A little list of what’s been striking my fancy these days…

Morning Glory Muffins – I don’t know if it’s a weird pregnancy craving or what (and who knows, since I was eating chips and guacamole for breakfast just a few weeks ago), but I can’t get enough of these. They’re a little pricey from the bakery, so I’m hoping to find the wherewithal to make them myself soon. (Here is the original recipe, from the Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket.)

H.P. Lovecraft – the perfect way to ring in the Apocalyptic season. Forget Santa — all hail Cthulhu!

Slip-on Converse sneakers – in preparation for a time in the not-too-distant future when I can’t bend over to tie my shoes. Also handy while running in vain from apocalyptic destruction.

Making and baking holiday gifts – I have bought a few things here and there, but I try to focus on homemade stuff, when I have the energy. Cheaper + more thoughtful = win.

My latest picture book – Now with an official title! It’s called No Slurping, No Burping! A Tale of Table Manners, and will be out in early 2014 from Disney, and available for purchase next holiday season, Apocalypse notwithstanding. Hope to have some art to share with you soon; what I’ve seen so far looks amazing.

Mulling and planning – I’ve been feeling pretty good these days, pregnancy-wise, but I haven’t been particularly motivated to write anything (probably because most of my mental energy, creative or otherwise, has been, er, diverted). So I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about my current projects, figuring out character backstories and motivations and conflicts and researching certain details. It’s all part of the process. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.

What have you been into and up to lately?

I know. I KNOW. It’s been far, far too long for an update from me. But I can explain. I’ve been working on a very special, top secret, long-term project, and it’s been taking up just about all of my time and energy. While I’m still in the midst of it, I’m at a point where I can reveal a few details to you. Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Okay. Here goes…

I’m having a baby!

Yes, friends, this lady has a bun in the oven. (Above is the latest paparazzi shot of the little bugaloo; looks like it’s already developing a good-sized noggin, just like its mama.)

My husband and I continue to be equal parts shocked and overjoyed. How we found out is another story for another time, best appreciated over many drinks, preferably of the bubbly kind. We’ll have a lot to celebrate this spring, so you’d best get those bottles chilled and ready. Just put a big ole straw in mine, because I’m gonna be THIRSTY.

Due to my key role in this ongoing “project,” I may not be blogging with frequency over the coming months, but I’ll be sure to update you when I can. In the meantime, I (or should I say “we,” given the new addition to my body/brainspace) thank you for your patience during this latest chapter in my ever-crazy life story.

“I am big enough to admit that I am often inspired by myself.” — Lesley Knope

Okay, it’s officially fall…first honeycrisp apples of the season purchased today. You can try your best to convince me otherwise, but I am fairly certain that honeycrisp are the most delicious apples ever.

Also, I wore socks this morning when I went out to run errands. Um, YEAH, I wore more than just socks, people. That would be an interesting look, though. Especially amidst the hoity-toity customers in the produce section of Whole Foods.

But I digress. Let’s get back to fall. While I love summer, fall runs a very close second. I love the vibrant colors, the flavors (hello, pumpkin! what UP, cranberry? come sit by me, sage!), the smells of roasting turkey and burning wood, the sounds of crunching leaves and hissing radiators.

And I’ve had a lot of good things happen to me in the fall, so it’s a special season for me on an emotional level. It always signifies the excitement of back-to-school time, of new beginnings and sharpened pencils (and teachers who didn’t yet know what a handful I was) and all that. Also, my wedding anniversary is in September; last month, I was lucky enough to celebrate ten years of wedded bliss with my husband, which has made the season extra-festive. And there’s a relatively-new milestone for me now: the anniversary of my last day of chemo two years ago, October 4. That’s a big one.

Two years ago at this time, I couldn’t even get out of bed, let alone get outside and enjoy the fall weather. My shoulder and arm still had a long way to go with physical therapy, so I could barely lift the weight of a single apple, let alone a big ole bag of honeycrisps. And I didn’t have the appetite, let alone the digestive fortitude, to partake in much autumnal feasting.

Spring may be the official season of rebirth, but for me, it’s fall. Every time it rolls around, it makes me feel happy, and lucky. And hungry.

What does the fall mean to you? And more important, have you taken the leap and worn socks yet?

Photo: Moi enjoying a front-row seat (and a Green Monsta Ale) at McCoy Stadium this summer. Go Pawsox!

Happy Autumn, everyone!

So, what did you do this summer? I traveled (to Vermont, to Maine, to Nantucket, and to California), spent time with friends and family, and read TONS of books. I reviewed the amazing sketches for my upcoming picture book, and wrote a few new stories, which I’ve been sharing with my new, brilliant critique group. I ate my weight in seafood and ice cream. I made some headway on crocheting a mega-blanket (photos to come when I finally finish). I visited with my best friend and her extraordinarily-adorable baby. I discovered the wonder that is Li’l Bub.

