School finally ended. I took a week off to empty my brain of all things MICA and am now ready to wrap up this book. My plan was to finish et the end of the semester, but like a few of my students, I fell shy of my original goal by about three pieces. Those … Read more
Head on over to Elizabeth O. Dulemba’s blog to hear more about Louise and win a free copy of the book! For those of you who don’t know, Elizabeth O. Dulemba is an author and illustrator of picture books and most recently, a novel! She is Illustrator Coordinator for the Southern Breeze region (AL, GA, FL panhandle) of the SCBWI – the … Read more
A couple of weeks ago I was invited by Rebecca Bradley to add to an online tribute for the kidnapped girls in Nigeria. Each artist was given a name and asked to design a flower for that young lady. My tribute is for Gloria. As a childless woman, I can’t even imagine what the mothers … Read more
Getting published is a HUGE accomplishment.But where most civilians (non authors & illustrators) think that a book deal means buckets of money and leaving behind a legacy, those of us in the trenches know that getting a book published is only the beginning. Looking back to my late twenties and thirties, all I wanted to … Read more
I am crawling over the finish line with my next book, Sunday Shopping, written by Sally Derby, to be published by Lee & Low Books! It has been a loooooooong haul with this one, with a few stops and starts in between, but I am almost done. In Craftsy news, today my class was voted … Read more
I have read about women artists who’ve lived together in a hazy creative dream—even for a short spell. Trina Schart Hyman, Tove Jansson, The Red Rose Girls…It’s always made me envious and a bit sad that I didn’t have it for myself. As much as I have tried to live an interesting and free life, … Read more
Yesterday I read PLEASE, LOUISE aloud with students of The Wilkes School at Grace & Saint Peters and Midtown Academy. It was an enchanting afternoon sitting under the stars of Enoch Pratt’s Night Room chanting aloud the text from PLEASE, LOUISE. After we read together, I shared a bit of my journey as a young … Read more
Drum roll please……. Ms. Toni Morrison will be sending me three signed copies of the book. One for me, and two for you lucky contest winners. Soooooo, get those entries in to win a rare signed copy of PLEASE, LOUISE hot off the press! You may leave your library story here. Big news came in … Read more
I spent last weekend in New York with over a thousand authors and illustrators. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators held its annual winter conference. Members span the globe and were fully present at this weekend’s events. I was in observer mode mostly and didn’t get into meeting and greeting many people, but I … Read more
Meg Guerrier, at Joy Becomes Her reached out to me on Etsy last month to join her in promoting black owned businesses on Etsy. In order to win my Spring Splash print plus a host of other lovely items on Etsy, all you have to do it follow the makers on their various social media … Read more