"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Monday, October 13, 2025

Bandtober, Fall Fun, Reads, and Frights

Fall temperatures are finally arriving in our area. While it's still near 90 for a high, the lows have made it into the 60s. 

Orange decorations, and pumpkin everything, seem to be surrounding us. We usually stay busy all month long with many seasonal activities. We call this bandtober due to marching at the games every Friday night, and marching contests every Saturday - all day and often out of town. 

We will try to squeeze in some Fall festivals and the Texas Renaissance Festival, but band comes first in our house. We also enjoy visiting the local pumpkin patches and Scarecrow Festivals when time allows.

If you prefer to stay home cuddled up with a good read instead of heading out to crowds celebrating seasonal festivals, try one of my suggestions from 10 Scary Reads to Terrify Your Inner Child.

I also recommend my short story "Lights Out" which can be found in Road Kill, Texas Horror Volume 4 from Hellbound Books Publishing: here.

If you're looking for something a little lighter, try my romantic Halloween short story (about 800 words): Madame Tooshkas Spell.

Interested in FREE scary books? Try one of these!

Need a few scary good costume ideas? Try one of these 10 Minute Literary Halloween Costumes and dress like your favorite characters.

How are you celebrating this season?
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Monday, October 6, 2025

2025 Banned Books Week

October 5 was the beginning of "BANNED BOOKS WEEK 2025". Below is a couple of lists of the most frequently challenged books. 

A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Banned Boks Week is an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read and highlights the value of free and open access to information. The theme of this year's event is "freed between the lines".

The Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged books list is compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and is based on or derived from communities across the United States. To see the ten most frequently banned in 2024, check here.

Legendary actor, author, and activist George Takei is the Honorary Chair of this year's "BANNED BOOKS WEEK". He is joined by youth honorary chair Iris Mogul. You can learn more about them and activities throughout this week by visiting the banned books week events page here.

"Books are an essential foundation of democracy,” said Mr. Takei. “Our ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ depends on a public that is informed and empathetic, and books teach us both information and empathy. Yet the right to read is now under attack from school boards and politicians across America. I’m proud to serve as honorary chair of Banned Books Week, because I remember all too well the lack of access to books and media that I needed growing up. First as a child in a barbed-wire prison camp, then as a gay young man in the closet, I felt confused and hungry for understanding about myself and the world around me. Now, as an author, I share my own stories so that new generations will be better informed about their history and themselves. Please stand with me in opposing censorship, so that we all can find ourselves — and each other — in books.” 

His award-winning New York Times bestseller They Called Us Enemy (Top Shelf Productions, 2019) uses both words and images to depict Mr. Takei’s childhood as one of 125,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned in concentration camps by the U.S. government during World War II. This graphic memoir has been targeted by censors multiple times since publication, most recently in Monroe County School District in Tennessee, where it was among nearly 600 titles removed in an attempt to comply with the state’s vaguely-worded Age-Appropriate Materials Act.  

You can also view previous lists by year as well at OIF. The list of the most banned books for 2025 will be available in April of 2026. However, some books have been repeatedly banned or challenged throughout history. If you're curious about the most frequently banned books of all time in America, here is a list of the "Ten of the Most Frequently Challenged Books in American History":












  • The Color Purple by Alice Walker
    Call Number: PS3573.A425 C6 1982
    ISBN: 0156028352
    Publication Date: 2003-05-28





















If you would like more information about banned and challenged books, contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom at (800) 545-2433, ext. 4220, or oif@ala.org. Another god source of information on banned books is the "Libraries and Center for Academic Technology" site by Butler University: https://libguides.butler.edu/c.php?g=34189&p=217684

How about you? How many of these banned books have you read? How do you feel about the idea of banning books in schools and libraries?
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Wednesday, October 1, 2025

IWSG: Favorite Thing

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive. Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

OCTOBER QUESTION - What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

MY ANSWER: That's difficult. While I've enjoyed a lot of the fiction pieces I've written and published, I'm probably prouder of my nonfiction. The stories I've written, both published and not, that are raw - the ones that came from emotions I was attempting to process are my favorite. They are real. Don't get me wrong. Fiction can be just as real - if not more so - at times. However, the stories I've lived and passed on to family have meant so much more because we could share them. Not all fiction is for everyone, but real stories about family last a lot longer and engage more individuals in a personal way if they've lived it or known the ones who have. You could probably ask me again tomorrow and receive a different answer, but I'm in a particularly reflective mood about family as I write this.

How about you? What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

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