Catching Up

Once again, long time, no post. Life has been a crazy whirl, in ways both hard and sweet.

I have some exciting news to share--I was recently named the new Inlandia Literary Laureate! I will accept the laureateship on April 25 at UCR (and Sandra Cisneros will speak right afterwards, as part of the Tomas Rivera Conference. Details below)--please come if you can. I am so honored to follow in Susan Straight's footsteps--she did such a beautiful job as the first Inlandia Laureate; I hope to inspire many people to read, write and celebrate our region during my two year appointment. Some fun plans are in the works--I will share more as they develop.

Some other exciting news--I learned a few days ago that My Life with the Lincolns received a Silver Nautilus Book Award for Middle Grade/Teen Fiction; the tagline for the Nautilus Awards is "Better Books for a Better World", which warms my social justice-dreaming heart.

Here are some of my recent online appearances:
--I reviewed Terry Tempest William's incredible book, When Women Were Birds, for the San Francisco Chronicle
--I was interviewed about The Book of Live Wires at the West Coast Writers blog
--I also spoke about The Book of Live Wires (amongst other writerly and motherly topics) during this Hip Mama podcast
--The Colony Library Lady wrote a fabulous review of Delta Girls prior to my speaking engagement there (it was wonderful to talk with the high school students who attended.)

Coming up, The Book of Dead Birds is the May selection for the Reading the Western Landscape Book Group at the Los Angeles County Arboretum; I will be there Wednesday, May 2 at 7pm to discuss the book--it would be great to see you there (the grounds are beautiful, even if the peacocks are a bit aggressive)!

Thank you for your continuing support. Hope you're having a gorgeous Spring.