This is a collaborative writing by Paula and children, “Making Our Words Sing.”

“We Loved Writing Our Blueberry Poem With You!”
– WHITESBOG KIDS AT BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL

Blueberries Like the Night Sky

Miss Lizzie, you had a dream.
Thanks to you, we have blueberries
blue as the night sky, blue as the
deepest sea. We have blueberries
sweet as lollipops and cotton candy,
plump berries sweet as honey and mango.
On your farm we heard birds tweeting,
and wind in the treetops. We saw
moss, cinnamon ferns, and
crunchy pine cones.
We saw leaping toads
and mosquitoes big as airplanes.
Thanks to you, we have blueberry pie,
blueberry slushies, pancakes, ice cream,
blueberry yogurt and best of all,
blueberries we can eat right out of our hands!

Due to the pandemic, a scaled-down version of the annual festival was held in June of 2021– and this June, 2022, I will, once again sell my book, THE BLUEBERRY GIRL, at a festival booth, and offer a power point presentation and workshop (for kids and adults) about Miss Lizzie in the Whitesbog Barrel Factory, www.Whitesbog.org

The June 2020 Whitebog Blueberry Festival was held online.

I told my story, “Are You Foaming At the Mouth Yet?” at the New Jersey Storytellers Project at the Asbury Park Hotel in Asbury Park, on Wednesday, September 19th, 7 – 8:30 p.m.  (A story about the time I had to get rabies shots).

“I picked up a kitten at a local park and it scratched me.”  Could I be exposed to rabies?

This is my journey through the challenge of receiving rabies shots. My storytelling concludes when I’ve rushed to the hospital with my two young sons that last morning to get my final shot — shot number 11, and outside the hospital windows, Hurricane Irene is fast approaching.

Book Signing, Storytelling, and Power Point Presentation, “The Blueberry Girl,” at 36^th annual Blueberry Festival, Whitesbog Historic Village, Whitesbog, NJ, Browns Mills, NJ, June 22nd and 23rd.  Book also available in Whitesbog General Store.

Blueberry time again! Shake off winter blues with “The Blueberry Girl” book, and author Paula Newcomer at Allaire’s Craft Market and Spring Festival, Saturday, May 18, 2019, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Storytelling by Paula, book signing, free blueberries for kids and parents, coloring pages for children and write a blueberry poem! This festival is kid-friendly with fascinating exhibits and nature activities at this historic village. Paula’s book available in the Enameling Building and the General Store; excellent gifts and yummy food. Come meet the author and learn about the amazing Miss Lizzie, a real girl with a real dream.

Journaling workshops will be taking place at Mary’s Place, Ocean Grove from February to April, 2019. Mary’s Place is a nonprofit respite home in Ocean Grove at the Jersey Shore for women recovering from cancer.

Interview and “TALK WITH DIANNA ‘SURVIVOR,’” (Dianna Campbell, CEO/PRODUCER, Channel 2 lifestyle channel) about journaling and writing tips, aired on Tuesday, January 29, 2019:

https://www.mnn.org/live/2-lifestyle-channel

https://www. mnn .org/live/5-hd-channel 

and Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, and Tues., Feb. 5, 2019

My “girls” at Mary’s Place last Saturday, at journal writing workshop. We wrote from a mental picture of our young selves, telling the little girl in us “you don’t know you will…”  and we added one magical realism “you don’t know” which conjured up some wonderful fantastic fun… “don’t know you will win a Nobel Peace Prize, “ etc. A very creative group of women, full of amazing spiritual gifts.

Here’s to my lovely girls who did a journal writing session with me recently at Mary’s Place. We had fun, didn’t we, writing about My Mother’s Kitchen, with a prompt of fresh herbs?- last cuttings from my herb garden, tangerine sage, parsley, celerac, thyme, rosemary, fennel and a few others.

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