Also Cherry Ames, Dana Girls, Vicki Barr…..Nancy Drew came along in the 5th grade, as well as Dinny Gordan. Was introduced to Trixie Belden in the 7th.