Just when you think it will never happen...

Safe to mail?

It does! Like what my husband says his parents said when he was a kid (follow that?) - when he was waiting for the pizza to come and he didn't think he could take it one. more. second... That's when the server showed up with the steaming ooey-gooey pan of cheesy deliciousness.

In my experience, the pizza shows when I go to the bathroom. So I always miss the first slice, but whatever, it still comes!

To find out what, check here!

I've done it again!

Remember that tantalizing bit of good news? It's now official! Another picture book, this one picked up by lovely wonderful amazing Jill Davis (Auntie Jill to Maggie and Penny) at Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins. The announcement went out today. Hip-hip-hooray! Check out who will do the illustrations here!

Very Special Mail Day

Long gone are the days of paper submissions and eager trips to the mailbox. It's electronic everything: Google docs, Dropbox. Except a few things require the good ole mail. Like advance checks!

Yes, the second half has arrived, which means ... Find out here!

MacBooks are so awesome, even babies can use them.

something exciting!

I can't say or I'll jinx it! But oh, what a happy day it is! Good Friday indeed!

To find out about the picture, check my website.

Mama pig goes weeweewee all the way...

to the bank! Penny calls me Mama Pig, quite the honor because Peppa Pig is her all-time-favorite YouTube hero. Well, along with that lady who plays with PlayDoh and the one who bathes baby dolls and the one who opens weird little easter eggs with toys inside (a million views? Wha?). So why am I so excited about going to the bank?

To find out, hop over to the latest post at N&N!

and so the story begins

Here I am signing my first for-real-not-kidding coming in 2017 publishing contract! The road to this point has been ... I want to say, "Oh, I always knew this day would come!" But that statement is so incredibly far from the truth. In many ways the path to this moment has been long, grueling, painful. More than a decade, hundreds of rejection letters (all of which I've kept including a bizarre one that said something about the success of Sponge Bob depending on a lack of irony), an MFA. The journey has not been what I expected. At all ...

For more check out my website.

it's official!

The Publisher's Weekly announcement came out today for Halloween Goodnight (to be illustrated by amazing Norwegian artist, Ella Okstad). Now this is how I like to ring in a new year! It feels more real, less "oh-my-word-what-if-I-dreamed-it-all?" unbelievable. In fact, at first it felt so unbelievable, I didn't make any announcements until now. Despite receiving the offer on Halloween - of last year!

Run over to my website to check it out!

Oh yeah, I'm a Hip Mama!

What's the best thing about being a writer? The fame? The fortune? Ok, yes, those are wonderful (ahem). But one of the unsung pleasures is The Mail.

I'm not talking fan mail. Though we all love fan mail (Hint Hint!). Rather, I'm thinking of the surprising things that show up, like royalty checks or issues of Hip Mama with, would you believe it, one of your very own poems published in it! Double fun when you've forgotten All About the upcoming publication.

Oh, Yeah. I'm hip.

Saturday Morning Surprise!

No, I don't mean the baby. I found an email in my in-box, a reply to a submission from a few months ago. My brain being what it is these days (made of marshmallows), I had no idea what I'd sent where - a reason to keep good submission records - so I braced myself for a "Thanks but No Thanks."

What did I find but, "I am pleased to accept 'Wood' for publication in Volume 3, Issue #1 of The Medulla Review, due out on November 1, 2011."

A bit about The Medulla Review from their website:

The Medulla Review is a literary journal that caters to experimental and surreal writing, a place in the hindbrain where breathing, swallowing, and circulation are done through words, a venue for those who believe in creating reality. We want to hear your voices. What jars you? What makes you dance on the staircase of your mind? It's about the core of things, getting down to the essence: that soft center of being and experience where you are free.

Oooh, it sends shivers up my spine! As have a number of the poems and stories they've published like LL Bledsoe's "The Babies." When I found The Medulla Review I ended up losing much of a week just reading the back issues online. Delicious, and a number of Pushcart Prize nominees among their authors as well. What a privilege to see my little byline beside the rest of their superb contributors!

Since "Wood" is a story for adults, the byline will go to an alter ego. I think. Maybe. I'm still doing some soul-searching on whether I want to invent another author identity or stick with the less-than-sexy Rebecca Grabill. Hmmm. All advice on this tricky topic welcome.