I spent the latter part of this week presenting with the Wisconsin State Reading Association, an organization that’s all about literacy. Their concerns: how parents and teachers teach kids to read, helping students strengthen their reading skills, and encouraging all of us to make our society well read. Literacy is a cause dear to my […]
Looking back at 2016, I can see that I had a lot to be thankful for. Most importantly, I have good health, a loving family, and dear friends, many of you among them. If we haven’t yet met in person, I hope to someday get the pleasure. This year saw the release of the second […]
What great fortune I had this week to join National Teen Read Week by being a part of a Young Adult Literature panel at the Oak Creek (WI) Public Library. We talked not only about YA trends but also about some of the tough topics that YA authors take on, such as teens’ body image […]
The Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival has enjoyed a great reputation as one of the premier book fests in the state. It’s free to the public, organized to the finest detail, and wildly entertaining for the kids who’ve gone since its 2010 start. New this year, the fest launched its TEEN book festival, and what a […]
The inaugural year of Sheboygan’s Teen Book Festival is good news, and so local media let viewers know that their favorite children’s fest now has a teen component. Here’s video of a segment about it on Green Bay WLUK Good Day Wisconsin. Enjoy! And here are some stills. Thanks to both WKUK-TV and Karin Menzer […]
Thought I’d share a couple of fun photos from GenCon 2016, the world’s largest gaming convention. I was there in August with my artist husband, whose art is part of the gaming, fantasy, and book world. There were plenty of readers there, and many of them are artists in their own right. I was honored […]
Barnes & Noble put on its first teen book festival this weekend, the largest national teen fest in the nation, and yours truly was truly honored to be a part of it. At Barnes & Noble Southland (Racine, WI), I got to talk with B&N’s great staff, area teens, and fellow authors. And at Barnes […]
Book 2 in the God Awful Series of Books is now out in the world! The launch party for God Awful Thief was May 4th at the fantastic Boswell Books in Milwaukee. The launch was a lot of fun and attended by the people who mean the absolute most to me – and even some […]
Wrastling’ up five midwestern chapters of the The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is huge — big enough that the gathering only happens every four years. And I’m proud to say that I got myself wrangled up in it this go-’round and gave a panel talk with three other cowhands. Okay, so the […]
Okay, we know kids are awesome. And presenting to kids is awesome. And hanging out with them to talk casually is even more awesome. Well, let me tell you, the young adults of Carmel (Indiana) High School are extra awesome. I just got back from their school’s Creative Writing Con, where I joined 20 other […]