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Hello, friends, hope you had a creative week. I've been thinking a lot about honesty lately. Here is a thing I've learned -- if I am brave and write down the things that I'm afraid to write down, then I find that my writing stretches beyond me. Locked doors open inside me as I let the deep things I think live on the page. I find this whole bravery thing snowballs into my work. My vision clears. Writing what I think helps me. I see what is right and true. And if anything is wrong with what I am thinking that comes out to. Putting my thoughts on the page helps me get at heart of things.

I've also found all this honesty spills into my work. I am more willing to take risks. I don't feel the weight of censors or critics, and I get to the business of shaping my stories the way they want to be shaped. I'm able to make my way into the deepest water of understanding. Emily Dickinson wrote a little poem that sticks with me. "I never saw the moor. I never saw the sea. Yet know I how the heather looks and and what a wave must be. I never visited God, nor visited in heaven, but sure am I of the spot as if the chart were given." Her assurance of things unseen gives me boldness. Her truth changes me. I hope you are getting the sense of the absolute power of writing what needs to be written.

So this week, write down your secret, write down that thought you don't write down because you know it will offend others, write down your anger, your grief, write down something hidden. See what happens when you open wide the door of honesty. I'm just saying, try it. Seize the day. See you next week.

My doodle this week is a little collage. I call it "Sunrise".



The highest compact we can make with our fellow is - "Let there be truth between us two forevermore." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I'm going to reflect on where I came from and how that is shaping where I'm going. Where are your people from? I'm mostly English and Irish with a dash of American Indian thrown in. My mother's family is from Mississippi. My father's adopted family is from Texas. My mom's family was full of wild farmers. They knew gardens, horses, and apples. They knew how to tell stories. Ooh, did they. I get shivers just thinking about it. On my dad's side, his people were pillars of the community. They knew good jokes and how to get things done. They asked lots of important questions and had a social conscience that was as deep as the ocean. Who is you neighbor? Everyone. End of the story.

So where am I going? This unique mix of history has shaped me into the storyteller I am today. From the beginning this has been my talent. I'm no high-brow literary genius (but I'm sure I don't need to kiss the Blarney Stone, in fear that it might try to steal some of my power). I'm not a poetic soul baying at the moon. Boo, no green gold ribbons, no scarlet flame. In me is rip-roaring adventure and complexities that would give any weaver a headache. And, sure enough, I hope to send shivers down every one's back, and I'd like to think I dive as deep when it comes to the important questions and the social conscience piece. I let my roots draw up the life for my fiction. Each story turns out like a new leaf, rich from the roots.

I hope you take time this week and think about where you came from. Give it some deep thought. Try feeling your roots. Consider what they are drawing into the creative part of you.

This week's doodle is "Baby Grass."


All things must come to the soul from its roots, from where it is planted.
Saint Teresa of Avila

Hi, folks, this can be a busy time of year. Life speeds along. On top of normal hustle and bustle, I'm in for big changes in 2010. The biggest will be a relocation to down-home Texas from fair Washington. Pretty big stuff, so I'm facing a few months of working in the margins. In ideal life, you block a good 25 hours a week for writing, add on another 8 for marketing and finish everything off with blogging, networking, and arranging the office supplies. This is the ideal writing life.

In the real life, you have 40 hours of other business commitments each week and then another 20 to 40 hours on top of that for family commitments, and then you write your book in all that spare time left-over. You write from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. and crawl out of bed at 6:30 a.m. and try to squeeze in 30 more minutes of writing. You write 100 words as many times as you can in short bursts all day. You breathe. You are very kind to yourself and others around you. You fill up the margins with your writing life.

I hope that you all scribble in the margins some over the coming weeks.

I call this week's doodle, Funky Face.



Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

And the quote for the week. Something to think about.

