I did not get to a November post.  Where that month went is a mystery. October ended with our 4th Annual Writing Institute at Edison State College, Ft. Myers — a memorable day.  Gregory Maguire (WICKED) and illustrator, Bill Farnsworth gave outstanding presentations.  We all look forward to next year when the guest speaker will be Patricia MacLachlan, author of SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL (HarperCollins). Then — BLINK! — November came and went with a

  Final planning for our BIG EVENT here in Ft. Myers at Edison State College will take up most of the month.  The Fourth Annual Lee Bennett Hopkins Writing Institute on October 27, features Gregory Maguire, author of children’s books, literary criticism, and adult novels including WICKED: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST (HarperCollins) and three books in the series that followed. Bill Farnsworth, illustrator of over 50 children’s books

OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR MATTHEW SHEPARD (Candlewick Press) by Leslea Newman, is heartfelt, harrowing, shocking, stirring; one of the most powerful verse novels I have ever read. Newman pens 68 poems dealing with the insanely tragic death of Matthew Shepard, a gay twenty-one year old, who was savagely beaten, tied down to a fence and left to die in Laramie, Wyoming, on October 6, 1998, by two young men. This is a volume that

Or where did August go? September will be a busy month.  A long interview for “Poetry at Play” will soon appear, J. Patrick Lewis, Children’s Poet Laureate, and dear friend, selected my book SHARING THE SEASONS, illustrated by the incredible David Diaz (see TITLES) as a Book of the Month which is a nice surprise. David’s artwork for …SEASONS is breathtaking.  After decades of talking about doing a book together, we finally did! I am

Or where did August go?   September will be a busy month.  A long interview for “Poetry at Play” will soon appear, J. Patrick Lewis, Children’s Poet Laureate, and dear friend, selected my book SHARING THE SEASONS, illustrated by the incredible David Diaz (see TITLES) as a Book of the Month which is a nice surprise. David’s artwork for …SEASONS is breathtaking.  After decades of talking about doing a book together, we finally did! I