What the World Needs Now: Empathy by Barbara Binns

 

In " What the World Needs Now: Empathy", first published December 10th, 2014, YA and Middle Grade Author Barbara Binns presents the importance of being able to see things from another person's vantage point, and how reading diverse fiction helps children develop empathy. (File this one under "Educate/Inspire")

Hi everyone! I am YA and Middle Grade author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline says it all - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

This month I'm blogging about the E-word.

This is that season, you know, the one were everyone shouts about peace on earth and good will toward men. I have to think about another word. Empathy. You know, that ability to see things from another point of view. To understand and at least temporarily share someone else's feelings, even if that someone else is outwardly very different from yourself.

I have a quote from Purple heart recipient Charlene Lauderdale, a retired master sergeant in the United States Air Force. She was also born with both female and male anatomy. After living most of her life as a man, she is now legally a woman faced with all the challenges the transition represents. Instead of the walk a mile in someone else's shoes cliche, I will use her words:

You never know until you step up to the plate and swing at the ball coming at you.

See, it's not about feeling sympathy or approval. It's about understanding.

Two weeks ago at my adult Sunday School class, the subject of Ferguson Missouri and the Michael Brown came up. One member of the group made a statement saying he could never understand how anyone could ever try to hit a police officer for any reason.

Never understand.

I'm not going to pretend I know the right or wrong or the final truth about anything that has happened or is happening in this arena.  But I know that anyone content to relax and say "I'll never understand" and let that be the end of things, lacks the ability--or the desire--to even consider the possibility that another individual might look at the world and see something outside their own vantage point. 

Not long ago I saw a call from a teacher looking for books for her elementary class she could use to help teach them empathy. My answer: get any book about anyone who is different from them, who lives a life different from theirs in terms of social class, race, ethnicity, and physical location. Hand them books that show these characters face the kinds of challenges her kids can understand. Let her readers walk through those books wearing the character's shoes so they also see his or her motives, issues, thoughts, goals and emotions. See their sorrows and their triumphs. Become someone different from themselves, at least for the time it takes to get through that book.

A good book can be the perfect empathy training ground.  The march 2013 issue of the Rotarian included an article called The Truth About Fiction. In that article, cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley is quoted as saying:

…reading more fiction enables you to understand other people better.  Fiction is about exploring a range of circumstances and interactions and characters you’re likely to meet.  Fiction is not a description of ordinary life; it’s a simulation. ...fiction tells us what can happen, which can stretch our moral imaginations...

Inside the pages your mind can occupy another space, another body. You can see the world through different eyes. Unfortunately, too many of us read books about people who are like ourselves.  I don't mean that we're all beautiful heroines or navy seal heroes. But a load of the books we read are about people who are basically like the reader. White, middle class or wealthy, primarily suburban. As a result - little or no empathy is required or promoted during the reading of that book, and opportunities are lost. WNDB was born for various reasons. Partly by authors and concerned members of the publishing industry who saw how many children's books featuring a protagonist outside the typical "universal" background could not find a publisher. That included fantasy and speculative fiction,  aliens and yetis were more plentiful than kids of color, kids who lived in poverty, or people who existed outside the US, Canada, England or the UK. Don't even ask about non-christian kids or the handicapped.  

I believe that books featuring Heroes or Heroines from all places and walks of life can have stories that bring something to enrich us all. That characters who are neither rich nor middle class can share their form of the universal story with readers, and in the process, enhance the readers' lives. Those books can teach readers they do not have to condone an individual's actions, but that understanding is the path toward a better future.

That's why I write diverse books. It's also why I teach a class for writers who want to write about people who are different from themselves.  It's not an easy task. If done wrong, the author can do more harm than good, promoting stereotypes that negate the need for empathy because the reader Ends up feeling, "Everyone knows that's how those people are."  And people from the group can feel victimized when seeing themselves portrayed as a caricature.  The class is for authors who want to do the work needed to do a good job understanding and portraying someone else. And, in the process, developing more than a little empathy themselves.

