12 Jul MID-JULY-ING

Summer months are typically slow in the publishing industry yet many exciting things have happened during June/early July.

My YA novel, WONDER WHEELS, penned over three decades ago is now available on www.amazon/kindle which is quite a surprise.  The novel is based on a tragic experience I went through in my younger years.

MARY’S SONG (Eerdmans) continues to glow with the help of Stephen Alcorn’s wondrous illustrations.  In June, The Catholic Press Association awarded the book first place in the Children’s Book/Teens category stating:

“An exquisite rendering of the age-old story of the birth of Jesus.  The illustrations are truly captivating while the text summons silence at the wonder of nature itself.  The story, when read aloud to children will be awe-inspiring and the illustrations will leaves traces on a child’s heart.”

Could anything be better than to ‘leave traces on a child’s heart’?

I cannot wait for October 26, when Stephen Alcorn will be a featured speaker at the Lee Bennett Hopkins Writer’s Institute at Edison State College, along with Patricia MacLachlan who won the Newbery Award for her stunning modern classic, SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL.  It promises to be some conference. For updates see my site at EDISON.

I completed a major work for Abrams entitled BABY! — a book of thirty poems all especially commissioned for the project. Geared to babies age 0-5. the work will be published in a unique format; more about this as the project gets underway.

August l3, marks the publication date of ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE (Creative Editions), a YA collection based on Shakespeare’s “Seven Ages of Man” monologue from AS YOU LIKE IT.  Guy Billout’s incredible stylistic artwork brings Shakespeare into the 2lst century. “…STAGE” is filled with poetry at its best with works by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, J. Patrick Lewis, X. J. Kennedy, along with such classics by Walt Whitman and Lewis Carroll.  The book is cited as the June selection by the Poetry Foundation.

Of course, other works loom ahead, including two adult novels which my agent is marketing, books finished and in production through 2016, and a miscellany of ideas to explore.

I’m beginning a new concept about an age old theme — two teenagers falling in love.  It’s been done zillions of times but if I can pull it off this will be a first.

August, for now, looks quiet, yet one never knows.  Writing is a life filled with surprises…some wondrous, others frustrating, needling.  Did I choose this path?  Sometimes I do not know.  More so, at times, I feel the path chose me.

Onto tomorrows…