I am a part of all that I have met; yet all experience is an arch wherethrough gleams that untravelled world whose margin fades for ever and for ever when I move. Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Welcome, folks. Lazy summer days abound, hence I'm keeping it short. I'm calling this one "Kraft" because of Kraft macaroni and cheese -- you know, the comfort food in a box. Add milk and butter. For some reason almost no kid will object of KM&C. So what in the heck does that have to do with writing? I think the familiar is something important to understand when writing books. I think there is a place for stuff outside our experience, but I also think it is important to be aware of what makes childhood magical, personal.

I think the magic of childhood is discovery of the familiar through new eyes. I'm young at heart. I still like to play, pretend, and imagine. I'll never grow to old to make a mud pie. To be an effective writer for children, you need to open up to the child you were. Go back in your memory. Pick an emotional moment in childhood. Whatever comes to mind? Happy. Sad. Excited. It doesn't matter.

What does matter is what was closest to the surface in your memory. That memory tells you a lot about what you should be writing about. Take some time and really put that memory on paper. Write about every detail, interior self and exterior world. When you are finished take the same scene and try writing it from a fictional point of view. I hope something exciting happens. Happy writing.

I put this doodle up in celebration of this year's ComicCon. I call this one "SuperHero Eggs".

Oh, yay, for summer days. I went on a thirty mile bike ride today, and I am full of amazing snapshots: the little tiny white dog that was sure it could take on a bike, the woman riding her bike with her parrot, and the man who said he knew the secret formula for time travel. I'm always collecting images -- the time travel thing, that's a whole novel.

My friend Katherine Bond has been chatting with me about her need to feed her muse. This is the kind of muse that is the source of an artist's inspiration. I'm going toss out some quotes here because back in the day everyone was into their muse.

Dante Alighieri, in Canto II of The Inferno:
O Muses, O high genius, aid me now!
O memory that engraved the things I saw,
Here shall your worth be manifest to all!
(Anthony Esolen translation, 2002)

John Milton, opening of Book 1 of Paradise Lost:
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, [...]

William Shakespeare, Act 1, Prologue of Henry V:
Chorus: O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!

Yep, having a muse is something to think about.

My inspiration comes from several things. I like to do something sort of crazy beyond my skill set and experience. My 30+ miles bike ride was just that sort of thing. I've walked on erupting volcanos, jumped out of third story windows (there was a net!), and learned how to throw a set of dishes on a pottery wheel. This sort of buzzing activity jazzes my creative self.

Another big infuser of muse power into my universe is to chat. Oh, how I love a good conversation. I live to hear others tell me their story. I also love a good book or a fine movie -- not as good as a conversation, but pretty good. Yes, surprising really, I'm a writer, but I love a good conversation more.

Yet another muse connection is to play certain kinds of thinking games. I do not know how to explain this but it is true. I especially like Scrabble, Boggle, Settlers of Catan, Backgammon, and Risk. A good game will make me want to stay up all night writing. I'm not sure what games are firing up in my brain, but they are.

I have other muses, but hey, folks, I've got to sleep sometimes.

I talked about a tangential subject to MUSES in a blog entry back in March, Pure Genius. Please check it out if you need more inspiration.

I hope that you take some time this week and follow your muses. See where they take you.



My doodle for the week is "Up in the Sky".







Today's playlist hit is musical madness: "Lonesome Polecat" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Singing and dancing!











Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another lazy summer day, yay! Holly Cupala tagged me this week with the question: "What are 15 books that I will never forget?" First there aren't 15 for me. I'm not sure how many, but way over 15. I do think there is some value in seeing what comes to mind, right off the top of your head. I found that I had not one but two allegorical books at the top of my list, and I nearly added a third. I really love allegory. I also love signs and portents. The Urim and the Thummin have also always fascinated me. The mysterious lights and perfections of the Hebrew people kept in the breastplate of a priest for the purpose of divine communication has always intrigued me. These mysterious objects were a concrete way to connect with the Divine's will. Like the prophets, along with dreams and visions, God's voice could be heard.

The Divine is out of fashion in these days. The idea that everyone used to read the stars, tea leaves, and even decks of cards to know the future and understand now makes me think we are losing something as the years roll by. I know people still do these things but they have become very National Enquirer and part of the sideshow of life. I live in such a rational world, but there is a part of me that never forgets that there are deep waters, secret places, and unfathomable mysteries all around us. I hope that my writing is always a doorway into the unknowable. Writers are about the future. Some might call them prophets. They delve into the mystererious, the secrets, the deep.


