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News/Updates

Cowboys and Aliens!

Yesterday I had two great school visits!

At Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary in Alvin, Texas I was greeted with a big Yippee-ki-yay! Librarian Sheri Howard was a great host!

Two hundred students arrived— half as cowboys and half as aliens! Yippee-ki-yi! These kids really get into their costumes.

Decorations abounded.

Giant star maps, taken from Adam McCauley’s illustrations.

A UFO hovering above a barbecue grill on the stage.

Students came prepared with intriguing questions, about writing and books. Some are still wondering who that blond girl is in The Three Bears’ Halloween.

I finished off the day with a stop at Rustic Oak Elementary in Pearland, Texas, where kids yippee-ki-yo’ed with enthusiasm and were ready with some really great questions, thanks to the preparation of Librarian Christi Christopher.

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ,Uncategorized,Writing life on 05/10/2013 | 6 Comments

Out Of This World Visit to Sheldon Academy

Last week I visited Sheldon Early Childhood Learning Academy in Houston. The home of the Jaguars is a jewel of a school! Four hundred kids aged 3 to 6 have a campus all their own. The school’s wonderfully creative librarian Augusta Lynch had read THE THREE BEARS’ CHRISTMAS and THE THREE BEARS’ HALLOWEEN to the entire school the week before. Each group arrived wearing colorful bear ears to hear TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ. I loved seeing the variety of approaches to decorating those ears!

The students were a wonderful audience!

They Yippee-ki-yo’ed with enthusiasm! We pondered whether space aliens really live in Texas, and if not, why these space aliens came to Texas. And whether or not the little green guys liked the Texas heat.

Following the story, the students asked great questions about TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ and THE THREE BEARS.

“Bears don’t have Christmas. Bears don’t have Halloween. Bears don’t live in houses.” Eye roll, big sigh, shrug. “So are those bears just fake?”

“When I grow up I’m going to be a ballerina.”

“Have you ever seen a space alien?”

All in all it was a wonderful day. Principal, Shereen James, Assistant Principal Delphia Turner, and Librarian Augusta Lynch were wonderful hosts. Conputer teacher Dee McDowel attended to the technical end of things, and music teacher Jamie Teel provided an Aver pen which assured a smooth presentation. Thanks to them all!

Me with librarian Augusta Lynch

Augusta Lynch, Delphia Turner, Shereen James

The kids and even a school turtle seemed to enjoy the day. I know I did!

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ,Writing life on 04/21/2013 | 3 Comments

Out Of This World Launch Party!

TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ was properly launched this weekend! I owe a big thanks to Valerie Kohler and the staff at Blue Willow Bookshop for a fun and successful event. Not only were they terrific hosts, but Valerie also judged the tinfoil hat contest, and Cathy Berner made sure I was where I was supposed to be when I was supposed to be there.

Race Carter did a wonderful job manning the tinfoil table. Here he is helping Perry, Laura, Lindi, and George Ruthven get started on their hats. Laura is one of my lovely critique partners who helped make the day go smoothly.

The energetic audience YIPPEE-KI-YO’d with me in their tin foil hats. They were phenomenal! I loved sharing the story of Adam McCauley’s star maps and his beautiful illustrations.

Then Valerie judged the hat contest. First prize went to Cora’s flowing masterpiece!

Second place went to Frank Rose’s conceptual ? piece. (Valerie didn’t know he’s my son-in-law!)

There were many other great hats. Here are a few.

A fascinating tinfoil fascinator created by Lynne Hoenig.

A perky little thing created by Connie Woodman:

A wicked number by Kara Duval, my daughter who visited from Santa Fe to attend the event:

And a strangely wonderful piece by Constance Braden:

I truly appreciated all the people who came to celebrate the day with me. Family, friends old and new, and supporters from my writing community made the day truly lovely!

Here I am with another one of my critique partners, Vonna Carter. She took all these pictures (except this one)! She has helped in a multitude of ways to help me get the word out. Thank you, Vonna!

I was delighted to see Vicki Sansum, the RA for our Houston SCBWI chapter, and Charles Trevino, former RA. I LOVE my writing community!!

And when it was all over— lo and behold!

Only one of those BBQ cupcakes was left!

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ on 03/25/2013 | 8 Comments

RELEASE DAY!

TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ releases today!

