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It occurred to me a few months ago that I don’t actually have to be home to run my business.

Well, home as in mentally home, yes. But not physically home.

In fact, leaving home for this “working vacation” may be the best thing I’ve done in a long time. Not that the grandmas didn’t pack their unmentionables kicking and screaming.

Grandma D: Well, David, I’m fairly certain a road trip is not for me. I would much rather fly.

Grandma K: It’s hot in Arizona.

Me: Yeah. Um, you know you two don’t have to go, right? You can stay here and look after Wicky.

Grandma K: What if you get scared before your workshop? You could throw up.

Me: Grandma, I have to do this. People are waiting for me. I can deal with scared, but not flaking out.

Grandma D: There had better be a place to stop along the road. I am going to pick flowers for my book.

Grandma K: It’s hot in Arizona.

Grandma D: Is that a Volvo? It looks old. Did you have the oil changed?

Me: Please get in the car. We are doing this.

We’ve been in Phoenix for two weeks now. Here’s the lowdown.

The People

Oh my god. The people. The People have been The Awesome.

Besides seeing (and staying with) family, I’ve met some great people here. The folks who attended my workshop were insightful, intelligent, and incredibly… nice. I had the privilege of sharing lunch with a few of them afterwards, where the workshop conversations continued – to my amazement. I did my best to chew with my mouth closed. They deserved at least that much.

Today I had cawfee talk with Victoria Brouhard (@victoriashmoria on Twitter). We just fell into conversation and had a great time. She’s one of the most unassuming, natural people I’ve ever met. I can see why her clients love working with her.

Last week I had breakfasty-type stuff with Brenda and Burt of Newhouse Studios. We could have talked all day and they introduced me to other cool people every 10 minutes. These people know the meaning of community. They’re awesome and I hope I get to return their hospitality someday.

Then there was Joe, Bobby, Stephanie, Lisa, Charlene, Noah… wow.

If there’s only one advantage of

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I went on a writing retreat last week from Monday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon with three of my local critique partners. We stayed in someone's cabin (this is a Minnesota thing) and had a fantastic time! Here are some things I was reminded of:

Writing is always better around water.		It's nice to not need total silence when I'm writing. One of the advantages to always having to write whenever and wherever I could when the kids were little.
Having someone cook for a small group of people is the best luxury ever.		A writing retreat with other people leads to more fun and less writing. Here we are playing Catch Phrase. By myself on retreat, I'll write 8 or 9 hours a day. Here, I only wrote on my project about 4 hours per day. A whole different kind of experience--I value both.
Having to wear blaze orange on a walk adds a little...excitement (ok, fear) to any adventure.		Here we all are: Bridget, Dara Dokas, front porch bear, Connie Van Hoven, and me.

You can see a few more pix here, if you're interested.

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This week, I'm on the road both online and in person.

I'm Kids' Author of the Week at GRAND online magazine, a magazine for grandparents. This cool feature introduces kids' writers and their books to grandparents who enjoy sharing books with their grandkids, and it's fun to be there with Stampede!

And in real life, I'm off on a writing retreat after lunch today. I'll be with three writing group members on a retreat to a lake home in northern Minnesota. I'll be back Wednesday afternoon, so it's not a long retreat. But it's a welcome bit of breathing space in this hectic fall. Hiking, writing, quiet time, chatting...I can't wait.

So I'll be out the next couple of days, but I'll be back Thursday for 15 Words or Less poems!

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Had two totally different storytime experiences Friday and Saturday. Friday was great, Saturday was...less than great.

On Friday, Dara Dokas (Muriel's Red Sweater) and I went to the lovely Bookcase of Wayzata. Nancy Caffoe, the children's book buyer there, had arranged for two classes from nearby schools to come for a mini-field trip. So we had about 40 K-2 kids to present our Animal Antics storytime to. At the end of storytime, we moved outside for our animal-comparison activities. It was a gorgeous day, the wind was blowing over the lake, the sun was shining. The kids were having a great time. And then a city worker came and had to get into a manhole right near us, and wow! "This is the best field trip ever!" An order form went home with the kids, and hopefully some of them will buy Stampede and/or Muriel's Red Sweater. It was just a great event: well-organized, full of energy, terrific.

