good news!

Two years ago my agent sold this picture book story but the deal was just announced yesterday. I’m excited to be working with a woman of color artist from Philly! I wrote that story almost twenty years ago so it’s good to know it will eventually be in kids’ hands. This morning I woke up to more good news—the Democrats have taken back the House! And the members of Congress are going to be MUCH more diverse and truly representative of our country…

A friend in Scotland wrote me this morning to let me know Betsy Bird included DRAGONS IN A BAG over at her Fuse 8 blog. Her question: “What Would You Include If Someone Asked for a Quick List of Recent Titles Starring Black Kids?” If you only had $325 to stock your library, which titles would YOU choose? Poor marketing for many Black-authored books means it’s hard for parents and educators to even know what’s available, so a list like this is really helpful and I’m happy to see fantasy fiction included!

Heading to the city archives today to see if I can find names of actual Black women who were inmates at the Blockley Almshouse. It looks like my copies of Cin’s Mark won’t arrive in time for Friday’s reading but I will still read an excerpt. There’s a community reading tomorrow night and I might read there, too, just for practice…I’m so used to giving book talks with slides—got to work on my dramatic reading skills!