France - Paris!

From Southern France, we took the train across the countryside to Paris. Starting in Toulon... We passed through the Provence region and saw castles, rolling farmland, and random Roman aqueducts. Gorgeous, but hard to get a picture of! We arrived in Paris in the evening. Who doesn't love the Paris train station!?Paris lights up like the very best Christmas tree of all! Here was the view from Cathy’s flat in Paris… Not necessarily in order, here are some of my favorite moments in Paris...
The Musée d'Orsay was hosting an anniversary celebration for the museum with an Impressionist exhibit and I had to buy my ticket beforehand to get in - it was crowded!

But mostly, I just wandered... In Saint Germain des Pres I took the classic "I'm in France" photo! I had to swing by Shakespeare and Company! I threw Stan off this bridge in the shadow of Notre Dame! I think he’d like that! 😊 But I was surrounded by a bunch of Italian teenagers who thought it was funny to spit off the bridge. They were shocked when I actually threw something off it! They said (in Italian), “What was that!?” I said, “Mi esposo!” and quickly left. HA! The best thing about my trip was connecting with my "French family." I was an exchange student in my late teens and we have all stayed in touch now for 38 years! (Ask me how I feel about study abroad - DO IT!!!) Here I am with my “French parents” Monique and Claude who drove in from their country house just outside Blois. We were having champaigne in Patrice’s apartment (across the street from Saint Chapelle), as you do… Cathy and her boyfriend Patrice… they are so cute together! Me and Cathy… French sisters! Dinner was oysters and whelks… I'd never had whelks before. They're a bit hard to look at, but dang are they delicious! The Paris flea market… I've done all the touristy things in Paris, so wanted to do something quirky. When I was an exchange student as a teenager, we went to the flea market, where I purchased a leather jacket that I adored (but that smelled awful). I had it for years. It was time to go back. And truly, it was just as fun! Treasures are everywhere!
It's so big you simply can't see it all in a day. So, refreshments were required. I went shopping on Le Rue de Sèvres - a very upscale street in Paris. Stan once bought me a scarf in Hermès because he had to go on a business trip to Paris and I wasn't able to tag along (and I was not happy about that!). So I had to see it. OMG. From there, I went to Le Grand Marché where they were featuring works by Jean Jullien, pulled together by Sarah Andelman, all through the museum. Forget the shopping, this was my favorite part!




But my favorite part about being in Paris was just that... being in Paris. I enjoyed lunches and teas and treats and just sitting and people watching... Cheating… I ate a crepe with Nutella and bananas – sooooo good!! OMG! Lunch... I had tea here and drew my tea with a watercolor kit I picked up at the Impressionists show at the Musee D’Orsay…
There are so many charming cafes, it's hard to choose! I took a walk through a park near Cathy's flat and came across this charming sculpture of a crow handing a round of brie to a fox. It was a tribute to the storyteller Jean de La Fontaine.
My last morning in Paris, Claude and I went to a café for breakfast. (Well, he had an espresso.)There, I cheated with my one chocolate croissant. Just as good as I remembered! There was a road race taking place outside Cathy's apartment. So, I was repacking my suitcase to the cherished sound of "Allez! Allez! Allez!" You can't really see them in this photo, but we were able monitor the race's progress from the terrace. Cathy made sure I took a jar of her homemade olive tepanade, made from olives she grew on her trees in St. Tropez! This stuff is pure gold - the best I've ever had - nectar of the gods! I wish I could have fit more in my suitcase! Cathy and Patrice got me to the airport and made sure I was safely heading in the direction before giving me great big hugs good-bye. I already miss them! Meanwhile, in the airport, I broke down and had a very American lunch before heading to Italy! It was so good to connect with my French family again. I hadn't seen them since Stan and I were heading to Scotland in 2015 and stayed in the apartment in Blois! Too, too long. With any luck, this will become a more regular trip. I can't wait another decade to head back!

