Rain, rain go away!

Tomorrow is the official beginning of summer and we are either in sweatshirts or rain coats or both. Hopefully a new month will bring a new weather pattern.

I have finished my time in second grade for this year. I am so thankful for the time I have shared with Sue Michaud and her class at the Dike Newell School in Bath, Me. Her students have endured being the guinea pigs for the test drives of school visits with the next book. They have been most helpful with suggestions from better ways to lay out worksheets to visuals that help the presentation. I will miss them and wish them well as they move on to third grade. I treasure the fingerprint "people" picture they made for me.

Events are slow this time of year with a signing at L.L.Bean on July 11th the only scheduled event. I am working on several projects at one time and sometimes it seems like I am not getting anywhere! I wish I knew why the ideas mostly arrive at 4am when my brain seems especially active, but my body has trouble getting up and moving.
The suggestion to have a notepad by the bed doesn't really work when your husband is sound asleep and doesn't appreciate a light going on and the sound of a scribbling pencil:)

I hope somewhere it is warm and dry and those who live there are enjoying it. Rainy days are, however, are great days for reading and writing.

Home again, home again jiggety jog!

There is nothing like going away for two and a half weeks to totally disrail any structure you had in your life! Not that I had much to begin with. But I wouldn't trade those two weeks for anything, well, maybe a Caldecott:)

My sister and I visited 12 quilt shops and generally had a great time just being together. I learned a bit about how to get around the Twin Cities and enjoyed the beautiful parks and lakes. On Wednesday evening we headed to The Red Balloon Book Shop to check it out and check on the Saturday schedule. If you love children's books, you cannot miss this store if you are anywhere near St. Paul. The location is fun - on Grand Avenue in the midst of great shops and restaurants and beautifully restored old homes. The selection is amazing, from board books to YA to puppets. Yes, they carry fabulous puppets, including an iguana who now lives with me. Izzy, the iguana, insisted on becoming the mascot for A Isn't for Fox and has really taken on a life of his own. Scary!

On Saturday we returned to The Red Balloon for my book event. The staff is one of the most warm and caring booksellers I have worked with. They went out of their way to make the event fun and comfortable for me and for the families that attended. Their generosity was overwhelming and I will revisit them whenever I am in St. Paul.
My editor and her little boy also attended the event. This was our first face to face meeting and we enjoyed getting to know each other during lunch. We discussed the next book - some surprises there - and I hope to have a release date soon. It looks like it will be early 2010. And yes, another puppet travelled home to help during school visits with the new book.

Now I am trying to regroup, but not really succeeding. One day at a time is too long to think about, so let's try one minute at a time. That might work. Read on!

In Minnesota

What a week it has been! I left Maine last Sunday and drove to Pennsylvania to Mt. Gretna. On Monday I had a school visit at the Cornwall Terrace Elementary School in Sinking Springs, near Reading. Because there were four classes in each grade, I saw two classes in each 30 minute session. I wasn't sure how it would work, but I tweaked some new ideas I used at the Saccarappa School last week in Westbrook. ME. Incidently, the Saccarappa School was awesome! Back to this week. That evening I had dinner with an old friend who was the babysitter for my girls when they were little. We had a great time catching up, talking about education and about authors. We then headed to the Spring Township Library and had a very fun time with storytime. The kids asked great questions, the cookies were good and I was surprised by a former student of mine from Maine.

I spent Tuesday visitng family and enjoying being "home." On Wednesday I headed to Pittsburgh and picked up my daughter and a friend at the airport. The next few days were long and fun and full of quilting related activites. I had a great time and I hope my daughter will take me along again next year. But since it is in Minneapolis, we already have our rooms reserved and I don't see how she could say no:)

Today I made my way to St.Paul where I will be for the next week visiting my sister and her husband. On Saturday I have the storytime and signing event at the Red Balloon Bookstore in St. Paul. I am hoping to meet my editor for the first time. It will be nice to have the week to slow down and catch my breath.

Read a good book, then share it with a friend.

