Robin of Rockridge's Blog

When your Dad’s a cowboy you grow up a little bit differently than most kids.  He doesn’t take you to football games, teach you the rules to real baseball or show you how to wash a car.  He would not even consider taking you tubing on the lake. He doesn’t wear tennis shoes, baseball caps or ties.  And when he visits you in the big city he sticks out like a sore thumb.

What you get instead is someone who teaches you how to ride a horse, rope a calf and fix fence.  You learn the rules to Cowboy baseball, which is an odd combination of baseball, dodgeball and football and the rules are a little different every time you play.  It’s more exciting than real baseball but also has a much higher incidence of injuries and doesn’t translate well to the school playground…..

You learn that a pickup or…

Last week, Redwood Writers had an author launch for 18 of its authors who published over the last year, and I was lucky enough to be one of those 18. Part of the event involved my reading five minutes of my book, Anaheim Tales. I had heard tips for open mics before, so I read slowly and with verve, but now that the event is over, I have some less conventional tips to share.

1. Schedule a massage for the exact moment your reading event ends.

I didn’t think I was nervous to read. I didn’t feel nervous. I had spoken on stage many times as a band teacher and never been nervous. However, while I was walking back to my seat after reading, my left eye began to twitch. It is still twitching. The event was five days ago.

2. Don’t read a stupid passage.

When, in the weeks…

By Hal Collier LAPD, Retired

We are happy that 35-year veteran Hal Collier is sharing his ‘stories behind the badge’ with us.

Ok, so what does scare a knight in armor?  Be prepared to be shocked. 

George Kennedy as Bumper Morgan in the 70’s police series, “The Blue Knight”

First and foremost, the number one thing that scares a cop is that radio call, “Go to the Watch Commander.” Really, how bad can that be? You’ve spend half a shift doing everything right—well, maybe mostly right. You and your partner immediately go over all the radio calls and traffic stops you made that night. Did we piss off some tax paying citizen and he’s making a complaint? Did the Watch Commander discover that I missed court to go on that three day water skiing trip? Whatever, it can’t be good.

When I was the Watch Commander I would monitor the patrol units to…

Third in this series of interviews with authors of young adult books is C.T. Markee. His novel for middle grade and young teens, Maria’s Beads, tells the gripping story of Maria, whose best friend Hannah is deathly ill. Maria must find her own inner strength, passed down to her through her ancestral Huichol culture, in order to save Hannah when no one else will.

The story in Maria’s Beads is similar to one that happened to your wife when she was a child. Does your wife also have Huichol roots? How did you learn about the culture?

The idea for the book came from my wife’s experience at age 11 when her best friend, who lived next door, contracted kidney disease. My wife is neither Huichol nor Hispanic. However, the Cortez family in the story is modeled after her family that worked in the fields around Salinas during the Great…