Learn more at Diverse Writing

THE BLESSING OF STORYTELLING by Cerece Rennie Murphy

SF TRILOGY BY CERECE RENNIE MURPHY

I believe that having a story to tell is a blessing.  Honoring that gift is the reason why I write, but I also believe that a blessing is not complete until it’s shared, which is why I love sharing my stories with you. 

I write just like I read, sampling a little bit of everything.  My stories run the gamut, from a sci-fi trilogy (Order of the Seers) to an early reader children’s book series (Ellis and The Magic Mirror) all the way back to a time-bending historical romance (To Find You).  Although my stories span multiple continents, plotlines, and even languages (Order of the Seers has 7 of them!), my stories are all about one thing – discovering our truest selves and living that life to its fullest purpose. 

Whether it’s a little boy learning to live up to the duties of being a Stonekeeper or two souls desperately trying to find each other through time, each challenge always brings them closer to the person they are truly meant to be which, in my book, is the ultimate happy ending!

 

THE WOLF QUEEN
(Sneak Peek of the cover sketch!)

My latest novel, The Wolf Queen, is no different.  On this journey, my imagination is taking me to an ancient fantasy world where a young woman named Ameenah lives alone in the woods trying to forget the loss of her family. As any good story would have it, her isolation is broken by a chance meeting with a powerful Amir who wants to make her his bride even though Ameenah’s heart belongs to another.  Resisting his attempts leads her to uncover a magical legacy that she must claim in order to fight against the tyranny of the Amir and lead her people to freedom.

Right now, I’m in the thick of world-building, plotting, and planning out the story so that when I actually start writing, all the bits and pieces fit together perfectly.  It is a little intimidating creating a world from scratch, but I am loving every minute of discovery.  

Here’s a super secret peek at the book cover sketch, which is still in progress. 

CERECE RENNIE MURPHY

I don’t expect to be finished with The Wolf Queen before the end of the year, but I will be posting excerpts throughout my writing, so if you’re interested, please visit my website blog and let me know what you think.  https://www.cerecerenniemurphy.com/ 

I’d love to hear from you!  XO - Cerece

Cerece Rennie Murphy fell in love with science fiction at the age of seven, watching “Empire Strikes Back” at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C., with her sister and mom. It’s a love affair that has grown ever since...In 2011, Cerece experienced her own supernatural event - a vision of her first science fiction story. Shortly after, she began developing and writing what would become the bestselling Order of the Seers trilogy.  Order of the Seers was selected as one of The Best Kindle Books of 2014 by Digital Book Today.

In addition to working on the 2nd book in the Ellis and The Magic Mirror children’s book series with her son and releasing her 4th adult novel titled, To Find You, Mrs. Murphy is currently launching NARAZU, an online platform designed to deliver the best in indie sci-fi content and comic culture to the fans who love it most. You can visit the new site at www.narazu.com. 

Giving Myself a Present

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

I gave myself a holiday gift this year.

Was it expensive - Absolutely.
Was it worth it - Again, a resounding yes.
Will I do it again - Read further and see the answer.

What was this present - well, a little background first. As a professional author with three books behind me and two more in progress including my middle grade debut novel Courage coming in winter 2018 from Harper Collins, I attend various conferences. Some are better than others, more boring or more informative, and may be geared toward readers or writers. No matter what, there remains one constant - most suffer from monochrome syndrome, the audience and speakers are largely white. Yes, the speakers are deserving and qualified, But I, like many of the young readers I write for, sometimes need a mirror up on the stage expounding wisdom, and in the seats around me. Someone we can look at and see hope for a future for ourselves.

I belong to the Illinois chapter of SCBWI, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. They hold a one-day conference every November called Prairie Writers and Illustrators Day (PWID) - Illinois is the prairie state, get it?