The end of summer also marks the end of my social media sabbatical. Did I miss Facebook and Twitter and this ole blog? Well. Of course, I missed hearing what and how everyone is doing. But I also enjoyed the silence and the solitude, and I realized how much pressure I was putting on myself, to perpetuate my “online presence.” In a word, ugh.

So, now that I’m rejoining this virtual cocktail party, I’m wondering how I should proceed with the least annoyance to myself and others. Should I keep up this blogging thing, and if so, what kinds of stuff do people want to hear about? Should I only check my FB and Twitter accounts at a set time (or times) each day? Limit my posts to a certain number? Not allow myself to think about it until my daily writing is done? Put a lampshade on my head and dance on the nearest table while swigging from a bottle of bubbly, per my usual cocktail party behavior? Some trial and error is in order, methinks.

How do you all manage the balancing of your online and offline lives? What’s worked (or not worked) for you?

So…long time, no blog. But don’t take it personally; I’ve been ignoring pretty much all social media for a while now, as I’ve been

A. Traveling

B. Writing

C. Reading (my latest stash from the library pictured above)

D. Drinking my new favorite cocktail, Lillet and soda with a twist of orange

E. Feeling disgusted by how increasingly, shamefully terrible “Bunheads” and “The Newsroom” are

F. Reviewing sketches for an upcoming picture book

G. Celebrating the birth of my BFF’s baby

H. Crocheting a mammoth blanket

I. Taking Pearl to the vet (no worries; both she and the vet are fine now)

J. Painting my toenails bright yellow

K. Being healthy

L. Being hopeful

 

What haven’t I been doing?

A. Eating Chick-Fil-A

B. Reading Fifty Shades of Grey (though I have really enjoyed reading this and this and this)

C. Going anywhere without wearing sunscreen and/or a hat

D. Flossing (apologies to my dentist and teeth)

E. Stressing out

F. Staying up late

G. Waiting by the phone for Johnny Depp to call me

H. Using my oven when I can help it

I. Straying too far from the air conditioner

J. Going easy on the ice cream

K. Watching Sleepless in Seattle and crying over Nora Ephron (okay, maybe I have)

L. Being impatient

Hopefully, this gives you a little window into my life over the past couple of months. I’m still keeping my distance from the time- and ego-sucks that are Facebook and Twitter for the foreseeable future, as it’s done wonders for my productivity. And while I’d love to blog with more regularity, and will try to post every week as I did before, I can’t promise anything; my other writing comes first.

P.S. If you want to see me in person rather than make futile attempts to engage me via social media, I’ll be reading and signing my books at Kennedy Park in Providence on August 16 through Kidoinfo’s Art in the Park Program. Details here. Hope to see you; I’ll be the one wearing all the sunscreen (and likely, a hat).

The above is a photo of the peonies out in my yard, which seem just about ready to bloom. This pretty much sums up my life right now — everything seems to be on the verge, with nothing fully realized. It’s a bit maddening, to know that some good news (or at least, you know, any news) might be just around the corner. I’ve been distracting myself by doing all manner of things around the house, including, but not limited to, hours of backbreaking yard work, multiple loads of laundry, emptying and filling the dishwasher, whipping up huge batches of egg salad, baking cookies, and brewing homemade limoncello. And I’ve done a ton of reading, of course.

As for the writing, it’s been slow-going lately. I have a couple of projects in development, including a picture book coming out in 2013 (which is done at my end) and some final revision work I need to do on a novel. But as far as new ideas, I have several, and I’m not exactly sure which one I want to tackle next. So I thought I might leave it in your hands. I’m going to describe (very, very generally) the three stories in my summer queue, and I invite you to comment and let me know which one you think I should work on first. Here we go…

Project #1: Contemporary middle grade. The story of a friendship between two girls and how it fades and flourishes over the course of several years. The story is told in vignettes, or parts; each vignette represents a different year in their lives.

Project #2: Contemporary middle grade. While a girl and her family visit her estranged grandfather, she uncovers a mystery.

Project #3: Contemporary middle grade, though could be YA. A boy with amnesia and some unusual scars struggles to discover who he is and what has happened to his parents.

So? What do you think?

With this week’s rain and reflection, I’ve been feeling a lot like my cat Sugar looks above: curled in on myself.

I made a feeble attempt to express my feelings about Maurice Sendak’s passing earlier this week, but really, my words can’t express how much his words and images meant (and mean) to me. Every time I write with honesty, every time I write with respect for my audience, every time I write something that feels right and true and yet dark and dangerous, I hope I am in some small way honoring him.

