Candy Experiments Book

Publication time is coming up, and I'm very excited.  I'll get Seattle signings on the calendar after the holidays, and I've got a book tour planned for Utah in mid-February (King's English in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Feb 16--see you there!

What a reviewer's hands look like after taking notes in the dark

ParentMap recently invited me to review a few productions for them. Free tickets, great seats, great shows--what a treat! But there are a few job hazards, like this one:
That's what you look like after taking notes in the dark!

Follow these links to see my reviews of Nanda and Wicked.

Getting back to work!

After major laptop trouble this summer (one broke, one logged me out permanently and then had to be returned to my husband's work, and one won't hardly get online), and after trying to maximize time in the sun (fully sunscreened, KT!) with my kids, I'm back in business. On the candy experiments front, I've seen the cover material for my book, and should be receiving an advance copy in October. I'll actually be able to flip pages! The publication date of next January is sounding closer and closer! My newest project is collaborating on a book about road trips, because if you know our family, you know we drive! And since I'd already been gathering ideas for a ParentMap article on spur-of-the-moment road trips, I figured an actual book wouldn't be too much harder. (Famous last words!)

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Ah, the glamorous life of a writer! Not only did I get a personal guided tour of the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit, I got paid (a little) to do it! My article on Chihuly Garden and Glass just appeared on the ParentMap blog. We took quite a lot of photos even though the museum has a press kit with stock photographs available. The magazine ended up using our photos, including a very nice one with my son silhouetted against a Chihuly glass tower. Photography always helps!

Organize and Save!

This article took way longer to finish than it did to get accepted. I was kicking around the idea for months, keeping it at the bottom of my priority list, but when I finally turned it in the editor got back to me within days. That's one reason I like to write articles--the good news comes far more frequently than with book projects. See ways that organizing can save you money at the Dollar Stretcher online.

ParentMap article on fairness in babies

This was the first article I've written by request--I must have sent so many queries to ParentMap that they decided I had time on my hands and asked me to write an article about recent research on babies' sense of fairness. Interesting material, especially the point that children might have a sense of fairness in portion size for other people even if they aren't yet ready to share their own things fairly. Read "Do Babies Really Show a Sense of Fairness?" at Parentmap.com.

The Cover

I've seen the cover for the Candy Experiments book, and it's awesome! So colorful, with so much candy floating around the page, I'm sure people will be grabbing it up just to see what it's all about. I love working with a publisher that has people who can design stuff like this--if the cover were up to me I would have no idea what to put on it.

HIghlights postcard

I love working with good editors--when I submitted my most recent article to Highlights, it wasn't very long before I got a postcard written by the editor, who said it was a nice article and she'd show it to the others. So although I'm still waiting for official news (and might wait for awhile), it's with a glow of satisfaction.

Article sent in!

This month I've had the opportunity to research and write about fairness in babies for ParentMap magazine, and really appreciate the experts who took the time to correspond with me, as well as the parents who described their young children to me. If you have young children, watch them for signs of generosity, and see if they notice when things are fair. The article will be published soon in ParentMap.

Good News

I love it when it takes longer to write the article than it does to hear back about it. After getting distracted by holidays and holiday follow-up, it took me a few months to finish up my great idea about organizing and saving money, but after submitting it this week I've already heard back that the editor likes it. Sure faster than trying to get a book published!

Great writing day!

Not only did I finally get around to sending all those queries I've been thinking of for months, I just got the Candy Experiments layout from my editor. Lots of candy, lots of color, and the photos look great, it's going to look terrific!

Jury Duty bonus

Spending all Monday morning trapped in a jury duty waiting room turned out to be an excellent motivation to work on my writing. I spent hours fine-tuning a children's article I started months ago, and got it ready to send out to reviewers. I wasn't the only writer at work, either. Author Charles B. Kastner was there proofing his manuscript for the sequel to his book about a 1928 cross-country footrace, Bunion Derby. Looks like a fun read!