09 Jan 2013-ING

A new year.  An exciting newfound major project has begun.  Older ideas are being looked over.  Frustration continues within the ‘industry’.  No one seems to know where it is going — or where it went.  Yet, life moves forward, we find new ways.  We have before.  We will again.

I am overwhelmed with the reactions to MARY’S SONG (Eerdmans), the words and Stephen Alcorn’s artwork touched so many — and continues to do so.

Anticipation of a new book always causes a stir of excitement.  This summer/fall it is my YA collection, ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE (Creative Editions), illustrated by Guy Billout.  The anthology takes readers through Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages of Man” monologue from AS YOU LIKE IT — from a child beautifully coming into the world via Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s new version of “Amazing Face” to a verse by Cynthia Cotten ending:

Once I ran to meet tomorrow

Now I sit

and wait.

The poems are witty, poignant, reflective — like life itself.  It will be fascinating to see what readers make of it — take from it.

Billout’s art brings Shakespeare into a new breathtaking era.

Come February, I tackle a revision of an adult novel.  A writer’s life is insane – wickedly insane — but what wonders insanity brings to the mind.

A sample from Guy’s art: