Before CHICKEN WONDERS… WHY? even went on sale yesterday, there was a bit of buzz thanks to reporter Maranda Whittington at WKRN. I had just finished doing a podcast interview last Thursday when she emailed to see if I would be willing to talk about the inspiration for my new book; you can watch her two-minute report here. Attempts to ban books haven’t stopped in Sumner County and now some folks are even trying to dissolve the library system! I’m donating fifty copies of the new book to the communities that rallied to defend A PLACE INSIDE OF ME and hope they’ll be successful in defeating future book bans. I had a chance to read aloud some of CHICKEN on Reading to the 246, a Sunday evening podcast hosted by an educator in Barbados. Today I met virtually with students in Hamilton, Ontario and then with a local writer who invited me to nominate local shops for his column in Chicago Magazine. Tomorrow I leave for TX, returning Thursday afternoon—which means spending a lot of time in transit for *one hour* with kids in Houston. I’ll probably miss my puppetry class again…but I’m meeting with a puppeteer friend on Friday morning and will try to spend the rest of the day catching up on my project. This past weekend I flew up to Montreal to see the exhibit Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music. It was -40 degrees! I’m almost ready to self-publish PERENNIAL—just waiting on the final proof. February feels stressful and it’s only the first week of Black History Month; I’ve got four more virtual school visits, three panels, and a poetry workshop on the 28th. But yesterday I booked my three-week trip to Scotland so at least I have something to look forward to in March…