TALKING STORY

I met Carol Baldwin a few summers ago at a reading and writing conference in Alabama. We chatted briefly, learned that we lived about an hour apart, and decided to stay in touch.  Since then we've discovered that we make a great working team. (More on that below.)

We've  conducted joint workshops for North Carolina teachers at NCCAT and NWRESA and last summer decided to co-produce an E-newsletter, TALKING STORY.

Most of our readers are teachers, media specialists, or homeschool parents. We stuff each issue with links, books, learning activities, and people related to a particular theme. And oh, yeah - GIVEAWAYS!

You can view or subscribe to our newsletter by visiting the Talking Story Profile Page, and browsing the issues listed.

Tentative Themes for 2010 -2011 include: (All, tied in to reading and writing, of course!)
*  August 3rd - Humor
*  September 15 - History
*  November 3rd - Community Service
*  January 5 -  Heroes
*  February 16 – Gardening
*  April 6 or 13 – Sports
*  May/June - Graphic Novels

Why Carol and I make a great team.

  • Carol is the non-fiction expert with several books and numerous magazine articles on her resume.
  • I specialize in historical fiction for young people and have a few novels on mine.

  • We're both overwhelmed most of the time but Carol thinks ahead, checking items off the to do list so she can focus on what is in front of her.
  • I work on the most pressing task of the moment and shift my deadlines and goals to suit my whims.

  • Carol obsesses over focuses on our newsletter's subscriber list.
  • I obsess over the nitty gritty of layout, color, fonts, and format.
  • We both think the other has the harder job and are glad not to be taking care of those details!

As soon as we send one newsletter out, Carol starts sending me emails about the next one. I usually feel annoyed that she's making me think about this already. But then I thank God that we're doing this together because I'd probably put it off forever and there'd be no Talking Story after all.