I’ve been doing a ton of author visits in the last few weeks. From doing a motivational talk for a Genius Hour project at Hobby Middle School (plus a silly, fun writing workshop)…   … to a Halloween Day presentation … Continue reading →

Happy October, friends! I hope you’re doing what I’m doing these days! That is, writing spooky stories, picking your Halloween costumes, planning where to hide the Snickers bars from your own dear trick-or-treater children, and gearing up for NaNoWriMo, or … Continue reading →

Oh frabjous day! Friends, if you are the sort of reader/writer/librarian/humanoid who listens to podcasts… or likes book reviews of fun/funny/wonderful middle grade books… or wants to laugh as I use ALL THE  EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! while talking about great books?* … Continue reading →

This has been an incredible fall for my writer friends who have new books out. This week, I celebrated with my good friend Tara Dairman, as she welcomed The Great Hibernation into the world! I adored this book–it is full … Continue reading →

Hey, friends! What are you doing here at my blog, instead of spending your free hours scrolling through the TWO HUNDRED (or so) amazing items on Kate Messner’s KidLitCares auction, for Hurricane Harvey Flood Relief? I’m been bidding on items, … Continue reading →

Wow! I can’t believe the summer is almost over. I’ve been traveling, reading, writing, and teaching. Oh, yeah! Kids: there’s one last chance to take a (free!) writing workshop from me this summer, on August 9, 2017 from 4:30 PM … Continue reading →

I interrupt my summer writing and blog-ignoring to say a huge, happy book birthday to my friend Cory Putman Oakes on the launch day of her utterly amazing, incredibly fun/creepy/fast-paced/mysterious YA WITCHTOWN! I snagged an early reader copy of this … Continue reading →

Happy June! I’ve been writing as fast as I can, and reading whenever I have a moment. I had the very good luck to read a new middle grade book by Rebecca Behrens, The Last Grand Adventure, coming out March … Continue reading →

Hi, friends! This is that time of year I get lots of sweet texts and emails asking if I’m teaching any writing workshops in the summer. And this summer, the answer is yes! I’ll be doing one at the Westbank … Continue reading →

Wow! I think I just now caught up on my email/sleep/healthy food backlog after the utterly stupendous TxLA conference in San Antonio last week. It was as fun as I had hoped, and I met so many librarians, authors, and … Continue reading →