So stoked YALSA recognized my novel, Between the Lines!

It's a balmy 75 degrees outside, which is normal for Southern California this time of year. But don't be jealous. By the time you read this post, I'll be experiencing the frozen tundra that is Philadelphia as I sign books at the African American Children's Book Fair. That's looking ahead, though. Let's focus on the month that just flew by.

I followed my usual ritual on New Year's Day. I turned on the Rose Parade coverage on television, dismantled my Christmas tree and decorations and, in between, oohed and ahhed over the Rose Bowl floats moving across my TV screen. Ah, heaven!

A few days later, I traveled to Oakland, CA, for a writing retreat at the home of good friend and illustrator Lea Lyon, who lives right on the Bay. It rained almost non-stop while I was there, but I suppose that was perfect, in a way. I was not even tempted to leave my workroom! Well, there was one Ethiopian dinner run with a friend, and Lea and I treated ourselves to a movie night to see On The Basis of Sex, the film about Ruth Bader Ginsberg, which was fabulous. Apart from these outings, I kept my nose to the proverbial grindstone, and ground out the first ten poems to a companion to One Last Word!

Here's some of my research for my companion to One Last Word.  Can you guess what the focus of this book will be?

It's been a while since I posted one, so I wrote a new blog. This edition is titled "High Tech, Low Tech, No Tech?" What inspired the question was a new-to-me car, loaded with so much tech, it feels like a computer on wheels. Exactly how much tech do I really need, I wondered, and so began the volley of questions that filled my head. Check out the blog when you get a minute. Maybe you'll find an idea or two that gets you thinking.

Speaking of time, I spent most of January waiting for a certain magical date, namely Saturday, January 26th. That's the day Travis Jonker's 100 Scopes Notes revealed the cover of my newest book, Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir! In this first-ever Scopes dual reveal, the cover was shown on this popular blog while, simultaneously it was revealed at ALA Midwinter, where the Seattle audience was also able to snag one of the first ARCs available. (And the crowd roared!—in my head, anyway.) I'm so relieved that the cover is now out in the world because I sat on the secret of the cover forever!

At last!  The cover of my new memoir, Ordinary Hazards, was revealed!

On Sunday, January 27th, someone on Facebook made my day posting that she'd just pre-ordered my memoir! I'm still grinning.

Okay. I'm off! Time to prep for my trip to the frozen hinterlands. Brrr.

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