Frosted Christmas Tree Craft

Just wanted to share a picture of this holiday craft you can eat! I created this frosted Christmas tree using a large waffle cone from Baskin Robbins.  You can use real gingerbread cookies to decorate. I usually buy a package of pre-made cookies from the store, but my local grocer doesn't have them yet, so I substituted with "claydough" from Hobby Lobby.

Note: Ebram and his siblings created their own Christmas trees in THE HAUNTING. Free instructions on how to make your own with the online purchase of the book during the month of December from my website: www.estherlocascio.com/store.html!  

Advent

We celebrated the beginning of the new church year by lighting the first of three purple candles on our Advent wreath. The purple candles remind us of the humility and penitence of the seasons of Advent and Lent. The wreath includes a rose candle, which signifies Christmas joy and will be lit on the third week of Advent.  There's also a white candle representing Jesus, the unblemished lamb of God, that will be lit every week.  

The Advent wreath is a family tradition we started to help prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Our Savior, both his birth at the first coming and his judgment at the second coming.  It's a time filled with joy and love as we anticipate Christ's birth, and prayer and hope as we prepare for his return.  



Saints

At this time of year, there's a lot of interest in ghost stories, haunted places, and paranormal activities. For young kids, it's about candy, costumes, and jack-o'-lanterns.  In The Haunting, "rumors spread of curious sights and sounds in the [neighborhood], mostly of young children at play and distant church bells ringing." For all the talk of ghosts, the story ends in a surprising way...


Let's not forget the saints. Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, falls on October 31st while All Saints Day is celebrated on November 1st. Two saints honored on the secular calendar are St. Valentine's Day in February and St. Patrick's Day in March. The Catholic calendar celebrates saints most days of the year.  All Saints Day honors all saints, including those who are unknown and otherwise forgotten. The holy lives saints led are an example for us to follow in our own journey through life.

Turbulent Times

There was another suicide--this time, a friend of the girl who killed herself a few days ago. Some students missed school yesterday because of the rumors that naturally flow from such a tragedy. With Facebook and other social media, word spreads far and wide.


We received a call yesterday from school officials stating that it had been "a good day" and everyone was expected back at school Tuesday. I had no idea until then how serious the rumors were.

Mourning

Because Ebram comes from a close-knit family and is grounded in his faith, he sees beyond the strange appearances of the Shroudas to the good deeds they do in their community. It's what helps him decide to become a Shrouda himself and start a project he hopes will bring some childhood fun to his unfriendly new middle school, never mind the bullies who pick on him. 

My daughter was distraught when she learned that a girl she knew in middle school killed herself yesterday. She attended a candlelight vigil for the suicide victim at her high school where she was a freshman. No one knew why the girl killed herself, and it was a question everyone asked. Rumors were that she was being bullied. Whatever the reason, the message is the same: step out of your comfort zone to help someone in need.

Connections in "The Haunting"

The family baby sitter, Rachel, names the neighbors, mostly adults, for new residents Ebram and his siblings, Alyssa, Eric, and Angela. They're surprised to meet them for the first time at a children's birthday party for Eric and Angela!  Rachel also says there are two girls, Chloe and Zoe, who live a few blocks away. Not only are these girls invited to the same party because their dad is a colleague of Ebram's dad, but they live next door to one of Ebram's best friends!

There are much deeper links explored in this book, such as the link people have to each other despite their differences, including cultural and religious.  A group of tweens/teens that Ebram joins consists of Christians of various denominations linked together by their common goal to serve the Lord, the equilateral triangle worn on their clothing a reminder of their belief in the Holy Trinity.

Links that Bind

When our oldest son was in kindergarten in Nebraska, he befriended a quiet classmate who slowly came out of his shell. As their friendship developed, they wanted to go to each  other's house to play. Eventually, Chuck realized that he knew this boy's dad from his college days!  They'd both been in the drum and bugle corps at the college and graduated the same year.