The conference theme was "Calling All Superheroes." The event included portfolio reviews for illustrators, critiques and contests (no, I did not win) One of the best things for me was that this year, the conference organizers found a diverse cast for their faculty.

Agent: Linda Pratt, WERNICK & PRATT
Executive Editor: Traci Todd, ABRAMS APPLESEED,
Executive Art Director: Giuseppe Castellano, PENGUIN GROUP USA
Executive Editor: Kendra Levin, VIKING CHILDREN’S GROUP
Assistant Editor: Nikki Garcia, LITTLE BROWN & COMPANY

Linda Pratt, Kendra Levin and Nikki Garcia discussing issues in YA and MG publishing. In addition Linda Pratt gave a presentation on the elusive thing called Voice, Kendra Levin's presentation helped attendees through exercises in character motivation, and Nikki Garcia helped us understand revising and editing MG and YA stories.

The opening keynote speaker was Don Tate, who calls himself a "visual storyteller." He
discussed his long and winding journey traversing the children's book publishing minefield, emphasizing the many twists and turns, and the length, of the journey while giving hope to those on their way. Mr. Tate will be one of the headliners at the 2017 Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural literature, spoke about his dedication to his craft. BTW, I spoke at the Virginia Hamilton Conference a few years ago. If anyone wants to go deep into diverse literature, and see a truly massive children's library, that's the conference to attend.

I want to give the organizers kudos for noting the few attendees of color they have most years and resolving to look at possible ways to change things in the future.

Which brings me to the present I gave to myself.  I resolved to do more than just attend and see and hear the mirrors on the podium and gave myself the gift of additional mirrors in the audience along with me. Writing and illustrating are solitary endeavors. Yet, we all gain dividends from having a community like SCBWI, RWA or MWA, to be part of, to learn from and gain support.

Many #ownvoices have little chance to become part of that larger community. They feel isolated. Worse, many don't even know those writing communities exist. While they too have a largely monochrome  membership, people all over the world tell stories, from every race, ethnicity and religion. But #ownvoices can't join if they don't even know these groups exist, and if they don't have the finances to join because there are hefty membership fees and even more money is needed to sign up for and attend meetings and conferences.

So my gift to myself was the gift of helping others.

Khannie Dastgah, Urania Smith, B A Binns, Jill Kuanfung, Nabeeh Bilal

I chose to pay the conference fees for others. used a contest to select the scholarship winners, Khannie Dastgah, Jill Kuanfung, and Mabeeh Bilal. Aided by fellow SCBWI member Urania Smith, I set up a scholarship to pay the conference fees so that three additional #ownvoices could attend their first professional writers and illustrators conference.  It's worth noting that almost none of the people who entered the contest did knew anything about SCBWI. Something for the organization to consider: if your current membership is largely white, and many have little interchange with any people of color, much less the subset that are authors and illustrators, those people have no way of knowing you exists.  That ignorance is costly, since the Predators in the business always manage to find those who are hopeful, talented, persistent, and dedicated to their craft...and alone. One of the contestants was on the verge of falling victim to a $20K vanity publisher trap because she had no idea of any alternative to getting her children's books published.

Urania and I ended the day having Chinese dinner at the Absolutely Chines Restaurant in Rolling Meadows, along with Jill and Nabeeh. There they let us close out the place because we couldn't stop talking and enjoying each other's company. And I discovered I don't need alcohol to loosen my tongue and embarrass myself!

P. S. My final reward at the end of the day was a copy of a book illustrated by Nabeeh Bilal:  the Callaloo books.

An autographed copy!

So my gift to myself was to help others. It's like the starfish parable, I've helped one other individual (okay three) with the hope act that will influence their lives for the better and they will keep giving forward. That makes the answer to the question at the beginning of this blog - would I do something similar in the future?

As long as my finances hold, the answer is YES!  In the meantime, if you know of any #ownvoices  out there, whether they write for children or adults, let them know to contact me at author2 [at] babinns [dot] com for a welcoming community.  If you happen to be one yourself, ditto.

