hello, it's me

A terrific likeness! This drawing (of moi) is a gift from young writer Laura K, from Martinsburg, West Virginia. I did a library program in Martinsburg last Thursday and worked with young writers ages six to eighteen (yes, really!) on personal narrative. We had a blast, and I didn't hack too much.

I like this drawing so much, I'm going to put it on my website, on my teaching page. I have several drawings like this, that students have drawn of me, over the years. I always allow students to doodle or draw while I'm talking, since they bring their notebooks to assembly. The artists always amaze me. They all amaze me. Storytellers, all. Artists, all.

Thank you, thank you, Jane Levitan and your staff at the Martinsburg Public Library, and thanks to Paula Tremba, 4th-grade teacher and grant-writer extraordinaire, for organizing the day at Wright Denny Elementary School in Charles Town, West Virginia. I was back in my old stomping grounds, too -- Frederick County, Maryland. Staying with old friends was a boon and an important part of my recovery, even if I was in-and-out.

I'm slowly coming alive again, and on Friday will head for Harding University in Arkansas, to work with teachers, as part of their Young Adult Author Series. So I have a week home to write, and that's exactly what I'm doing. I lost three weeks to this illness, but I won't complain. I got a lot of other things done during that time... things that needed my attention, and many of them not quantifiable. That's good, too.

I'm still moving slowly, and I'm back to my oatmeal/yogurt/fruit breakfasts (finally eating again), so I know I'm on the recovery road. Thanks so much for the wonderful thinking-of-you mail. It helped.

Soon up: a longish post about book two. Where I am. Where I want to go. What's happening now, to Sunny and her world in 1964 Greenwood, Mississippi. Back to work.