September 2023
What I'm Up To
I’ll admit it: I love pumpkin spice. I know. But it’s true—I want it all. The Oreos, the lattes, the salsa, all of it. Is most of the pumpkin spice craze a marking ploy? Probably. But it’s also delicious, so I’m not complaining!
Yesterday was the first day of school of my 8.5th year (I graduated midyear and started teaching in January). My classroom was 84 degrees and filled with sweaty pre-teens, but it was a great day. M also got to start his first day of 3K yesterday, and was totally uninterested in taking a cute First Day of School picture. He just wanted to get to the classroom to play with his friends. But at least there weren’t any tears!
September always feels like a whirlwind—back to school, trying to fit in the last few summer activities, getting the lawn ready for fall. Even more exciting, I have a poetry event to plan for at the end of the month! The Central Wisconsin Book Festival is hosting a poetry walk, with a reading at 10 am on September 23rd at Portage County Public Library in Stevens Point. I will be there to read my poem “The Merry Adventures”, which was written from the point of view of Robin Hood. I’ll also have the opportunity to sell my book Scribbles, Rhymes, and Lima Beans, so stop by for the reading and a signed copy!
On My Desk
My biggest news this month is my new cover for Wordweaver! I decided to try my hand a making my own cover this time, and this is what I came up with. What do you think?
What I'm Reading
Right now, I’m about halfway through Brandon Sanderson’s Tress of the Emerald Sea. It’s a cute little fantasy with big Princess Bride vibes, which means I had to try it. So far I really like it! It’s the perfect blend of high stakes and hopeful optimism, which is my favorite thing in fantasy.
Updates
A few weeks ago, my dream came true: my book is on the shelf in a real bookstore! Scribbles, Rhymes, and Lima Beans is now available at Janke Bookstore in Wausau!
Blue from Marketing
Turns out PR work is a little too much for one cat to handle, so North hired an assistant. Everybody, meet Blue from marketing! My husband and I adopted Blue 5 years ago, when he was only 8 weeks old. Actually, it's more accurate to say that Blue adopted my husband. Poor baby Blue was afraid of most people, but he spent our whole visit at the humane society pawing at Mr. W through his cage. Just like with North, we had gone in for a different cat that we'd seen on their website, but after meeting Blue, it was pretty obvious who we were taking home.
Blue is a little more of an introvert, so he'll be handling most of the tech aspects of the job. Unlike North, he prefers to connect with people from a distance.
And yes, I did buy them matching bow ties for their new jobs. That's a totally normal thing to do.
Poetry Corner
The Merry Adventures
It started with a mistake,
mine and theirs, and
many others, thrown together
like arrows in a quiver.
It was a game at first,
the same old story with
different names, but each
adventure reaching
the same sad end:
Outlaw.
Cast away, wasting
talent, kindness, wit,
each searching for a rope
to pull them back to shore.
Their hope became mine,
my motivation, my excuse,
my legacy. Gray goose feathers
fletched into an arrow
that grows longer with every
generation, fighting
the endless mistakes,
theirs and mine,
aiming at the same target
a thousand years apart.
-Robin Hood from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle