Update

Ok, you're right, I haven't blogged here in awhile. Haven't had the time or, quite frankly, the interest, what with Facebook and Twitter and my other social networks. But my blog isn't as much a social network as it is . . . well, I don't know what it is anymore. So for awhile, I'll micro-blog here - you know, short, twitter-ish-type post, on the fly. We'll see.

In other news: I finally purchased my copy of Jerry Pinkney's THE LION & THE MOUSE, and as you already know, it's absolutely gorgeous. I had worried that they'd given him the Caldecott simply for political reasons, because it was overdue to be awarded to someone of color. But that's nonsense; he earned that bad-boy with this wonderfully illustrated book!

Five weeks following surgery, my shoulder is much better. Kinda. Seems like each time I sit down to write about how much better I'm doing, I realize it's only my glass-half-full attitude speaking. In all honesty, my stuff hurts. And what bothers me is that my surgeon says the pain should have subsided a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I can still paint and draw. But ug.

As I type this post, my writer and illustrator friends are hanging out at the TLA (Texas Library Association) conference in San Antonio. At 11:46 p.m., they're probably gathered for dinner and late night drinks, chatting the trade book business, excited about famous author sightings, and bragging about the ARCs collected from the exhibit floor.

I didn't go this year. Why? Many reasons: A heavy illustration schedule; a desire to finish my picture book dummy; my weak arm; my mom's long awaited arrival. Just wasn't a good time for me. But guess what. I'm not sorry. My picture book dummy turned out nice. Got my house cleaned up for mom's visit. Got a good start on a nice little EDU book for Scholastic. I'll go to the conference next year. It will be in Austin, and I'll have two new books out.