For the last day of 2010, I decided to choose one blog entry from each month that felt defining. It's been a year of big transitions: two new books, my daughter changed colleges, my son turned eighteen and had his first seizure, and I have a book being challenged.

It was a year with loss: an uncle died, one of my writer friends died, other friends have faced hard things. And yet, it was also a year of new experiences and new people and new places. It's been a good year, an affirming year, a hard year, a changing year.

I'm looking forward tomorrow to a new year, new books, and new experiences. But for today, a respectful nod back to 2010.

January:  Reaching The End
 

Scarborough, Maine. Photo by my husband, John

I've read through TOUCH BLUE's typeset pages three times now and found a handful of little things to change--like the fact I overuse italics for emphasis sometimes. There's something about seeing it in a new font that allows me to notice those things. I'm pleased with it, though. It's the best book I can write right now. I felt that way about RULES when it came out, and I feel that way about this one.

This week, the proofreader's tweaks will come. My editor will give me her suggested changes and I will give her mine.

And then I will let it go.


February: My First Book Signing for Hot Rod Hamster



I had my first booksigning for Hot Rod Hamster at Barnes and Noble in Newington, New Hampshire.  With a book signing, you never know how many people to expect, but I had more than 50 people come: high school friends, my husband's brother and sisters, author friends, librarians I've done events with, Natalee from LJ, and lots of people I don't know!

My cousin brought my aunt. My aunt has Alzheimers and she greeted me with, "Hello! Who are you?" I explained gently who I was and she was so pleased to meet me and hear that I'd written a book. Then she sat down, delighted to be surrounded by little children. 

As I finished setting up, Sue from Barnes and Noble said to me, "I have to warn you that today is character day, so Little Critter will be making a quick appearance at the beginning of your signing."

I have to admit my heart sank a bit. Not all little children like seeing people dressed as characters (and who knows how my aunt with Alzheimers would react to him?!). Some small children actually are frightened by people dressed in costumes. 

Sue introduced me and then she told everyone that Little Critter was there as a surprise. 

I held my breath. It was going well, but then a toddler took one of the Brio Trains off the train table and put it down Little Critter's overalls. :-)  And I noticed one of the little girls was tearing up, so I figured it had been long enough.

I raised my hand, "Goodbye, Little Critter! Goodbye!"

Everyone waved and off he went--with the train still in his pants! 


March: A New Day and A New Normal
I was packing for my trip to New York yesterday when I heard a furious banging sound. I went to investigate and found it was coming from our bathroom. My son was seizing on the floor, and his head was hitting the back of the door. So I called 9-1-1 for the first time in my life.  

Seizures are fairly common in children with autism, often coming on in adolescence. So it's something I always knew was possible and maybe, even likely. But knowing it intellectually and seeing it happen to your child on the bathroom floor in front of you are two really different things.    Everything is quiet and normal here this morning.   Except it isn't. 

April: It's Official!
  
 
This is my cover for Touch Blue. 


May: NESCBWI
 
I had a lovely time at the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustators conference.  I had the chance to chat with many writer, illustrator, and editor friends. I keynoted this conference last year, and it was sweet how many people came up to talk to me about that speech, even this year. 


Jo Knowles, me, Kate Messner at the  booksigning. 

I wanted Matt Phelan to sign a copy of THE STORM IN THE BARN, but we were all seated so tight against the wall. . . so I actually crawled out under the table so I could go have him sign it!!!  Matt also illustrated THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY, so we had met at the Newbery/Caldecott banquet. 

When I got back to the table with my signed book, I saw people with their cameras out and ready to capture me crawling under the table, so I didn't do it twice!  No need for THAT to be in NESCBWI photo archives! :-)


June ALA--Day Two

Every year at the American Library Association Conference, Scholastic hosts a brunch and author reading for 300+ librarians and book lovers.  I tried to take a few photos of my fellow authors reading, but for some reason, those photos all came out too dark. So all I can show you are the cupcakes!

  Cupcakes for brunch. That works for me!

Quite a few members of my 2007 Newbery Committee came to that brunch--which was an extra big treat.  I hadn't seen most of them since the Newbery/Caldecott banquet in 2007. "You changed my life," I said to one of them, and the tears welled right up.  Thank goodness that was after my reading!
Each author read for 2-3 minutes. We went in this order:

Lucy Christopher, Stolen
Cynthia Lord, Touch Blue
Erin Bow, Plain Kate
Blue Balliett, The Danger Box
Matthew Kirby, The Clockwork Three
Deborah Wiles, Countdown

Second is a good spot, because it's not first (!), and yet, you get it over with quickly! 

There was a laptop on the podium that was being used to show the book covers on a big screen.  Which was fine, except that laptop took up the entire podium, and I had nowhere to set my book down.  I coudn't lay it down on the keyboard for fear the book would push a button and I'd crash the whole slide show!  But my hands were a little shaky, and I didn't want to hold the book up and let everyone see that.  So in the end, I tilted the book against the bottom of the laptop. It worked, but I did panic for a couple beats. 

The reading went great, though. People laughed in all the right places and quite a few librarians came up to talk to me about Touch Blue when it was done. "This is the one I'm starting on the plane home," one librarian told me--which was so nice to hear.