• Launching Poetry Into Space!

    February 20, 2019 /

    Hello Po-Folk, Let the countdown begin! In just two weeks my  book of space poems is “go for launch!” The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You Into Space and Back Again (Candlewick Press) is beautifully illustrated by the amazing Anna Raff. To mark the occasion I will be offering schools and libraries a special presentation based on the book, complete with music, costumes, puppets, participation, amazing facts, and, of course, a lot of poetry! This book and special author presentation are a great way to mark the 50thanniversary of the landing on the moon! I believe in bringing poems to life, from page to stage, so I’ve…

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  • Under Construction

    March 4, 2018 /

    We are making some changes on the website. Please excuse the mess. We will be ready for prime time soon!

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  • What I’m Reading

    November 2, 2017 /

    Just started The Donner Party in the Age of Manifest Destiny (Liveright) by Michael Wallis.  I read a lot of non-fiction in my quest to create belieavable historical fiction. I’m already deeeeeep into a book about The Donner Party, so I had promised myself I’d cut off the research. BUT this book came out, and it seems like a pretty well-considered and professionally done. Soooooo. Recently finished Between Two Skies (Candlewick Press) by Joanne O’Sullivan. A moving story about a courageous girl caught up in the destruction which was Hurricane Katrina.  Satisfies my love of disaster, romance, and historical fiction.

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  • What I’m Writing

    November 1, 2017 /

    I now have five books under contract coming from the good folks at Candlewick Press. I have finished the first draft of of the final book in a trilogy (think New Found Land and The Watch that Ends the Night) of historical journey/disaster tales.  The subject is the doomed Donner Party who find themselves trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains in 1848. This one is a bear! I’m working on it as we SPEAK! I’m in the editing stages of a collection of poems about Space, titled The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems That Take You Into Space and Back Again.  We’ve already got some art from the wonderful…

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  • Multi-Media Po-Folk!

    October 23, 2014 /

    Click here Where We’re From Hunter Elementary School to see the final televised version of a group Where We’re From poem by the students of Hunter Elementary School, in Raleigh, NC where I was honored to spend an entire week!

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