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Do you know what happens when you say yes?

You wake up scared the next day. I know this is silly. Everything is great. All will be fine. Except that I have a zit on the side of my nose.

Isn't that the way it goes? There is no good-beyond-belief news without a little freak-out fear mixed in.

What am I afraid of? Oh, I don't know. Maybe the possibility that I will suddenly discover that I have forgotten how to sentence a put together. (See? It's happening!!!)

I also know (because I've been there myself) that there is no hearing about another person's good fortune without a tinge of "But what about me?" This is especially true when you are working as hard and as truly as your heart will stand, and you still haven't gotten to where you want to go. Yet.

So, the Zit on My Nose would like to say to you (and me):

Don't lie to yourself. You do want it. And I promise you that when you do get it, you will want more. When you get that, you will be scared. Deal with it. Deal with it however you need to, but do not wimp out and lie to yourself. About wanting it or being scared. Because the Zit always knows.

It is possible to write with a talking zit on the side of your nose, isn't it?

Isn't it???

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Do you remember, two months ago, when I wrote this:

Jan. 1, 2008

As for me, I hereby pronounce 2008 to be

The Year of Once (Upon a Time)

This year, I want to believe in the magic of words on paper. I want to believe in love that transforms, and art that heals. I want to believe in journeys that change you, in spells that are broken, and in rough stones (even me) that become gems.

I also wrote:

This year, before saying "yes" to something that beckons to me, I'll say: "Is it part of the story I want my life to tell?"

Last Friday, I said yes to something that I very much want to be part of my life story. Cheryl Klein---yes, that Cheryl, of Arthur A. Levine Books, and of the brilliant and funny blog, Brooklyn Arden---asked me if I would work with her on my next two books.

It was the easiest yes I've ever said.

Many, many hugs to my agent, Tina Wexler, for putting us together.

I'll admit, there were several days when I forgot that I had vowed, in that same Jan. 1 post, to do this:

This year, each day, every day, I'll begin with: "Once upon a time, there was a girl who believed..."

The universe must have forgiven me for my lapses. But then, it's larger than I am. Reading, writing, and believing are all larger than I am. For which I am grateful.

P.S. Here's the official announcement from the Publishers Marketplace newsletter:

CHILDREN'S: MIDDLE GRADE
Author of LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL, Sara Lewis Holmes' NEW RECRUIT, the story of two cousins living on an Air Force base, the dynamic sixth grade teacher who introduces them to improv, and the community that rallies around them when one of their own goes missing in Afghanistan, to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, in a two-book deal, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).

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Remember when I woke up thinking I don't need you to be me?

Today, I woke up thinking potato chips don't go with coffee.

Then I thought (of course):

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My, how the winter has flown by. I’m weeks away from my India trip and in the midst of getting all my immunizations updated. This a.m. I finished my typhoid series, and tomorrow I head back to the doctor for my next round of rabies and hepatitis a/b shots. I’m starting to feel a little like the family dog! Then there are all the prescription meds I have to take along with me. My husband took one look at the immunization and prescription list and said, “You won’t catch me visiting a country where I need shots to get through immigration.” Haa! To be honest, I’m most worried about mosquitoes when we’re cruising the Kerala backwaters. It’s not malaria season in south India, but mosquitoes seem to think my blood is sweet and tasty. I’ve stocked up on repellents with the highest amount of DEET allowed.

I’ve also just purchased a new Nikon digital SLR camera. Once the current slew of assignments are off my desk, I hope to get out and play with it, as I need to take magazine-worthy photos for an assignment when I’m in south Asia.

Nothing much going on except that I’m swamped with work, which is, of course, a good thing. I recently got named as a contributing editor at Clean Eating magazine. When I picked up the premiere issue on the newsstand a month or so ago, I literally gasped when I thumbed through the pages. It’s a stunning magazine, filled with such gorgeous pictures of food — and I was so proud that I’d developed many of the recipes, including the main recipe feature. In the January/February issue of fresh, which you can pick up at Hannaford markets in the northeast, you’ll find my recipes for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner.