School Visits

I travelled to Wilton ME last week for a day of fun and writing poems at the Cushing School. We wrote some great poems about bugs and Earth Day - and I learned an interesting fact about blood which I need to research. I was
interviewed by three(!) papers that day and viewed the articles online the following day. I don't know how long the articles will be available, but if you're interested, check out www.dailybulldog.com and www.sunjournal.com (Franklin county.)The third paper, The Franklin Journal, is print only, so I hope I receive a copy.

Tomorrow I am off to Westbrook, ME to visit the Kindergarteners at the Saccarappa School. A day with 5/6 year olds is always fun and exhausting!

I can't believe I am finally leaving on my big trip this Sunday. I am eager to visit my family in PA and MN, attend my first Quilt Market in Pittsburgh, do some shopping:) and have a few book events. It will be a great 16 days and it will take all of June to recover.

As the school year draws to a close, it is a great time to think about author visits for the fall. If you belong to a Parent/Teacher group, put it out for discussion now. There is never a bad time to think about enrichment for our children.

I'll keep you posted as I move about the country. Enjoy the flowers, singing birds and budding trees.

Learning, learning, learning...

This past weekend I attended a conference for writers and illustrator's of children's books. It is the annual Northeast Region's conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. If you write for children, you need to belong to this group as it is the leading professional organization for children's writers.

The keynote speaker on Saturday was Cynthia Lord from Brunswick, Maine. Cynthia wrote Rules, A Newbery Honor book. Don't miss a chance to hear her speak as she is a wonderful presenter and quite inspiring. The workshops were some of the best I've attended at this conference and I now have some direction for some of the projects I have in mind.

The big trip is coming up soon. After two more school visits here in Maine, I will be off to Pennsylvania and Minnesota. The school and library visit in PA are all set and I have Googled all the directions from one destination to the next. Now the question is - what to wear?

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Kids and Books - love them!

What a wonderful time I had last week at the Tremont Consolidated School in Bass Harbor, Maine. The students were eager participants in my visit and kept me smiling -and on my toes - all day! We wrote wonderful poems together and they asked very insightful questions. This is a very involved school. The day I visited, scientists from the Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor were working with the second grade finding germs in their classroom and a visiting artist was teaching dance with various other grades. As I left the building, older students were preparing the compost bins and gardens for the growing season. Thanks, Tremont, for a great day!

A little news from the second grade class where I volunteer: they won this year's Read-a-thon and were each awarded a gift certificate to the Bath Book Shop. They walked up to the book store yesterday and stopped to see me at the quilt shop on the way back to school to show me their purchases. I am so proud of them!!! Kudos to their teacher, Mrs. Michaud. It is an honor to help in her classroom.

I am off to a writer's conference next weekend and look forward to learning more about writing for children in the current economic climate and about marketing. It is always inspiring to be around other authors and to hear about the projects they are pursuing. I recently purchased a digital voice recorder and am finding it quite useful. I "write" as I am walking and the results are encouraging. Now to save up to buy the software that will convert it to text. Right now I must listen and type - not very efficient the way I type!

We have been enjoying beautiful spring days, I hope you are, too.

New York, Too!

Another unexpected email bringing another unexpected surprise! The New York State Reading Association Charlotte Award committe has selected
A Isn't for Fox to be included on the suggested reading list which they will promote along with the Charlotte Award ballot. The actual ballot will be released April 1st. The award is named for the spider in E.B.White's classic children's book, Charlotte's Web. It is rather humbling to have two states choose your book as one they want the young students in their state to read.

In the writing room there are several projects in process. Using a new voice recorder, I am "writing" early chapter drafts for an adult novel - don't hold your breath! I continue research for a middle grade novel and have several magazine stories and picture books at various stages of revision.

I am excited about returning to Mabel Wilson school this Thursday. Word has it that the kindergarteners are learning about poetry - I can't wait.

A saying my mom was fond of at this time of year:

Spring has sprung, the grass is ris'
I wonder where the birdies is?

Enjoy the warming temps, the tips of bulbs and the smell of spring.