I had the pleasure of being with Diana Noble at a conference recently. We hit it right off and she didn’t mind my asking a favor at our very first meeting; she graciously agreed to participate in Friend Friday! Evangelina Takes Flight (Arte Publico Press), is her first novel and not only does it tell… Read more »
Even though I’d hardly known Diana Lopez for five minutes, when I asked her to be a Friend Friday guest, she immediately said yes! It was at a Scholastic event with lots of conversation and other authors; we sort of had to shout across the table to one another to be heard. But I was… Read more »
When I count my blessings, I count among them wonderful creators for kidlit who — no matter how famous and busy and award-winning– graciously agree to be one of my Friday Friends. Such is today’s case with special, special guest (I’m nearly fainting here) Nikki Grimes. As in recipient of the 2017 Children’s Literature Legacy… Read more »
I met Barb Kerley through my writing partner, Mary Nethery. The two of them were in a critique group together and when I had the opportunity to attend the Humboldt County Author Festival for the first time years ago, Mary was eager for Barb and I to meet. I cherish our friendship, and admire her… Read more »
I met the incredibly energetic Beth Bacon through the Vermont MFA program, even though she and I are practically neighbors here in the northwest. Beth gave a reading from a heart-stopping short story she’d written, one I will truly never forget, and we’ve stayed in touch. (She even recruited me to be one of the… Read more »
I never tire of hearing stories of book creators’ road to publication. Amy O’Quinn has a great one to tell about her experience, one which began by asking a simple question of an editor. What I especially loved about what she’s shared with us today is that the same engine of curiosity about a particular… Read more »
I don’t know how it is that Heather Bouwman chooses to be friends with a slacker like me– in addition to her writing, she’s a college professor, homeschooling mom AND she studies a Korean martial art called Kuk Sool Won, that she’s been practicing for 20 years. Heather may also have one of the best… Read more »
I discovered romance in a nursing home. The Warner Home, the facility was called. I was fifteen years old, and every Saturday and Sunday, from 7:30 to 3:00, I worked there. At breakfast and lunch, I waited tables, serving the wealthy residents (all women) on their left-hand sides and clearing the dishes from their… Read more »
My darling friend and Butterfly Sister Augusta Scattergood (Making Friends with Billy Wong) suggested I ask her friend Rob Sanders to be part of Friend Friday. Of course I said yes! The whole purpose of this feature is to shine the spotlight on as many new books and their creators as possible (that’s a not-too-subtle… Read more »
Today’s Friend Friday guest, Frances Wood, and I bonded over birds. I am an amateur (VERY!) birdwatcher and, after meeting one another at the now-defunct Whidbey Island Writers Conference, Frances gifted me with a copy of her beautiful Brushed By Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West. It turns out that we not only… Read more »