Right now, I’m working on some stories for an inflight magazine, as well as some recipe development projects for fresh and Clean Eating. Oh, and finishing up two long-overdue-to-my-agent book proposals. Tomorrow I’m speaking to a food writing class at Boston University about how to write a great pitch letter. My Boston Globe editor is teaching the class, so I’m pretty flattered she asked me to speak!

Till next time! [db]

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I have not gone MIA, dears. I am here, but I have been slaving away in the newsroom this week — the room I affectionately call “the dungeon.”

I’ve learned it’s quite a challenge to work as a writer during the day and maintain a book-writing career on the side. But  I am trying my best. For those of you who are waiting for my next book (or books) — thanks for your patience. I’m working hard to get them finished!

It occurred to me you might like to see where I work …

This is my desk in the newsroom dungeon, such as it is. Note: A messy desk is the sign of a creative mind. One of the photographers I work with took the photo. I used it at a school presentation so the students could see what it looks like deep in the chambers of the editorial department.

My desk is close to the back door so I get all the cold air that comes in. It’s not in the photo, but I have an apple-print blankie on the back of my chair so I can throw something over my shoulders to knock off the chill. I also have a pair of huge UK house shoes under my desk and I put them on to keep my feet warm. (I’ve been wearing 2 pairs of socks but socks alone don’t help.) I have photos of my family on my desk, including pics of my son when he was a missionary. There’s a photo of my daughter’s wedding, and on my monitor you can see a photo of my other daughter with her fourth-grade class. My Darth Tater is overseeing the whole operation — can you find him? I have a pony, too, and a miniature Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow. You’ll notice I my Rocky and Bullwinkle and Mr. Peabody and Sherman are on board also to keep me company.

If you think the desk was messy in November, you should see it now, three months later.

So what have I been doing this week on the job? I went to the annual farmer’s Grain Day at the local Extension office and learned about the tough decisions farmers have to make as they prepare to plant their crops this year. I attended a lengthy economic development meeting, and covered the local chamber of commerce’s annual awards luncheon. I covered a special called meeting of a local city council and a public scoping meeting for a proposed natural gas storage hub. And I put the finishing touches on a feature article I’m especially happy about — an interview with the man who was Motor Racing Outreach minister with NASCAR from 1999-2005 and delivered the eulogy at Dale Earnhardt’s funeral. This gentleman was a pleasure to interview and his story is fascinating. I think readers will really enjoy it and I’m looking forward to its release on Sunday.

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I have the day off work today! Woo hoo! It’s been a good week, so I can’t complain. I’ve been working on some stories for the paper that have required numerous interviews (some long distance) and will take a while to compose. 

Here’s the game plan for today:

1. Update my blog. (When you read this, you’ll know I’ve scratched off number one!)

2. Go to the post office to mail some stuff.

3. Have lunch with my mom.

4. Pick up a shower curtain and cat litter at Wal-Mart.

5. Surprise Bandit with a new supply of litter in his poo poo box. (I live to make my “pretty precious” happy!)

6. Visit a friend who has a loved one in the hospital.

7. Work on my manuscript.

Speaking of my manuscript, I spent some time with it last night. Do you know how exciting it can be to watch a manuscript that you have labored over for literally YEARS evolve into — at last — a story that makes sense and, most importantly, begins to exhibit the feeling and rhythm you’ve wanted to capture?

This must be the way a sculptor feels when the block of clay she’s been sculpting begins to reflect her subject. After several days of re-writing the first three chapters, I think I’ve finally found the image in the clay.

I’ve been reading Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel. The book has helped me to identify problems with the plot and issues with my character I couldn’t see before. 

Mostly, I have to thank a special writer who so kindly gave me a thorough, honest, and thought-provoking critique back in September. I was toying with running all 180 pages through my cross-cut shredder until this writer, while pointing out the myriad of problems, told me not to give up on the character or the story. I would have never reached this point without her advice.

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Like a lot of things in my frantic world, this is long overdue.

I got a rejection card from Houghton Mifflin, oh...a month or so ago, but I just didn't have the heart to talk about it. And it's not because I had all my last hopes for THE SHORT BUS JOURNAL riding on their thumbs up or thumbs down. It was more like...the official end of the line for my little book that could(n't).

