Adventures with Ragweed
By Linda Lou Crosby
Genre: YA, Short Stories, Adventure
SYNOPSIS:
Adventures with Ragweed is a collection of humorous short stories filled with adventure and family themes. Ragweed is a tribute to the whimsical part of each of us. Follow this young teen and her best friend, Marney as they travel to Mexico for a fishing trip where the family is to shoot a pilot for a television show instead find themselves in an unexpected sea storm. Laugh out loud as Ragweed takes on the tennis elite at the country club or attempts to rearrange their perfectly cut lawns. Always one to learn new things, this young freckled face gal with the unruly blonde hair builds a float, rides a horse and grows a garden. Each task done with her own unique vies of the world. These stories are meant to entertain. It's difficult to narrow it down to one specific genre as the book is a collection of short stories suitable for young adults as well as for an older crowd with a sense of humor. Family Relationships, Friendships, Essays and Humor are categories all presented within the pages of this book. May you enjoy each tale as much as Ragweed enjoyed living the adventures.
AUTHOR BIO:
Linda Lou Crosby is a video producer, storyteller and former professional athlete. Like Ragweed, she has a unique approach to life. Ragweed is a part of herself she wanted to share with others. Linda Lou has a great sense of humor and likes to laugh and make others laugh too.
She currently lives with her husband in Montana and California where on clear days you can find her fishing, hunting or hiking.
Links:
Hello, Thank you for answering my questions today!
- First off, let's get to know a little about you. What is one odd thing about you? And feel free to tell us a little bit more than that as well!
I love doing traveling theater productions across the west. For years, I have written fanciful plays, often based on the “Gold Rush Days” era of our history, peppered often with current predicaments we can all relate to. For a while I established “Opera Houses” in various small towns of the west, where we would have audiences from all over attend. Right now my husband and I live in Ingomar, Montana, and we put together fun “theater” events at the local Jersey Lilly Saloon and Eatery. In a town of 15 residents (like Ingomar) on the Montana plains, it is really fun to see 80 people packed in the “Jersey” (only business besides the post office in town) to come enjoy a cowboy poetry event. Where do the folks come from to see these shows? Why from all over.
- Now, can you tell us more about your novel, Adventures with Ragweed: A Collection of Whimsical Tales?
Adventures with Ragweed is a story of a very creative little girl, who perhaps is a bit bored with what her wealthy family has to offer in terms of enjoyment. So Ragweed creates her own world of fun, and invites her best friend, Marney, along for the ride. The ideas Ragweed has are harmless, but often involve her family and friends in ways that have strange outcomes. There is a story of Ragweed coming up with a brainstorm to see if she and Marney really can fry an egg on the sidewalk of a beautiful desert resort. Of course, the outcome is not exactly “over easy”. As I talk with people about my book, some told me they have often wondered if you could actually fry an egg on a sidewalk. Some even actually tried. So, I think there is a lot for young adults and even older adventuresome adults to relate to in this book….adventures considered or perhaps undertaken.
- What was the inspiration behind Adventures with Ragweed?
I think the world gets a bit too serious sometimes, especially for our younger generation. We have been given a world of wonderment, and often parents wonder if their youngsters are going to get good enough grades (and the like), and be able to plow through the various hurdles to make them successful adults. I say the world is made to explore, to appreciate, to laugh with, and to enjoy. So, I wanted to write a book that would encourage that exploration. When I meet people and they tell me they are reading the story to their grandchildren or nieces and nephews, sometimes a chapter at a time, I think “How wonderful!”, that is why I created ”Adventures with Ragweed”.
4. How did you come up with the character of Ragweed? I am always thinking up adventures that end up in some surprising fashion, and including (I use the term loosely) my husband, my family and my friends. Years ago the character of Ragweed popped into my mind, and made me laugh. I told my husband, who was just getting over one of my redecorating jobs, about my new-found character, and he said, “You are Ragweed!” I suppose the stuck together paintbrushes, and slightly cracked-open paint can he viewed outside my newly decorated outdoor room might have had something to do with it.
5. What is your favorite environment to write in? I love to be looking out on the wonderment of nature when I write, like the eastern Montana prairie. Could also be on a back porch looking out towards the Eastern Sierras. “Open spaces” and the “big outdoors” gives me a feeling that anything is possible.
6. Can we expect anything from you in the future? If so, what can we expect from you in the future?
I am working on Ragweed’s next adventures, “Ragweed Explores the West”, in which Ragweed arrives at Aunt Matilda and Uncle Clem’s ranch in the middle of nowhere to spend the summer. No one is left unscathed by that fateful summer; no animals, aunts and uncles, friends or family. And there is a lot to be learned about ranching and farming in a whole new light.
Thank you for your time! I really appreciate it!
Thank you!
Thanks for hosting a stop!
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