Remembering Ellen

It's been just about a year since the world lost a truly lovely person and a very talented writer and illustrator–– and I lost a dear friend and mentor.

I met Ellen Weiss Goldstrom in 1999 when I started taking her illustration classes at the Marblehead Arts Association.  Our class met for several years, eventually moving to her dining room table, where we sat sipping coffee and nibbling whatever delicious muffins she decided to bake for us that day.  She came up with the most wonderful assignments that challenged us, made us grow, and stretched our imaginations.  When I look through my portfolio I realize that almost everything in it is from her class.  We were inspired by her, and she got results!

Almost everything I know about picture books I learned from Ellen.  A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, she was the illustrator of about twenty-four books, and she wrote several of them as well.  She collaborated with her mother, a teacher, on one of her classics,  My Teacher Sleeps in School.

Another favorite that is still in print is So Many Cats.  You can see that her style is pure and delightful.  (These books were done back in the days when illustrators had the tedious task of doing color separation.)

Ellen lost her long, courageous battle with breast cancer, but she left behind a wonderful legacy.  Her talent was incredible.  Her courage was an inspiration.  Her heart was huge. The last time I saw her, just a few days before she died, she was full of questions about me.  She was always interested and made you feel like you were the most important thing in the world to her at that moment.

I wish we could still sit at her dining room table and chat about art and children's books and life.

I miss you, Ellen...

Artists and Authors Night

I spent a wonderful evening a couple of weeks ago at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem-- one of my favorite places.  It's a venerable old hotel which exudes both warmth and elegance.

Lobby of the Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, MA.

The occasion was their second annual Artists and Authors Night, and my writers' group had a table there.  I was able to display Angus MacMouse Brings Down the House, and I sold quite a few copies.  Our North Shore Writers' Group also sold copies of our collected short stories, Ghost Writers, and A Reader's Potluck.  Ghost Writers has sold very well in Salem, for obvious reasons!

Alan and Susan selling our books. 

It was a great opportunity to meet many other local artists and writers.  There was wonderful live music and great food from the hotel's Tavern.

Like so many of Salem's literary and artistic endeavors, this one just gets better every year.

Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie

Kirkus Reviews calls SFGT a "capricious tale 

that will have young girls wishing for a silly grandma 

just like Tillie, especially if she can hang a spoon from her nose." 

Congratulations to Laurie Jacobs, fellow children's book author and a member of the wonderful new writers' group I have joined.  (Actually, the group is not new, but I am new to the group!)

There are several very gratifying moments along the road to the publication of a new book, but for the writer, none of them quite compares to the moment when you first hold that book in your hands!  You see the cover art for the first time, feel the binding, turn the pages.  It's absolutely thrilling!  After all your careful attention to every detail and every word, your book has finally arrived in the world.

I'm so happy for Laurie, and happy to say that I love this book.  I'm sure Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie will do very well because it has everything you want in a picture book.

The story is fun and delightful to read out loud, and the illustrations by Anne Jewett are colorful and exhuberant-- just like Grandma Tillie herself!  Little Chloe and Sophie are treated to an entertaining romp and a zany cast of characters when Grandma Tillie comes to babysit.  

Hang a spoon from your nose, dance the conga, and join the fun.  I highly recommend this delightful book.

Great job, Laurie!!!

Spotlight On My Favorite Local Book Shop

The wonderful book blog, She Is Too Fond Of Books, has recently posted my essay on The Book Shop in Beverly Farms.  It's a fabulous little shop and everyone there is very friendly and helpful.

It seems that even the big bookstores are struggling these days, so it is more important than ever that we do everything we can to support our local independent book shops. Small is beautiful!

I hope you will take a peek at my essay, and visit Dawn's blog often.  It is lots of fun, and loaded with great reviews and information-- even recipes!

The Book Shop in Beverly Farms

My 'Dumpling Day' Got Snowed On

Well, I tried.  I was totally prepared to walk around blustery Cambridge so I was wearing sensible layers of clothing, my down coat, my warm boots, my shearling mittens.  I had my ticket in my purse.

I brushed the snow off my car and off I went.  I was going to take the train down to Boston, then the Red Line to Cambridge, for Grace Lin's book launch party for her new book, Dumpling Days.  I'd been planning it for weeks.


I needed to make a couple of stops in town before driving to the train station, but...  I never made it to the train.  The roads were so slick that my car wasn't getting any traction and I was sliding around corners.  In mid-skid the "Service Engine" light went on, so I thought, "Uh-oh, that's not good."