*sigh*

But here's the cool thing: The rejection was a decent one. I know it's poor form to post stuff about your rejections, but dang it, I thought this one was pretty friggin' sweet as far as big company publishing rejections go. See for yourself.

Here's the low-down :

• First of all, they plugged the name of my book at the very top of the card. Nice!
  
• Second, the went so far as to call me Dear Mr. Troupe. (For a minute I thought the card was for my dad, then I remembered he doesn't live at my house, so I knew it was for me. Also, he doesn't write books about kids who have no disabilities but are forced to ride the short bus with kids who do. Wait a second...he doesn't write any books.)
  
• Third, they underlined 'Thank you' on the first line. I thought it was a decent touch. Hey, I'm easy like Sunday morning.
• Fourth, they underlined the word 'sorry.' You know what? I believe them.
  
• Fifth, they mention that because they get so many manuscripts, they can't offer individual comment on people's work. That's understandable. Remember this when we get toward the bottom here, okay? Thank you.
• Sixth, they underlined 'every success' as in they wish I had some when it comes to finding a home for my book. Also, they added an '!' at the end of the sentence where they hope my material can find a good home!
  
• Seventh...they left an individual comment!

Here's what it said for the two people who managed to read this far along:

Not quite right for Houghton at this time, but you give Mitch a great, authentic voice. Best of luck with his story!

(I should mention they underlined the word 'best' up there.)

So, considering this is probably the last rejection I'll get for THE SHORT BUS JOURNAL, I sort of feel good about it. I'm being honest and not being snarky or crappy about the whole thing. It made me feel that I'm sorta CLOSE, you know? Maybe that's being waaaay too much of an optimist, but in an industry that doles out rejection after rejection and has a tendency to crush your spirit, this 'rejection' didn't.

This one made me believe.

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Check out my week-long food blog at eGullet. I’ll be blogging until Sunday, January 20.

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It’s been a great holiday season so far! Since the 21st, I’ve been enjoying my family. This is the first Christmas we’ve had together in two years. (My son served as a missionary in southern California from June 2005-June 2007.) And this is the first Christmas our granddaughter has been old enough to enjoy, so we all had a great time watching her play with her gifts.

I got some really cool gifts for Christmas this year. My husband gave me an adjustable table for my laptop. Now, when I sit on the couch and use my laptop, I don’t get neck strain! He also gave me some nice sweatshirts (I love to wear sweatshirts).

My mom and dad gave me one of those pretty “circle of eternity” necklaces.

My kids gave me some fun gifts, too. My oldest daughter gave me a desk organizer and a 20Q handheld game. Mine is the People edition. She gave other editions to other members of the family. The game is amazing. It’s based on the old “20 questions” game. I can’t begin to imagine how the game is able to guess what you’re thinking. I know it’s process of elimination, but how does it know how to eliminate?

My daughter and son-in-law gave me the first season of The Muppet Show on DVD. I am a hugehugehuge Muppet fan. I watched Sesame Street as a teenager, and when I got married and became a mom, I loved watching Sesame Street as much as my kids! The season one set features an awfully cute episode starring Vincent Price.

I’ve watched more movies in the last month than I’ve watched all year. My kids love movies. I rarely take time to sit and watch them, much less go to an actual theater. I’ve seen some great ones in the last few weeks, and I’ll share those with you in future posts.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday. I won’t post again until after New Year’s Day, so stay safe, be good, and count your blessings!

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I’m slowly learning how to use Wordpress. I still haven’t figured out how to get images in my sidebar, but I did discover how to sort my links into categories! Woo hoo!

So now if you look to the left, you’ll see I’ve not only broken the links into subgroups, but I’ve also added some new ones.

First, I’ve added some of my friends that I should have added earlier.

I’ve got some links now to some of my favorite writer information sites, like The Purple Crayon. Harold Underdown (the crayon-master) is supposed to be at our SCBWI-Midsouth conference next year and I am SO excited about that! Margot Finke’s site is another good source. Her list of unnecessary words is well worth a look and will get you familiar with your “find-replace” function!

