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 »
The Mad Wolf’s Daughter
Sherman’s Bookstore Appearances
I’m thrilled to be doing a series of appearances at Sherman’s Books, Maine’s locally-owned indie bookstore chain, starting this month. Sherman’s was a very important bookstore in my childhood, and I’m delighted to go back to these fantastic indies in this way.
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 »
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 »
Author Copies
The exciting moment when I get home from work after a long day and discover three boxes from Penguin Random House containing the author copies of my first book…
Author Copy
A special book was waiting for me at home on Friday after work…and was quite an incredible surprise. I saw the book-shaped padded envelope from my publisher, had a pretty good idea of what it might be, and asked my son to open the package. His grin grew wider and wider as he did. He’s… Read more »
Flora is just utterly beautiful in any pose she takes. And she hardly knows it!
#catsofinstagram
I took this pic to figure out what kind of furry visitor I had, and it’s so pretty I need to share. Meet my new friend, a tiger moth caterpillar, which, with luck, will transform soon into a gorgeous moth!
#caterpillar #garden #nature