Like a plane coming in for a landing, I am settling back in to work and writing after the excitement of the holidays and a January trip to Ireland. Thanks to local arts funding, I will be teaching a new version of my creative writing class in the women's unit of the...
News
I Went to Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference and Good Things Happened
A little over a month ago, I attended the Rutgers University One-on-One Plus conference, hosted by the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL). It was a game-changer for me! Here’s why. I used the October conference as a deadline. I was...
Back to the homeland: NYC
I'm still buzzing from a dynamic weekend in NYC. I saw family, covered a lot of ground (Bronx to the Battery!), and attended the Rutgers One-on-One Conference. The Rutgers One-on-One conference is a different kind of conference: it feels very focused, very...
What a children’s writer learned from a fierce diva’s cabaret act
Billy Porter was just in Provincetown for a three-night nightclub engagement. You know, the Billy Porter who won a Tony for the role of Lola in Broadway's hit "Kinky Boots." He sang with supreme confidence in a skirt, a killer hat and some kick-ass ankle boots. He...
Writing Retreat!
Time to unplug and retreat from the hubbub of life for a few days. I am packing the laptop, notebooks and other fun stuff and heading north, for a six-day retreat with writer friends in a house in Vermont. These early days of summer seem like a good time to make...
Poetry Love in the South Bronx
I recently received a bundle of letters from the kids at St. Luke's School in the South Bronx. I delivered a poetry presentation there in the spring, using Jacqueline Woodson's BROWN GIRL DREAMING and Kwame Alexander's THE CROSSOVER as mentor texts. St. Luke's is...
NESCBWI Conference– was that a dream?
It's taken me a while to come down from the clouds after the NESCBWI Conference in Springfield a little over a week ago. The theme of diversity, "Think Outside the Crayon Box," was delivered in multi-layered and invigorating ways all weekend long. Being on the faculty...
Writing as Service
A friend of mine recently used the term “writing as service.” Bells starting chiming in my brain. Writing can be seen as many things: a creative outlet, a hobby or job, a business and source of income, a way of connecting to others. But the concept of writing as a way...
Making the Invisible Visible
Like most writers, I crave quiet time to get lost in my latest project and just let the words flow. Yet it’s my time in the world, especially my teaching time, that feeds my spirit and sense of connection. I teach creative writing in the women’s unit at the Barnstable...