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!