Light Speaks: Interview with Christine Layton

 

Light Speaks Illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell

Light Speaks beautifully written by Christine Layton is a quiet book, a bedtime book about the concept of light and each page compels the reader to turn to the next page. At the same time, the melodic words may lull a child to sleep. Luciana Navarro Powell’s fun illustrations include a gorgeous depiction of the butterfly nebula. Ms. Layton lyrically explains difficult aspects about what light is and how it acts. She includes back matter facts about light. Readers are likely to want to read this again and again. Tilbury House published Light Speaks. 

One Question Interview with Christine Layton

Hello Christine. Welcome

ETC: What advice would you give those in grades K-12 about writing?

CL: My advice for student writers is the same as my advice for professional authors: write badly! By this, I mean that you shouldn't let fear or anxiety or perfection keep you from writing. Fear, anxiety, and perfectionism would like nothing better than to keep you in a writer's block, staring at a blank page. So, go ahead and write a really crummy rough draft. It can make you cringe. It can be way off the mark. It can be absolutely awful! But once you've written that crummy first draft, something magical happens. You suddenly don't have a blank page anymore. You have words you can work with. You might even find that after revising and changing things around, you like what you've written. You never have to show anyone the crummy first draft. It can be your secret. The great thing about writing is that it's like working out a muscle. The more you do it, the better you get. It doesn't matter if you do it badly. The act of writing makes you a better writer each time you try. I find that very comforting.

ETC: Thank you for visiting, Christine.

Additional Non-fiction Component

For Definitions and Explanations of Lightning please see:

Earthdata NASA Lightning

NASA Lightning

NASA Micro-article Lightning

For information on Lightning Safety please see: 

NOAA Lightning Safety

National Weather Service Lightning Safety Tips

National Weather Service Lightning Safety

Visit author Christine Layton

Visit illustrator Luciana Navarro Powell

Visit your local book store:The Wandering Jellyfish Bookshop

Abundance - Fall Writing Frenzy 2023

 

Abundance

by Elizabeth Thoms Charles

Word count: 79

Photo #1

 

Fall harvest. Enough for winter storage.                  

Enough to share with the neighbors.

Enough to donate to the food kitchen.  

Pumpkins for soup.

Pumpkins for roasting.

Pumpkins for pie.

Pumpkins ornament houses and yards.

Squirrels, rabbits and raccoons

chew pumpkin decorations

leaving a mess.

Pumpkin residue composted

becomes sustenance for soil and next year’s crops.

In spring a pumpkin vine grows

from the compost pile.

Bees pollinate blossoms and ensure

the possibility of more pumpkins.

So, there will be Enough.

Thanks to Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez and many others for Fall Writing Frenzy 2023