Sometimes when you’re conducting storytelling workshops,  you might encounter children who are really really reluctant to get up in front of others and speak. And yet, public speaking is such an important life skill to have! I really dislike it when they insist on reading their stories or even having the paper version near by. […]

Sometimes I look back over the places I’ve been and the conferences and festivals I’ve had the privilege of attending and I get a bit nostalgic. Singapore, Mexico, Iran, Pakistan, India, Denmark, Sharjah, Italy! The list goes on! Wow! I’ve really been a LOT of places! I remember the trips so fondly! Although at the […]

My goodness, it seems pretty hard to recapture the magic of picture books. They are so deceptively simple! And yet, I wonder if I haven’t sort of moved on. I’m looking at most of the picture books I find in libraries and thinking ‘meh’. And I watch my grandchildren’s reaction closely as I read picture […]

One of my daughters decided to use the picture below of me, as her profile pic. She thought it was absolutely hilarious. I have to admit that it is. I have to confess that I can’t stand watching videos of myself because I do make really goofy faces while I’m telling a story. You have […]

It’s always amazing to me how the real impact of what you do as a teacher has very little to do with the day to day remuneration or any sort of ‘recognition’ you receive. Humanity really comes down to being a big blob of interpersonal connections. I was having a conversation with a family member […]

It’s very important as an author to keep abreast of what’s coming out: trends in story creation and trends in literature. But with me, I always tend to read a book or watch a movie that’s received a lot of hype, long after the hype has died down. Hype is really tricky! It can color […]

Just deleted my first hate mail/comment just now. It feels so weird to think that someone would be so irate that he’d take the time and energy to leave a hate-filled comment on a blog like mine. In a way though, I kind of see it as a bit of a triumph. What did Gandhi […]

“…if you forgive me ISIS.” This is a sentence I wrote to a friend of mine Brent Olsen (a former pig farmer) who writes a fabulous column called Independently Speaking. I’ve known him for decades. After reading his Christmas and New Year columns, I felt a lot more hopeful! That’s what Brent does. He can […]

My cousin died last week. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon It affected me deeply. This was not just any old cousin, he was three months older than me, the second oldest in my generation, and now, with my older sister gone and him gone, I’m the oldest, and it feels…weird. It feels kind of […]

Maybe it helps that I do believe that everything I do, and everywhere I am, I am meant to be doing or being in that specific moment in time. There’s no such thing as no impact. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there are times I wish more people would take advantage of […]