I'M BACK!

   Wow! I can't believe my last post was in November. I had meant to take a short hiatus during the holidays which is always crazy time for me with 4 birthdays weaved in between the pumpkin-carving, gingerbread cookie-baking, and mad Christmas shopping. My New Year's resolution for this year? Start X'mas shopping in July!
   So, here we are: 2013. April, 2013. A quarter of the year has come and gone already. How did that happen? So, here's a quick recap so far: I started a part-time job in November which is great for the family finances, not so great for the writing. I'm learning to have to be a lot more disciplined (which is a struggle at the moment) and to settle on one huge writing day: Fridays, my only day off. March has been extremely busy as it's Women in History Month, so a lot of school visits and presentations. I've done several author visits around Sacajawea of the Shoshone which have been so much fun, a presentation in an English Class at my alma mater, Dominican University, a presentation on Cixi, The Dragon Empress at the Asian Art Museum, and one about writing narrative non-fiction at the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) North Bay meeting in Sebastopol.
  Creatively, I'm working on a new picture book, my young adult contemporary multi-cultural fiction, and finalizing text and illustration edits for Charlesbridge Publishing for my upcoming book Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas (Jan., 2014) which I'm very excited about. After such a long road for this story, it will be so satisfying to see this one in print! Here's a sneak peak at the adorable cover (illustrations are by the wonderful Grace Zong).