Brave Face: The Inspiring WWII Memoir of a Dutch/German Child has been published. I’ve promoted it; we’ve done books tours; and magazines have written reviews. People tell us that they love the book, Mom had a standing ovation at one of her groups, and I’ve been recognized and stopped at our local coffee shop. You’d think that I could dust off my hands and move on. Nope.

Now, I need to get more reviews, both professional and on Amazon (apparently 50 is the magic number) by those who bought it there. For those who bought the book from us, the review needs to go on Goodreads. Who knew?!? It seems that promotion is a never-ending task. BUT I DON’T WANT TO! (If that sounded like a toddler having a tantrum, it’s a pretty good picture of how I feel.)

You see, I have so many other books that I want to work on. And, because it’s hard to make me do what I don’t want to do (still channeling my inner toddler), I’m working on them.

First, I’m SO EXCITED that the Clemmy the Brave series of children’s picture books is finally getting the attention it has desperately needed. I’ve had three of the series edited; the first has been illustrated and is ready to go; and my plan is to have them all available by the end of the year.

Clemmy Gets a Family should be out in the late Spring. It is a delightful tale about the power of unconditional love. A forlorn and timid bulldog puppy, Clemmy, is adopted by a people family and finds that their love and acceptance enable her to gain in confidence until eventually she becomes Clemmy the Brave.

Clemmy Learns to Talk should be out in Summer. It is a charming story about the wonders of communication. In it, Clemmy, the formerly-forlorn bulldog puppy, and her people family learn to listen and talk in ways that cross language barriers. Eventually, both Clemmy and her family are confident that they are heard–and loved. (The cover is a work in progress by the amazing Tejal Mistry.)

Clemmy Gets a Job should be out early in the Fall. It is a captivating story about the joy of serving others. Clemmy the bulldog seeks to figure out how she can help her family—what her job is. She is frustrated again and again until, eventually, she finds something that she is uniquely gifted to do.

Clemmy Gets a Sister still needs editing by the incredible Lisa Michaels and should be out in November, if all goes according to plan. It is an amusing story about the challenges of growing families! Clemmy the bulldog struggles when her people take in a duckling. She is torn between resenting and befriending her new sister, a dilemma that will echo in many hearts.

But THAT IS NOT ENOUGH! My mother has been going through old papers and discovered a treasure trove of letters from my grandfather to my father. She also found the book that his mother wrote about her war years. Between those, my memories of the stories Dad told me and her memories of what he told her, we have enough for another amazing book—this time about Dad’s experience of life in the Netherlands during WWII.

Unforgivable (running title) has been outlined, more or less. And I’ve written 7000 words. Early stages. It is an adult book, a kind-of companion to Brave Face, and writing it is so exciting, if sad. You see, Dad did not grow up in the bosom of a loving family; his experience of WWII was intensified by abuse, personal struggles and more. Well, you’ll have to read the book to understand. Once it’s written and published. In late 2024, I expect, after Mom, who will again be my coauthor, turns 90.

Is that all? I hear you say. Nope. I also have another book on the go. I started Becoming an Iowan Girl several years ago. The book is aimed at middle-graders, and this is the plan. Sitting in the pink station wagon on the way to their new home in Iowa, Ireentje makes the first of many changes to her life, all in an effort to become authentically American: she asks her parents to call her Carrie. Next, she will need to work on her accent, lose her homemade clothes, and even eat tuna sandwiches. The trouble is her parents remain embarrassingly Dutch; her brother Robert is troublingly nerdy; the teacher is confusingly narrow-minded; and the bullies at school are just plain old terrifying. Worse, Carrie struggles to balance her desire to fit in with her own critical thoughts about what she sees around her.

Too much writing? Oh, I have more books in mind. There’s a good reason why my website is called RamblingRuminations! But I think that more will have to wait…

Now, should I do what is needed for Brave Face today or write? The inner toddler is screaming. Gonna write.