My best advice, tell you story, and don't be surprised if the very act of communicating sheds light in a dark place, and that place might be you.


My doodle this week is called "Comprehending".

Today will be short again. Happy 4th of July, Americans! I know there are a few readers out there who live down under or across the pond who might not have the 4th on their radar. I'm hearing unending explosions right now. They really love fireworks around here. The air smells acrid and the smoke is shrouding the full moon. We zipped around about 5 police cars surrounding a wild party at house on the way home from a family gathering. Ah, the 4th.

This week I was thinking about the power of the things you don't say when writing. It's the heart of showing. Don't tell me your character is angry. Slam a fist into a wall. Kick the bedstead. Throw out a string of angry words. The heart of story is to not say things but invoke the undstanding of these things in the reader. You have to search for the words make your reader think. The words that open their eyes. Don't be satisfied with the surface of your writing. Dig deeper.

The best writing has a bible of subtext. Some of this subtext will always be subconcious for the writer. You won't be aware of it but I do think that there are ways to sense it is there. Your passion for your work is a good barometer.If you feel so deeply about your work that you are laughing and crying while you write, this is a good sign. Let the work speak without trying to shovel out what you mean. Be crafty. Be delicate. You might surprise yourself. Enjoy the journey.

Today's doodle is a quick watercolor of one morning a few months back. I call it "Washington at Dawn."



The playlist hit come from the US Marine Band with a nifty version of The Star Spangled Banner! I know there a few Marines out there who visit this blog. Thank you for your service! Remember to write every day.



When you wander, as you often delight to do, you wander indeed, and give never such satisfaction as the curious time requires. This is not caused by any natural defect, but first for want of election, when you, having a large and fruitful mind, should not so much labour what to speak as to find what to leave unspoken. Rich soils are often to be weeded. Francis Bacon

Blue sky outside, perfect weather, so I'm keeping it short, folks.

I'm going to write about the painfully honest today -- what it takes to write a book. There is no magic fairy wand, no incantation, no gift of the Irish, no talent, no brilliant idea, no flash of genius -- writing springs out of practice. Reading thousands of books helps, but the biggest thing you have to do to write a salient manuscript is to press a minimum of a million words to many sheets of paper.

You can't run a marathon, climb a mountain, or sail around the world without some work, and you can't write a book without some work. That's why you keep hearing the advice to write every day. Most of those words are about learning how to write. If you have a writing dream, fan it this week. Toss on kindling. Throw on dedication. Make some tangible goals. Mix in some accountability. Stop dreaming and get on your yellow brick road. Press some words against paper.

My computer is on a slow boat back from China but good news for all of you who love the doodles : here is a doodle. I call it a "Scribble."



Today's playlist hit is "Mr. Blue Sky" from ELO. This song spun around my turntable soooo many times through junior high and high school.

Here is the quote of the week!

The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back. Marcus Annaeus Seneca

Hey, folks, welcome!

From left to right. Back row: Louise Spiegler, me, Conrad Wesselhoeft. Front row: Susan Greenway, Cathy Benson, Megan Bilder.

(Note: this is not my only wonderful group. I'm blessed beyond measure when it comes to the writing journey.)

Now for all the Smackdown folks. You never finish books. You only abandon them. I always feel like a worn-out, wrung-out dishrag when I'm finished with a revision draft.

As promised, here are some tips to handle flaw types.

Typos- It's a good idea to keep a list of your most likely typos so that you can keep an eye out for them.

Stuff that doesn't make sense: You are working too fast. Slow down and give yourself extra time to think as you move forward.

Deleted stuff: Never really delete anything. I keep an extra file called the dump. Any time I delete, that bit goes into the dump and occasionally I do go dumpster diving.

Stuff I've got to move is orange. I use symbols to make moves, like "o, p. 22" and on page 22 you will find the 'o'. That is the destination.