My wingspan is as long as an Indian Flying Fox.

I can jump as far as a bullfrog!

Then on Saturday, Dara and I did storytime at my home library. Unfortunately, it was another beautiful day. We had five kids listening, ages 1 to 3. Luckily, their four adults were enthusiastic and participated, too. Everyone sang along, did animal noises, and enjoyed poems and stories. Not a single book sold, though. Even though everyone had fun, they were basically walk-ins who did not come to the library expecting to buy a book. So that event did not go so well. My poems are school-related, and they're a little old for 2-year-olds! I felt kind of stupid and like we somehow let the library down.

Oh well. That's the way bookstore/library readings go. You just never know. And you shouldn't expect anything! I've got two more bookstore storytimes planned, one in October and one in December. Then I'll have to evaluate whether they're really worth doing on a regular basis.

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I forgot to mention, in my last post, that I would be away this week. It was all the excitement about my 'dates' with Stephen Stills. Of course, they weren't really dates (only in my head) I just went to see him playing live. Tonight I'll be dating Alan Partridge. Then in a couple of weeks Paul Weller. It's all go when you are so popular. I don't know how I keep up.

Anyway, all going well, I should have a drawing to post over the next couple of days. So, I'll see you guys soon with new drawings, news on my prints, some other creative projects and all the gossip about the men in my life. Until then, cheerio my ducks.

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In Search of Giants is on the July 4 roundup. Head on over and leave your links!

I'll be on the road for this Poetry Friday and the next. We're taking a trip with the grandparents, headed to the Grampian Highlands. I'll be popping in here and there with a book review when I get the chance, but I won't have reliable internet access for a few days. Here's what I do know:

• I'll have a Poetry Friday post on July 11
• I'll post a super-big Weekend Reviews on Monday, July 14 (containing the reviews from this weekend and the next)
• I'm sure I'll forget something important. (Note to self: glasses)
  
• I have several books packed for review and I simply can't wait to buy the new Michelle Magorian title! I may even pick it up in the Glasgow airport after 18 hours of traveling and with 3 more ahead. I want her book that much.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, everyone!

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Remember when I told you that Maureen Johnson’s book The Bermudez Triangle was being banned from an Oklahoma high school library (or at least gave you the link to the story)? Well, the Brothers Green have decided to do something about it. Behold, a Brotherhood 2.0 video that challenges its audience to speak up and write letters to the faculty involved in this decision. The appropriate emails follow below if you’re feeling in a letter writing mood:

Mrs. Janet Vernon, Executive Director of Secondary Instruction
UPDATE: Mrs. Vernon’s email box is full, but you can email her assistant, Becky Brubaker, and ask her to pass your thoughts along to Mrs. Vernon
Dr. Richard Rosenberger, Executive Director of Human Resources
Mr. Chuck McCauley, Principal of Bartlesville High School

And could this be the next new thing your agents and publishers do for you, fooling around with iMovie until they’ve made a trailer for your signing?

Are you ready for some “polished prose and raw lust?”

Thanks to Powells this little possible controversy caught my eye. It seems that this guy thinks someone at Nike might owe Chuck Palahniuk some money for this commercial. It’s a little too similar to Fight Club, in his opinion. What do you think?

And finally, the best for last. How far would you go to satisfy that “I must have the next book in the series NOW!” craving? Jennie of Jennie’s B(ook)log gives us one example with “Olive’s Bold Ascent.”

If you’re interested in Olive’s first adventure, you can find it here. You can also read an excellent interview with Jennie about being a copywriter here.

I was going to wait to post these all on Friday when I know half of you aren’t really working at your jobs, but I have to be up at six am for a thirteen hour shift. If anything gets posted on Friday it will be a miracle.

And by the way, how mad am I that the Kentucky Derby is on my birthday on Saturday? Now I’ll never have the energy to go out afterwards and pretend that all of Mexico is really celebrating me and not a triumph at the Battle of Pueblo.

*But, hey, they’re all book related in some way, so claim it is work!

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