France - St. Tropez

Okay, time to get out your small violins to play in pity of my horrible life... Kidding. Grand indulgences lie ahead...
     I knew at a young age that I wanted to experience the world, so I chose to be an exchange student in college. A French student came to stay with us one summer, and then I went to stay with her and her family the next summer. We've been close evr since and I've stayed with them numerous times and visa versa. That was 38 years ago! I call them my "French family." Claude and Monique, my French parents live just outside Blois, which is about 1.5 hours west of Paris. Cathy, my French sister, lives in Paris, but has a small apartment just outside St. Tropez on La Côte d'Azur. Her boyfriend, Patrice, also has a condo there, as does her brother, Marc, my "French brother."
     About a year ago, Cathy sent me a photo of the Meditteranean and said, "come"!
     This month I was heading to Bologna for the Children's Book Fair and it only made sense to take some vacation time on the front side since it only cost a little extra to take the short flight between Paris and Bologna, and I had a free place to stay...
     We visited an olive festival, a vineyard, a beach, a garden, and some fabulous restaurants. Here are some pics!
      That’s the Mediterranean in the distance in this one…from my balcony at Patrice’s condo in St. Tropez… St. Tropez…
A restaurant we ate in… Brad Pitt’s love child… Me and Cathy… The gorgeous Meditteranean…

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

182 Books Donated to TAP on Hollins Day!

At Hollins U, we host the Margaret Wise Brown Prize in Children's Literature and have since 2016. Publishers send us their best books for review. A copy is sent to each of the judges and to Hollins, where the books have far reaching ripple effects. I host our annual Picture Book Trends workshop (Click here for info!) for which we curate and observe how themes in children's books shift from year to year. I write wrap-up articles about identifiable trends that have been published in Publishers Weekly and the SCBWI Insight. And then, some of the books get added to our department library for students to study, while the rest get donated to needy organizations. This year, we donated 182 gorgeous picture books to TAP, Total Action for Progress, and TAP Head Start, a preschool program for three to four-year-olds.
Click the image to read the full press release!!!
     I was thrilled to be a part of the publicity team. Here I am with Hollins University SGA President Israella Freidline ’24, TAP President and CEO Annette Lewis, and Hollins President Mary Dana Hinton with children’s books donated by the university to TAP Head Start.

Dog Sitting

Some stories have to be told after the fact, because they're not funny until after the fact. Such was the case with a recent episode of dog sitting I did.
     My upstairs neighbors had to go out of town suddenly and needed someone to watch their doggie, Ramona. They used to have two doggies living with them, Ramona and Corazon - a 100lbs. Great Pyrenees puppy. I tried to watch them for one weekend and it didn't go well. There was no letting them in my apartment as a brief experiment proved. Corazon was in his teething stage which meant that everything went in his mouth. Also, one swipe of his massive paw and he could do major damage; so I coudn't even run to the bathroom, lest I not have my eye on him. (Corazon is now living with his grandparents with a big yard and several other big doggies.)
     So, here came the emergency and it was just Ramona. Surely I could handle the smaller of the two doggies for a few days? I mean, she's just so cute! What I didn't know is that Ramona is also at the tail end (HA!) of her puppy stage. So, after a few laps of my apartment and digging of nails on the couch, out came the beach towels and sheets and anything else I could cover my furniture with! This was right before the couch was covered and we were starting to have a dubious time together.But Ramona is a sweet doggie, and she was very used to being in bed with her parents. This proved to be a challenge, but we managed.

Things actually seemed to be going pretty well. She was getting used to my apartment, and we were getting used to each other. So, I went to run an errand...
     Are you yelling, "No, don't do it!"??? (You should be.)
     This is what I returned home to.      Yeah.
     So, Ramona is back with her parents who came home at the end of the weekend; and I still give her treats whenever she stops by my apartment. (I have become the "treat lady" to all the dogs on my street.) But as for future sleep-overs? Hm. It may be a while.