Change Is Coming

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

Everyone, readers, authors and yes, even publishers and agents, know the publishing world is in a state of flux. Change has been, is, and will continue to be the norm for the foreseeable future. While changes can be frightening, they often bring about something wonderful.

Change brings choices.

When I was young dinosaurs roamed the earth and hardcover books filled bookstore and library shelves. Books, period. There wasn't even a separate YA section way back then, just Adult books and children's books. Now people have trade and mass market books, eBooks (including enhanced eBooks), and audio books.  Borders may be gone, but Amazon is poised to open physical bookstores.

Choice is good.

That's why I celebrate another change occurring in the publishing world.  There are many adults who self-identify as non-readers. There are children who are classified as "reluctant readers" or who have trouble getting interested in books as an alternative to other activities.  And there are eager readers of all ages who devour books and wish for something different int heir reading.  All of these groups can have their reading pleasure kindled, and even enhanced, with additional choices. Especially young readers. Whether eager or reluctant, the lives of children can be changed when they find books that take them to other lands or help them see the world, and themselves, through other eyes. This includes books about people outside the mainstream majority in America, written by members of those diverse populations.

We Need Diverse Books is not only about having young readers from marginalized groups seeing themselves on a page. It's also about kids from the majority group seeing other faces on a page.  This is a long overdue change, delayed mainly because so many of the gatekeepers in both publishing are white, heterosexual, female, and cisgendered. Consciously/unconsciously they look for manuscripts they understand. Things that appeal to them, stories that resonate to them and that they feel they can fight for in editorial meetings.  That means many stories by authors who are different from them, who see the world differently and write differently, frequently get passed over for publication and for review.

In 2015 the Diversity Baseline Survey was run with publishers and reviewer who voluntarily agreed to respond. Results are available at : http://blog.leeandlow.com/2016/01/26/where-is-the-diversity-in-publishing-the-2015-diversity-baseline-survey-results/ 

 These numbers illustrate why the publishing monolith is slow to change regarding book diversity. But it was also slow about eBooks (I remember when traditional publishers considered them just a fad something to worry about in ten or fifteen years and noticing almost too late that the fad had grown to s tsunami). Ditto about indie authors whose ranks are growing daily, even sweeping some mainstream authors away from their established houses into roles where they can write with fewer restrictions. worlds. Many publishing professionals talk about diverse books not selling as if that were dogma.

But change comes.

Diversity in the the next faces hired in publishing is as important as seeing the next books with Native American, Latina/o, Asian American, African American, disabled or LGBTQIAP authors. He who controls the pen controls the story.

For this month I want to showcase one of those change agents, fellow children's author, Christine Taylor-Butler

In June 2015, I was asked to appear at a predominantly white middle school in Colchester Connecticut to talk about The Lost Tribes. [Her 2015 release] It was clear I was a Black woman. It was equally clear the characters were likely minority. I'd shown a black illustration of a boy as Spiderman along with other multicultural illustrations having nothing to do with the characters in my examples. The day after my appearance the librarian contacted the publisher and said the students were lined up outside her office with money and could they send more books for the kids to by. This fall, when the semester was in full swing, the librarian tweeted that the book was the number one circulating title at their library. I think there is hope that students are more open minded about reading than adults give them credit for.

 

In a similar vein, I ran a challenge. Five puzzles in five days. The winning entries that solved all five challenges would be put in a drawing for a SKYPE visit and a set of autographed books. There were 1250 hits on the site nationwide. The winners were a young boy, and a fourth grade class in a rural Kansas town. Our SKYPE discussion about the book ran over.

The question is - when publishers imply white students won't read books with diverse characters, I often wonder if it is because they fail to publish the types of books that attract those students in terms of intriguing content (adventure, mystery, etc) and, instead, default to urban, civil rights and slave stories as low hanging fruit meant to appeal.

What the world needs now: Empathy

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline says it all - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 

This month I'm blogging about the E-word.

