on my plate

Was I really in London just a week ago? This photo arrived yesterday from Alice Curry, publisher at Lantana Books. We met for coffee last Monday before I gave a “talk without tech” to some exchange students from Skidmore College. It was wonderful being interviewed by Raymi, who did a close reading of The Ghosts in the Castle. I don’t miss London as much, but do find I’m clearing my plate with a stronger sense of urgency. I don’t like multitasking but it’s an inevitable feature of our lives these days. I try to close tabs and empty my inbox as soon as possible, and it felt good last night to revise and send out my “Nice Is Not Enough” essay. Scratch that off the list! Today I got my flu shot. I ran some errands, got some steps in, and sent my designer final edits for THE PHANTOM UNICORN. I’ve been exchanging emails all morning with my uncle up in Canada; we’re collaborating on a picture book about how he learned to play hockey in the 1960s. I’m about to send my editor notes on the first round of interior illustrations for DRAGONS IN A BAG, and then I should be able to pick up where I left off with THE DRAGON THIEF. I woke up earlier this week thinking of a poem—a lament, an apology—for Thanksgiving. But I can’t work on that right now…every project’s got to get in line! Otherwise my plate will never be clear.

A WISH AFTER MIDNIGHT is on promotion for the month of November; the e-book is just 99 cents. If you think terrorism in NYC began on 9/11, you might want to think again. The horrific truck attack in lower Manhattan this week won’t stop New Yorkers from living their lives; we’re resilient and so were the New Yorkers who survived the Draft Riots of 1863. But many African Americans left after the riots, and that’s how I’m feeling right now—enough. We talked about Maritcha Lyons in my workshop at Weeksville last weekend and how she left, fought for access to education in Providence, RI, only to return to Brooklyn to serve the Black community as an educator and activist. There’s a connection between Weeksville and England, something I need to explore. I’ve got too many ideas in my head right now! Okay, time for another walk and then it’s back to work…