Today I’m overflowing with gratitude to everyone who worked on this beautiful book!

I’m so thankful to free lance editor Tamson Weston who in her former life as an editor at Disney Hyperion saw the potential for this story. It was sad to see her leave Disney, but was fortunate to get another fantastic editor, Rotem Moscovich. She guided the reins with an expert hand and made the project soar. It has been a joy to work with both of them.

Adam McCauley was the perfect illustrator for TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ. I’ve admired his work forever, and I literally jumped up and down when I found out he’d agreed to take on this project, along with book designer Cynthia Wigginton. The alchemy of turning words on a page into a fully realized world is truly magical. The world Adam created and the package Cynthia wrapped it in is stellar. Here’s Adam’s story about his process of illustrating this book.

Of course, the first person to say “I love it!” was Erin Murphy. Three magical words to hear from your agent. Thank you, Erin, for sending this crazy little story out into the universe so the magic could continue.

I’m also grateful to fellow writers Marty Graham, Vonna Carter, Russell Sanders, Varsha Bajaj, and Linda Jackson the first readers to enter Willy’s world (and help me tweak it to perfection!)

Of course so many more people at Disney worked on this story. It takes a village, just like with most things. I want to thank them all.

Today our book is being released to the world.

Truly magical!

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ on 03/12/2013 | Comments Off

In Search of the Perfect BBQ Cupcake

Ever since I started thinking about my book launch of TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ from Disney Hyperion, I knew the launch party needed to include barbecue. I also wanted it to be in the Blue Willow Book Shop in Houston, because it’s one of the best bookstores on the planet. Enthusiastically, I imagined ribs, potato salad and bluegrass. When I mentioned this to Valerie Kohler, the girl boss at Blue Willow, much to her credit, she didn’t say “Are you crazy? Barbecue in a bookstore?” Instead she said, “I think we could do that,” nodding toward some unseen space behind the shop where this might be possible. As I started working out the logistics, I decided barbecue appetizers would be more doable. However, none of the BBQ places I called made appetizers. I’d have to buy the barbecue and roll it or cut it and stick the toothpicks in it myself. The whole barbecue in a bookstore idea started looking less appealing.

Then inspiration struck!

What about BBQ cupcakes?

I googled barbecue flavored cupcakes and discovered that this was not a new idea. I tried a recipe I found and used Willy’s BBQ sauce recipe featured in my book. Then I offered the cupcakes to my critique group.

The responses varied from this one by Vonna Carter

To Laura Ruthven’s

Marty Graham said she liked them, but I didn’t truly feel the “like” in her voice when she said it. All agreed the icing and filling were too sweet.

They probably hoped that was the last of it.

But I made a second batch, using a gluten free chocolate cake mix this time so I could taste them myself. (Yes, I’d used my group as guinea pigs without first trying them. I know, bad.) I used a different icing. No filling. When I took them to critique group, they “accidentally” forgot to pick them up at the end of the meeting to take home to try.

When I showed up with cupcakes the third time, I can only imagine they were wondering what kind of cupcake torture they were being subjected to. But this time I’d approached the task more scientifically. Two varieties of cake, topped with cream cheese icing. Some had Willy’s BBQ sauce combined with chocolate drizzled on the top, some had a sweet roasted BBQ pecan on top, some had both. Plus I’d put the icing on with a bag outfitted with a metal tip to up the visual appeal. My cupcake weary group was requested to try them all and give their responses.

I enlarged my circle of tasters to include the booksellers at Blue Willow. I didn’t warn them ahead of time that I was bringing them by. Here are Valerie and Cathy Berner cautiously surveying the cupcakes. A BBQ cupcake isn’t something you just dive right into.

But after a while, the tasters at Blue Willow were eating with gusto.

Bookstore people must be adventurous eaters. “What’s not to like?” was one comment.

A couple of critique group family member tasters did not have such a positive cupcake experience, however.

Come to my launch on March 23 at 1:00 at Blue Willow Book Shop and you can register your opinion. I promise to have something else good to eat for those of you who don’t like to gamble with their food.

Many, many thanks to Vonna and Race Carter, Marty Graham, and Laura, George, and Lindi Ruthven for their spontaneous and genuine responses, and Valerie, Cathy, Alice , and Janet at Blue Willow Book Shop for being such gracious tasters.

