Behind the Books: Time to Chill

At NCTE with Cynthia Levinson and Leslie Bulion

Usually November is a pretty quiet month for me, but not this year. I've spoken at three national conferences, presented at four schools live and two via Skype, taken part in a fantastic Twitterchat hosted by the Columbia University Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project, did a round of revisions on my next National Geographic Reader, reviewed copy edits on my next Q&A book for Sterling, worked on a video that is supposed to accompany my February 2014 picture book Feathers: Not Just for Flying, and, oh yeah, tried to be a good wife to my very patient husband.

But now, as I look ahead to December, I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Except for one school visit, a professional development program for teachers, and two book signings, my calendar is wide open. That's great news because I came home from NCTE with a glorious new book idea that I can't wait to explore. Boy, do I ever have a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving.