Hazel Spire: fiction - poetry - art

Making important marks on paper for half a century

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If you reached this page via the ARTSHARES website, scroll to the ARCHIVES below. Click on FEBRUARY 2012 and read TOP TEN REASONS TO TAKE UP STAINED GLASS :)

Section of the bars in Marshalsea debtors' prison, featured in the novel Little Dorrit.

Children's dress-up clothes at the Dickens Museum

Above is my first-ever poem accepted for publication. My brother's classmate Garry still has a copy of our high school magazine, The Sandonian, 1966. I'm glad he put it on Facebook because I lost my copy, and had forgotten half the lines!

Christmas Cross for Brenda

"Chip" looks down at my writing desk. He was a gift, along with chocolates, from a 3rd grader and her mom when I received a contract for SECRET OF THE SEVENTH GATE, after 42 rejections and countless revisions. Little did we know that three years would pass before the book actually came out.

Chocolate cake made by a writer friend in Texas, for my farewell soiree in 2010. This reminds me of why I wanted to retire.

First book cover. It arrived just when I was about to look for another publisher. Glad I hung in there! It is still in print.

Winfield Arts and Humanities, KS

Sponsor of KANSAS VOICES. Find rules and entry form for 2013 on their web site.

"I'll miss the gentle herds that grazed..."

Archives

"daisies along this slice of country not yet to dozed or razed..."

Janus

Sandown High School

Sandown Grammar School badge/motto

Books are like friends. Time spent with them is never wasted.

What to do with rejection letters? Decoupage! (I've been rejected by the best.)

Victorian Carolers in Grapevine, Texas

Traditional English fruitcake with marzipan and fondant icing, though often made with royal icing.

Who says Baptists can't have fun?

One of Eric's proud mamas.

Dreaming of better days in Chautauqua, KS

Pin Oaks in October

Sample planner page. If I didn't reach a goal set for the week, I would forgo the reward for that week.

Ellen & Anne-Marie at Sedan library on Dr. Seuss's birthday, one of several kids' events I've attended since moving here.

Sign opposite the railway station: Sandown, Isle of Wight, my home town 1955-68.

1st grade nativity. I was King Herod, 2nd from left.

36 Victoria Road. We moved here in 1961.

Favo(u)rite ice cream, called a "99" with a Cadbury's chocolate flake.

Under Sandown Pier. We enjoyed the beach in all seasons.

Jumping these waves at age 10 or so, I knew I wanted to write a book some day.

Author Central Page on Amazon

One way to order books and follow event updates

Snookum the Stalker

Impressionistic Pond

New foliage on a pin oak tree, one of two in front of our house

IN DIANA'S FOOTSTEPS ~ Oil painting of a tree in Kensington Gardens

Stonehenge

Speyer Cathedral

Red Rose Stepping Stone

Kaleidoscope Quilt inspired by Ricky Tims

ARTSHARES ~ A Work-Ready Studio For You!

Classes in stained glass, applique, quilting, jewelry, and more...

Curious George at Sedan Library

Permanent exhibition at Albert Dock, Liverpool. Go down the steps to basement level and enter a time warp!

Museum poster of the famous "zebra crossing" outside Abbey Road studios

A Work Ready Studio For You

Classes in stained glass, quilting, jewelry, and more

Display at the Beatles Experience Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool

For my retirement party, coworkers made palette centerpieces - with cupcakes frosted by 5th grade.

Inspired by Tan Chun, coworkers & I painted a Tuscan vista mural in the break room. Final touches (not seen here) included 3 birds flying away... our 3 retirees!

Anniversary Cake for our True Brit group, The Colony, TX , April 2010

Selected Works

Children's Novels

Arrowhead's Lost Hoard

P3 Press 2008. 135 pages. "I can't wait to read it to my students!" ~ Susan See, LISD Teacher-of-the Year Finalist. "A heartwarming story of family, acceptance, and buried treasure." ~ Laura Edge, Children's Author

Secret of the Seventh Gate

Royal Fireworks Press 2001. 123 pages. Mystery for middle grades, enjoyed by readers age 7-70. "It was so exciting I even got up early just to read it." ~ Joanne (8), England.

Work-in-Progress

Riddle of the Samovar

SECRET OF THE SEVENTH GATE sequel. The Texas 1979 reunion between the Graham & Darabi families is overshadowed by the Iran hostage crisis! I am also writing sidebars full of funs facts to supplement my new picture book, L IS FOR LONDON.

Poetry Chapbooks

Homeward Tracks

A chapbook from RaeMark Press, June 2003. $6.00 B&W illustrations by the author. Click on title for sample poems.

Tapestry of Time

38 illustrated pieces, ranging in style from Shakespeare to Ginsberg, trace a rich pattern woven over five decades of living. RaeMark Press 2006. Click on title for sample poems.

Memoir

Bugsy, Slug, the Beatles and Me

Fly with Lucy in the Sky, back to a time when everything was fab!

A Song For Irene

A tribute to my teacher, Miss Irene Wheeler: See BLOG post 9-4-12

Magazine Articles

Home From The Hospital

Published in Welcome Home. A survey of women's experiences with newborns.

Double Delights

Interview with founding members of a Mothers of Multiples chapter

Thomas Hardy's Turning Point

What made novelist Thomas Hardy switch to poetry for the rest of his life? Published in Quartos, UK.