It's been awhile, and you might be wondering what Betty and I are doing. I'll let Betty "kiss and tell" in her posting. For me, I've been being a good author. 

You probably know about my two children's books, A WHALE'S TALE (Savant 2009) and THE TURTLE DANCES (Savant 2013), at least I hope you do! If you haven't read them, now is the time! They're available world-wide from Amazon.com. The first is about ohana (Hawaiian for "family"), and the second is about enjoying moving -- "dance, dance, dance" as Isla, the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle would say, and finding a play partner. Both books are great for learning English as a second language (ESL) at any age (I have a master's degree in education in Linguistics, and have taught ESL for almost 15 years now)! Recently, I've been working with a professional speaker to make an audiobook companion to THE TURTLE DANCES, and it's almost done. Lynn Whitener reads the book wonderfully, with perfect clarity and American intonation. It should be available on the same Amazon.com webpage as the book, as well as on iTunes. I hope you will consider listening! It will make Isla very happy!

I've also begun working on my next COLOR-ME-PLEASE book, entitled THE GECKO SINGS, about a Hawaiian Gecko who wants to sing like the famous Hawaii singer, Don Ho. Have you ever seen a gecko? Well, I've been enjoying a program called "Oscar's Oasis" about a desert lizard that looks and acts a lot like a Hawaiian gecko. 



Hawaiian geckoes are more green and pale cream color, but to me they look an awful lot like Oscar here. I've been observing and taking photos of geckoes to get a better feel for what the world must be like from their perspective. We have a house gecko who's been very patient and understanding with me. I caught him/her late at night hiding between the dish rack and the wall. 

Please feel free to let me know about your gecko experiences. Maybe I can use it in my next book?