For the past couple weeks, I’ve been employing muscles in new ways while occasionally riding a bike to or from work, dismayed that having been a runner for years has apparently done nothing for my bike-riding muscles. (Conversely, biking does seem to fatigue my running muscles, which seems altogether unfair.) And then, because I’ve been […]Read more "And Now I Will Thankfully Hop in My Car"

I’m a bit torn about whether to write any more about the infamous Cox Gurdon WSJ piece, but there is a strain in her argument that offends me (and I think should offend and trouble many authors and fellow editors), and I don’t see enough rebuttal amidst the #yasaves. In the original piece, she wrote: […]Read more "The audience is not an abstraction."

Who doesn’t like hot and hunky vampires? Starting today a preview of My Boyfriend Bites will be serialized on the My Boyfriend is a Monster website. New pages will be uploaded on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Take a look at this fun and quirky take on current monster craze. A preview of I Love Him […]Read more "A First Taste of My Boyfriend Bites"

With summer truly upon us, and a new fashion series soon to launch in the TFCB imprint, I’ve been thinking a lot about…eyewear. The New York Times had a small piece in last Thursday’s Style section about the Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses that Audrey Hepburn wore in the 1961 film version of Truman Capote’s novella Breakfast […]Read more "It’s All about the Eyewear"

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the novelty of being able to simply add a page at will to a vaguely described “new digital offering.” I’m very excited that I can now share a little more. Last fall, we published the book Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures by Rebecca L. Johnson. […]Read more "An App Is Born"

Earlier this week, I found myself remembering the events from more than 60 years ago in northern France. I refer to, of course, D-Day. What springs to my mind is a long-ago coach (read: bus) adventure with a chum while I was living in England. Judy had received two free ferry and coach tickets to […]Read more "Remembering D-Day"

I like this. Not entirely sure why. Maybe it’s because of a certain “aesthetic coarseness” on my part. http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/embedRead more "“Children, believe it or not, are the first line of defense for every community.”"

Did you miss the May issue of School Library Journal? Don’t worry, here’s a recap of the Graphic Universe titles that were profiled. The Ferret’s a Footby Colleen AF Venable, illustrated by Stephanie Yue This makes an amiable addition to the series. Guinea pig detective Sasspants and his manic hamster assistant, Hamisher, are among the […]Read more "More Scooby Doo Than Nancy Drew"

  Cities around the country are preparing for their annual Gay Pride festivals this month. I was a teen when my hometown—Madison, Wisconsin—had its first gay pride parade. It’s amazing to have seen the shift, in my own lifetime, from the parade as a controversial, even risky enterprise to just another summer festival. Nonetheless, the […]Read more "Coming Out"