I had no idea that Duke would launch a series. It turns out if you put a dog in a book, kids will gobble it up, even [supposedly hard to sell] historical fiction! In a few short days, Code Word Courage (Scholastic), the fourth and final… Read more »
In 2011, one of the books I am proudest of writing, The Friendship Doll, was published (Delacorte). I wish I could say the readers of kidlit loved it as much as I did, but that would be fake news. Still, I felt honored to tell a story inspired by something sweet and rare: blind faith…. Read more »
Today’s friend is *ahem* me. Since I had a new book launch on January 31, I thought it would be okay if I used this slot to tell you a bit about it. I hope you are already familiar with the first book in the Audacity Jones series: Audacity Jones to the Rescue (Scholastic). This book… Read more »
(For most of this month, I have been celebrating readers, rather than writers. Enjoy this little diversion and then stop back on December 30 for an inspirational post from the amazing Nikki Grimes!) From the get-go, my kids loved books (be still my heart!). Though they grew up a little before the cyber explosion and… Read more »
Today is the book birthday for Liberty — hooray! Writing Liberty was like wrassling alligators in a vat of gumbo. My creative process is always messy but it was downright discouraging as I struggled to reel in the heart of this story. It wasn’t until I gave a young German POW his own space on the page that the… Read more »
My newest book, Liberty (it publishes in a few short days, on October 11), is set in New Orleans during WWII. I adore this city, which has the kindest citizens in the world. But in the 1940s, New Orleans shared similarities with other southern cities. My main character, Fish Elliott, has a pesky neighbor named… Read more »
I may look sweet and innocent but I have an evil plan: I want to turn kids into ravenous readers of historical fiction. And, serendipitously, I’ve discovered one way to be successful in this scheme. Write about dogs! On October 11, the third book in the World War Two Dogs series (Scholastic) will be published. Liberty… Read more »
Today is the book birthday of Audacity Jones to the Rescue. I’ve never had so much fun writing a book. I hope you have as much fun reading it! Do let me know what you think.
You know I adore Winston the Wonder Dog (who, by the way is 99% back to normal after being laid low by a tick bite). But sometimes I just have to chuckle at his behavior. This morning we were walking on the spit (officially the Millennium Trail) with Winston’s white tail waving like a flag, announcing… Read more »
Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but I’ve been quiet this summer. Hard to blog when a son gets married, parents celebrate a 62nd wedding anniversary, a granddaughter turns three, book deadlines loom and there’s yucky stuff to manage on top of all that good. But then again, nearly every summer, I’ve gone quiet here, taking time off to ponder… Read more »