Five Things on a Friday

1.  On my way home from Vermont, I took photos of the mountains in the rain and fog.  At first, I was disappointed that I didn't have sparkling clear weather for that pretty drive.

But this is the setting of my next book, and a book can't have the same weather every day.  So then I changed my mind and saw the rain as an opportunity to take photos I can later use to describe a different side to those mountains.  

And really, it was very beautiful--

.

in a hushed way.



2.  I'm off to the Peninsula School in Prospect Harbor this morning. I am speaking to the fourth grade about Rules and Touch Blue.  The librarian tells me they are very excited, which will be fun.  Prospect Harbor is a small, coastal town up above Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  It's gorgeous up there--though again, I will be seeing it in the rain! 

3.  And tomorrow is the Bangor Book Festival.  My program is in the late afternoon, but illustrators Chris Van Dusen and Scott Nash are having a "draw-off" competition with each other in the morning, which sounds like great fun!  So I want to arrive at the Bangor Public Library in time to see that.

4. I was shocked to learn that Happy Birthday, Hamster has been moved to Summer 2011 (probably May) and that there's a cover!  I haven't seen it yet, but I hope they send it to me soon!  I was ready to hear it was moving to Spring 2012, so to learn it's being released earlier than I thought was a big surprise!  I do worry about how much pressure that puts on illustrator Derek Anderson, though. 

5.  The Cybil Award nominations open TODAY and run through October 15th. Anyone can nominate one book in any category, as long as the book was published between October 16, 2009 and October 15, 2010.  Details and the nomination form are on the Cybils website.

I already have some exciting books to read in the Easy Reader/Young Chapter Book category!