Beyond the Bombs: An American Family Story is now available for purchase on Amazon. A book launch party will be held at Confectionately Yours, located at 2 Reach Road in Presque Isle, Maine on May 23 from 3 to 5 pm. It is open to the public. We’ll be enjoying coffee and refreshments that will echo some memories of my mother. We invite you to come enjoy the launch of this very special book that took 18 years to complete. Now available: Read a sample of the book on Amazon.
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Welcome!
Welcome to the official website of Martha Brabant Pritchard.
Martie, as she is known to friends and family, retired from a thirty year teaching career to pursue writing as a second career. She stumbled upon a group of reluctant historians at Leisure Village and put aside other endeavors in order to encourage them to reach out to the community with their amazing accounts of life in Aroostook County in the early twentieth century. Martie is also the author of War Stories for Children and facilitator of the books A Gift to the Future from the Leisure Village Writers and More Gifts: From the Leisure Village Writers and Friends. Read more about the author…
Return from Storytelling
Wheels Down
I just got back from a heart-whirling weeklong visit to Winthrop Grade School. Telling my mother’s stories of Germany to children from kindergarten to fifth grade was more valuable to me than any graduate course I could have found. As in the completion of such a course, I am left with a feeling of fulfillment mixed with anticipation. Wow! and What?
Wow! I was damn good at that. I now know that when I look toward an invisible jar of raisins on my left, the children’s eyes follow. When I pause and whisper, they lean into my words. When my arms reach wide they “feel” the magnitude of the image my words paint. When I crinkle my nose and screw up my mouth they taste the over-salted French fry I’m guiding them toward.
What? What am I going to do with all this? I left Winthrop physically and emotionally exhausted. I spent every ounce of me on that week of storytelling. At some point, I had to admit to myself that I’m too old to do this very often. Or at all . . . again? At another point, Nathan Hale appeared on my shoulder spouting his words before being hanged, “I regret that I have but one life to give to storytelling.” Then there was Patrick Henry on the other shoulder, “Give me storytelling or give me death.” And Bookaboo, the story-dog-puppet, “A story a day or I just can’t play!”
Seriously, what am I to do? The kids responded and I thrived. But is this anything I can use in writing? I mentioned to my long-suffering husband Jim that I think I’ll rewrite WAR STORIES FOR CHILDREN, moving from the immediacy of first-person written storytelling to third-person, which is the only authentic way to tell Mom’s stories orally. He, of course, thinks I’m nuts. He tried to tell me that when he wrote procedure manuals for starting up power plants he always wanted to go back and try to clarify his work but there was a point where he had to call it good.
I gracefully exploded. “You were writing material that people HAD to read, I’m writing stuff that people have to WANT to read. Your work was mechanical; mine is supposed to be a work of art!” He put on his hat and headed to the barn to shovel horse manure for relief from what he sees as my foolishness.
How does one go about finding a beta reader for a book like this? Memoir. History. Middle Grades. Do I try to hire somebody? The definition of a beta reader is one who is not paid.
So wheels down. Quit flying around in the clouds. Try planting this on the Blog. Maybe . . .
Fun with Owls and Monkeys Bread
Recipe Owls and Monkeys
Proof 1 T. dry yeast in ½ cup warm water and 1 T. sugar
1 egg room temp.
½ cup melted butter
2 cups warm water
1 ½ t. salt
½ cup molasses
¾ cup brown sugar (sugars may be altered according to taste, could use honey, white sugar, maple syrup etc.)
7 to 8 cups King Arthur unbleached white flour
Mix, and knead, as for any bread recipe. Allow to rise about 2 hours in warm, draft-free spot covered with damp paper towel or tea towel.
To shape Owls and Monkeys: imagine the dough in about 11 sections. One section is rolled flat. You’ll have about 5 monkeys and 5 owls. With shot class cut 10 ears. With small wine or juice glass cut 5 wing circles slice in half for wings, from scraps make 5 long skinny tails.
Each blob of dough is formed into a kind of elongated dinner roll shape. Pinch small top section (head) and then twist small section around and around again.
Lay this flat in a section of parchment (or greased cookie sheet) and imagine the body and head of either an owl or a monkey. (parchment “cradles” are arranged on cookie sheet – don’t crowd if you can avoid)
For monkey = lift head and lay ears behind – press together. Tuck tail under back and bring forward around tummy. Gently press into place.
For Owl = wet underside of wings and lay across tummy, round side outward as if at rest. Wet raisins (eyes) and dry apples or other fruit or candy for lips or beak.
Place in cold oven. Turn to 400 degrees for 15 minutes/ turn down to 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Have an egg wash ready (beaten egg with a little water) as hot bread comes out of oven. Brush with egg wash and immediately sprinkle with sugar if desired.