Emotional truths can sometimes
be conveyed more effectively,
more compellingly, through fiction.
[Diana Ossana]

I’m a reader. I read volumes of non-fiction—history and wars in which the United States has participated. But mostly, I read fiction. Mysteries are my favorite.

Jacqueline Winspear, one of my favorite authors, developed a character, Maisie Dobbs, who weathers hardships and tragedies by using life events as learning experiences. For me, the books about Maisie are examples of how truth can be effectively represented in fiction. It is like the difference between illustration and photography. Scientific illustrators tell us that illustration can often represent a specimen more accurately than a photo would.

Ms Winspear’s website includes the following about her most recent Maisie Dobbs novel (which I thoroughly enjoyed):

Journey to Munich
12th Maisie Dobbs Novel

Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers—and finds herself questioning whether it’s time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas.

I am a writer. I mainly do technical writing and have been working on my knitting pattern collections. The image at the left shows six of more than a dozen vest patterns I am working on. The one on the dress form is the latest and was knit using silk and marino yarn that my daughter spun. I am also immersed in producing patterns for a textured knitting collection that I call Great Lakes Chill Chasers.

The greatest challenge for me in writing patterns is assuring accuracy. I have over seventy designs for which I could produce patterns, but assuring accuracy slows me down … which brings me to my last point.

I am not so good with arithmetic. There is a lot of calculating involved in writing patterns in different sizes. The best helper I’ve found is a calculator app for my iPad.

MyScript© Calculator is magic for sure. It was free! How does Vision Objects© do that? Also it works well and is fun to use. Write numerals and function symbols (+, -, =, etc.) with a finger on a touchscreen and then watch your writing change into real equations with the correct answer. It even charmed my five-year old grandson. When I used it in a knitting class to help people figure their stitches and rows from their gauge, it was fast and accurate. Some students even downloaded the app for their smart phones during class.