Sunday, September 6, 2020


 Six years ago, I wrote Length of Days - The Age of Silence. I set the novel in 2112. I believed we already entered the age of silence, where we guard every word, out of self-protection.In that time, nearly one-hundred years from now, people were assigned a given number of years to live, based on their value to society. They would then enter the never-ending sleep. 

Viewing society from the perspective of one-hundred years in the future, the reader sees what life could be like when people are not able, or won't, speak up about the events and decisions of the day. Read Length of Days - The Age of Silence, as well as books two and three in the trilogy while there is still time to turn around the madness.

(1) Length of Days - The Age of Silence, (2) Length of Days - Beyond the Valley of the Keepers, and (3) Length of Days - Search for Freedom are available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, and other online bookstores. They can also be ordered at your local brick and mortar, Barnes and Noble Booksellers.

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Break the Silence

In The Age of Silence, book one of my Length of Days trilogy written six years ago (2014), I wrote we were entering the age of silence.
Length of Days - The Age of Silence   We certainly are now hip deep in fear of speaking up about what God has given us. In The Age of Silence, it took only one citizen to speak out to break the silence. Today, we all need to speak up and speak out, but it still begins with one. That one must be you and me - for together that will make two.
With God, that make three to , for we are never alone.

Begin speaking by talking to God. Pray that the haters and anarchists become so filled with His presence, they over flow with love like an effervescent fountain. Begin now. you can speak out by passing this post along to others.

Then do .... the "doing" depends on your talents and interest. As an author, I've used books to speak out. Last year I donated twenty-five books of my novel, Tucker McBride, to a classroom in Fort Wayne and the same for a class in Texas. While Tucker McBride is not a book of history, it is the historic fiction of a boy, a community, and America the way life was in 1946. Students learned about the time when kids were active, adventurous, and creative, mixed with the true history of the time. At the end of the summer, the sequel, Tucker McBride's Many Lives, will be out. 

Yesterday, I bought four of Brian Kilmeade's books to read and then give to a fifth-grade teacher ---
  • George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution 
  • Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America's Destiny
  • Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History 
  • Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers: The Texas Victory That Changed American History   
No act is too small. The urgency is in beginning while there is still time.    

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.

Available on Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, and others:
Length of Days - The Age of Silence   
Length of Days - Beyond the Valley of the Keepers    
Length of Days - Search for Freedom

          


Monday, May 11, 2020

The Boogeyman Returns


Yes, there really is a Boogeyman. He isn’t hiding under your bed or lurking in your closet. While the evil that stalks our country is too small to see and hard to control at this time, you have total authority over your fear that may follow it.

Last week, I celebrated the Golden Anniversary of my 30th birthday, although inside, I feel forty-nine-years-old. I remember, when I was about three, we were ready to leave the house to go to my aunt and uncle’s home for a big family Christmas party. Active cousins and colorful presents would be everywhere. Daddy had started the car, warming it up, and had just picked me up to whisk me out the door, when a loud siren pierced the dark, winter evening. I remember wondering why we were still standing in the entry hall. I had on my green broad-brimmed hat and matching coat, and the gloves with the long chord so I couldn’t lose them. I was ready to go.

“It’s a blackout,” Daddy explained. “We have to wait for the all-clear signal.”

We lived in Dayton, Ohio, the home of Wright Field, later re-named and expanded to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. When an unidentified aircraft flew into the air space over Dayton, all lights in city were immediately turned off. It didn’t seem to matter to anyone that I was dressed for winter travel and waited in my darkened home. I was only three, but I knew I had places to go and family to see.

Once again, we wait in our homes, in our travel clothes with high expectations, for the signal that we can go about the business of enjoying our lives. If, long ago, all the people in Dayton had sneaked out of town in the dark of night so our air force could bomb all the homes and businesses that made up our lives, thus removing every target that could attract the enemy, what would we have come home to?