I drove another couple of miles toward the train station and decided the wisest thing to do was to turn around and go home.  I was worried about my car, about sliding into a ditch–– and I was worried that some other car would crash into me.  Why are there always crazy people on the road who drive way too fast in a snow storm?

Well, life is full of little disappointments.  I'm very sorry I didn't make it yesterday to the book launch party, but maybe I'll still get a chance to attend one of her events in the future.  Hopefully, the next one will be in the summer!

PS:  You can visit Grace's blog to see all the fun (and the goodie bag!) that I missed.   :(

At least the snow is pretty.

A Little Late, But...

Happy day after Christmas!  I hope everyone had a joyous holiday.

I wanted to talk about one of my favorite Christmas books–– which I should have done before Christmas–– but I got a little behind in the wrapping, and the baking, and the mailing, and all the little details that needed to be done.

Anyway, if you love picture books, as I do, you can keep this one in mind for next year's 'wish list.'

The Mole Family's Christmas, by Russell Hoban and illustrated by Lillian Hoban, was given to my daughter when she was little, and I'm sorry to say that it's out of print.  (But, of course, you can still get it on Amazon.)  It is SO delightful.


The Washington Post said, "An endearing family of moles who spend their time tunneling in the dark and know nothing of Christmas discover that it is not just for people, but can also bring happiness to nearsighted little moles if they show ingenuity and courage."

The Mole family works hard tunneling under the ground every day.  But one night the Moles' son, Delver, digs his way to the surface where he meets two extremely helpful mice.  The lady mouse tells Delver about the stars.  She says, "It's almost like singing, you might say, the way they glimmer and shine, isn't it?"  But, of course, being very nearsighted, Delver can't see the stars.

The other mouse tells Delver about Christmas, and "the fat man in the red suit" who "comes puffing and wheezing down the chimney, puts knicknacks and candy in stockings, leaves all kinds of packages around, says 'Ho, ho, ho,' and goes huffing and puffing up the chimney again.  It's quite an odd thing really, but he does it only once a year, and nobody seems to mind."

So, Delver, a very clever little mole, figures out a way for the 'fat man in the red suit' to help the Mole family finally be able to see the stars.

Lillian Hoban's illustrations bring the characters to life with charm and a touch of humor.

I love this book, and if you love picture books, I hope you can find a copy to add to your collection.

Amazing Grace

I'm so excited!

It looks like I'll be celebrating Chinese New Year this January by going to Grace Lin's book launch for her new novel, Dumpling Days.

Usually, I hate January.  It's my least favorite month of the year.  (Isn't it everyone's?) The weather is terrible, the hours of daylight are short and dismal.  It's just such a long and dreary month.  But, this year I'm happy I have something to look forward to.

Grace Lin is quickly becoming my heroine.  She does it ALL and she does it all beautifully.  She is a fabulous illustrator, and a wonderful and prolific writer, she has an amazing blog, she makes lots of appearances, has won all sorts of awards–– plus, she's adorable.


I'd like to be able to do everything she does, but even if I could, I know I'd never have the energy!

Anyway, it will be wonderful to see her again and celebrate her new book.

Can't wait for January!

What Is It?

It's a book!  But what kind of a book?  Is it a children's book, or an adult book disguised as a children's book?  Is it a book with a message, or just something fun and funny?

Well, it's definitely a BOOK, and it's stirring up quite a bit of chatter.  It's called It's A Book, by Lane Smith, a well known author/ illustrator. Perhaps he's best known for illustrating The Stinky Cheeseman, which was also edgy and ground breaking when it first appeared about a decade ago.

It's A Book is a simple story with two characters, a monkey who is trying to read his book, and a donkey who keeps interrupting him with questions.  "Can it text?  Blog?  Scroll?  Wi-Fi?  Tweet?" he asks.  "No... it's a book," replies the monkey over and over again.

I just watched a short video on Amazon of Lane Smith talking about It's A Book, and I love the way his own story and illustrations still make him chuckle.  Apparently, he did not intend it to have a message, but my first reaction when I read it was, YAY!!!!  Here is a champion of good old-fashioned books–– books made of paper, with bindings, and glue, and real pages that you can turn and feel, and–– even better–– he's poking fun at all those modern reading gadgets with funny names.  Hurray for Lane Smith!   Rah!  Rah!