Stuff that is awkward or needs better wording is yellow. It's called a thesaurus, folks. Use it and often.

Stuff that I need to add to is green. If it is short, I just write the addition on the manuscript. If it is longer, I often keep some lined paper nearby and freehand a needed paragraph and staple it to the page.

I hope one of these tips helps you.

Now for the first drafters, what happens when you are stuck? Yes, sometimes a draft grinds to a halt. This is the most disheartening thing ever. I've found a few things that can help this. You can try rereading the manuscript from the beginning. Print it all out and don't take a pen. Just read. This can jump start you. Another thing to try is to skip ahead. Jump to a section where you are sure what to do and get to writing. Here's another thing to try. Pull out the Hero's Journey checklist and start marking off your story points. Is something missing? The last one is stick the manuscript in a drawer for a month. Let you unconscious mind work the problem out. It will sometimes. Hope this get you out of any miry patches.

This week's playlist hit: Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey singing "When You Believe". I hope it inspires you to keep going forward whatever stage you are at.

No doodles this week, hopefully my computer will come back someday and my tech stuff will be set right.

So here is your quote for the week. Have faith, folks.

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog. Corrie Ten Boom

Today is going to be short. I've been out of town and just want to check in with you. One of the hardest parts of creating a first draft is what I affectionately call "the slog." That is where you sit in a chair for hundreds of hours and write an incredibly terrible stinky awful (ahem, first draft) book.

Here are some tips to help you keep going. Keep some nice tea and a special cup around for every 3000 words. Reward yourself for success. Race a friend. Pop an email over to someone you know who is writing a first draft. The challenge? I can write more words than you! Want a different strategy? Try spending a day at the library. Take a sack lunch and write all day long. Try this at a bookstore and then a coffee shop, then go to the park. Try the backyard too. That will probably pack on another 10,000 words.

Please let your inner critic take a break while you push through "the slog. Promise that you will make reasonable goals. "I will write 100 words every day this week, not 30,000." With that small reasonable goal, up it by 50 words a week until you reach 1000 per day for a week. Reset and do it again. Give yourself to permission to do whatever it takes to write that draft. Rent a cabin on Maui and take the laptop if that's what it is going to take. Take a class. Join a critique group. Wake up at 3:00 A.M. Go to bed at 3:00 A.M.

Bottom line? Write, write, write, write, write.

No doodles, but a proud mom moment. My son graduated with honors from his college this past week. The gentleman to the right is my son.





Today's playlist is Duncan Sheik's "Half-life."








Quote for the week.

It is not until you become a mother that your judgment slowly turns to compassion and understanding. Erma Bomback

I'm going to wrap up my series on Beginnings this week and will start up a new one next week. Please post topics you would like to know more about, and I will surely let you have my two cents.

Today I want to encourage you to zip some creativity into your first chapter language this week. You've got a nifty plot going with a winning hero, and now it's time to brush in the details. Yes, you might want to head over to your poetry tool box and add some imagery and emotion through your word choice.

Think onomatopoeia. Add some words that make noise. So, sigh a melancholy air release or bang, bash, and boink away! Zoinks, Batman! This is great in picture books but you might be surprised to find that YA authors slip in noises too to spice up that first chapter.

Don't stop with making some noise. Chip in some alliteration and assonance along with that onomatopoeia. Add some simile and metaphor. Pull out your classical rhetoric textbook and check out those figures again. Or just head over to The Forest of Rhetoric. I go there regularly to toss on some genius.

Don't go crazy overboard! Nobody wants a little salad with their croutons.

Yes, you are going to fine tooth comb that first chapter and you are going to strike every boring word. You aren't going to run or walk anywhere. You'll dash, dive, saunter or tiptoe. You will make that first chapter the most sparkly writing ever. I know you will.

Whew! You've got lots of work ahead. Good luck as you go forward. After all this you should have a fantabulous first chapter.

Still no doodles. Waiting on the computer fairies to wave their magic wands and heal my sick, sick laptop.

My playlist hit is Josh Radin and "No Envy, No Fear."