We have slowed the spread of the virus and insured hospital bed-space by staying inside. Now, don’t bomb my home so I don’t get sick. Don’t destroy the US economy so Covid-19 passes over me. I still have places to go and friends and family to see. I have years of living to do. Don’t blame me for an entire country’s need to stay inside while Rome burns. My home will go up in flames eventually, too.

Tomorrow, my husband and I are going to meet friends at a local restaurant, the second day after their re-opening. Is it 100% safe? Of course not. There are no safety guarantees for those who choose to live their lives without fear. All these many years later, I am ready to go.

Most of the time, I stay home and continue to write my 11th novel. I go out when I need to or want to, with a mask and gloves. I refuse to live in fear, hiding from the boogeyman. Will I continue to practice safety procedures while out? Of course, I will.  I will be responsible for me. You be responsible for you.

Open my world again so I can enjoy the years God gives me, before only a cave and a pot over an open flame are all that remain. Instead, I want my legacy to the younger generation to be a thriving economy in a country we all love, full of brave and fearless people with the common sense God gave a gnat, to space yourselves and wear a mask while living a full life. You have the opportunity to become the next “greatest generation”. You will have to be brave, however, and put aside fears of the boogeyman, to live fully.

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
Copyright 2020 Doris Gaines Rapp

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

New YouTube Channel

Hi everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8W3ea5ZcJk

I've set up a YouTube channel where I will read stories to kids while they are confined at home. There must be 30 subscribers in order for them to list it at YouTube.com by it's name:  Mimi's Story Time. Subscribing only means they'll let you know when another video is posted.

If you never watch another video, please subscribe to Mimi's Story Time by clicking on my logo in the lower right corner. Facebook will not permit a YouTube request so I have directed you here.

Thanks so, so much. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8W3ea5ZcJk

Doris
Doris Gaines Rapp

Sunday, March 1, 2020

A Premonition or Creativity

Do you believe in premonitions? Several years ago, I wrote Length f Days - The Age of Silence because I believed our speech was being muzzled by political correctness. The next year, came Length of Days - Beyond the Valley of the Keepers. Christiana must escape the Central Zone to get signatures for a National Citizens' Referendum to overturn the Length of Days Law, as her grandparents near the age where they must enter the never-ending-sleep. Are things beginning to sound familiar? Later I wrote the last in the Length of Days trilogy, Search for Freedom. Christiana's grandfather, the presidential candidate from the newly formed 1787-Constitutional Party, is kidnapped during a time when the ruling elite select a president by right of succession, Will Christiana find him in time? Read all three and see how close I came to describing our current time. even though the books take place in 2112-2113.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Reknit Your Interior with Creativity

Are ya dragging? Inspiration down? Let creativity come to the rescue. Make life fun.

I know life is serious and you have a lot of work to do. Your family, career, church, home, and friends all demand your time. With the current craze of counting steps, time can be expressed in energy.

Roughly 2000 steps equal one mile when a stride length is approximately 2.1 to 2.5 feet. Obviously, those with longer legs takes fewer steps. If your friend can walk fast (100 steps a minute) and took 2000 steps, they would get 20 minutes of exercise in that mile. If you walk slow (60 steps a minute) you would get 33 minutes of exercise when you walk 2000 steps, or a mile. Me? With my two back surgeries, it would me four days to take 2000 steps if I tried to walk down the sidewalk for a quarter mile per day. Therefore...comparing your expenditure of energy with someone else isn't helpful. Everyone is different. The example is to show, once the maximum number of steps have been taken, the energy is spent. To recover, you may want to try your own form of creativity.

The rule of thumb is, if you're tired because you have been doing "mental" labor, you need some exercise. If you're tired because you've been doing "physical" labor, you need to rest. Inserting another element, relaxation, in preparation for sleep or recovery is helpful. So...add creativity.

