Dreaming of summer...

With another snowstorm upon us in the Northeast and temperatures in the 20s, I find myself dreaming of summer. My daughter picked this pretty peony and daisy bouquet last July in her uncle's garden in Maine. Maybe if I stare at it long enough, I'll warm up. (My LL Bean shearling booties are helping, too!)

Kids are in camp this week and I have a long list of things to do. Waiting to hear back about a new kids story I think has potential--fingers crossed! Also want to see if I can publish or self-publish an older story based on my beloved aunt Fitzle. Let's see what happens! Now back to that to-do list...

More coffee = more ideas!

When it comes to finding inspiration for a new story, nothing beats an hour in a cafe or bakery for coffee and sweets. Fortunately for me, I live in a largely Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY, so there are many places to choose from! Here's a coffee and cannoli break I took last week. I ended up sending the kids book idea I'd found sketched out but never finished to my editor -- fingers crossed! More ideas are in order, so after finishing my Bob Vila.com posts this week, it's back to the bakery!

Discovered Old Notes!

Ever find old notebooks or journals with stories you'd sketched out and then forgotten about? That happened to me yesterday. Among my finds were these notes for a Halloween story I had started for my daughter this past fall, then set aside. It's kinda cute. Think I'll try to get it into shape and send around. Kids market so, so difficult these days, but who knows? Wish me luck!

Christmas Book Almost Here!

After four years of waiting, my Christmas picture book—Christmas Eve with Mrs. Claus—is being printed as I type (and already available for pre-order on online book sites)! The delays came with finding the right illustrator (Teri Weidner, who's work I adore) and then finding the right look for Mrs. Claus and Santa. I can't wait to see an actual printed copy, probably in about a month from now. Sonia Manzano, aka Maria from Sesame Street and a children's and young adult author herself, was kind enough to write a blurb for the back cover. All too exciting!

Haven't come up with another winning formula for another kids book yet, though something's always brewing, especially with my 6- and 9-year-olds sparking ideas without their even knowing it. In the meantime, I hope everyone enjoys Mrs. Claus!

Learning more about one of my favorite children's book authors, Margaret Wise Brown, by reading her biography: Awakened by the Moon by Leonard S. Marcus. In the 1930s she attended the highly progressive Bank Street teacher's college in NYC and worked with children in the lower grades of the Little Red School House. The philosophy there sounds like something I'd love for my own children, presently in the 21st-century NYC public schools. So much about exploration and imagination. Brown herself spoke of how much she admired the creativity of her students. In this atmosphere it is not surprising that she will develop a writing style that is abstract and inventive and so much like the way children themselves speak and think when they are very young. Loving this book!

Where I work... here is a picture of my office. It is not always this neat! As I look around me now there are piles of paper on the white desk where my son and daughter often draw. Outside the window is a tree-lined street in Brooklyn. I've always loved the look and feel of "Brownstone Brooklyn." One day, though, I hope to have a desk that overlooks a pretty garden--a house in the country would be so nice, and would probably inspire stories of tiny creatures that live in the woods and the flower beds. These days I'm going through old stories I have in various stages of completion. Some aren't half bad, but others, in retrospect, are forgettable. No one particular story has grabbed me for a while. I'll start working on one, convinced that it would be enthusiastically received, then after a week I lose interest, or better--I begin to doubt myself. Sometimes all it takes is for someone besides myself, especially someone in the publishing industry, to tell me that a story has potential and then I can focus 100% till it's done. For now, I'll keep sifting through my files and hope I can spot the one I should finish!

What I'm reading now... the biography of Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon, by Leonard S. Marcus. I've only just begun it but am so excited to learn more about the life and inspiration of one of my favorite children's book authors. Her writing is so creative and quirky, with a freedom sometimes missing in kids books today. How can you beat "Goodnight nobody, Goodnight mush." ? I didn't know until I was an adult that one of my very favorite books when I was a girl, Color Kittens, was written by Ms. Brown. Somehow my mother missed Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny when buying books for my brothers and me, but I've read each to my own children countless times. Runaway Bunny in particular gets me choked up and in awe of how in tune she was with the world of children and the love of parents, though I think she never had children of her own. (I'll find out soon in Mr. Marcus' book!) A few favorite lines from Little Fur Family (a gift to my kids from my dear friend Domenica who had read it as a child)... "It was a wild wild wood. Wild flowers grew all over the ground and wild winds blew through the air." And of course, Garth Williams illustrations are magical. I'll post again as I get through the book and again when I'm done. From the jacket I see that her own life may not have been joyful, which only makes me more curious about her and her wonderful stories!