I’ve been hunkered down here at home for most of December and January, with one trip to New Hampshire for cross-country skiing with old friends. Despite the recent cold blast of air (here’s my Minnesota pal Kevin Kling experimenting with hot water in Minneapolis!), it’s been weirdly mild and damp here – everyday walks through the woods have me wearing my rubber boots through muck rather than snow and ice. I can almost hear the wood frogs thinking, “Hmmm. Should we unfreeze now? Is it time?”
No, not yet, please.
And so it is with the resident border collie who is chewing up things around at my desk at this very moment.
Time for a walk – I’ll be back in a while.
Okay, back. Refreshed. No wood frogs yet. That’s good. Here’s a little snapshot of Django doing one of his favorite things…rearranging the branches in the woods…
While we’re on the subject of dogs – here’s what we did last weekend. That’s an open safety pin that someone decided to eat.
All fine. Wallet lighter.
I’m looking forward to the coming spring and summer. I have trips planned this winter/spring to Ohio, Nevada, Utah, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. And at the end of the summer I’ll be headed to Ireland for the Cape Clear Storytelling Festival. You can check my calendar on our …(drum roll here…)
Steve and Vicki Palmquist of Winding Oak have spent months and months constructing my new website – no small task trying to make sense of my magpie brain and life. But it’s up, and it’s beautiful. Hundreds of hours were involved trying to lasso this crazy horse – we’re really happy with it – check it out! You can order books and music, listen to stories and watch videos and get in touch with us in a dozen different ways. Let us know what you think!
In April, Peachtree Publishers will release the seventh and last Charlie Bumpers book, Charlie Bumpers vs. the End of the Year. It’s bittersweet to finish the series, and the book itself is bittersweet. Also funny. I think. I’ve tried to tie in and tie up a lot of the themes and characters who have been involved in the series. I am very much in denial that my time with Charlie is at an end. Kirkus gave it a really nice review – we’ll let you know when it’s available for purchase.
We’re all pretty excited around here because I’ve agreed to write a ten-episode radio drama for families to be produced by BYU Broadcasting. I’ll be writing it this winter and spring with the production dates to follow. Plans are to release it for radio airplay and as a podcast. I’m working on the story and outlining episodes right now. It’s about a middle grade kid who forms a detective agency with friends to solve schoolyard mysteries and while doing so uncovers a plot to control the world through the use of mushrooms. At least I think that’s what it’s about. I’ll let you know as we progress.
I’ve just spent two days in the studio working on a new “adult” recording (no good way to say that!). Mark Knopfler once said when he makes a recording, he tries to be the worst player in the room. Kind of hard for Knopfler, but I followed his advice and have some great players. No timeline for release, but I’ll work on it over the spring and let you know.
