10/21/08 -- I'm back from a visit a classroom full of 3rd graders at Jefferson Elementary School here in my hometown of Corvallis, OR. They had just finished a read-aloud of ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. When I asked what they'd like to see in a...

10/16/08 -- Rewarded myself for finishing STORM MOUNTAIN with a trip to the Cascades for a bit of rock climbing, a ten-pitch (10 rope length) route called The Peregrine Traverse (see photo below of me leading pitch 4). Weather was great, so no "St...

10/13/08 -- DONE! Finally. After 32 rewrites and over two years, STORM MOUNTAIN is now on its way to New York City and my agent, and ultimately onto my editor's desk. Actually, "DONE!" is not right. DONE FOR NOW! is more like it. The manuscript wi...

10/7/08 -- I ran into children's author Kirby Larson at the Kidlitosphere Conference in Portland. She recommended a book on rewriting called NOVEL METAMORPHOSIS: UNCOMMON WAYS TO REVISE by Darcy Pattison. Kirby said she took a weekend workshop wit...

9/29/08 -- I'm just back from a writers retreat on the California coast. Lots of good work time, plus great company. I'm closing on the final rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN. It won't make the mail today as I was hoping, but very soon!

9/18/08 -- Working, working, working -- now ratcheted up to ten hours a day. Sometimes I don't know if I've got what it takes to keep pushing this hard. Then I remember last weekend and a rare day off to compete in the Timberline Half Marathon nea...

9/10/08 -- As I related below in my 9/3 entry, the main character of STORM MOUNTAIN has shifted. Instead of Benjamin, it's now Cat. And it's working! Every single one of the nagging uncertainties I had about character development have vanished. Wo...

9/3/08 -- Late this morning I realized that I needed a break from writing and went for a mountain bike ride. Huffing and puffing my way up the steep switchbacks on Bald Hill, a question occurred to me: Could some of the trouble I've been having wi...

8/25/08 -- LOTS of inquiries coming in for author visits. My 2008-2009 school year calendar is filling up fast. Get in touch asap if you're interested!

8/8/08 -- I'm currently working seven days a week on finishing STORM MOUNTAIN. My limit per day seems to be about 7 hours. Although my spirit is willing to keep pushing for 8 or more, my brain is not. Any writing after that is proving to be worthl...

7/21/08 -- This past week, July 12-18, I had the good fortune to be on the teaching staff at the Oregon Coast Children's Book Writer's Workshop. As if the beautiful setting weren't enough (see pic below, taken from the classroom window, no kidding...

7/8/08 -- Whew! After several days of trying to figure out why I couldn't log onto my web site, I've finally figured it out. So now I can finally update this here blog. I'm back from the KY and SC trip. The family reunions were fun, as was the wea...

6/14/08 -- I've just finished packing for our annual trip to Kentucky and South Carolina for family reunions. We won't have our girls with us this year -- both tied up with work and school -- but we'll adjust and have a good time with the rest of ...

6/11/08 -- Another school year has ended, and I've spoken to my last group of kids about the writing process. Signed lots of books, too. Great fun, all of it.Now I'm focused solely on finishing STORM MOUNTAIN. Granted, it's taken much longer than ...

5/19/08 -- The weather, a very important factor in STORM MOUNTAIN, has been playing with us here in Oregon as of late. Two weekends ago we got snowed on during our annual trip on the north side of Mount Hood. This past weekend the temperature rage...

5/13/08 -- After two weeks in my new writing location upstairs, the jury is in: Fantastic! Friends donatied the old countertop from a kitchen remodel and I set it on top of some cabinets some other friends gave me from their kitchen remodel (lots ...

4/30/08 -- At this point in rewriting STORM MOUNTAIN, I'm going over it very carefully, fine tuning each and every sentence. I'm also reading it aloud. Why? I find that adding an oral component to the process helps me discover word repetitions and...

4/25/08 -- I'm back at an airport, this time in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Just finished a week in schools in Mechanicsburg and Blain. Once again I was treated to a great bunch of kids and educators. Also, my gracious host Ila Verdirame and her hus...

4/20/08 -- As I write this I'm sitting at Gate E2 in the Portland, Oregon airport waiting for my flight to Pennsylvania. I'll be spending a week there in schools, speaking to kids about the writing process. Really looking forward to the experience...

4/16/08 --I wore a new shirt to school last week, a mock turtleneck from Eddie Bauer's. It's the first mock turtleneck I've ever worn to work. A fellow teacher commented that I looked like a writer, and that got me thinking. Is that the secret? Is...