Michele Jakubowski's Blog, page 2

Spending Some Time in Somerville

I have been fully immersed in writing my new mystery series, The Sleuths of Somerville. Book one is now with my editor and I'm working my way through book two. One of the things I love about working on a series is how well I get to know my characters from book to book. In the time between books, I miss them and am always happy to start writing again.

My family and I recently took a trip to NY and on the way home we saw this on the highway:

I took it as a sign to get back to writing.

Look Who I Bumped Into!

My family and I spent last weekend in New York so my son could play in a video game tournament. While he was gaming away,  my husband, daughter, and I took a train into New York City. We had a blast touring the city! On our way back to the train station we popped into the NY City Library and guess who I bumped into...Sidney & Sydney! 

Phoning It In

I had so much fun tonight Skyping with the Books 'N Popcorn group at the Roselle Public Library in Roselle, IL (just down the street from my hometown, Hoffman Estates!). It was so fun to hear what they thought of Third Grade Mix-Up and to answer their questions. They even gave me some fabulous suggestions for future Sidney & Sydney books!

If you'd like me to Skype in to your book club, let me know!

Mail Call

I know I've said this before but I truly mean it: receiving letters and emails from readers is one of my absolute favorite things! That's why I was so thrilled when a I found a fat manila envelope in my mailbox last week. It was full of letters from a K - 2 school I had visited in Illinois last month. I had just started working on revisions of book one in my new mystery series and was itching to take a break and be entertained. This batch of letters did not disappoint.

 Here are a few of my favorites:

Your books are realy fasanating and am propaly going to read them.

I hope you come to visit again. Hope you haveing a nice time at your house or were ever you visit.

Thank you for making us smarter and creative. It is great that you came from Ohieow to United States.

Your my second favorite author. 

Remember me? I was the one who hugged you first.

Thank you that you visted our school. I know you had to ride 4 hours in the car so thank you.

I have a question. Were did you meet the people in your sity? Do you have kids in your family? Do you have a husben?

It was an honor to meet you. I love Poppy because she has friends and I want to be a writer when I grow up because I can write books with you thank you for coming.

 How can you have a bad day when you receive a letter like this?

Happy Birthday Julia!

When  my friend, Amy, asked if she could buy a set of signed Sidney & Sydney books for her daughter to give to her class to celebrate her birthday I said, "Of course! But only if I can hand deliver them!"

I had so much fun celebrating Julia's birthday today with her entire class! Thanks for having me.

Is It Summer Yet?!

We had our biggest snow storm of the season in Ohio this past weekend. The snow is pretty, but now it is bitter cold out and I'm getting sick of winter - fast! The only good thing about it is I don't mind being inside and working on my new mystery series. I'm about 95% of the way through book one and am really happy with how it's going. I'm hoping to finish up and start revising in the next couple of weeks and get it sent off to my publisher by the end of next month. Then it's time to get started on book two in the series!

In the meantime, let's all think warm thoughts. 

My friend Sophi reading Beach Bummer on the beach. Lucky duck.

Prospective Perfectly Poppy Titles

I had such an amazing time on my trip to visit schools in Illinois and Wisconsin! While I was at the North Lake School in Wisconsin I was fortunate enough to receive a book full of prospective Perfectly Poppy titles from the 1st graders, complete with illustrations! They were all so wonderful, but I'm posting a few of my favorites below. Do you have a great idea for a future Perfectly Poppy book? If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that we are already two days into the new year and the kids will be heading back to school in a few days! Winter break has been fabulous! I poured LOTS of candles, ate too much food, visited with friends and family, watched my Buckeyes beat Alabama, and worked quite a bit on the new mystery series. I'm really pleased with how it is coming along.

The other night I was going through the story line for the first book as I was falling asleep. I kept thinking of ideas and knew that if I didn't write them down, I'd forget by morning. I was too lazy to get up so I typed them into the Notes app on my phone. They were a jumbled mess, but I was able to sort them out the next day. I've got all of book one worked out and have completed the first run through of five chapters. As you know, it's a mystery so I don't want to give much away but I will say this - book one will have TWO  mysteries in it!

Also, I received this in my email this morning and it made me smile. Less than one month 'til the next 4 Poppy books come out!

Happy Holidays!

I received this pic of an adorable reader named Sydney and thought it was the perfect way to wish you all Happy Holidays!

I Should Buy a Lottery Ticket

I am having such a great week! First of all I heard from two readers - and they were both named Sydney! I can't tell you how much I appreciate readers (and their parents) taking the time to reach out to me. I absolutely love it!

I also heard from my publisher's PR Manager. She told me about a terrific review Third Grade Mix-Up received from Booklist Online.  Here is part of it:

Jakubowski’s new Sidney and Sydney series starts strong here. It has the feel of real kids’ lives: playing video games, working on art projects, and having urban adventures. Just the right length for the audience, the story is accented by edgy, hilarious illustrations that features a cast of diverse characters. New fans will await the next book.

I feel so lucky - maybe I should buy a lottery ticket!