Story Powerline

I’m super excited about my most recent book, Forbidden Orphanage Outside the Forbidden City, the story of my family’s mystery relative, Laura May Richards. Mom always said that her elderly cousin looked like a little old lady who never ... read more

Sometimes we ignore what’s right in front of our eyes. One of my grandfather’s workers saw that happen in the 1950s when the Cerling Construction Company won the bid to build the YMCA in Elmhurst, Illinois. The company was supposed ... read more

  Probably all fathers fail their children to some degree. Claude Powers was a man who failed his child, then later tried to make up for his mistake. Claude started out as a good father. But when his father and brother died a couple ... read more

I started drinking when I was 14. I worked in a restaurant and with the money I got from tips I would ask friends to get me beer. I don’t know why. It’s just that the beer would call me: “You need beer. You need ... read more

All Things Bright and Beautiful by the Irish poet Cecil Frances Alexander is a Christian hymn that explains part of the Apostle’s Creed in poetry for children.Maybe Cecil Frances hid her poetry under the carpet because she thought her father ... read more

“No cats,” I used to tell our kids whenever they asked for a kitten. “No cats. Ben would kill it, and then you’d feel bad.” Ben was our big red Chow Chow. He regarded it as his duty to lay around looking hot until ... read more