

The Writing Process Blog Tour
Welcome back to my newly updated blog! I was honored to be asked by my colleague Susan Montanari to participate in The Writing Process Blog Tour. You can find Susan’s blog post at henandinkblots.wordpress.com/ As to the four questions… What am I working on? At the moment, I'm focused on book promotion for my new middle grade novel, ABRACADABRA TUT. So much has changed in the past few years in terms of what an author can do on her own to get the word out. My thinking has shift
An update on my co-writing project
So…as many of you know, since last October I have been co-writing a middle grade novel with a colleague, Susan Montanari. This is the first time either of us has co-written something, so it has been something of a literary adventure. Now that we’re “co-finishing” a readable draft, I think we have a somewhat better perspective on the process at large. I admit that once we decided to embark on this idea, we had to google “how to co-write a book” to figure out what to do next. L


Slave Cabins on Ossabaw Island
On my book research trip to Savannah in October, I spent a day on a magnificent barrier island called Ossabaw Island. It is reachable only by boat and has a history that stretches back to when the Spaniards arrived, leaving behind heritage breeds of burros and pigs whose descendants still graze in the marshes. But I digress. Starting in the late 1700′s, rice plantations were established on Ossabaw. Today, the plantations no longer exist, but thanks to restoration efforts, it
A recap of my recent all-school residency
Last Friday was the “culminating assembly share” for a rather remarkable all-school residency. As a children’s book author, I do lots of school visits. Usually, it’s a quick in and out, a one-day visit. But this visit became a 23 day residency. Here is how it came about. Jack Jackter Intermediate School (JJIS) in Colchester, CT has 700 students in grades 3-5. Each year they bring in a HOTs teaching artist to do an all-school residency. (HOTS stands for Higher Order Thin