It’s National Poetry Month and I’m writing a poem a day until the end of April. Some days I feel like I don’t have anything to say but spring always promises and delivers birds, blossoms, and beauty in unexpected places so there’s plenty of inspiration to be found outdoors. This morning I shared my writing process with students at Messiah University; their professor asked me to demonstrate how to learn from the poems in OLIO by Tyehimba Jess and I found unexpected inspiration for my experimental verse novel OLA’S DREAM. It’s been on hold since last spring; with the pandemic, I couldn’t sustain the focus I needed to do historical research. I didn’t manage to finish a sample poem for the students but I made a start and look forward to the second class I’ll meet on Thursday. The reading that evening is open to the public so join us if you can. Next week I will deliver the 2nd Augusta Baker Lecture at the University of South Carolina; it’s virtual and open to the public as well. If you’re working with younger children, Poetry Boost is spotlighting a different poet every day this month (my poem is here) and MacKids also has a video of me reading A PLACE INSIDE OF ME.

I made it five days without sweets—not bad and the cravings weren’t too hard to manage. I’m letting myself have a sweet today and tomorrow (discounted Reese’s peanut butter Easter eggs) and then I’ll try another five-day detox. That seems sustainable. I had my blood drawn yesterday and the results were mostly encouraging: my iron is normal again, my A1c went down four points, but my cholesterol crept up again. Will see if cutting back on sweets helps at all; I’m mostly vegetarian so suspect the slightly high cholesterol is a genetic inheritance I’ll have to learn to live with. I’m still working on getting vaccinated and generally don’t feel ready to rejoin the world. I backed out of my in-person art class and being in the city last week was jarring—I’m used to Evanston’s mostly empty streets and suddenly folks were everywhere, eating on the sidewalk and flowing in and out of Millennium Park. It will take time to get used to the new normal, I guess, but for now I’m content to stay at home dreaming about the future. I got pre-approved again but haven’t seen anything I love enough to take the plunge and become a homeowner here in Chicagoland. Today I got the final cover for THE WITCH’S APPRENTICE and it’s beautiful! I was given the chance to provide feedback over the past few weeks and Geneva B really came through—can’t wait to share her amazing artwork. It was good to have proof of a successful collaboration because yesterday I had a less than productive conversation about the treatment for what we hope will be a DRAGONS IN A BAG animated film. I spoke to the screenwriter last month and knew he was taking the characters in a different direction but I wasn’t prepared for my beloved book to be completely reworked. It’s unrecognizable at this point so I’m trying to find a way forward. My horoscope for 2021 said I would have to focus on creativity, collaboration, and children, so I’m trying to see this as an opportunity to grow and learn. And I’m willing to compromise—often when films try to stay loyal to the book, they don’t quite work. But I won’t betray my readers or my vision for the *series*—it’s not just one book I’m protecting! I think I’m going to write my own treatment so there’s an alternative on the table. After I prep for Thursday’s class and reading and write my lecture for next week…