My grandfather passed away two years ago this week, so this month in general is a little tough for me. He was many things to me and to everyone who knew him, but he was best known for his tremendous work ethic and his ingenuity. He was always ready to help others, and he was known as the guy who could fix anything. So when I broke the leg off of my favorite Darci doll while trying to bend her into a cheerleader split (a move I’ve never been able to do, so I can’t blame the doll for her failure), and came crying to my mother, she knew what to do.

“We’ll bring it to Papa,” she said. “He’ll know how to fix it.”

I hadn’t been without the doll for any extended period of time, so it was difficult to give her up when we dropped her off at my grandparents’ house. But I could tell by the way my grandfather examined Darci and her disarticulated limb that everything was going to be okay. Surely, Papa would know how to fix it.

A week went by before he called to tell us the doll was ready. To say I had been counting the hours would not be an understatement. And when we arrived at my grandparents’ house, and the doll was presented to me, she was fixed, as promised. Unfortunately, she was a little too fixed. After much deliberation, my grandfather’s solution was to drill a hole straight through Darci’s pelvis, insert a screw, and tighten a bolt at one end. This reattached the limb, but rendered the doll completely immobile from the waist down.

I thanked my grandfather, and reserved my objections for the car ride home. But of course, to my mother, I had nothing to complain about. My doll was fixed, wasn’t it? It had only one attached leg when I dropped it off, and now it had two. Like many other times in my life, then and now, I had to be happy with the hand (or in this case, leg) I’d been dealt.

When Darci and I got home, it was clear her (and my) challenges were far from over. I tore several of her glamorous outfits until I realized not much would fit over her bolted pelvis. I couldn’t pose her as I had before, or even really walk her around, so her interactions with my other dolls and my friends’ dolls involved hopping, and eventually, a lot of sitting. A few months later, my mother caved and bought me a new Darci doll, so the old one became Janet, Darci’s beautiful, though tragically paraplegic, identical twin sister. As you might imagine, Janet added a LOT of drama to the stories I concocted at playtime. I suppose I can be thankful to my grandfather for that, too, among so many other things.

I was planning on writing about my grandfather today, who passed away two years ago yesterday. Then came the news of Maurice Sendak’s passing. I feel as if another grandfather has left me — and left us all.

This past weekend, I attended the Hudson Children’s Book Festival, which was an incredible event, well-organized and well-attended. Afterwards, my husband and I scoured the town of Hudson for antiques (and later, for me, some gourmet ice cream). We ended up finding the clock, pictured above. We’d been looking for just the right clock to for our dining room, something that reflected the style of our bungalow but wasn’t too stuffy or elegant. We found it in this clock, which hangs on our wall now. It refuses to keep the correct time, and keeps bonging at all the wrong hours, so I guess we have to fiddle with it. But none of that bothers me. I just like seeing it there and hearing its tick-tocking, and its irreverent, unexpected pronouncements.

I suppose that’s how I felt (and feel) about Maurice Sendak. He was the elder statesman of our industry, yet he remained its cheeky rebel, and his books marked time for all of our childhoods. Now that he’s gone, something will always be missing. We’ll no longer be comforted by the curmudgeonly surprise of him. Though we still have his amazing legacy of stories, the man behind them is no longer here to tell us what time it is.

I’m feeling reflective today, and off-kilter, and a little bit “down in the dumps,” as a wise man once said. But as my new-old clock bongs insistently at 10:42am, I know it’s probably just the way Mr. Sendak would like it.

I swear, the biggest pain of posting a new blog entry is finding (or often creating) an image to complement it. It just doesn’t feel right to see text without a visual. Or is it just me? (I ended up taking a photo of my glass bird collection. They seem about as thrilled with this cold, rainy day as I am.)

Despite this crapola weather, I’m feeling overwhelmed with anticipation. My best friend is about to have her first baby any day now. My grandmother is coming home from Florida in just a couple of weeks. And I have a big project out on submission.

So, how am I occupying myself during this anxious time? Unfortunately, I can’t do much writing, as I’m too excited to think straight. But I have been doing a LOT of reading, and I’ve had a lot of other things going on to distract me.

This weekend, I’ll be appearing at the Hudson Children’s Book Festival, where I’ll be signing my books from 10am – 4pm, and reading from Mr. Prickles and other stories at noon. Also, I’m helping to organize an event for REAL (Reading Aloud) in Rhode Island on June 1st at the Providence Children’s Museum, where TEN children’s book authors and illustrators will read, sell, and sign their books. (Details of these appearances here.) And I just joined a new writing group, which will meet at the end of this month — hopefully I’ll have written enough to share by that point!

What do you do to distract yourself while you’re playing the waiting game?