My quote for the week:

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. Ann Frank

I'm going to messy this week with the words, just splat them out, and hope for the best.

Words inside me
speak, lurk, bless, hurt,
harsh words, shiny words,
ultimate words, globby words.
Pollock-like,
I splash, drip, puddle words
against paper,
my household, plain words, nothing fancy
not really caring if anyone sees the art.

Words speak, whisper, shout, sing,
the reason, the what, the why.
My words-- insecure, broken, aching, fearful.
there isn't always a why.
The word storm holds me.
I know everything will rush on
before I've had a chance to catch my breath.
I track the signs --
portents scratched in the sidewalks,
on the sides of rail cars,
in the stars.
And me--
hardly able to understand anything,
a small time crook, a tin star,
an untended pot, an up-ended tub,

Have I marred the universe so much with my
torrent river of messed up metaphor
that I'm a side-show no-name,
dead end street and backside of nowhere?
And yet, inside the rot of me grows
a bean seed, its curling leaves doing
whatever they can to find the light.

Tomorrow is coming furious too fast.
Words shape, form, change
the world, the hearts, the future.
Me, a'praying my words cast out demons,
wilt magic,toss mountains,
reflect everlasting,
shine starlight,
lift spirits.
Me first. Write on.


This week's doodle, "Hippos, Rhinos, Ephalumps, Friends." I do love a really messy watercolor.



Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

My playlist hit this week --from President Obama's inauguration-- is John Williams' arrangement of "Air and Simple Gifts", Yo-yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and other playing. Enjoy.



The healing of the world is in its nameless saints. Each separate star seems nothing, but a myriad scattered stars break up the night and make it beautiful. Bayard Taylor

This week, I was having a conversation with my author friend Louise Spiegler about what it means to finesse your writing. We discussed that once you have a complex story with believable characters that has gone through several revisions; there is still some room for another pass. Refine your manuscript -- add more depths of character, shades of mood, and complexity of feeling.

This kind of tooling is delicate and will take all your artisan skills as a wordsmith to create the textured kind of writing that rises above and has true meaning. This is a time to experiment skillfully. You must make subtle changes in you word choice to bring life to your work. Refine and manipulate your words with savvy and dexterity. Finesse your work.

I hope this discussion informs your work this week and helps you create a meaningful story, exactly what you want.

I call this week's doodle "Catfish".


Remember: ©Molly Blaisdell, all rights reserved. If you want to use my cool doodles, ask permission first. It is so wrong to take people's doodles without permission!

This week my playlist hit is "Unwritten" performed by Natasha Bedingfield.



Finesse is the best adaptation of means to circumstances. Thomas Babington Macaulay

Today's friendly high five comes from the spirit of the hilarious Douglas Adams.



Douglas Adams is the first voice I ever heard that looked around and asked some fairly decent questions. "WHAT? WHY! You've got to be kidding me. What the blankety, blank, blank?(You fill in the blanks.)I remember the pure joy of reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It was one of those books that makes you laugh and laugh as you turn the pages. Adams was my literary guide to the absurdity of life.

That's it, folks. There are these absurd moments in life, like yesterday morning when I was reaching for my cup of tea, and my laptop was sitting on an uneven surface. I hit my computer with my elbow. As I turned back from the tea to steady the laptop, I moved too fast and my computer tipped up and smashed against my lip. My lip began to bleed. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. Another similar kind of moment, I used to love to drive to town. There was the intersection where I would stop and on clear days see a beautiful view of the Olympics. Now I can see the view of "A Contained Storage Facility." I mean, really.

Mr. Adams gave voice to this lack of rationality and order that surrounds us. I think exploring the absurd can bring vim and vigor to our work. You might try that today.

I totally struggled with which video clip to share. I finally settled on this one.



And now some excellent sage advice from a "pretty good" writer:

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Douglas Adams

Last of all, think about attending the Seattle Kid-Lit Drink Night (I'm pretty sure that Douglas Adams would have been all in for an event like this)...