My second reaction was, 'uh-oh!'  This is a picture book, which normally means it's for children who can't read yet, so–– I can't imagine most young children getting the point.  Will they even know what blogging and texting and scrolling mean?

So...  is it a picture book for grown-ups?

Actually, I think it is a picture book for grown-ups to read and explain to children.  And I really hope they do.  I hope parents will start early to promote the reading and enjoyment of REAL books to their children.  It's A Book is a funny (and touching) story which happens to have a valuable message.

But, there is one more "uh-oh."  It's the use of the word "jackass." It's the punchline of the whole book, referring to the donkey, of course.  It's not technically a bad word, (and Lane addresses this issue in the interview on Amazon), but I'm sure there will be some parents who will automatically want to ban this book just because of that word.  It's too bad.

If you want to get an idea of what the hoopla is about, go to Amazon and look up It's A Book, watch the interview, and see what you think!

A Nice Review

I found a nice review for Angus MacMouse and thought I would share it.

I didn't want to start off MouseSqueaks with a lot of chatter about my own book.  I thought that might get boring pretty quickly, and it seemed rather uncouth as well.  Better to talk about writing and books in general.

But, since Angus is really the driving force (although a diminutive one!) behind MouseSqueaks, I really should mention him once in a while, right?

So, here is a link to the review, if you'd care to take a peek.

Thank you to "Curled Up With A Good Kid's Book," and especially the reviewer, Bob Walch.  I like that he mentions the opera connection, because that is such a huge part of the story.  Angus could not exist without opera!

Here is the link:

 http://curledupkids.com/angusmac.html

Sunday In Salem

My travels this past weekend took me to the Salem Literary Festival, which celebrates "the art, beauty, and business of writing."  The artistic community in Salem is thriving, so it was wonderful to see such a great turnout.

Salem's (silly) 'Bewitched' Statue

I could only go on Sunday, but I still got to hear local luminaries like Brunonia Barry, Katherine Howe, and Hank Phillippi Ryan.  Almost everyone was talking about the importance of blogging, so I was very happy that I am finally adding my humble little squeaks to the overall din.

The Phillips House

One of the venues, where I attended a workshop, was the Phillips House on Chestnut Street in the historic McIntire District.  This broad tree-lined avenue of huge Federal-style mansions must be one of the most beautiful streets in New England.

                                                    A relative, perhaps???

IndieBound: One Little Step At A Time

I'm slowly learning how to blog, and it's actually more fun than I thought it would be!

I crossed a major hurdle the other day when I figured out how to link my book to a site where prospective readers could buy a copy of Angus MacMouse Brings Down the House.  (I still have some tinkering to do, but I'm getting there.)

I have no problem with Amazon, or Barnes & Noble––  but I decided to go another direction and support the smaller, independent bookstores.  These local stores need and deserve our help to stay in business and serve our communities.  So, if you click on the image of my book, or go to the bottom of this page and click on the red logo, you will be taken magically to IndieBound.org.

IndieBound is a wonderful site that helps you find a local independent bookstore near you. I know of several on the North Shore that are absolutely wonderful.  Toad Hall in Rockport,  Spirit of '76 in Marblehead, The Book Shop in Beverly Farms, Manchester-By-The-Book in Manchester, and Banbury Cross in Hamilton, to name a few.  I'm sure you can find a shop in your neighborhood too.  The owners and staff members are always very friendly and more than happy to help.

The Fine Art of Waiting

If you're a writer, hoping to be published, and you're not a patient person–– you're in trouble!

As we all know, the publishing business moves at its own pace, which is only slightly faster than a glacier.

I finished my new story in mid-August and sent it off to New York.  YAY!  But the relief of sending it off didn't last very long.  Soon it was replaced by anxiously looking at the calendar several times a day.  ("Has it really been only a week?  It seems SO much longer!")

I'm sure I was spoiled by my first experience with Angus MacMouse.  Miraculously, it only took about five weeks before Bloomsbury made an offer.  I'm heading into week five now, so every day the nagging little voice in my head says, "What if no one likes it?"

They say the best thing to do is to get busy on your next story.  OK.  I sat at the computer today.  I checked e-mails.  I did some research.  I did a little re-writing, but I couldn't write anything new; the story just isn't flowing, and I'm getting frustrated with it.

It's time for 'Plan B.'  Actually, I'm rather fond of 'Plan B.'  I think today it's going to be ginger ice cream with chocolate sauce.  That should chase away the evils of waiting...

waiting...

waiting.

My prescription for impatience.