 You will also notice I’ve started a category called “Fun Stuff.” I hope you’ll try the link to FreeRice. Not only will the vocabulary game help you increase your word power, each correct answer results in a donation to feed the hungry. The Worldometer gives you real-time stats such as population, births, deaths, and other occurances. (Be sure to check the number of dollars spent on dieting in the US, and the stats of the number of undernourished, hungry, and those dying of hunger. We take so much for granted.)

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I’ve finished reading True Friends, a middle-grade historical novel by Memphis author Grace E. Howell.

True Friends is the story of Annie, a young girl coming of age in Memphis during World War I. She’s the only girl in a family of boys and would rather play baseball or run barefoot in the streets than grow up and be a lady. When well-to-do Iris Elizabeth moves into the big house nearby, Annie wants to be her friend. She soon learns, however, that there is a price to be paid for being Iris Elizabeth’s friend — not only does Iris Elizabeth want to change the way Annie dresses and behaves around others, she wants Annie to give up all her other friends. Though Iris Elizabeth gives Annie many material gifts, Annie discovers Iris Elizabeth doesn’t give gifts unless she expects something in return, and whatever it is, it always ends up being for Iris Elizabeth’s benefit.

Grace Howell writes with a true southern voice. Her vivid descriptions of life in Memphis at the turn of the century, the characters’ speech, and their daily activities drew me in to the story. She also captures the intricacies of childhood friendships, from Iris Elizabeth’s spoiled, manipulative personality to the interactions Annie has with the neighborhood boys who see her as “one of them.”

The story takes a dramatic, unexpected turn when the Spanish influenza epidemic reaches Memphis. There is one scene in the book (and since I don’t want to be a spoiler I won’t reveal it here) that is a pivotal moment for Annie and I thought it was absolutely brilliant the way the author handled it. Suffice it to say that Annie learns who her true friends are, and that there are some people in the world who will tell you they are your true friends when they are really just using you to get what they want.

You can read more about Grace Howell and True Friends at her website. 

I’ll be starting a new book tomorrow, and it’s one I’m really excited to read. It’s Anna of Byzantium by Tracy Barrett.

In case you’re wondering what I’ve been up to, well …

* I’ve been working on the edits and layout for our SCBWI regional newsletter, BorderLines.

* I’m still doing rewrites on my latest work-in-progress.

* My stories for the paper over the last few days have included an interview with the local farmer of the year, a feature on the Salvation Army’s Thanksgiving dinner preparations, an interview with a World War II veteran, coverage of a fitness challenge, and other odds and ends stuff.

* I have a new keychain! Well, actually, it’s not new — one of the photographers I work with brought it to me. He’d picked it up at one of the agriculture events we covered (one of those little freebie things companies give away for advertising). It’s a piece of wood cut in the shape of Kentucky, and it has one of those ball-chain things attached to it that you string your keys on.

* And, of course, I’m getting ready for Turkey day! Thanksgiving! Yeah! I’ve started the Thanksgiving Coconut Cake that we make every year. (Takes three days.) Plus I have sweet potatoes, ham, and other stuff to cook.

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Last week I visited with the fourth-grade classes at Junction City Elementary School in Junction City, Kentucky. I spoke to the classes about writing feature articles. We had a great time and the students asked lots of excellent questions.

We discussed focus and how a reporter organizes information in an article. As the students and I talked, I realized how easy it can be to lose focus because we try to include too much information — whether it be in a story or a newspaper feature. And when we lose focus, so does the reader.

I think it can be hard to maintain focus when you’re writing a novel, just because of the length of the thing. One of my earliest lessons on focus came from a great editor. Christian was working with me on my second book, Funeral Home Evenings. After reading the manuscript, he called me on the phone and we had a long conversation. I also received a letter from him, detailing some of the problems of the manuscript. My big problem was focus.

Basically, I had too many plots. He made me pare it down. I ended up cutting huge chunks of material. It was actually fun, because the more I cut the more I began to see the “shape” of the story, sort of like a sculptor who keeps breaking away at the stone until the form he envisions in his mind begins to show up in the rock.