"Did you do Molly Blaisdell’s Golden Coffee Cup Challenge? NANOWRIMO? Did you make any kind of writing and/or illustrating goal in November?

If you hit the jackpot…if you plodded along…even if you didn’t take a single step…come to celebrate and hang out with your peers at our own Kidlit Drink Night! November 30th at Broadway Grill in Seattle (on Broadway in Capitol Hill, across from the QFC – 328-7000) at 5:30pm. Cash bar. Molly will be giving out the Golden Coffee Cup awards (Don't worry if you're from out of town, you don't have to be present to win. "

Street parking is available, or you can park at QFC for a small parking fee (or get your ticket validated by making a purchase).

Questions? Go to Holly Cupala's blog or ask me. :) Hope to see you!
Posted by MollyMom103 at 6:00 AM 0 comments

Today's high five comes to us from Dr. Jonas Salk, the doctor and researcher who developed a vaccine for poliomyelitis:



I think that you might be surprised to find that a brilliant scientist has so much to say to those who create children's books. For me, the divide between artist and scientist is almost invisible in terms of creative work.

Dr. Salk said, "An artist's only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else's. "

Your work must be your own. There is a time to listen to other voices, but there is also time to move away from all the noise and shoot for the illusive perfection that only you have eyes to see.

Another thought from Dr. Salk, Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

Think about this. Those dreams rolling around in your head in the morning, those daydreams that you slip into while staring out the window, that's the cauldron that brings our imaginations to life; that's the birth place of hope in our soul. Open up to your dreams today. Open up to your to the full brunt of your imagination.

Here's another thought from Dr. Salk, I have had dreams, and I've had nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.

All those voices in your head that try to convince you that you'll never finish this, it's a freaking waste of time. All the nightmares that haunt you, you will rise above them all because of your dreams. Dream on, Golden Coffee Cuppers. Dream on.

Here's one more Dr. Salk quote:
I pictured myself as a virus or a cancer cell and tried to sense what it would be like.

You have to do the same thing to write a book, how weird is that? You must slip inside your characters and sense what they are like, what their world is like. Take some time today and get inside your characters. Picture you in the center of the story, become the wombat, princess, foundling, baby, alien, kid, dinosaur, owl etc. This is will help you steer a clear course through the creation process.

I could go on, but again sleep is sounding like a fab idea. Turn your dreams into reality, folks. Let me know how it goes. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!


Last, you've marked your calendars for a meet-and-greet, here's the info:

Seattle Kid-Lit Drink Night--Did you do Molly Blaisdell’s Golden Coffee Cup Challenge? NANOWRIMO? Did you make any kind of writing and/or illustrating goal in November?

If you hit the jackpot…if you plodded along…even if you didn’t take a single step…come to celebrate and hang out with your peers at our own Kidlit Drink Night! November 30th at Broadway Grill in Seattle (on Broadway in Capitol Hill, across from the QFC – 328-7000) at 5:30pm. Cash bar. Molly will be giving out the Golden Coffee Cup awards (Don't worry if you're from out of town, you don't have to be present to win.

Street parking is available, or you can park at QFC for a small parking fee (or get your ticket validated by making a purchase).

Questions? Go to Holly Cupala's blog or ask me. :) Hope to see you!

Today’s high five comes from the multi-talented Steve Augarde. You might like to check out his blog, too. I don’t even like fairies, but I'm so over it with Steve Augarde’s writing. Here is a cover high five from one of Steve's books.



Talk about a master of mutiple POVs, The Various, Celandine and Winter Wood just took my breath away. Steve will dip into any head fearlessly. Oh, he does not care about the rules and yay for him.

So today’s golden coffee cup admonition is that you should go ahead and break that rule that has been troubling you, holding your back, keeping you from doing what you can do! Go ahead. Jump in! Break the Rules.

Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile. UNKNOWN

Time to celebrate another of the Golden Coffee Cupper, Lois Brandt. Lois dwells near the heart of kids and her books show that. Expect thought-provoking titles to spin out of this writer's universe. Yay, Lois!!!! Go, go, finish NANOWRIMO! ;)