Illustrator friend Mary Lundquist came to my book launch party on April 7th, and brought this gift of adorable art:   It kills me! That’s me, and I’m sitting on an acorn, drawing, in a tree studio!! I LOVE it. Mary and I met at last year’s SCBWI LA conference, and her portfolio was incredible. I was…

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Illustration friend and SCBWI mentee Christina Forshay recently tagged me for participation in a global blog tour called The Next Big Thing. The idea originated in Australia and is basically a cool way for authors and/or illustrators to promote their next or latest book. 1) What is the working title of your next book? Miss…

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I’m having a  book launch party for Miss Maple’s Seeds! I’d love to see you there. Sunday April 7th, 5-7 pm Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave, Los Angeles CA 90027 Coming to the party? You can pre-order your book directly from Skylight to ensure there will be enough copies at the store. And of course, I’ll sign…

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I’m joining in to spread the word about the debut young adult novel POISON, by the late Bridget Zinn. Bridget was from my hometown, and sadly died of cancer in 2011 at age 33 before she was able to see her novel reach publication. Her family and friends are helping to promote her new book…

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Miss Maple’s Seeds is coming out in 1 month (April 4, 2013), and I was so excited to see that Publisher’s Weekly posted the first review a few days ago!  http://new.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-25792-6   Here’s what they said: “Confident artistry and an intuitive knowledge of what the world looks like to a very small person make a…

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Right now I’m knee deep in sketching for the picture book THE GRUDGE KEEPER, by author Mara Rockliff. It’s a folk-tale inspired story of the one man in town who collects everyone’s insults, umbrage, and petty complaints, filing them all away in his cottage. Mara’s manuscript is brilliant! It’s been exciting to be able to…

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One of the many things that I love about being a part of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), is that with each conference and event I meet new wonderful writer/illustrator friends. This has become more significant since I’ve been a part of the Summer Conference Mentorship Award, in 2010. I’ve made…

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