In other news …

One of the reporters I work with made a comment to me last week about feature articles. I shared it during the school visit because I thought it was important. He said, “If I’m in a room with 100 people, I can look around and see 100 feature stories. That’s because everyone has a story.”

Some of us (raising my hand here) lead pretty predictable, routine lives. I guess we can’t all be astronauts, famous scientists, or celebrities. But it’s kind of neat to think that someone could look at my life, see a story, and believe it’s worth telling.

And one more thing …

I got a sweet email today from Mary Ann Rodman, who is an awesome writer and totally rocks! If you are looking for a great historical fiction read, check out her book Yankee Girl. It’s about a young girl, Alice, whose family moves from Chicago to Jackson, Mississippi in 1964, during the height of the Civil Rights era. Alice’s father is an FBI agent who has been assigned to protect the town’s African-Americans who have registered to vote. There is a surprising twist at the end and it’s a story you’ll think about long after you’ve read the last page.

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Last week, we had some wild weather.

I was working later than usual in the news room one night, and had just finished up my regularly-assigned stories when the police scanner went wild.

We were under a tornado warning!

I went to check the news and when I walked past the window, discovered the conditions outside were horrible. (The newsroom is like a cave; you can’t hear anything on the outside.)

The weather was so bad, I decided it would be safer to stay in the news room than to try to drive home. The warning would be over in thirty minutes anyway. And the tornado was south of town, and there was no news of it touching down anywhere.

A few minutes later, my editor asked me not to leave — he said he might need me in case something happened.

No problem, I said. I’m not getting out in this mess anyway.

So much for safety.

Soon after, the editor appeared at my desk. “The photographer’s waiting for you outside. The roof blew off a convenience store and there were people inside. You need to go talk to them.”

I grabbed my umbrella (the wind was blowing too hard for an umbrella) and ran out to the photographer’s SUV.

I was out for an hour and a half in the blinding, driving rain. The scanner was going wild with reports of tornado sightings here and there.

I interviewed the clerks at the store. They got in the freezer just as the tornado yanked the roof off the building.

The photographer and I left the store and drove out to an isolated area where a house and a trailer had been destroyed. The road was impassable; trees were down. The local rescue squad showed up with chain saws. I got as much information as I could and the photographer got pictures.

We headed back to the news room. When we got there, we only had about twenty minutes to press time. I’ve never had to write anything on such a tight deadline.

I got home at 11 p.m.

For someone who is normally scared to death of storms, I was surprised at how calm I was while on the job. I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing — there was so much to do and so little time.

After I got home, though, I had time to think about it. I have to admit, I didn’t sleep well that night. But I have to say I certainly learned a lot from the experience!

There was property damage, but fortunately, no one was seriously injured that night.

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I’m writing this from a hotel in Nashville, having finished my second day at the Southern Festival of Books.

I had a great time with my friend, Tracy Barrett, and the other authors and illustrators who helped me with our SCBWI-Midsouth Region booth at the festival: Susan Eaddy, Elaine Blanchard, Judy Burt, Donna Getzinger, and Linda Ragsdale. There are several others helping tomorrow. I won’t be there, but I want to thank them for their help also: Alison Lyne, Kristin Tubb, Donna Getzinger (again!) and Cheryl Mendenhall.

Today Tracy and I took a break in the middle of the day and attended a yoga class. It’s become a tradition with us during the Southern Festival. Yoga is hard, but it is so fun and relaxing. (I discovered muscles I didn’t know I had!)

I didn’t attend any of the visiting author sessions since I managed our booth, but I got to meet some of them. Aliki came over to our booth on Friday and said hello. How cool is that?

It was a pleasure to toot SCBWI’s horn this weekend. The organization is important to me and I am very grateful to be a part of it!

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… I’ve been working, writing, reading, and spending time with family. The Internet has been the last thing on my priority list.

(I still haven’t found the right keychain yet, BTW.)

Anyway, since inquiring minds want to know, here’s a rundown of my week:

     *All my children came in for a four-day visit, including my son-in-law and my precious grandbaby! I love being a Nana!

