May just might be my new favorite month. Not only are my tulips about to burst into bloom, but it’s also Reading Celebration Month at Peru Intermediate School. I’m their guest author, which means I get to spend time talking books with a crew of excited kids who love to read. This poster in the front [...]
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Places to Go, People to See
Tomorrow, I’m the author guest at Peru Intermediate School‘s Reading Celebration Kickoff for the month of May. (That’s Peru, NY…not Peru, South America. If you want to hear about the South America Peru, you should visit , who just had a school visit there!) I’m excited to meet the kids, talk about some books I [...]
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NESCBWI Conference Panel Handout
At the request of some folks on Twitter, I’m posting the handout from last weekend’s NESCBWI panel discussion, "Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Agents…But Were Afraid to Ask." I participated in the panel, along with my agent Jennifer Laughran of ABLA, author Jo Knowles and her agent Barry Goldblatt, and author/illustrator Carlyn Beccia and [...]
The Top Ten Things I Learned at NESCBWI
10. An unreliable narrator — one who doesn’t tell the truth for any number of reasons — can add tension to a story. In her workshop called "You Lying Scumbag" (love that title!), Jacqueline Davies read a bit from her new historical novel LOST and shared an Ian McEwan quote that stuck with me. "Narrative [...]
Saturday at NESCBWI – Part II
Highlights of my Saturday afternoon at NESCBWI…I was part of the panel discussion "Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Agents…But Were Afraid to Ask," along with my agent Jennifer Laughran, Jo Knowles and her agent Barry Goldblatt, and Carlyn Beccia and her agent Tracey Adams. This was my first time presenting at an SCBWI Conference, [...]
Saturday at NESCBWI
Cynthia Lord’s keynote talk at NESCBWI this morning was…well…it was everything that Cynthia is. Smart and warm and inspiring and nurturing and wonderful. If you’ve met Cindy or know her on LJ, you know exactly what I mean. And she was right…we did need the Kleenex when she shared some of the letters she’s received [...]
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An Early Update from NESCBWI
I left my camera connector thing at home, so photos will have to wait, but I thought I’d post a quick update from Nashua all the same. (For my mom and others who may not know writer acronyms, NESCBWI stands for New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.) Highlights of Day 1:Meeting conference [...]
Thankful Thursday!
Lots to be thankful for today!1. When I walked to the library to return books at lunchtime, I found a book of Billy Collins poetry on the 50-cent book sale rack. NINE HORSES is the only one I didn’t already own. Suffice to say, I own it now and read it all the way back to [...]
Thank you, Grand Isle School!
A couple weeks ago, I had the good fortune to spend a day with the terrific kids at Grand Isle School and their equally terrific librarian, Susanna Paterson, who is both a fellow teacher and a fellow writer. Susanna was an amazing hostess who kept me right on schedule through three presentations and a lunchtime [...]
A Different Kind of Outdoors
I’ve been a quiet blogger lately, mostly because we’ve been on vacation, visiting family in Southwest Florida. The sunshine was a welcome break from our Northern NY skies that spit snowflakes well into April. For the past five months, spending time outdoors has meant cold, crisp air, jackets, and gloves…ice-covered lakes and snowy mountains, so [...]