Winter is typically a time of hibernation for me. But this year, my inner bear and frog have gotten a little bit of a shake up. I’ve been one with the foxes and rabbits, skittering this way and that across Zoom and snow for writerly fun!
Since the Dec. 1 book birthday of DANCING WITH DADDY, my debut picture book, illustrated by Ziyue Chen (Two Lions), I’ve had the pleasure, blessing and honor of connecting with old friends and new readers to talk about my book, disability, inclusion, and writing. Things kicked off with the fifth annual Holiday Book Drive Chi Delivery Day where, thanks to an incredible donation from my publisher, I got to give a full-classroom donation of my book and talk to students about being an author.
Next, at a book reading, I visited with two of my elementary school teachers, who played a big role in my childhood. And in-person and virtual school visits have since taken me across the state and country. (Pancake, my kitty, has been quite the helper with book orders, lemme tell ya.) Here are some pics…
This winter brought an unexpected honor, as well, as DANCING WITH DADDY was named the 2022 Dolly Gray Award Winner in the Picture Book category, for depicting a disabled character with authenticity and joy. The award was announced at a ceremony in Florida, which I was able to attend live and accept virtually, with the girls. That was so, so special.
On the home front, Dan recently took Miss E, C and L to our local father-daughter dance. That was kind of a life-imitating-art-imitating-life moment! We snapped this pic before they took off for the evening. Miss E choose royal blue - loved her chic look!
The awaiting spring looks to bring more exciting events, as I travel to Omaha and the Kansas City area for book events, conferences and school visits.
(PS: I’d love to come to your school, too! See my School Visits page for all the details. Let’s chat!)
I can’t tell you how how incredible it is to be in schools with students, hearing their questions, exclamations, contributions and joyful reactions to DANCING WITH DADDY. At my most-recent school visit, a little girl came up to be after my presentation to show me her G-tube. Her teacher told me that she had giggled and beamed at the sight of Elsie getting a G-tube feed in the book! I tell ya, I’m not sure it gets any better than that. But moments like this, and fan art I’ve been receiving of Elsie, are proof to me that children are being seen and seeing each other, and celebrating. That’s everything.