Only you can decide what you find to be creative. My husband's idea of relation in going out to his workshop and creating something the older residents of the retirement community where he's the Chaplin can complete. It takes him back to the hours he spent with his grandfather in the workshop in their backyard . My friend, Margy, likes to read on a wide variety of topics. Some put puzzles together as a means of separating from the cares of the day. Some play computer games. while others create new ones. Men and women both enjoy rock climbing, weight lifting, or a swim at the Y. Sewing, needle art, Bible study, are all creative. While I'm writing, I take a break by opening several "Windows" at the bottom of the screen to put a few more pieces in a Jigidi puzzle, dash off to Facebook, or do a Google inquiry. We all "reknit our interior" in different ways. In order to relax and re-energize your body, save time for your personal form of creativity.

I write novels and to add to the fun, I often create an art object to go with a current book. With Tucker McBride, I made snaps to go with my snap earrings and necklace. I created the snaps by copying a portion of the cover and gluing that to the snap fronts. I wear the jewelry when I do a book signing of Tucker. In my newest novel, Just in Time, I describe a necklace on page 250. About six months ago I collected a cross, gold ring, and a chain, and had a jeweler connect them with a gold bail. What fun is that?!

I can't tell you which needle or screw driver to use to reknit your interior, but here's the result of my efforts to put my thoughts into a creative piece of jewelry.
.
 Find out what energizes you. Remember, it's a "doing" activity -  only you can decide what you'll be doing to relax and be creative. Anything from taking a walk to designing a garage that takes you out of the left, logical side of your brain, and into the right, the creative side,  will re-form your steps from dragging to energized, and inspire you to be positive and up-beat. Enjoy the creative moments you prefer.

Doris
Copyright 2020 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D. 

Monday, January 6, 2020

A Landing Guide for Helicopter Parents


Hover, Circle, or Land

Helicopter parents seem to hover everywhere, on the news, in the schools, and around the community playground. Are you a helicopter parent? Most of us would deny the label. If we hover, some say we spoil our children. In many cases, I would agree. In other instances, hovering isn’t a bad thing. Parents might hover, circle, or land the chopper. Let’s talk about when.

When to Hover
Modern terminology defines “hovering” as not moving out of the way, smothering our children, so they aren’t free to solve their own problems. That is true; helicopters certainly have the flying ability to hover. Hovering also means remaining in the air in one place, holding your ground, being very calm, assured of your position, not budging. Sometimes our children are out of their depth and need us to intercede for them. As parents, our children need us to hold our ground.
We adopted Vonn when he was nearly ten years old. His learning problems were obvious, although at the time, we didn’t know the Dyspraxia diagnosis. His handwriting was one symptom. Odd shaped letters scrawled across his page, with no spacing between the words, or between the lines. A fifth-grade assignment required the students put notes on three-by-five cards.
I told the teacher, “He can’t even confine his name to a three-by-five card.” It didn’t matter. All the students would write on and turn in cards. Vonn imploded. I told his teacher, “You asked him to walk up the wall and across the ceiling. He can’t do it; not that he won’t do it.”
We had just moved from Ohio to Indiana so I took him back to Dayton for Educational testing. We needed an unbiased summary of his abilities. The first line of the report was the best. “You misunderstand; you will provide for this child.”
Vonn could not have done it himself. Testing is an issue between the parents and the school system. Like a helicopter, I had to hover over the situation until accomplished. I just had to remain calm and assertive, polite not aggressive, and hold my ground. The school would create a Plan, an Individualized Educational Program (IEP), for him based on the test results.
We need to hover when we can say yes to this statement
The issue is between the school and me.