     *Work, work and more work. Some of the articles I had to write weren’t all that interesting, like the city council meeting I had to cover last night. But some were fun. I did a story last week on a boy who gave his grandfather a cool gift for his 80th birthday — he took him for a hike on the Incan trail in Peru. I interviewed a new and enthusiastic 4-H assistant. I did advance coverage of a Red Cross kids camp and a retired senior volunteer recruitment fair. One of the most interesting stories I covered this week concerned the manufacture of biofuels. I’ve been reading up on this and it’s interesting to hear what researchers are learning about how to efficiently convert plant matter and even animal waste into biofuel.

     *I’m reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. Wow. I’m halfway through and I can already see it’s going to take a whole ‘nother post to talk about Jonas and what he’s experiencing. (I’ll try to do this without spoiling the book for anyone who hasn’t read it.)

     *Right now I’m getting ready for the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. Our SCBWI region will have a booth at the festival, so if you’re in or near Music City, stop by and say hi! I’ll be there Friday and Saturday, along with several other Kentucky and Tennessee children’s authors. Not only is it going to be great to spend the days with my writer and illustrator friends, but there are going to be some great speakers and books, books and more books!

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Found something really cool tonight I thought I’d share.

Sean Spence recently biked cross-country, from Missouri to Manhattan, to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Sean lives in Missouri, but his roots are in Kentucky.

Sean’s ride brought him through town a few weeks ago. He visited his mom, and came by the paper so I could write a story about his adventures.

Sean posted the article I wrote about him on his blog! You can read it here.

I see Sean made it to New York.

Congratulations, Sean!

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I’m still working on my weirdness goals from two posts ago. I have achieved two.

1. Buy the funkiest, weirdest keychain I can find to replace my old one. I haven’t met this goal yet. I haven’t found the right keychain!

2. Learn a new goofy joke. (I love corny jokes and puns that make most people groan in agony.) Here’s one for you:

A woman is walking through a graveyard in Vienna on Halloween. All at once she hears music. It’s Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, but it’s being played backward. She looks around until she finds where it’s coming from — a grave with a headstone marked “Ludwig Von Beethoven.”

She can’t believe her ears! She goes and gets her friend and brings her to the cemetery. When they get there, the music is different: the Seventh Symphony is playing, but it’s backwards too.

The ladies find a musician and bring him to the gravesite. Now the Fifth Symphony is playing. The next day there’s a huge crowd by the grave, and the Second Symphony is playing — backwards, of course.

The caretaker walks up then, and the woman grabs him by the arm. “This is incredible!” she says. “A miracle!”

The caretaker shrugged. “It’s no big deal,” he replied. “He’s just decomposing.”

3. Watch an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. Did it. Watched the very first BH episode, in fact, where the Clampetts leave the hills and when they arrive at their Beverly Hills mansion, they think it ’s a prison and the gardeners are escaped convicts!

When I get the keychain — and it has to be the right one — I’ll let you know.

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It was a busy summer! As I try to keep up with the glut of tomatoes and chili peppers from my garden, I can’t believe the season’s over. I wrote quite a few pieces for the Boston Globe food section — see my clips page for links — and have another story coming out on 9/26/07 about goats, my new obsession. One story I’m quite proud of … it was about a Concord couple who raises pasture-fed chickens for meat and eggs. The story led hundreds of people to call or write to them about buying their birds … they ended up selling all their chickens for this year and have a waitlist for people who want birds in 2008! I also wrote many food/recipe features for fall magazines, some of which are hitting the stands this month. I did a Thanksgiving dinner story for Oxygen’s November issue, and ended up having to test the recipes during one of the hottest weeks this summer.

But it’s not all work … I spent Labor Day weekend in LA visiting a dear friend I haven’t seen in awhile, and we went to my husband’s family reunion in Iowa in August. It was held at his great-grandfather’s homestead, which is still in the family — moreover, the reunion has been held every summer since 1918. I thought that was pretty cool! Now we’re off on a family vacation to Munich for a couple weeks, then it’s back to Boston to start planning my November March 2008 trip to India.