This is that season, you know the one were everyone shouts about peace on earth and good will toward men. I have to think about another word. Empathy. You know, that ability to see things from another point of view. To understand and at least temporarily share someone else's feelings, even if that someone else is outwardly very different from yourself.

I have a quote from Purple heart recipient Charlene Lauderdale, a retired master sergeant in the United States Air Force. She was also born with both female and male anatomy. After living most of her life as a man, she is now legally a woman faced with all the challenges the transition represents. Instead of the walk a mile in someone else's shoes cliche, I will use her words:

You never know until you step up to the plate and swing at the ball coming at you.

See, it's not about feeling sympathy or approval. It's about understanding.

Two weeks ago at my adult Sunday School class, the subject of Ferguson Missouri and the Michael Brown came up. One member of the group made a statement saying he could never understand how anyone could ever try to hit a police officer for any reason.

Never understand.

I'm not going to pretend I know the right or wrong or the final truth about anything that has happened or is happening in this arena.  But I know that anyone content to relax and say "I'll never understand" and let that be the end of things, lacks the ability--or the desire--to even consider the possibility that another individual might look at the world and see something outside their own vantage point. 

Not long ago I saw a call from a teacher looking for books for her elementary class she could use to help teach them empathy. My answer: get any book about anyone who is different from them, who lives a life different from theirs in terms of social class, race, ethnicity, and physical location. Hand them books that show these characters face the kinds of challenges her kids can understand. Let her readers walk through those books wearing the character's shoes so they also see his or her motives, issues, thoughts, goals and emotions. See their sorrows and their triumphs. Become someone different from themselves, at least for the time it takes to get through that book.

A good book can be the perfect empathy training ground.  The march 2013 issue of the Rotarian included an article called The Truth About Fiction. In that article, cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley is quoted as saying:

…reading more fiction enables you to understand other people better.  Fiction is about exploring a range of circumstances and interactions and characters you’re likely to meet.  Fiction is not a description of ordinary life; it’s a simulation. ...fiction tells us what can happen, which can stretch our moral imaginations...

Inside the pages your mind can occupy another space, another body. You can see the world through different eyes. Unfortunately, too many of us read books about people who are like ourselves.  I don't mean that we're all beautiful heroines or navy seal heroes. But a load of the books we read are about people who are basically like the reader. White, middle class or wealthy, primarily suburban. As a result - little or no empathy is required or promoted during the reading of that book, and opportunities are lost. WNDB was born for various reasons. Partly by authors and concerned members of the publishing industry who saw how many children's books featuring a protagonist outside the typical "universal" background could not find a publisher. That included fantasy and speculative fiction,  aliens and yetis were more plentiful than kids of color, kids who lived in poverty, or people who existed outside the US, Canada, England or the UK. Don't even ask about non-christian kids or the handicapped.  

I believe that books featuring Heroes or Heroines from all places and walks of life can have stories that bring something to enrich us all. That characters who are neither rich nor middle class can share their form of the universal story with readers, and in the process, enhance the readers' lives. Those books can teach readers they do not have to condone an individual's actions, but that understanding is the path toward a better future.

That's why I write diverse books. It's also why I teach a class for writers who want to write about people who are different from themselves.  It's not an easy task. If done wrong, the author can do more harm than good, promoting stereotypes that negate the need for empathy because the reader Ends up feeling, "Everyone knows that's how those people are."  And people from the group can feel victimized when seeing themselves portrayed as a caricature.  The class is for authors who want to do the work needed to do a good job understanding and portraying someone else. And, in the process, developing more than a little empathy themselves.

I want to thank you for reading this long-winded blog post.  I do so by holding a contest. If you've done a Rafflecopter contest before you know how easy it is.  If not, just check out he box below. Each option has a point value. You can comment or like or tweet for chances to win. The prize is a free spot in the next Adding The Spice Of Diversity To Your Writing class being held in February, 2015. And, if February is not right for you, I have a second class coming in June 2015 you can select instead.

