Back home from Christmas wanderings, I just listened to a song that was shared this year by an author friend whose heart is deeply sweet and whose words are silky and rhythmic on the tongue: http://www.kathiappelt.com/blog/books/the-angel-next-to-me/ As I listened, what I thought about…again…was losing the Christmas box in the flood of 1997. When we threw away the soggy ornaments
“And…” (people keep asking me) “What was Seattle like??” Adjectives fail me. First of all, the dinner was sold out, which so rarely happens in my world. Ellenore, the organizer, had set a goal of 100, but 170 people bought tickets. Bidding on auction items was brisk and cheerful. The room was full of dancing
Before my little brother was born, we were a family of girls who made up and acted out stories for days at a time. When we traveled by ship and airplane back to the United States from Ethiopia for the first time, we spent a year in Boise, Idaho. Caroline was beautiful and good. Joy was
When I’m riding in a car around Addis Ababa, the system can feel so…random. I’m always pretty glad that I don’t have to drive myself. Roads are full of people. And animals. And distractions of all sorts. In North Dakota–rural state that it is–my kids had the opportunity to be fully licensed drivers at 14.
My brother was reading aloud from something today that said depression rates are much higher in countries where people have more. The gift of focus appears when there are physical hardships that have to be overcome–and when the simple act of preparing shelter or food for a family is all-absorbing. We know we should stay in the
Sisters. I ended up with four of them. Sister relationships fill up my books and my author presentations–and now I’ve moved out to Portland where most of them live. Feelings too deep for words are connected in weird and wonderful ways with those sisters. My only older sister reminded us of this picture recently. It
The children’s book world is a small one. No sooner do you insult someone in your publishing life than she shows up as the new marketing director who has absolute control over your new book :> Authors support authors in many times and ways, too–laughing together, empathizing over the agony, celebrating the shiny spots. It’s
My dad could sound his most Biblical and profound when he said the words, “Come let us reason together.” I wonder if it’s maybe because he was only 18 when he joined his older brothers, left the farm in Adrian, Oregon, and went off to World War II. He once said in an interview that
Once upon a time, I was invited to be one of fourteen authors selected by Laura Bush to be part of Celebrate America’s Authors day. Being here again in the DC area this week is making me remember. I didn’t know that the First Lady got to choose the day before inauguration to shine a
Writing retreats…yum! I’ve been getting together with a group of fellow children’s book authors for more than ten years. At first, we took a long weekend from our crowded lives to write, write, write–and read our writing to each other and discuss delicious books we’d read and also talk about each other’s work. Then we
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