I’m a fairly confident writer. But even though I know I can write, I never know if any particular person will like it. So, when I turn in a piece of writing to an editor, I hold my breath. It’s like turning in a school assignment and waiting for a
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about working on the opening to my next picture book. I still haven’t heard if the opening I submitted will fly or not, but I thought I’d follow up here and share a couple of openings written after the fact. A lot of
Teachers, I’m in the editing/revision process for my next book with Millbrook Press. Carol, my insightful editor, wondered if the book needed more of an opening to orient the reader. I wrote the book as a Things To Do If… poem (see some quick TTDI poems here and here and
Each January, I choose a word of the year. This year, my word, my theme, is EMBRACE! I plan to try to embrace my writing life. If I can’t embrace it, I’m going to try to ditch it–either not do it (and quit feeling guilty about not doing it), outsource
Good morning, everybody! I don’t usually post on Saturdays, but it’s a special weekend edition, because I’m being featured over at the lovely Vivian Kirkfield’s Picture Books Help Kids Soar blog as part of her Will Write for Cookies series. Hey, if you change that to cupcakes, I’ll write, sing,
Every once in a while, I’ll talk with a writer whose spouse is wholly unsupportive of the writer. I honestly don’t know how those writers survive. I feel so lucky to have my family’s support, especially that of my husband, Randy. As I get ready to go to NCTE, a
Water Can Be… (Millbrook, 2014) doesn’t come out for eight more months, but it’s been front and center for this past couple of weeks. First, I got to see the fantastic finished art by Violeta Dabija (I hope to get to share a sneak peek soon). Then, I wrote the
Each year, I choose an annual theme, an idea I originally got from Steve and Vicki Palmquist of Children’s Literature Network. My word for 2012 was Focus. I think I got better at focus last year. I learned to do better at blocking out my to-do list and focusing in
I was admiring a cool room design in a magazine. It used an old library cart on wheels (a thrift-store find) as a bookcase. Love that! Functional and reflective of my love for libraries! And I happen to need some new bookshelves. So I searched online, but?nothing fit my budget.
1) I’ve been watching some of the Olympics, and it’s so heartbreaking when a supremely skilled athlete has a bad day and watches golden dreams slip away. 2) I’m “driving” a prop car for Minnesota Brass this season in our Bonnie & Clyde show. Due to a perfect storm of
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National Poetry Month projects through the years
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