Jama rocks!

My new book couldn't have a better birthday party than this from the amazing Jama Rattigan.

She made soup in a Yoohoo carton!

And cookies for Ruby and Boo.

And gave me some goldfish crackers on a paperplate with my name (which anyone who has read the book will understand)

Thanks so much, Jama!

For teachers

For any teachers or librarians using How to Steal a Dog in the classroom/library, this is terrific.

Uh oh

So...I'm writing away...scribble, scribble, scribble...

Suddenly realize it's very quiet.

Where is Ruby?

Uh oh....

Ole Eagle Eyes

Thanks to the Eagle Eyes of Geek Girl, Extraordinaire (that would be Sarah Miller):

Can YOU spot my book in these pics?

(Sorry. You don't win a prize or anything. But I'll be impressed.)

National Gallery of Writing

Just spreading the word about the National Gallery of Writing sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English.

I love kids!

Excerpt from a recent letter from a fan:

Hello, my name is ___ and I am 10 years old. I'm not so tall, or short, I'm just a regular boy..... Anyways I have a few questions to ask you.

1. When and where were you born?

2. Have you ever tried to steal something like Georgina?

3. Do you have kids?

4. Is Georgina spelled correctly?

Friends at last

Sigh...

You know summer's over when the firewood arrives.

Why I love the UPS guy

I've been cursed

Newbery-Honor author Kirby Larson wrote the most lovely review of The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis.

She is a brilliant writer.

I LOVE that line "a Pied Piper of a child."

Perfection.

Thanks, Kirby! (I've never been cursed so nicely before.)

Bring on the Goldfish crackers

My shirt is saying it all today.

Eeeeyew

So, Ruby found this long icky dead thing on the beach.

I think it was a sand shark.

I had to chase her all over the beach to get it away from her.

I literally had to pry her mouth open to get the dang thing.

Eeeyew.

Growing up

Look how big Ruby is getting!

Down in the dumps

It was bound to happen sooner or later....

....one of my books at the book exchange at the local dump. But, hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing, right? I mean, they didn't throw it away....just recycled it for some other lucky kid.

It was a copy of Moonpie and Ivy.

I had inscribed it:

To Melissa - Who may not like Moonpies - but might! 2003

Kind of a strange inscription, huh?

Beer in the rear

I realized summer was slip sliding away and we hadn't cooked a beer-in-the-rear chicken yet.

So, that's what we did.

I pour off half the beer and then add barbecue sauce to the can. (Note from experience: a Heinekin can does not fit into this contraption.)

Waiting patiently.
Ah, the last sweet evenings of summer...

Done! Perfection!

But, um, be sure and remember to take the meat thermometer out of the pan before you cook the chicken. Heh...