Miniatures Monday: Woman Uses Miniatures to Teach Black History

While miniatures and dollhouses can be a fun way to recreate a piece of your personal past or capture a moment in time, they also can be used to document history.

Karen Collins began by making roomboxes with ice cream shops and other fun scenes, but after her son went to prison she found new purpose by recreating scenes showing the various aspects of African American history.

Fifteen years and 50 roomboxes later, she has created a collection that is as enlightening as it can be thought-provoking and disturbing: scenes showing a lively gospel choir and churchgoers, men sitting at a diner and Hattie McDaniel from Gone with the Wind as the first black Academy award winner, to the Klan in Black history, and more.

The exhibit, which often mixes scales and uses actual newspapers or photos for the backgrounds, includes many dolls she made herself. The rooms were used as educational tools in Los Angeles schools and will now become part of a permanent museum exhibit.

* Read the full story here. * See the roombox Photo Gallery

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Happy Birthday Lucy! Lucille Ball would've been 100 today. She's still one of the funniest actresses around and was one of the prettiest women of her era. Here's that iconic chocolate scene in her memory....

Flood, Fire... Blame it on the dollhouse....

Floods and fire ravaged an apartment building, but sources say it all started with the dollhouse... See story.

Darn those little people for not putting in smoke detectors...

New AIM Magazine for August

The new AIM Magazine (Aug. #36) is out.

I have an article on fast food and a how to for a fast food fish sandwich in it. See download page. (You may have to sign in to Scribd.)

Book Blogger Hop 7/29-31: A New Book You're Reading?

Decided to join in on the BOOK BLOGGER HOP at Crazy for Books.

** This week's question: Highlight one book you have received this week (for review, from the library, purchased at the store, etc.) that you can’t wait to dig into.

My answer:

I have several books I got a a garage sale, a rare YA stack! The one I keep looking at, curious about it, is WITCH & WIZARD by James Patterson. I may be the last person on the planet who has not yet read one of his books, and hearing about his writing methods with numerous co-authors makes me curious. As he also jumped into the YA field, I found this book intriguing.

Of course, as usual, I have several books I'm reading at once. I'm also reading, THE FULL MOON BRIDE, Shobhan Bantwal and THE HUNGER GAMES.

About Witch & Wizard:

Grade 5–9—Wisty and Whit Allgood have magical powers, but they don't know it. At least they don't know until they are arrested by the guards of the New Order, which has just come to power. Their parents have always been into herbs and plants and predictions; they don't send their kids to typical schools, and when the teens are allowed to take only one item each to jail with them, they send a drumstick and a book with no words that are visible to the naked eye. The kids start to get an inkling of what they can do when Wisty bursts into flames when she gets angry, and before long she is turning people into creatures and conjuring tornadoes, and lightning bolts shoot from her hands. The bulk of the book takes place when Whit and Wisty are locked up in a reformatory where they are bullied by the guards. ( - From School Library Journal).

Miniatures Idea: A Seashell House

Martha Stewart has a selection of interesting ideas for what to do with seashells - including an easy-to-make cardboard house covered with shells.

* Get the Instructions

Two Sentence Tuesday: Mystery to Romance....

Thought I'd join in on Two Sentence Tuesday at Women of Mystery.

Just finished reading a fascinating romance-crime story, The Dowry Bride by Shobhan Bantwal. (Great author of India-based tales. Come back on Aug. 24th for my interview with her regarding her latest book, The Full Moon Bride.)

In The Dowry Bride, a young bride overhears an extraordinary conversation, voices speaking of a plot to murder a wife who hasn't produced a child and whose family failed to produce the promised dowry... her.

Two sentences from The Dowry Bride (page 99): With a shudder Megha came awake from the sinister darkness of the foggy backyard to the brightness of the room, blinking-the scream still inside her throat. Her heart was beating so frantically it seemed ready to jump out of her breast.

My two sentences from the diner mystery I am reworking (pg. 99):
The giant picture window had a big hole in the center like someone had shot it out, except a gun didn’t do this. She eyed the palm-sized piece of red brick on the floor, thankful it hadn't hit any of them.

** Share your two sentences you read and you wrote. What are you working on?

Miniatures Monday: In Miniature Style II really mini!

Working on making up some items and making kits for the tote bags in In Miniature Style II.

A few of the items for the bags: pencils, and small books of course! (Non-opening.) Here's a completed tote I made before.

In Miniature Style II Print Sale!

The print version of In Miniature Style II has been updated (fixing pattern order and a couple things)

Good news is it's now on sale for $12. (Eligible for free shipping on Amazon if you're buying $25 anyway...)

EBook and other formats still available. (See link above.)

Writing: Too Much Nodding and other People Problems

Thinking I was "done," (really?) I let my wip (work in progress) sit a couple days, though deep down, I knew there was a problem I needed to look at. Nodding. As in She nodded, I nodded, Nodding, he, etc.

My characters nod. A lot. Nodding seems to be my oft-used, abused, and overused word. Going through the manuscript, I'm changing, fixing, deleting all those nods. After a while, though, the brain gets numb in thinking up new things to say.

So, share: what's your over-used or "fave" word or phrase? What do you put in exchange? And I'd love any suggestions for fixing mine (other than cutting off the characters' heads. Problem solved. haa!)