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ,Uncategorized on 03/07/2013 | 6 Comments

Protect Yourself!

Writing a picture book about little green men has proven to be an amazingly educational experience. During the time since TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ sold to its now imminent release, I’ve had lots of time to educate myself about UFOs and the beings that may be flying them. My info comes through the internet, so I’m sure my sources are excellent. I’ve got a google alert for UFO sightings, and everyday I get the latest scoop on who’s seen what and where. UFOs are sighted in red states and blue states, cold places and hot places, in cities and in boonies all over the world. Many of these reports come with iphone videos. You should take a look.

My investigations have alerted me to the necessity of having an aluminum foil hat to keep myself safe from mental influence by other beings. Mostly people wear them to keep the very sort of little green men that are in my book from messing with their minds. Others wear them to avoid being influenced by ideas from others of our own species, such as “the guy who’s looking at me through the TV.”

For those of you who think this is all just paranoid craziness, read this scholarly discussion of the tin foil hat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_foil_hat

Inspired by the many wonderful tin foil hats I’ve seen on the web, I finally have completed one for myself.

Just in time. My launch party is on March 23.

No telling who might be trying to tune in.

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ on 02/27/2013 | 4 Comments

UFO’s in Roswell and South Texas!

This year my annual Christmas visit to Santa Fe was filled intrigue.

Snow! Tales of a UFO crash and recovery of alien bodies! A strange sighting in the early morning West Texas sky!

And after I got home, a news article in the Houston Chronicle about UFO sightings in South Texas!

Weird. Very weird!

On the road from Houston to Santa Fe, snow covered the ground from Wichita Falls on. Not such a big deal if you’re from Chicago, but if you’re from Houston, it’s a big deal.

This year I wanted to make a pilgrimage to the UFO Museum in Roswell – fitting, since my new children’s book TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ (farmer+BBQ+UFO) is coming out on March 15.

For a couple of years since the book was bought by Disney, I’ve had a google alert for UFO sightings. I’ve watched lots of UFO videos. Some looked like Chinese lanterns, a street light, or a hubcap or paper plate thrown in the air. Usually somebody is screaming in the background – “What the heck is that?” – using somewhat saltier language. But every now and then, I saw a compelling video, done either by a budding sci-fi film maker – or who knows? Maybe someone who really saw something?

I’d been to the Museum before, but I wanted to take another look and visit the gift shop to get give aways for my book launch at the Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston on March 23. So my husband and I left our cozy room at Suitable Digs in Santa Fe and headed out in the snow to Roswell.

After three hours we were close.

Finally we made it to the Museum.

The museum contains fascinating original national front page news articles and radio news reports verifying the crash of a flying saucer in Roswell in 1947. There are also the day after rebuttal stories which believers say is a huge cover-up. If you want to know more, go to their website for the full story and other videos of sightings.

Here is a painting in the Museum of what happened in Roswell in 1947 done by local high school students.

I was glad they kept these little men fenced in.

An recreation of an alien autopsy (Yes! They say bodies were recovered!)

This trip left me with a lot of questions. A bunch of people saw something in Roswell in 1947, obviously different from anything they’d seen before or since. If not a UFO, then what?

On the way back to Houston, we avoided West Texas due to a blizzard and made our way to one of our favorite B&Bs, the Hudspeth House in Canyon, Texas, where Georgia O’Keefe ate breakfast when she taught there. Leaving out before sunrise the next morning, I kept my eyes on the sky. This would be a perfect time and place to see a UFO. A huge ball of light floated in the sky, which my husband finally convinced me was Venus, and not a method of interplanetary transport.

But I kept my eye on it, just in case. For miles and miles, I kept glancing as the sun rose. Finally the spot turned gray and we were getting closer to it. Whatever I was looking at now was definitely not Venus. Finally the spot was to our left, and it morphed into a plane making a trail.

Now how could that be? A planet turns into a plane? Did I not keep my eye on the spot well enough? Did a plane fly into the sky without me seeing it?

Maybe.

Posted in Uncategorized on 01/28/2013 | 2 Comments

Take Me To Your BBQ

The arrival of Take Me To Your BBQ is approaching!

I’m thrilled to announce that the launch date will be March 23, at the Blue Willow Bookstore in Houston. Barbecue plus bluegrass plus aliens! An out-of-this-world experience.

