Barbara V Evers

"Pool goat!" More times than not, my granddaughter will make this announcement or, "No pool goat," on the way to school each morning. It's become a tradition. What is a pool goat? We pass a house on the way to the middle school that has an aboveground pool in the backyard. This pool must be dry because the goat is often in the pool. I'm trusting her observation here, because the house is close to an intersection, so I often don't think to look. I did look yesterday. I saw something on the pool ladder, but I didn't have time to register it as the aforementioned goat. Last week, she informed me there are two goats. Often they are in the pool or on the ladder. Although this would be a great prank to pull on me, the frequency of her announcement and the fact I saw a goat in the driveway one day, supports her claim. Not only does she notice it, but it turns out her best friend knew exactly what she meant the other day when she said something about the poo

I finally got a chance to visit the new giraffe calf at the Greenville Zoo. She arrived on March 19, but between illness and weather and work and kids it took 7 weeks before I had a chance to visit with her and her lovely parents, Autumn and Miles. I chuckled at the man in the ticket booth when I arrived. "Just you?" he asked with a note of surprise in his voice. "Yes." I didn't add that I was headed straight to the giraffes, do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200. I bypassed all of the other lovely animals and hordes of school children, praying that the time of my arrival might keep the school group numbers down. It was after 11 am, so most schools are wrapping up and heading to the park for lunch by that time on a zoo field trip. Except for a few stragglers, that was the case. Groups came and went, but I remained. I watched the giraffes and, of course, talked to them for a little over an hour. After awhile, I noticed one other person hanging out by h

This week's post should have been a recap of a great weekend at AtomaCon in N. Charleston, SC. Unfortunately, my allergies turned into something contagious. Even though the doctor put me on antibiotics, I felt it unwise to attend. I don't always respond well to the one-and-only antibiotic I can take, so I needed to proceed with caution. This decision, although the right one, was very hard to make. AtomaCon is a small science fiction/fantasy/horror con (con), and it's a special one that offers a lot of great fun and panels. Instead, I stayed home, bundled up on the couch and watched my friends' Facebook posts about the con. It looks like everyone had a fantastic time. Next year, I hope to be back!  Occasionally, people ask me why I attend cons as an author guest. There are so many answers to that question! As a fantasy author, nothing beats meeting people who enjoy the genre . Yes, authors hope to sell their books at cons. I won't deny that, but I really enjoy chatt