What a year. The Cat & The Fiddle has largely been shuttered, whilst I've spent months in my writing chair, fighting off cats, hunger, and sleep. 2012 has been consumed with stories and promotion and lesson plans. Here are a few shap shots:

Signing books at the Eerdmans Booth, ALA

Much to my delight, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau was published to critical acclaim (an update on that, in my next post). Though it originally had an August pub date, my publisher managed to arrange a book signing at ALA in June, with much success. So many local author and librarian friends came by!  Eerdmans also invited me to their table at the awards banquet. The highlight was listening to the speech of the inimitable Jack Gantos, whom I've admired for many a year. Yay.

Amy Koss, Principal Rebecca Witt, Joe Cepeda, and Mary Ann Fraser 

One of the schools I visited was Mountain Avenue, in Glendale (with, by happy coincidence, some of my colleagues in the Children's Authors Network). In one of the classrooms, I had to do my presentation without Powerpoint because the projector wasn't working. But the kids and I had a lively discussion anyhow. Liberating.

With co-presenter Susan Casey and 826 LA's Julius Panoringan

I taught three sessions of writing for children at UCLA Extension's Writers Program, and did a volunteer workshop at 826LA called "Advice for Zombies and More."  Zombies, vampires, superheroes and even squirrels sought and received help from advice columnists, ages 8 to 12.








Happy New Year to all from The Cat & The Fiddle!