Turtle Magazine - Coming Soon...

I just found out that my poem "Beasty Feast" will appear in the September/October issue of Turtle magazine.  I got a little inside scoop today on the illustration plans.  Should be really cute so keep an eye out for it.  Can't wait to see it!

The Publishing Scene with Arthur Levine

On Saturday I attended SCBWI's Spring Thaw program with author & editor extraordinaire Arthur Levine.  What a fabulous speaker.  Arthur covered the key ingredients for remaining savvy in the current children's publishing market and also offered his perspective on launching picture books during a time when the format is considered "a tough sell".  It was definitely a day well spent.  Thank you so much to Arthur and to the committee that made this great event happen.  It's always wonderful to get together with my writing friends. 

I was also able to purchase Arthur's new book "Monday is One Day".  A heartwarming story about how hard it is for parents and children to say good-bye when Monday comes and parents head off to work, and children to daycare or school.  Sure to be a new family favorite. 

Happy Literacy Night!

Thanks so much to my friends at the Montessori Children's Garden for inviting me back for their Literacy Night.  What fun we had.  They had beautiful poems posted all around the room.  During the evening they made "Cat in the Hat" hats, bookmarks, caterpillars...  And helped me by coloring illustrations that I did for several of my poems.  We even played rhyming games.  They are a very talented group.  Keep reading and writing guys.  I hope that many of you send some of your beautiful work out to the magazines that we talked about.  You can do it!

Here's a picture of a few of my new friends that stayed after to show off their projects for the camera.  Great work guys!

The Happiness Project

I usually only talk about children's books on my blog, but I have an adult book that I just have to mention.  I picked up "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin recently and am really enjoying it.  If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, I highly recommend it.  No wonder it's been a #1 New York Times Bestseller!

On the back cover she writes of an epiphany that she has one afternoon.  "The days are long, but the years are short.  Time is passing, and I'm not focusing enough on the things that really matter."  In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

Gretchen does such a great job sharing her research, experiences and lessons learned on happiness.  Many of the quotes are so good that I had to highlight them.  Her writing is so conversational and comfortable that I felt like we were talking over coffee.  So what do you think?  Are you up for the the happiness challenge?

Are you a Binge Blogger?

I sure am.  It's been six weeks since my last post and they have flown by.  I've been out of town quite a bit but have still been busy writing and revising.  Love the direction my new manuscripts are taking. 

Last night I pulled out all of my new picture book files from the marathon - fully expecting that the majority would need to be filed away.  I've been so busy working on other things that I honestly forgot what many of the manuscript ideas were.  What a fun surprise to reread those drafts.  I was able to eliminate some, but I still have about 20 that I really like.  Hmmm... now to figure out which ones to tackle first.  Here we go!