I Can Touch the Sky

What kid on a swing hasn't imagined flying off into the air? I certainly did many times when I was young.

In Karen Wiesner's book, I Can Touch the Sky, a child does exactly that, and goes up into the sky to have adventures.

What fun!

This book will be a great bedtime story to be read to children before they go to sleep and dream about flying into the sky themselves.

And they'll remember it every time they go up in a swing.

Nina Marie Rothfus did a great job showing Weisner's words in the illustrations.

I'm sure lots of kids will love this book.

The Moon Shines Down

I meant to publish this several days ago, but accidentally sent it to the wrong blog, so here it is. "The Moon Shines Down" is a brand new picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown, who has been dead for a long time. Yes, that is possible. The original manuscript, written years ago by the famous author, was recently found, but it wasn't long enough for a book so someone else added to it. The theme of unity between people all over the world is a great one, and the illustrations are cute and cheerful, though, of course, they're different from those in Wise's well-known book, "Good Night Moon." The meter and rhyme scheme are off in several places and, as a former English major, I find that very irritating, but it probably won't bother 'normal' people very much. The page mentioning a Christmas celebration makes the book an especially appropriate gift for this season.

New and Different

First I must apologize for not posting much recently. I've been overwhelmed with other things, but promise to do better from now on. One of those things is signing a contract for a picture book. My work has been published in periodicals for years, but this is my first book, and in today's world authors are responsible to do a lot of the marketing and publicity. The amount of information about how to do that is amazing. It's about what you'd expect from a whole semester class in college. 

Although blogging is one marketing tool mentioned in the material, I won't turn this blog into just a way to advertise my book. There will still be posts about compassionate communication and I'll probably review other people's books from time to time, but I'll also share information about how I became a writer and the steps it takes to get a book published and made available to people who would want to buy it. I hope you'll come back and join me on the journey.