I am happy to announce the publication of Leo Learns to Meditate on October 4! Published through Bala Books and Penguin/Random House. Following advice from his wise mom in a series of dramatic and humorous lessons, Leo explores several ways meditation can help him develop a more peaceful happy mind, even in the face of a very upsetting challenge by the school bully. John Ledda, the illustrator, has done a perfect job of dramatizing Leo's experiences in a graphic novel format, and provided wonderful full-page visualizations of classic Buddhist metaphors useful to understand topics like balancing relaxation and clarity, developing loving-kindness, and becoming self-aware of one's own emotions.
Francesca Hampton Author Page
Thursday, September 29, 2022
Sunday, April 29, 2018

Hi everyone,
I'm delighted to announce that my children's first chapter book, When Dragon's Came to Alice Street, is finally available for purchase online through Amazon and kindle and eventually through other booksellers online. It should even show up overseas.
This book was written several years ago specifically to inspire the many children in my apartment building to learn to love reading, and being read to. All the children in the story are actual people, though they are now as tall as I am! The story is filled with laughs and all the fun of children off on a great adventure on the back of a friendly dragon. But underneath, I also wanted to make children more aware of some of the environmental crises affecting the world, and give them, at least in the fantasy world of children, a way to help fix some of that, and for later when they grow up and can do more, the belief that this is possible.
The long delay was the result of the difficulty of finding or creating art to go with the text. I even sat down with a book on how to draw dragons and ended up just banging my head on the table. But at last my cousin Patricia, a fine artist in acrylic and watercolor, stepped up to take on the challenge. She also had never tried dragons before but she came up with a cover i just love. I added to it an actual picture of one of the children and even my father's real face in the picture on the wall. Carl Chew, a man with whom i attended high school a million years ago, volunteered to take on the rest of the story just for the fun. Carl is a wonderful semi-retired professional artist with just the right sense of whimsy and I am eternally grateful for the images he added to the story.
This book, like my others, came to publication via the many new online bookmakers that authors can use now, going around the traditional gate keepers in publishing. Create Space, the one i used for my last two projects, cost me truly nothing since i provide my own covers. They just take a reasonable cut of those books that are actually sold. The book they deliver is high quality and should make extra fun reading for parents reading aloud to children or teachers reading aloud a story in the classroom. I hope you will enjoy it! If you click on the link, you can read the first pages of the story on Amazon. Please be sure to leave a comment on its Amazon page or on Goodreads.com, if you do. It is comments that make all the difference in author published works like this. Let's open the door to creativity for each other!
Saturday, April 15, 2017
Greenstone's Promise in final stage!
Whew, so many revisions. Isn't it amazing, no matter how many times you re-read a manuscript, you always find something to improve. Such a process must come to an end, of course, if one is ever to publish anything and the final amendment to the final amendment is now being sent to me as a review copy. The day it arrives, the button on Amazon's print on demand platform, Create Space, will be pushed to send the book out where readers can find it - the online stores at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and presumably many others. Shortly after that, it will also be found on Kindle for those who prefer their e-readers. I thank you dear readers for your patience in waiting for this sequel. I think, I hope, you will not be disappointed.Friday, December 2, 2016
Off to the post office today to put ten free copies of Dolphin Singers into the mail for the winners of the Goodreads giveaway. A big thank you for all those who signed up to received one - and especially those who didn't win! (Another giveaway coming soon if you want to try again). For those who did, I hope very much you enjoy the book look forward to seeing your comments and evaluations show up on Goodreads and Amazon. (If anyone feels really inspired, it would be good to see at least a comment or to on the Barnes and Noble site. It tends to be neglected.)
It is great fun for an author to learn that others are reading and enjoying something you worked on so long and so hard. I was especially pleased a while ago to learn from a friend that she has been reading Dolphin Singers to her special needs class in a Watsonville elementary school. Even the scowling boy in the corner eventually came around, she said, and started listening. My inner glow for the day.
It is great fun for an author to learn that others are reading and enjoying something you worked on so long and so hard. I was especially pleased a while ago to learn from a friend that she has been reading Dolphin Singers to her special needs class in a Watsonville elementary school. Even the scowling boy in the corner eventually came around, she said, and started listening. My inner glow for the day.
Saturday, November 19, 2016

Thursday, August 11, 2016
Buddha on a Midnight Sea - Short Stories
Here is the link to my book of Buddhist Short Stories, Buddha on a Midnight Sea, first described in an older author's blog.
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