Animals in Time, Volume 1: Historical Empires and Civilizations

These stories were so fun to craft! The whole element of a continuing saga was especially exciting. It was really interesting to see how the functions of the Commandment Stone and other elements came together. My favorite character in the book is definitely Ella the Eagle, who was written by my brother, Jaden. Ella is fierce and energetic, but also sophisticated and graceful. My favorite character that I came up with is probably Lenny the Ladybug. He has sort of an east coast swagger and attitude, so he's aggressive, but he's also knowledgable. My favorite story is probably Nari the Newt, because the element of the Commandment Stone's power flowing into her and giving her fiery powers is really exciting. The hardest story to write was probably Xande the X-Ray Tetra, because there was so much about how he came to be in the pot of soup that I had to cut out in order to keep the story length we needed. Christopher also swims on the local swim team at the Junior Olympic level, and he is learning all about Egyptian hieroglyphs, as well as particle physics, for fun. Christopher is our eldest child, and we are in shock almost daily by how quickly he is passing us in height. He is also one reliable guy; when he says he's going to do something, you can count on him to get it done.

Jaden swims on the local swim team at the Junior Olympic level, loves to watch a good movie at the theater, and saves money he earns to buy piano sheet music for works by John Williams. Jaden's idea of the best party is staying home with friends and family around to celebrate with, and one of his most daring moments was eating snails (escargot) on a cruise to the Bahamas.