spring blessings

It doesn’t feel like spring but the cold temperatures aren’t getting me down. I’ve been visiting the botanic garden regularly and it’s heartening to see the daffodils, and tulips, and magnolia trees in bloom. Today when I got back from the garden I found this message in my inbox:

I am pleased to inform you that Benny Doesn’t Like to Be Hugged has been chosen as a 2018-2019 Great Words, Great Works title by the Scripps National Spelling Bee…The Bee curates the Great Words, Great Works list annually to provide teachers with grade-level appropriate reading recommendations that cover a variety of genres and topics, from classic to contemporary, fiction to nonfiction. Every word on the 2018-2019 School Spelling Bee Study List can be found in one of the books from the corresponding grade level. Nearly 11 million students across the country in the 1st through 8th grades use this list to prepare for their classroom and school spelling bees. Benny Doesn’t Like to Be Hugged has been selected as a 1st grade fiction book.

I don’t remember participating in a spelling bee as a child, but I do remember reading textbooks that had vocabulary words highlighted. This approach seems much better—each grade gets a list of recommended books that use the spelling bee words in a more organic way. I’m so happy that Benny made the list!

The official announcement will come out in Publishers Weekly, but last Friday we sold SAY HER NAME! I’m actually *still* writing poems and hope to have 40 done by the time I meet with my editor. I can already SEE this book in my mind’s eye…it’s going to be beautiful!

I filed taxes on Monday and was pleased to see my gross income rise considerably from the year before. I don’t make anywhere close to what I earned as a professor, but this writing life is working out…