I'm reminded of this because as arrangements were made for a book signing at Helotes Creek Winery with four Helotes area authors (including me), we learned that we were all members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Helotes.  Then on the day of the event, I learned that fellow author Diana Fidone-Griggs lives in my neighborhood--on the same street, just houses away!

A Collection of Stories

Ebram's Story: The Haunting, Book 1, is more than Ebram's story.  In fact, there are several stories in the book, some short, others long.  His family's baby-sitter tells the kids a story about the family who used to live in their new house. Ebram's dad tells a story about getting lost after Ebram has trouble finding his classes at his new middle school. His neighbors, the Robleses, tell a story about their deceased brother/husband and another about the orphanage once built in their subdivision.  Finally, there are Grandfather Lito's stories.  

In my original manuscript, Lito tells eight stories.  To keep The Haunting focused on the main story line, however, five were deleted. Still in the book are the stories he tells about the Day of the Dead, the Farmer and his Burros, and Christmas around the world.  I hope to have the rest published into short picture books, with titles such as: Tik-tok-li and the Origin of Chocolate, Ria's Rocks, Flight of the Monarch Butterflies, A Mexican Pinata, and An Immigrant's Story. 

Ebram's Story: The Haunting, Book 1

       When eleven-year-old Ebram Casas-Treski learns his family is moving, leaving his friends and familiar way of life behind is only the beginning of what lies ahead. Sixth grade is part of the middle school—not the elementary school—and his new house appears to be haunted!

       But ice from the tap and in the toilet pales in comparison to the bullies and cliques of middle school. His solution? Join an “uncool” group of tweens and teens in peculiar outfits. Grounded in faith and family, Ebram sees past their appearance to the good works they do and performs his own good deed to inject some childhood fun into his school.

      Along the way he learns that things aren’t always what they seem—especially regarding the truth about his house!

SA Reads Partnership

Thanks to Literacy San Antonio and SA Reads, I'll be at Firstmark Credit Union in August for some book signings!

Firstmark Credit Union is a Literacy San Antonio/SA Reads sponsor and drop-off site for new and used books. While I'm there, you can also donate money to this organization to further their literacy goals.  For more information, please visit their website at http://literacysa.com/content/about-us. This is my Giftigami Box in support of this event. 

Celebrating Independence Day

With July 4th only a couple of days away, I want to take this opportunity to thank all service members and vets who are serving or have served this great country.  A special thanks to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy.

Here's a link to send your thanks to the troops: http://www.ourmilitary.mil/Message.aspx?SectionID=5. 

Here's a link to a non-profit organization helping disabled vets: http://www.dav.org/. 

Happy Father's Day!

A Giftigami Box for someone special in your life.

June News

School's out and for some students, this means graduation! For Sarah, it's time to move on to ninth grade in high school where Matt will be a junior next year.  For mom and dad, this means only ONE school to deal with.

I saw some stickers with "2010", "We Made It", "Congrats", etc. and of diplomas and mortarboards at the grocery store that I thought would make great decorations for a Giftigami Box.  It was hard not to buy them!

Father's Day is June 20th, and one of my favorite craft stores has scrapbook stickers with "#1 Father", "my HERO", "father's love", etc. that I bought to decorate my next Giftigami Box with. I haven't made it yet, but it's coming soon!

Playground Giftigami Box

In The Haunting, Ebram and his pals enjoy spending time at the neighborhood park.  There's a swimming pool, tennis courts, picnic areas, hiking and biking trails, a duck pond, and of course, a playground at the Wildflower Haven subdivision where he lives.

School will be out soon, and people of all ages will be pursuing various summer activities, including some at the park.  Perhaps your community is accepting donations for a new or updated playground.  Here's a Giftigami Box with a playground theme. 

MADD Box

I know, I should've included a new Giftigami Box with my last post.  Sooo much going on right now...

Mother's Day was celebrated last Sunday, and I thought it would be nice to use a flowery theme.  Here's the finished product.

