He has been making me laugh and ponder and have double takes ever since I came across him for the first time. And that was way before I met him in person on a sunny weekday afternoon at a Starbuck’s in Lakewood in 2019. He was not alone. Ben Sclair, who had introduced us via […]
Across the Fence: Foosball
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. As a kid and young teenager, I loved playing soccer. The boys in my class even let me play on their teams as the only girl during our sports classes until eighth grade (after that we were separated by gender and explored different fields of athletics). Soccer was the game shown […]
In the Book Nook with … Susan Old
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. Author Susan Old lives on the Stillaguamish River just outside Granite Falls, Washington. She is a retired addiction therapist, which makes it possible to write whenever taking care of her family dog, cats, and volunteering allows. Susan started writing in her 20s but never completed a book till her late 30s. […]
Across the Fence: Altbier and Kölsch
I grew up in a German city with a number of big breweries. Their names mean nothing over here, and one got torn down when I was in my early twenties. I don’t remember what happened. It seems they merged with a brewery downtown. A specific area always also had that peculiar smell that goes […]
In the Book Nook with … Stefanie Skupin
Author Stefanie Skupin from the Okanogan Valley in Washington State, half hour from the Canadian border, is self-employed at The Leaders Work, working with veterinarians and other medical professionals to balance body, mind, and spirit, so that they may excel in their career and enjoy their lives. She also works as an animal communicator at […]
Across the Fence: Umlaut
Hardly anything is as conspicuous in the written German language as what is even named the German way in the English language: the umlaut (pronounce ‘oomm-lout, meaning changed sound). Indeed, these are a, o, and u topped with two horizontal dots such as in ä, ö, and ü. Apparently, they are not easy to pronounce […]
In the Book Nook with … H.D. Vesser
Author H.D. Vesser from Idaho works as a writer and a wholesaler. She started writing seriously in 2011. Her first book was published in 2018. It is based on bats whom she finds to be widely misunderstood and “morbidly cute”. She is a recipient of the 2021 Writer’s Digest award for “The Little Red Roar-At” […]
Across the Fence: Doppelgänger
Have you ever been told, “I know you from somewhere. Your face is so familiar”? Maybe even followed by the name of a place? If so, you may have wondered whether there is a true, physical doppelgänger of yours, a person who is your look-alike. I keep joking that I have a face in a […]
In the Book Nook with … Connie Hampton Connally
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. Author Connie Connally from Tacoma, Washington, is a former English teacher and music teacher. Now she spends her time writing and occasionally teaching workshops at writing conferences. Through the course of her life, Connie has done many kinds of writing, but she enjoys fiction most. Her first published novel, “The Songs […]