Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 10:19AM I waited 20 minutes to enter this car wash. It was a hot, bright May day and every car in Baltimore was green with pollen, so the line was long. When I finally got inside, here's what I found. Water and soap are amazing media. The Retro Camera app for Android helped too.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 12:59PM I have a new essay up today at one of my favorite sites, Baltimore Fishbowl. "Passport: A True Tale of Motherhood" is the story of a nine-month journey from reluctance to love.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:57PM 
This week, I'm finishing line edits on GENIE WISHES. Here's the bird's eye view of the manuscript and me, flanked by my dogs Gizmo (left) and Lulu (right). They take this flanking work very seriously.
Last Friday afternoon, I put the manuscript aside and drove to see Natalie Standiford, who was at the Children's Bookstore in Baltimore (her hometown) signing her new middle-grade novel, THE SECRET TREE. Not surprisingly, she was just as delightful in person as she is on Twitter. I'm looking forward to reading the book and finding out what secrets said tree is holding.
Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 07:53PM 
The CityLit Kids year at Baltimore's Govans Elementary School ended today on a high (and sugary) note, with the fifth graders taking turns reading from their newly compiled anthology (shown above), then gathering for food and drink in the cafeteria. When the reading and the eating were done, the soon-to-be-graduates traded books and signed autographs for each other.
It was lovely working with this group--kids and instructors both. We instructors will be back next year, but the fifth graders will scatter to different middle schools around the city, where, as the anthology's title says, they'll Write On! We'll miss them.
P.S. At the party, I discovered the latest in commercial bakery innovations--the hottest thing since the photo cake. On top, it looked like a sheet cake, with a single, unbroken layer of frosting. But underneath? Cupcakes! Did you all know about this and not tell me? The split-level cake reminded me of what they used to say about certain haircuts: that they were business on top, party on the bottom.
Friday, April 27, 2012 at 10:45AM
The Lucky 13s--a group of writers with debut children's literature appearing in 2013--continues to grow. I think we're up to 60 members. Today was my turn to blog for the group, so I wrote about something that's been on my mind a lot recently: The virtues of reading your work out loud as part of the revision process, which I always do, sometimes in funny voices if I get bored. Here's the post.
