Spring Update

Plus a webinar opportunity--timely

Apr 27, 2026

Spring has sprung, so I took advantage of the blooming lilacs for a photo shoot with my newest book. I would prefer cherry blossoms, but they are hard to find where I am located. So the lilac arboretum it is!

Another update: I received the French translation of my novel, The Other Side of Tomorrow. It’s so neat to see how other countries publish their books. The French version is gigantic!

If you’re a writer or illustrator, especially un-agented, I wanted to tell you about a webinar my editor and I are doing. May 4th, 6-7:30pm CST, senior editor Grace Kendall of FSG/Macmillan and I will speak about the author-editor relationship. Grace will take submissions from those who attend. $20 for SCBWI members, $40 non-members. Here’s the link. If you are agented, it’s always good to hear editors talk, get a taste of their personality, and perhaps hear what they are looking for!

As a teacher/author, I shared my book The Ocean Calls, with my class on Earth Day. They were captivated by the haenyeo, diving women of Korea. Even the boys!

And I had to do a photo shoot of these two books with Earth. I had a blast talking about Artemis II and sharing that my name was inside RISE, the moon plushie with 5 million other people.

This weekend I’ve been busy prepping for THREE virtual author events all taking place the first week of May!

May 4th is the IA SCBWI webinar with my editor.

May 5th I’m speaking at a Family Literacy Night with a school in CA.

May 7th I’m speaking to international librarians in South Korea.

May 13th I’m on an author panel speaking to Iowa youth librarians.

Many people ask me, “How do you do it? Teach fulltime and be an author?” To be honest, I don’t know how I do it either. Only by the grace of God and caffeine (Starbucks Pink Drink & green tea). Saturdays are my writing days. I don’t do any school work. I don’t cook lunch. (Carry-out from hubby) And I sit in my chair and get writing projects done. First, I read a writing devotion from my mentor, Nancy I. Sanders, pray for my writing day, and then tackle any critiques I owe my critique partners. Then, I conquer my list, which is organized according to priority. Obviously, manuscripts/revisions needed by my editors or agent are first. Then, I might have blog posts to write, presentations to work on, books to mail, book reviews, etc… Back in 2023, I wrote a blog post all about the many tasks an author has to do that have nothing to do with actually writing their book. If you’re interested, you can read that here at the Grog blog that I also write for. But anyway, since I teach fulltime, I really have to be careful with my time. Also, my kids are big now (23 & 20). I don’t have to play with them or entertain. When they were little, my husband would take them to the park so I could write. For breaks between writing to rest my eyes and back, I do laundry or prep meals or clean the bathroom! I hope you are able to have some quiet time to be creative!