I'm in the SCBWI Bulletin!

I hope everyone's been having a great holiday! I'm pretty tickled right now, lol! One of my illustrations is in the SCBWI Nov.-Dec. Bulletin. If you have a copy, I'm on the regional news/events page.

What is just as cool to me is that the cover (which always has a kite theme) was done by my absolute favorite illustrators Leo & Diane Dillon. It's like double the YAY!

I'm Back!

Sorry! Things have been kuh-razy!!!!

More postings to come!

Stanford Wong Rocked Big Time

Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time by Lisa Yee had been on my Amazon wishlist for a while and after the postal service lost it in shipping, I was sent a new one.

I'm so glad they did, because I couldn't put it down and finished it this morning. Having re-read Millicent Min: Girl Genius, I was ready for it. After Lisa Yee received a big award and spoke at the 2004 SCBWI LA Conference, there was a rush on it by the rest of us there. I bought the last copy of Millicent that they had. All my pages had a slight dent in them somehow, and for a moment, conversations were like this:

Other Person: "Ohmigod! You have Millicent! Where'd you find it?"
Wawa: "I got the very...last...one!" (and would hug it close. Did it need its own guard?)

LOL. It was like gold. For some reason, on my very last day there, I was in the foyer outside of the main ballroom and who should be coming out but Lisa Yee. She graciously signed my book, although she had this total "Aaiggh!" look, LOL. I had the slight feeling I'd kind of ambushed her or something. (Sorry Lisa!)

Look, Stanford is a really funny, touching book and I enjoyed every minute of it. I can't wait to read So Totally Emily Ebers.

World's Ugliest Dog Contest

Pee Wee Martini, World's Ugliest Dog candidate

I know it's not kidwriting and I know I haven't posted in a while (sooo sorry!), but I have to share the website for the World's Ugliest Dog Contest that was held at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California every year.

Hilarious.

These are truly faces that only a parent could love!

Me 'n' Dora the Explorer

Me w/Dora the Explorer at the BookExpo's Children's section.

Hola! What more can I say?

Post BookExpo America 2006

Since it was in my hometown, I thought I'd go to BookExpo America 2006 with my friend, supernatural suspense author Chesya Burke. It is very much an industry event, but it was fantastic to see so many publishers all in one place like that. Imagine a football field filled with publishing houses and there you go.

The second of the adult horror/suspense anthologies that I'm in came out last month. I got a good review in Publisher's Weekly for the last story. This one, the horror entertainment mag Rue Morgue enjoyed and chose my story as the only one that they talked about in length. I'm flattered, especially given that horror isn't necessarily my genre. See, I'm comfortable writing historical supernatural suspense in that aspect of my writing life.

As Wawa Moore, I have a chance to write more lighthearted things. I actual enjoy writing stories where the characters employ humor a lot. That's the way I know I interact with my friends and family and it's always fun to read books with characters like that. For instance, I adored Millicent Min: Girl Genius by Lisa Yee and when I was much younger, I was a fan of Paula Danziger and Judy Blume. It was their use of humor and helping to create a world that seemed pretty real that made the books fun to read. I'd like to take that kind of feel and throw in a twist of what I write for adults and create something that'll make kids and middle graders not be able to put it down! If anything, this weekend has given me a bit more clarity about the direction I wish to go more in my kid lit writing.

Stay tuned...

Book World and Children's Books

Is it just me, or are other children's and young adult book writers out there tickled when they find a major news outlet writing articles or section about our industry? I know I find myself reading the whole thing.

Today, The Washington Post's Book World featured their 2006 Children's Book Review.

You can read it here.