*Sigh* -- Squam -- *double sigh*

[First of all, thanks for your feedback on the Martin Luther quote, folks. Food for thought. I'll consider the matter further.}

Now, it gives me both great pleasure and also a little pain to tell you about something wonderful called Squam. That's right, Squam. What is it? Well, it's a lake in New Hampshire, but more specifically, it is a fabulous artists' retreat that is happening at that lake, September 10-14. Look at this!
[all photos from blue poppy]

The reason it gives me pain to tell you about this is because, if not for the expected arrival of a certain gummy bear a week before the event, I would be teaching there!!! It was with sadness that I told "blue poppy", whose brainchild (and heartchild) this is, that I would not be able to make it after all. And now that the website has gone live and I see the full slate of what is happening, I am jealous jealous jealous. But, even though I can't go, YOU can! Check out who some of the teachers are: Penelope Dullaghan, Andrea Scher, Judy Wise, Misty Mawn, and Nina Bagley. The other teachers look fabulous too, and that place! Look here:


You can visit the website HERE and read about the classes at length. And don't miss the featured artist link -- magical collages that make me want to pore through stacks of magazines and make my own! I think I can guarantee I will be at Squam next year to teach some writing workshops. It's a long way off, sigh, but I am looking forward to it! I'd love to hear from anyone who is considering going, so I can be more specifically jealous! And in September, during my first weeks of sleep-deprived new-motherhood, I will be reading everyone's blogs about it!

In the meantime, there is a workshop that I am able to do. It's April 26-27th, in Bellevue, Washington, as part of the Western Washington SCBWI conference. That too is an amazing gathering of folks! If you want to write for children, and you live in the Northwest, I wholeheartedly recommend this conference! Look at this faculty! Arthur Levine! Chris Crutcher! Susan Patron (who probably never imagined her name would become associated with the "great scrotum debate of 2007)! Mo Willems! And MORE -- including Jim. He's talking about the art of doing cover illustrations. My workshop focuses on writing fantasy, and will be great fun. These are short workshops, you know, the hour-long variety, whereas at Squam I'd have been able to teach a whole day workshop. But this is good, because at the SCBWI conferences you get to hear so much in two days, from so many great people. HERE is that website. Hope to see you there!

Okay, one more neat thing to tell you about, and this one is not a workshop, and has nothing to do with me! This is from the blog of Jane Brocket, author of The Gentle Art of Domesticity (which I don't own, but may someday buy. It looks very very pretty and has generated an unholy hubbub from women who don't think we should be "domestic" anymore. Humbug!) Anyway, she is working on a new book that just seems like so much fun! It's called Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer and is a celebration of the foods mentioned in classic children's literature!!! How great does that sound? With recipes! So, when your daughter is reading Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden, you can make the accompanying foods! I love this idea. You can read her post about it HERE -- and I recommend a spin around her blog too. It's gorgeous.