Where is everything?

Sometimes as an author you stop and say, "Wait. Where is everything?" So here's where it's all at right now.

Hug Hug! comes out December 16th from Little Simon. I'll be doing something very fun for the launch with my amazing friend Joan Holub.

The new paperback of Rainy Day Slug comes out March 1st.


Hm. Then my Scholastic Cartwheel board book, Bedtime Kiss for Little Fish comes out in June, I think. I have the cover but don't know if I can share it yet! Debra Ziss has made the sweetest Little Fish.



My novel about Korea is in the hands of my amazing agent, Elizabeth Harding. Will I need another rewrite or not, is the question! This part is very nervy making. (The following photos are my collages or visual maps of my works in progress.)

Then my prose fantasy is off to my fab critique group buddies, Joan Holub and Dia Calhoun. I expect at least a month of work when they send their comments back to me. My dear friend Justina Chen Headley may read it in October in China. Then there will be--another rewrite.


So what right now? Well, there's a first draft of a verse novel I can get back to in the meantime. I wrote a work after the experiences of my daughter's friend Sarah. (Sarah is in the foreground, and Emily is in the background.)


There's much to do on the work. Sarah's story is chilling, and I'm so ready to get back to it. I'm right at that juncture where I need to breakaway away into fiction. Opening your hand and letting the truth go to make a better story is a distinct step in writing from life experiences. That is exactly where I'm at. And I have a few minutes right now to get going!