In January, my co-author and I are starting a series of e-courses taught through our Renegade Writer website. We are so thrilled with the instructors who are teaching them — they’re tops! Check out our blog as well, which we update fairly frequently.

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I attended the annual Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)-Midsouth Conference over the weekend. The conference was held at the Scarritt-Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee, next to the Vanderbilt campus. Scarritt-Bennett has got to be the closest thing to Hogwarts there is. The dining hall is more like a dining cathedral, with its 100 year old antique tables and high ceilings. It’s in the heart of Nashville but feels as if it’s an otherworldly place.

I got to see many of my writer and illustrator friends, like Tracy Barrett, Candie Moonshower, Genetta Adair, Susan Eaddy, Grace Howell, Patsi Trollinger, Wanda Johnson, Martha Bennett Stiles, Alison Lyne, Jennifer Lambe, Kristin Tubb, Hester Bass, and Mary Ann Rodman (several of those names are in the links to the right). Our conferences are always like a big family reunion. We’re so glad to see one another! There’s a real spirit of celebration and joy when we get together. I also got to meet and chat with some new folks and feel like I’ve doubled my circle of creative friends.

Why are we so happy to see each other? Why do we hug and chat and show off our work like grandparents who can’t wait to share photos of their new grandbabies? This year, I learned the reason why: because we’re weird.

Our keynote speaker for the conference was Lin Oliver, executive director of SCBWI. She told us that children’s writers and illustrators are a little bit different than the average bear. In fact, we’re a little bit weird–and it’s important for us to celebrate that weirdness. The weirdness is what sets us apart and makes us do what we do.

What Lin said is true. Those who create books for children remember what it’s like to be picked last to play dodgeball. We know how funny it is when someone laughs so hard during school lunch that milk shoots out from their nose. We’ve been beat up on the playground, we’ve been the spelling bee winner, we’ve been the class clown and the class geek and the kid in class that sort of blends in to the woodwork. We love to play with clay and fingerpaints, and we still shiver at ghost stories told around a late-night campfire. All these feelings from childhood and adolescence are still close to us and the memories lend themselves to our work.

Lin said we should celebrate our weirdness. She said that’s why, whenever children’s writers gather, there is a feeling of camraderie and joy. She also said we need to keep in touch with our weirdness and nurture it; the weirdness is what makes us better writers.

My goal for the next few days is to accomplish three things that celebrate my weirdness:

1. Buy the funkiest, weirdest keychain I can find to replace my old one.

2. Learn a new goofy joke. (I love corny jokes and puns that make most people groan in agony.)

3. Watch an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies.

What are you going to do to celebrate your weirdness this week?

Good luck!

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This month’s Oxygen magazine features my story on healthy grilling, along with three recipes I developed. The food stylist did a fabulous job making my dishes look yummy. (I never get photogenic grill marks on my chicken breasts, let me tell you.)

Later this fall, a new magazine called Clean Eating will hit the stands, and I’ve been commissioned to develop 13 recipes for the first quarterly issue.

I’ve got a couple pieces scheduled for the Boston Globe food section this month, a short piece running in the “short orders” section on June 6, and another longer piece scheduled for June 13, along with two recipes I developed. I’m also reporting on a couple other pieces for them this month: details and links TK.

The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock is doing well — in fact, we just got a royalty statement and we’re pretty close to earning out our advance. Yay royalty checks!

That’s all for now, folks.

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I just got back from a whirlwind trip to NYC. Whew! We packed a lot in in three days, including a lunch with one of my editors.

But the big trip news: I’m going to India in November! It looks like I’ll be there for about two weeks, give or take a few days, and yes, I’m going for work. I’ve got some really cool stories I’m working up (including one that will make my friends and family gasp with its daring), but if you’ve got travel tips to share, I’m all ears. I’ll probably be in Mumbai, maybe Delhi, and I hope there’ll be time for a trip to Goa or Kerala (that’s where my favorite Indian food can be found).

Right now, my new favorite book is Lonely Planet India. Can’t wait!

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