28 Days

Wow, participating in the special celebration that is 28 Days Later has been such a wonderful honour for me. I am floored by how much I learn from the campaign every year, and it breaks my heart too — I should be hearing about these amazing authors and illustrators more often! DAILY INSPIRATION: My debut [ Read the full article… ]

Day 29 is like being atop a mountain and looking out on the lay of the land, which are 28 great spotlights and knowing that readers and those who influence readers have the work of 28 more creative authors to consume. Pride and satisfaction are understatements to describe how that makes me feel. But, making [ Read the full article… ]

The Journey I still remember the book that called me to write for children — Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet. Looking at that sweet cover of a smiling girl with the same kind of pigtails I used to wear moved me. I was an adult and that was my first time seeing [ Read the full article… ]

WOW! I finished my first stint as a 28 Days Later blogger. After researching and emailing back and forth with five authors, I feel like I made lifelong friends.  Just reading about their accomplishments made me scurry back to my office and hit the laptop keys. 2011 was a great year for me. I had [ Read the full article… ]

THE JOURNEY I’m an achievement-oriented person, always have been. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that my journey to publishing Around Our Way on Neighbors’ Day didn’t really start out as a dream. It was a goal from day one. Yes, I made the rookie mistake of banging out a picture book story [ Read the full article… ]

I’ve been drawing since I was old enough to grasp a pencil. I’ve been illustrating children’s books and educational products for 27 years. But I’ve been writing for  just a few years. Writing always scared me. To me a writer possessed a 4-year college degree. Writers attended journalism schools. Had law degrees. A writer committed [ Read the full article… ]

The New Journey When my debut novel, How Lamar’s Bad Prank Won A Bubba-Sized Trophy came out in February of 2011, I thought that was the biggest moment of my life in the world of publishing.  I now had a book that would hit the shelves of many bookstores and libraries around the world. But [ Read the full article… ]

If you are at all familiar with the picture book genre, you’ve likely heard of Uncle Jed’s Barbershop, the much heralded, 1994 Coretta Scott King Honor Book. Margaree King Mitchell is the author of that still-popular title, as well as Granddaddy’s Gift (1996). Her latest book, When Grandmama Sings, was released last month to wonderful [ Read the full article… ]