It's Here!

 

Book launch day, pub day, book birthday, call it what you like, it has arrived! Having a picture book published has a been a dream of mine for years, and here it is! Artist Susanna Covelli did the most charming illustrations I could have hoped for, and the book turned out great. 

If you have any young space fans in your life, please consider adding In Our Solar System to their book collection. Or suggest your library carry a copy. Or drop some not-so-subtle hints at your local bookstore. It is also available from the big booksellers.

And while you're in a bookish mood, check out the many, many wonderful offerings for kids and adults from Familius Books. I have had nothing but great experiences with this company and am so very fortunate to be a part of their family.

In other space news, there's a total lunar eclipse coming up on March 13/14. When the darkest part of Earth's shadow covers the moon, it appears orangeish, which is why it is called a Blood Moon. I'm hoping for clear skies, but if not, there are a few streaming options.

Oh, and if you want to see me in all my awkwardness talking about my picture book inspiration, there's a short YouTube video interview here. 

Take good care, and I'll see you soon!

Small Steps

Well, last week's post didn't happen, so here we are again!

From a goals perspective, 2024 was not a great year for me. Last December, as I was thinking of goals for 2025, I got a little depressed because I felt like I was making a list of all the things I was going to fail at in the new year.

That's what overwhelm does. It makes everything feel impossible, or at the very least highly unlikely.

So I made an effort to embrace one of the strategies of Goalsetting 101: break down bigger goals into smaller steps. So fundamental, so basic, and yet as soon as I did it, I felt much better about things. Which is what happens when you give yourself permission to move forward with small steps instead of giant leaps.

Yeah, duh.

The title of Anne Lamott's classic writing book Bird by Bird is a perfect example. It comes from advice her father gave her brother when he had a big school project about birds to complete (at the last minute) and was feeling overwhelmed: "Just take it bird by bird."

January rolled over us hard and fast, and if you feel off-balance like I do, small steps can also help keep us moving forward even if we're not in pursuit of a particular goal. Sometimes, just making it to pajama time at the end of a day is enough.

Be well, and I'll see you soon!

Weekly Roundup 52: Word of the Year

No, it's not brainrot, though I probably have more of that than I would like. My word of the year for 2025 is Flow. 

I struggled with a lot of things in 2024, as many of us did. I often felt like I was swimming upstream, which is exhausting. Not even salmon, who are born to do it, recommend it, mostly because they die at the end.

In 2025, I would very much like to go with the flow. I recognize that this will require letting go of the illusion of control. And worrying less. Both of which I'm not very good at.

But I have a whole 12 months to practice, and because I am full of the shining optimism of January right now, I think I can make some progress. Wish me luck!

And I wish you luck with whatever aspirations/goals/resolutions have inspired you at the turning of this new year.

I'm going to take a little blogging break now and see if I can figure out my next steps. Until we meet again, take good care!

 

 

Weekly Roundup 51: Happy New Year!

 

Well, 2024 has reached the end of the trail. What a year of contrasts, contradictions, and challenges. 

It wasn't all bad. I did fun things with fun people. I heard a lot of excellent live music. My friends and family made it to the finish line in one piece, and that's really all anyone can ask for.

But I also struggled with personal, national, and global events. And my creative energy was as low as it has been since I can't remember when.

I know I'm not the only one who feels exhausted by 2024. And thankfully I'm also not the only one who feels hopeful for 2025. 

My wish is that this new year surpasses expectations (in a good way!) for us all.

Stay happy and healthy. Be patient and kind. I'll see you next week for my 52 week wrap up.

Weekly Roundup 50: A Christmas Carol

The other day, I caught a replay of the SNL skit starring Martin Short as Ebenezer Scrooge. Motivated by his desire to do good after the ghosts imparted their lessons, Scrooge throws gold coins from his window, accidentally blinding an orphan. Mayhem ensues, and fake blood sprays everywhere. It's funny and over the top ridiculous.

Scrooge is a great character, who has been played so well by many talented actors, but I think the real stars in A Christmas Carol are the ghosts. 

As Charles Dickens wrote in the preface: “I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”

Dickens began writing A Christmas Carol in October of 1843. He took six weeks to finish it, and, after a few production disagreements about endpapers and bindings, the novella was released on December 19 of that year. The book was an immediate success, so much so that even the Americans, whom Dickens had alienated with some of his earlier work, fell under its spell. 

In the many years since, A Christmas Carol has inspired a host of adaptations for film, stage, TV, and print, including opera, graphic novels, more versions starring animals than I can count--and most likely the story of another, much greener, holiday curmudgeon who sees the error of his ways (The Grinch, of course).

Though Dickens went on to write four more Christmas novellas, none achieved the popular and critical success of his first. I’m no Dickensian scholar, so I won’t delve into the particulars of the author’s life or the zeitgeist of Victorian England and its parallels in today’s society. I just appreciate the story for its most basic messages: Be generous. Be kind. Be grateful for friends and family. Celebrate. And if your front door knocker gives you a piece of its mind, prepare for a very restless night.

Merry Christmas, my friends!

Weekly Roundup 49: Quality Control

I've just returned from a 4-day weekend in Los Angeles, a city I'd not visited before. We did some touristy things, but one of the main reasons we went was to help decorate a float for the Tournament of Roses (aka Rose Bowl) Parade. It's something my husband has always wanted to do, and it sounded quirky and fun, so I was in.

The parade isn't until January 1st, so mid-December is too early for fresh flowers. Our volunteer gig was one of the dry decorating tasks, specifically gluing crushed walnut shells to the float exterior. Kind of like paint by numbers, but way messier. (The medium brown are the walnut shells.)

At one point, our volunteer coordinator noticed that some of the work done by a previous shift was not up to her standards. It didn't look wonderful, but neither did it look awful. I thought that by the time all the flowers and water features and people were added, no one would even see it, let alone notice.

But she couldn't let it go and asked a volunteer to try scrape it off. The glue had already dried, so it was impossible to do without damaging the float. I'm not sure how it ended up, but I hope she made her peace with it.

It all got me thinking, at what point does quality control (usually helpful) become perfectionism (often unhelpful)? Is it when it slows down the creative process? Is it when good enough is never good enough? Is it when we lose sight of the big picture? All of those, and more?

I ask because I get caught in the trap of perfectionism more often than I'd like to admit, and it can be paralyzing. I tend to be pretty critical of myself in writing and in life. But the truth is that few things--maybe no things--in this world are perfect. Maybe, if we're lucky, we have moments where we come close.

As seasonal side-note, Christmas is a great time for this reminder. There is no perfect gift, perfect meal, perfect photo, despite what social media implies. Cut yourself some slack, and I'll try do the same.

See you next week!

 

Weekly Roundup 48: Life Happens

Hi there! Life happened to me this week, so instead of a post, you get a couple of seasonal pictures and a promise that I will be back next week with a better effort.

Take care!