Michelle Houts's Blog, page 4

I’m Leavin’ on a Jet Plane….

Ha! If you follow this blog,  I’ll bet you thought I already left on jet plane! You know, sometimes authors have to really work at the social part of their job. I do. I do everything I’m supposed to. Mostly. I keep the web calendar up-to-date (I’m good through July, at least!) I try to […]

Girl Power – What is it?

I was born in the 60s, went to elementary school in the 70s, was a teen in the 80s, and a young mom in the 90s. I’m not sure there is another generation that has witnessed the changing roles of women quite like mine. Raised in a two-parent home with a stay-at-home mother, I remember both of my parents laughing […]

I’m Totally Mixed-Up!

Happy New Year! I’ve seen a lot of great posts online this week about thinking positive, being “in the moment,” and making the most of 2015. Neil Gaiman wants us to make mistakes. He hopes we make glorious, amazing mistakes. This song by J.J. Heller and her husband made me smile. In the first few lines, […]

A November Afternoon at the Mazza Museum

A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Jen Corace spends a lot of time in thought. She likes to stare and think and think and stare and that kind of thought and vision really show in her work. She and her brother thought (and maybe stared at one another?) long enough to create a […]

A November Mazza Morning

“The best work that I do is when I’m having fun.” ~ Divya Srinivasan Divya’s winding path to picture book illustration took many turns, including comic strip art, animation, music videos, album covers, theatre posters, textbook art, computer apps and magazine illustration. Her work for a greeting card company further solidified her desire to draw […]

The Mazza Medallion of Excellence for Artistic Diversity

Outside, the night is cold and Ohioans are still adjusting to the early hour at which darkness comes, thanks to last weekend’s time change. Winter coats are out of closets. I wonder where my gloves could be. But, inside? Inside the Mazza Museum in Findlay, Ohio the night is not cold or dark at all. […]

In Search of Home for a Gnome

In 2011, I was deep into my nisse research as I worked on WINTERFROST. I wrote the following after a family hiking trip in Ohio’s Hocking Hills. Since fall is a wonderful time for a walk in the woods, and since – depending upon how the falling leaves have fallen – it may or may […]

Winter(frost) is Here!

    Today is a book’s birthday.  The birth of book day. The day in which the world gets to meet the book I’ve nurtured for what feels like an eternity. A book’s gestation is longer than any living being’s. A book can spend years and years en utero. And then, on a date predetermined […]

My Teacher Once Told Me…

This is the last in a series of blog posts from the Mazza Museum’s Summer Conference. We’ve had a lot of repeated themes this week.  Inspiration. Heart. Perseverance. Emotion. Change. Joy. And laughter. Oh, yes. There’s been a lot of laughter. And few tears. Because that’s what happens when passionate people come together with open minds […]

I’m Sensing a Theme Here

So, here’s how it went down today at Mazza’s Summer Conference: Aaron Reynolds got up to speak. I had my notebook. I had my pen. At the top of the page, I wrote the date, then “Aaron Reynolds.” Then, “Chicago.” (It’s where he lives.) Then …. Aaron Reynolds talked  performed captured my attention for an […]