Fiesta San Antonio

We had a nice bumper crop of bluebonnets this year, thanks to lots of rain and the end of the long drought. Just in time for Fiesta! There's a website with all you need to know about Fiesta events: http://www.fiesta-sa.org/about-2/.  The alcohol flows freely when some adults party, and there's no exception for many Fiesta events. This month's Giftigami box supports Mothers Against Drunk Driving. For more information, please visit: http://www.madd.org/.

Holy Week

I was reminded of how much Jesus suffered for us on the cross last Sunday during Mass at St. Pius X, where Chris chanted with the schola.  I'm humbled by the thought that Jesus could've summoned a legion of angels to save him but didn't in obedience to the Father. 

I haven't written Book 2 of Ebram's Story yet, but I've sketched an outline.  Just as some of the story takes place during Christmas in Book 1, some of the story takes place during Easter in Book 2.

San Antonio Food Bank

Last week, I mentioned to visitors at Carnahan Elementary School's 2010 Art Walk that I would donate $1 for every purchase of The Haunting to the San Antonio Food Bank. According to the non-profit's website, "nearly one out of every three children and one out of every five adults in Southwest Texas lives in poverty and has difficulty meeting basic nutritional needs."

For more information, go to http://www.safoodbank.org/index.php/home.

Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease often diagnosed in childhood, usually before a child's first birthday. It affects the respiratory and digestive systems and is caused by secretory glands that don't function properly. Thick, sticky mucus blocks airways, causing bacteria to multiply.  This often leads to lung infections that worsen over time.  Current treatment options enable sufferers to live longer than ever before while researchers continue looking for a cure.

There are numerous websites with more information, including http://cysticfibrosis.com/, http://mayoclinic.com/, and http://nhlbi.nih.gov/.

Collect your money in the Giftigami Box and donate it to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Visit their website at http://cff.org/.

Update

St. Patrick's Day is coming up and I'm going to make a Giftigami Box with a shamrock theme.  I'm also going to introduce a charity to support!

Book Release Today!

The official release date of The Haunting was today, and what a day it was!  We got a sprinkling of snow--something we're not used to seeing around here!  It made the day feel special and marks a new beginning, for the time to send out press releases has arrived...

Here's Mazie

I finished Mazie a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting her picture! Chuck said she needed a bow on top of her head... She's described in The Haunting as follows:

"The large oversized teddy bear, almost as tall as {Angela}, was a special gift that Lita had made for her out of white heavyweight yarn. It had jointed arms and legs and a friendly face with black bead eyes, a black pompon nose on its snout, and a smiling pink mouth. A huge pink heart, frilly, quilted, and buttoned, was attached to its round belly, and a silky pink ribbon was fastened under its head."

Ghosts (Part 2)

A few years ago, a New York Times article was written about my brother's "haunted" house. You can read it on this website: http://www.ghastlyghosthunter.com/28GHOST21.pdf. There are  similarities to real events in his home in The Haunting. For example, the previous owner of Harry's house died there. In The Haunting, the previous owners of the Casas-Treski home had a young daughter who died (in the hospital). The newspaper article stated that "police cadaver dogs have detected human remains (in a section of the back yard), perhaps from an old cemetery that may go back to the property's plantation origins."  In The Haunting, the subdivision where the main character lived had once been home to a children's orphanage and "rumors spread of curious sightings and sounds in the area, mostly of young children at play and distant church bells ringing." 

Happy Valentine's Day

I wanted to post another picture of a Giftigami Box decorated with Valentine's Day stickers before the end of the day.  If you don't want to put money in it, you can write down things you did to help other people (for example, family members, neighbors, and friends) on strips of paper and slip them in the box. 

Ghosts

In a blog posted last July, I wrote that The Haunting is a fictional story with parallels to real life experiences. The book is about the possibility of ghosts. Its original title was Ebram's Story to focus on the main character and not the haunting of his house.

