Give More Hugs!

That has always been my philosophy. How perfect is it that my granddaughter and I have teamed up with an organization called GIVE MORE HUGS to entice more kids into the magic world of reading?  What better advocate could we have for that group than the totally huggable little fairy?  The great philosophy of this wonderfully…

Share the road

My first assignment in the Army was as a platoon leader in Mannheim, Germany. The US was still involved in a cold war with the Soviet Union. My unit had HETs—heavy equipment transporters. Due to their size, weight and cargo, often M60 tanks, driving on the autobahns required special clearances from the Germans and the…

Go with the Flow

Evocative advice. Unfortunately, my flow would leave me reading a selection chosen by my book group rather than The Secular Revolution: Power, Interests, and Conflict in the Secularization of American Public Life, not a title that rolls off the tongue or one I’d be inclined to choose if I were browsing the library shelves. The 95…

My New Book Got a GREAT Review!

A well-researched, lively volume that leavens the Ellis Island experience with humor, fairy-tale magic, and an appealing plot — Kirkus Review   My new book SAILING BACK TO ELLIS ISLAND, due to be published next month, got its second GREAT review. Besides my favorite part, quoted above, Kirkus Review also says, “Collen admirably balances fact and fiction…