Information on the class is available at the YARWA website. This is the Young Adult chapter of the Romance Writer's of America, the organization sponsoring the February session.  Simply enter the rafflecopter contest below. There are multiple chances and ways to win, staring by making a comment about your feelings on Empathy on this blog. The contest runs until the second Wednesday in January when I will announce the winner on my monthly blog post.


Click here to enter contest for a free spot in Adding The Spice Of Diversity To Your Writing class

The Passing Of A Giant

Hi everyone!
I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline says it all - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 


Life keeps intervening in my posts for Romancing The Genres, or in this case death. This month the theme is writing collaborations which I thought timely because I am on the lookout for a writing partner.  Two heads being better than one, I would love the opportunity to work with another writer and see how/if my writing would go if I were part of a collaborative team. Partnerships sometimes move mountains. That's why I am on the lookout for a critique partner. 

I have just started writing a series of YA paranormal novellas about The Vessels, a group of  Black, Latino, and bi-racial heroes and heroines called upon to fulfill an agreement their souls entered into before they were born and give their lives to save the world from a demon invasion.  I wrote a small piece of flash fiction I called Final Choice that introduces readers to one Vessel (he doesn't know what he is yet). Final Choice was recently published in the summer edition of a local journal, the Arlington Almanac (Click here to read the story. ) It's only seven hundred words (this publisher is serious about word count) digested down from a four thousand word short story that gives you a lot more about Juvon's background and some of the demons he will have to face.

Click for Obituary

But last week one of my inspirations passed away. Walter Dean Myers. That changed the rest of what I was going to write in this post. 

He wrote more than 100 books for children of all ages, with two Newbery Honor Books, three National Book Award Finalists, and six Coretta Scott King Award/Honor-winning books. He was the winner of the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award, the first recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.

At a time when people in the publishing industry may finally be hearing the message that #weneeddiversebooks the loss is a reminder that too few authors of color have ever been allowed on the center stage. His loss leaves a huge hole.  He was the go-to guy for all too many schools and librarians.  

Need a book for a black boy reader? Get him something by Walter Dean Myers. Oh, he’s already read that author's books and would like to see another well-written, quality book where he can find himself mirrored on the page? Sorry, no one else comes to mind.

Yes, I am being a little facetious, but only a little.  Try asking your local children's or teen librarian about black authors and see just how few they can think of much less have on their shelves for their kids to find.

I corresponded with some librarians over the holiday weekend who loudly proclaimed what a gem he had been. There would never be another one like him, they all said. I hope they are wrong. In fact, I’m sure of it.  Because if there is no one to take up the slack, what happens to the kids? Is it really true that the entire race could only produce one great children's author? Or is it just that the other authors labor in obscurity? Authors out there who are not afraid to write for this audience because “those books don’t sell” or “those kids don’t read,” and who are bypassed by publishers and the gatekeepers of children's lit and never seen or known. The thing I liked most about his books was that they didn't look down, or up, to anyone. They were all about relationships, parent and child, best friends, worst enemies. Characters who weren't the villains they looked like at first, and characters struggling to overcome villains.  Especially about building friendships and relationships between people who might not seem to have anything in common,  like Darius & Twig the most recent Myers book I read about the friendship between the kid who wants to be a writer someday (So I have to love him) and the kid on the way to a scholarship in track if he can get by the unscrupulous sports agent in his path.

In a few months I will be giving two workshops at a librarian convention.  One will be on ways to build up multicultural collections, including books that will provide both windows and mirrors for a variety of young readers. The second will focus on many of the invisible books by African-American authors.  I usually start that talk out by telling attendees there is one author whose name I should not even have to mention.  I will be giving him high tribute in October at the OELMA conference during both talks.