Last night I received a phone call from my brother, a Houston police officer who lives with his wife and kids in what was once a real haunted house in Cypress, TX and partly inspired my book. My Catholic faith teaches that ghosts aren't real but Satan and his demons are, and I tried to avoid controversy over this in my book.  More about this later...

Library Lounge

After much anticipation and preparation, the Big Day finally arrived when I spoke at my first book signing event! Chuck did a wonderful job creating a short slide show with sound effects on one slide. Afterwards, we got some good feedback. I'm looking forward to doing it again!

In the meantime, Chuck and I attended tonight's library lounge with guest author Jeremy Koontz. In an innovative twist, he brought digital books of his self-published work, polarBear Alpha. The books are set to music and include cut and paste pictures. His main character, Logan, even has his own blog!  Here's the website: http://www.iamaprisoner.com/.

Here's Mazie looking like a snowman without arms or a face, according to Matt and Sarah. I wound up making up my own pattern because the one I was using didn't work out very well. I had to start over several times because Matt and Sarah said the snout I made looked like a bird's beak and the ears, like mouse ears. I think I finally got Mazie looking like a bear. I'll post her picture when I get my camera out.

Mazie Teddy Bear

In The Haunting, Ebram's little sister, Angela, has a large teddy bear she calls Mazie. I've looked online for a similar bear and not having found one, I've decided to make one. Here's Mazie's head without her ears or snout. I'm modifying a pattern I found on the Lion Brand Yarn website.

I'd like to bring Mazie along for book signings. Perhaps she'll be finished before my first one next month.

Giftigami Box

With Valentine's Day approaching next month, I thought I'd post a picture of a Valentine Giftigami Box. There's a picture of another box with a different theme posted on my website, http://www.estherlocascio.com/.

I encourage you to make and decorate your own box to use for collecting money for charity.

Donations are being accepted now by various organizations for Haiti earthquake relief. Contribute the coins in your Giftigami Box today!

Panel Discussion

Chuck and I attended a meeting where a panel of local librarians discussed their children's book needs and book selection process. I was struck by the strict rules governing their purchases that limit them to award winning books or books with stellar reviews by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, etc., regardless of their local population needs.

Go to your local bookstore and support your local authors. You might find a gem that hasn't been discovered yet!

A Special Guest

Remy dropped Lily off the other day, hoping she could stay. We already have two dogs and hesitated on adding a noisy Quaker parrot to our family. She was beautiful, with fluffy green feathers and a touch of grey. She also had a trace of red feathers that had been clipped to keep her from flying away.

Smitty and Maggie helped us decide that we couldn't keep her. Smitty, our Miniature Schnauzer, ran and hid every time he heard Lily screech, shaking with fear. His sensitive ears make him go nuts at sounds like popping firecrackers, bursting balloons, and gum smacking.

Maggie, our chocolate Chihuahua, whined incessantly, trying to get into her cage to play with her (I think). Remy put Lily on Maggie's back once, and Lily didn't seem to mind. She jumped to the floor and Maggie held her by the tail feathers, licking her wet.

Lily stayed with us long enough to learn how to mimic the microwave's beeps. She started to relax and softly whistled a couple of notes Remy must have taught her before she moved in. If she remained here, no telling what else she would've picked up!

To my surprise, Remy got a call one day from a friend looking to buy a bird. He and his wife came over to check her out. Lily looked right at home, perched on the friend's shoulder. I said good-bye to Lily, feeling a twinge of sadness after they decided to keep her.

"Mom, do you think you could watch Lily when my friends have to go out of town?" Remy asked.
"I suppose..." Lily might be coming back, if only for a visit.

Happy New Year!

Chuck and I met with a columnist for Today's Catholic who's also a retired professor at my alma mater, St. Mary's University. He asked a question that I hadn't thought about before, will there be a lesson plan that schools can use along with my book? There isn't one now, but I think it's a great idea! I'm going to create one and list it as a teacher resource on my website.


Update: The Haunting can now be purchased from Barnes & Noble at a pre-order price of $9.44!