I wasn’t presented with flowers in the traditional sense during my first bookstore signing on the Sherman’s circuit, but I snuck in a visit to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens while I was in Boothbay Harbor, so I did get to see their magnificent display. And so my memories of this day will include the… Read more »
My Books
Independent Bookstore Day
Bookstores have always meant a lot to me. I grew up in rural Maine (yes, Mount Desert Island is quite rural, especially in the winter), and I was lucky to have an indie nearby: Sherman’s Books of Bar Harbor. I remember walking up the wooden step into the shop and spending a good hour in… Read more »
Reader-in-House
Over the weekend, I read the entire latest draft of the sequel to The Mad Wol’f’s Daughter to my 11-year-old son (aka the Lad). He was building amazing things in Minecraft (no, not sitting there paying attention to nothing but the book for ten hours—though more than once he paused and just listened). At the end… Read more »
Words to My Younger Self
There are moments in my publishing journey where I wish I could go back in time, slip my arm around the shoulders of my 14-yo self, and tell her a few things. One would be to show her the review that was posted today in The New York Times. (To say that it was a… Read more »
Spring Author Festival
On March 18, I joined children’s authors and illustrators Gina Perry, Jannie Ho, Carol Gordon Ekster, Rob Vlock, Heather Lang, Jen Petro-Roy, Lisa Rosinsky (back row), Sara Levine, Gregory Scott Katsoulis, Sarah Jean Horowitz, and Jarrett Lerner (front row) at the Framingham, Massachusetts, Barnes & Noble (I’m on the far right beside Lisa). We presented our books and chatted with… Read more »
Presenting in Portland, Maine
As I’ve said on Twitter, put me in front of a crowd and tell me to talk about A) my book, B) challenging gender roles in middle grade fiction, or C) castles, swords, and anything medieval (especially medieval Scotland)—or all three—and this quiet writerly type will become a presenter. On March 14, I gave my… Read more »
News Center Maine
Curious what I’m like in real life? Here’s a taste of it: my appearance on News Center Maine’s 207, wherein I talk about The Mad Wolf’s Daughter and, of course, Scotland!
A Launch Party Surprise
If you follow me social media, you’ve probably heard that the threat of snow cancelled my launch party. (That’s part of living in Maine; we get one last burst of winter in March just about every year.) I have another appearance in Portland the following week, so I’m turning that into my launch party. But it was… Read more »
My Book’s Friends
I wanted to share this picture of The Mad Wolf’s Daughter on its book birthday (yesterday), surrounded by books that inspired me: as I came up with the basic idea of the novel, as I was writing the drafts, and as I was working on revisions. These are my book’s friends, books that mean a… Read more »
Recent Interviews
Yesterday was a big day for me: The Mad Wolf’s Daughter was in bookstores at last! I had a brief television appearance on WCSH’s 207, signed stock in a few local bookstores, and was quite busy on social media. These two interviews were posted yesterday, and I wanted to share them because they were fun to… Read more »
Today is the birthday of @michaelmagrasbooks, a brilliant writer and critic who happens to be a fantastic actor, singer, and altogether witty gent too. His creativity, humor, intellect, empathy, and progressive ideals make him an absolute joy to be married to. Happy birthday, my dear!
#birthday #NovemberBirthdays #AmazingPeople
More gorgeous brown leaves, but this time backlit by the morning sun. These are one of two kinds of oaks in our yard (the other one is golden-brown), and these are red-brown but glow crimson in the sun. They`re gorgeous with or without sun. I adore these warm colors.
#AutumnColors #NovemberColors #Autumn #Maine #trees