When to Circle
Other times, an issue between the teacher and parent, requires the parent’s intercession. When the problem is a result of the child’s behavior and the parent has additional knowledge of the situation, the parent must circle the whirlybird and flying low.
My mother didn’t drive, so she was never at school on my behalf, not even the first day. The one exception: my parents were there at musicals I participated in at the end of the year. Was she involved? You bet ya. She was there during the Landing stage.
A classic example of Circling would involve my nephew, Neil. He had a childhood illness at the same time his fourth grade history project was due. The completed project waited on the dining room table until he returned to school. Handing it in when the spots were gone, however, would make the project late. His mother, Donna, taught in the same school system so she took it into the teacher on her way to work. Mr. Somebody, blitzed while counting lunch money and taking in book orders for the Book Fair, waved his hand in the direction of the tall file cabinet on the back wall. “Thanks. Just put it back there for me, please.” When report cards came out, Neil’s History grade was low with an asterisk coded, “Missing History Project.” Donna went back to talk to the teacher.
Mr. Somebody did not believe anyone handed in Neil’s project. After all, Neil was sick. So Donna circled the chopper and flew back to the file cabinet, didn’t touch anything, but pointed out the homework, now buried under other papers and books. Mr. Somebody grudgingly gave Neil credit but still marked it “late” with a percentage off. Donna could not convince him of the unfairness, so she wrote a rebuttal to the grade and had the paper placed in Neil’s permanent record and in the teacher’s personnel file. Neil could not have done it himself. He wasn’t even in school that day. Only his mother could circle the field and intercede since she was the one who knew what had happened.
We need to circle, when we can say yes to this statement
The issue is between the teacher and me.

When to Land
We become the obnoxious, negative helicopter parent when we intercede in a situation that does not involve us. When I taught school in New Mexico after graduating from NMSU, all of the students knew if they got into hot water at school, they would be in equal trouble at home. (1) Education was important. (2) Parents expected their children to grow up, accept their own punishment, and solve their own problems.
My husband, Bill, reared by his grandparents, rarely had adult intervention at school. Gramma assumed he would do his homework and if he didn’t, the consequences were his, not hers. Gramma did help when asked. When Bill’s Math teacher lowered his grade because he used an incorrect problem solving process, Gramma simply said, “They do it different now. Pay attention.”
Children today have entitlement issues. They believe they are entitled to receive special treatment; they deserve privileges. Add to that, a bipolar disorder permeating our school children. On the up side, parents want their sons and daughters to get good grades and hand in all their homework. On the down side, the parents may do their homework for them, which the student interprets as, “I’m not capable.” Parents need to coach their children to become good students by helping them to learn-to-learn. Parents aren’t to intervene at school to protect their child from work. They are to intervene at home to help their children learn to be responsible.
A parent may say, “Susie is twelve years old. She should know how to manage her time and get her homework done.” Susie may be twelve, but she doesn’t yet know how to study. So, do you say, “Oh well, too bad, so sad.”  Or, do you train her?
There will be many instances in which our children grow unevenly. They may be twenty-five before they learn how to tell time on an analog clock. Fractions may finally soak in for Jason, the famous artist, when he starts using decimals and fractions in the creation of the exquisite frames he makes for the paintings. Mike teases people to the point friends begin to think he is a buffoon. When he decides to run for city council, he makes a decision to change his behavior with others. “He is old enough he should know how to talk to people.” That’s right…he should, but he doesn’t. My motto is:  
“What you do not naturally do, you must deliberately do.”
A child isn’t old enough to recognize the need to change their behavior, so the parents must train them.
A popular, fun loving boy was failing in middle school. He said he couldn’t get to his locker in time and was late for each class. That caused both discipline and academic problems. His mom reminded him he was physically strong, so he should carry all pre-lunch textbooks and papers with him. Then, switch them out at lunch for the afternoon load. He also said he couldn’t get his homework done because he didn’t have the discipline to build habits required for study. “Okay,” someone suggested, “each evening during your favorite TV program or electronic game, when it gets really exciting, stop what you’re doing, go into your room and move a shoe from one side of your bedroom to the other. When he asked, “Why?” The answer was, “No reason, just prove you can do it.”
After a few weeks of shoe-moving every night, he felt that he could conquer the world. He stuck to the promised he made. During the next grading period, he was on the honors list.
We need to land the helicopter when we can say yes to the statement
The issue is between my child and me.

There are times to hover, times to cover, and times to land at home. The choice is yours. The winner, based, on the choices you as a parent make, is your child.

Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
Copyright 2020 Doris Gaines Rapp

@DorisRapp