This man would have been number one on my list of collaboration partners.  Or maybe I would have just looked over his shoulder and watched him work, hoping to absorb some of his skill. Plotting, characterization, setting, he was a nimble craftsman who sucked you in and made you care about the story unfolding on the page. Both eager and reluctant readers were drawn to his words. And I know I am going to miss the joy of opening his future books. But I know there are other voices out there, and hope to see many authors building on his legacy.

PS, I'm still on the lookout for that critique partner.

The Mad Cow

By Robin Weaver

A long time before Mad-Cow-Disease was a common term, there was a mad cow. Her name was Bitsie and the huge Guernsey hated me.

Enduring the endless feudal system known as farm life was dreary enough for a ten-year-old, but Bitsie asserted her strange moo-joe to make life even more hellish. Whenever I entered her domain (which was daily since I had to feed the bitch), she’d charge, full throttle, forcing me under a fence or up the nearest scrub pine. She’d wait at the bottom of the tree, daring me to come down as she idly chewed her cud.

Bitsie would conveniently depart just before my parents came home, thus forcing me to face the juvenile version of a firing squad—a.k.a. my mother—with no evidence. My attempts to explain the reason for unfinished chores fell on deaf ears. No one believed Bitsie actually harassed me, thus I become the “story teller” and the term “cowgirl” was applied in a less than flattering way.

“But I never lie,” I protested. And I didn’t.

Now because I was a paragon of virtue, but because when I was three-years-old, my grandmother told me, “If you fib one more time, the devil will come out of the ground and get you with his pitchfork.” That kind of thing stays with a person.

Ironically, Bitsie had no beef with anyone except me. Around other people, she personified the perfect cow, gentle and unassuming, as she switched her long tail at the flies circling her brown and white hide.

Things changed the minute we were alone. The Bovine charged with demonic energy, forcing my short legs into a long sprint to avoid her devilish hooves.

One day, everything changed. I’d been ordered to clear the brush in the lower field—a task I actually liked; the brush wasn’t heavy so while I piled it, I could daydream about fairy princesses and drinking milk from a store-bought carton. The catch-22: I had to venture into Bitsie’s domain, the dreaded pasture.

When I approached the gate, Bitsie came running. I froze. What a choice—get in trouble or get trampled?

Suddenly, the voice of doom sounded. “Get down there and clear that brush. Now!” Mom’s command was followed by the more dreaded, “Don’t make me come out there.”

She’d walked to the edge of the yard and had a clear view of the gate. I knew from experience, Bitsie wouldn’t attack with an audience, so I seized the opportunity to avoid both menaces and ran as fast as I could.

I hadn’t covered much ground (short legs, remember?) when I heard the door screen slam.

Uh-oh. Out of time.

 I looked over my shoulder and horror of horrors, Bitsie charged. With no tree in sight. I’m not Catholic but I made the sign of the cross.

Just when the thunder threatened to reduce me to manure. Whack!

I kept running, finally reaching a tree and shimming up the trunk. I didn’t look until I’d planted both feet on the second branch, about eight feet above the ground. I couldn’t imagine what magic had saved me.

My grandfather, armed with a two-by-four, circled around the grand dame of milk. Bitsie shook her head and stomped her front hooves. Gramps held firm, forcing the devil-cow into submission, as much with his will as with the big stick he so softly carried. I watched with a strange combination of fear and wonder. The beast-of-horror turned from my grandfather’s stare and trotted away.

Gramps had always been my favorite person. Now he loomed larger than livestock. Still, I didn’t come down from my lofty perch until Bitsie was far, far away. Gramps took my hand and together we walked back to confront my second demon—mother.

My grandfather had been helping mom with some repairs in the barn. He’d said he knew I wouldn’t lie, so he’d stayed out of sight to see what Bitsie would do.

At that young age, I learned one of life’s greatest lessons. When someone believes in you, neither demons nor mad cows can touch you.



Robin Weaver
Author of:
BLUE RIDGE FEAR
ARTIFACT OF DEATH
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF LEAH SINCLAIR