To prepare myself, I went on a pilgrimage to the UFO Museum in Roswell over the holidays. More on that soon.

Today Adam McCauley posted a blog about the process of illustrating the book along with his wife Cynthia Wigginton. The illustrations are amazing, and it was fun reading about how the magic happened.

Check it out:

http://www.drawger.com/atomic/?article_id=13838

Posted in Take Me To Your BBQ on 01/09/2013 | Comments Off

Dreaming and Writing

Today I met with my dream group. Once a month, a yoga instructor, an origami artist, an environmentalist and I spend an afternoon sharing dreams. We catch up, eat, and read dreams from our dream journals. Kind of like a critique group, only we don’t suggest changes to our dreams. We do try to understand them, and sometimes we act them out or create art inspired by them.

When I started keeping a journal, I had almost zero dream recall. Now I’ve filled volumes. Here’s my stack of dream journals, which comes up to my elbow.

So what does this have to do with writing? First of all, there are thousands of stories in those journals— snippets of stories, mostly tales that only fascinate me. Have you ever noticed that no one is really interested in your dreams but you? However when I look back in old journals, I see characters or situations that I did include in stories later, without remembering that I dreamed them first.

Australian aboriginal people believe everything in the past, present, and future originates in dreamtime. Makes sense to me.

When I was a kid, I took piano lessons. Those scales I practiced everyday were never played in a recital. Maybe remembering and writing dreams is like that— practice looking at the movie that’s always playing in your head— the one writers spend a lot of time trying to access.

Whatever purpose dream work serves, it’s fun. Today the group was at my house. Figs, chocolate, and cherries. Yum! And more fascinating tales from Dreamtime.

If you’re interested in dream groups, here’s an2010 article from the New York Times about dream groups, featuring my dream group and several others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/fashion/11dreams.html?pagewanted=all

Posted in Dreaming,Uncategorized on 08/27/2012 | Comments Off

Welcome to my blog!

I’m delighted with my brand new website and blog! Saying goodbye to my old site designed by my daughter is a bit sad, but it needed updating. She’s busy with two businesses now, as a massage therapist and photographer, so Jenny Medford of Websy Daisy created this gorgeous new website. Happily Kara’s vision is still present. The still life on the home page of my “stuff” is her creation.

Thank you Jenny and Kara!

This has been a busy summer. Besides working on the website, I completed my picture book A BEAR’S YEAR, which sold to Schwartz & Wade. I finished a first draft of a YA novel, and am starting revisions. I’m planning for the release of my picture book TAKE ME TO YOUR BBQ, which is coming out next spring.

In the midst of it all, I traveled to the Pacific Northwest to attend a retreat hosted by Erin Murphy, for her clients. This year it was at Port Ludlow, a beautiful resort on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. I’ve gone to all but one of the six retreats that have been held, and each year feel like I’m getting together with old friends. The retreat is a high point of my year.

Something was strange this year, however.

On the second day, everybody started wearing these crazy hats!

Colin Murcray and Ruth McNally Barshaw

Cynthia Levinson and Conrad Wesselhoeft

Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Phil Bildner and Jeanne Mobley

Even Erin was wearing a hat, along with Phil Bildner, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Carrie Gordon Watson

: So I decided to join the party. Here are Kristin Wolden Nitz and I in our fascinators.

I found it fascinating that these little hats are called fascinators. I’d been calling mine a poofy little thing you wear on the side of your head.

After the retreat, my husband joined me and we went to Vancouver, BC where there were all these laughing guys. Could they tell we were tourists?

Here’s some of the beauty of the Pacific Northwest that we saw.

Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC

And something perhaps strangely beautiful, and definitely interesting.

The Gum Wall in Seattle

This is only a small section of an entire wall filled with gum. A person could go nuts trying to guess how many wads of gum are stuck on it.

Picture this: As I’m preparing to shoot this picture, lots of people are standing behind me chewing gum they bought from a guy who sells gum to people to put on this wall. The gum chewers wait until I snap the picture, and then giddily spit the gum into their hands and leap to stick it on the wall.

I finally tore myself away from the gum wall, and now I’m back at home, getting back to work, my spirit renewed!

Hope you’re having a beautiful and interesting summer, too.

Posted in Writing life on 08/15/2012 | Comments Off

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