Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother turned a BIG number on March 31st this year! So I tied in a trip to Atlanta on the way to my keynote in Athens, Georgia for the Conference on Children's Literature. My sister, Jennifer, cousin Jennifer, and I took her to lunch at Café Alsace in Decatur, Georgia, which was lovely of course. Afterwards, she and I went to The Carlos Museum at Emory University, where my friend Vicky Alvear Shecter is a docent. And where we saw these awesome Goddess and ancestor figurines. She and my father drove to Athens to enjoy my keynote, so I was able to get the audience to wish her a happy birthday (which she loved!) and we all went out to lunch before I drove back to Roanoke.
     Here I am with this dynamic woman who I can't even keep up with! I hope I have her energy at her age! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

Georgia Conference on Children's Literature

March 22-23 I was honored to provide a keynote speech and give a workshop at the 55th Georgia Conference on Children's Literature at my alma mater, the University of Georgia! This is a well attended annual event held for librarians and educators across Georgia. There were actually quite a few "keynotes": Me, David Bowles, Torrey Maldonado, Stacy Mcanulty, and Bob Shea. My novel, A Bird on Water Street was a finalist for the Georgia Book Award many years ago, so it was an honor to be able to return!
     I love getting to know fellow creators. Here we are with the program organizers. I gave a talk on "Maintaining Creativity Through Adversity" - something that has been on my mind of late for obvious reasons. And for my workshop, I talked about color theory and finding one's personal color palette.
     My parents actually drove up from Atlanta to attend - gratis. The organizers were so sweet and made them nametags and everyting. It was my mother's 80th birthday, so I asked the audience to give her a big "Happy Birthday!" She was tickled silly. That was happy.
     Also, Petros Panaou was one of the organizers and we ended up hanging out quite a bit in Bologna at the Book Fair there - small world!
     It was so good to be back in Athens again. A lot has changed, but much has remained the same. I have so many good memories there. It's so strange to see all the young adults, who rightly own the town now, creating magical memories of their own. Stan and I both went to the University of Georgia, so it seemed only fitting that I should leave a bit of him there too...right by the arches.
He'd like that.

St. Patrick's Day Parade!

I am loving my new sweet home in Roanoke, Virginia! There are parties and parades all the time, including the wonderful St. Patrick's Day parade! Click the image to see and hear some of it in action on Youtube! Meanwhile, the parade was full of fun things, like stilt walkers.Baton twirlers...A fire truck (of course!).Vikings (as you do?).Pirates!And a literal "pot of gold" hosted by a local plumber. Hilarious! There were even little go carts made out of golden toilets zooming around it!Of course, my favorite bit was the bagpipes! And there were lots of them - several different troupes! Apparently the Roanoke parade is a destination for bagpipe groups - YAY!!!

Afterwards, Zoelle, James, and I stopped at the Texas Tavern hot dog stand (photo from their website), which is almost 100 years old now!It was established in 1930 and feels like stepping through a time warp inside. And the hot dogs? Sooooo good!Many thanks to the men who work there for topping off a fantastic day!

Cathy Hankla's Art Show!

I'm making so many friends in my new Roanoke home! One is the former Chair of the English department, Cathy Hankla. She's retired now and painting like crazy. She had a one woman show recently at the Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center in Clifton Forge.
Our new registrar, also a new friend, Emily and I drove through some of the most gorgeous countryside on the most beautiful day to go to the opening!
Here I am with Cathy... And Emily with Cathy... Two weeks later, Cathy and I met up at The Green Goat in Roanoke, which sits along the Greenaway Trail, for a fall apart celebration. How lovely...

Friday Links List

From PW: Former Clarion Books publisher Dinah Stevenson passed away recently at 81. She was instrumental in so many of the books that made me want to become a children's book writer and illustrator!

From the NYTimes: If I Read a Vintage Dr. Seuss to My Son, Do I Skip the Racist Part? The magazine’s Ethicist columnist on how to contend with the racism in an old children’s book.

From Storyline: Enjoy books celebrating Black History Month read by famous actors.

From The New Republick: Ron DeSantis Finally Admits War on Books Has Been a Total Disaster: The Florida governor is suddenly backtracking after all those ridiculous book bans in schools.

From The Guardian via Nathan Bransford: Reading is So Sexy: Gen Z turns to physical books and libraries

From The Maven Game via Nathan Bransford: Great advice on pacing your manuscript!

From People Magazine: Children of Blood and Bone author Tomi Adeyemi has more fantasy in store

From Kyle Webster: His thoughts on A.I.

From Wired: Lots of People Make Money on Fanfic. Just Not the Authors

From PW: New Lee & Low Diversity Baseline Survey Finds Minor Changes

From Today: Savannah’s book became part of a copycat scam. How to spot AI-generated, or fake, books online

From PW: SCBWI Addresses the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza