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We just returned from Maui where I swam in the sea and went on a 5 day Sacred Maui Pilgrimage Retreat with Ram Dass. The first day there we visited a sacred Hawaiian site by special invitation. Lei’ohu Ryder invited us into the Kukuipuka Heiau a place of profound healing and inspiration. Lei’ohu Ryder shared… Read more

It has been forever since I blogged. Why?? I have been juggling many projects and am in the air all day tossing and tossing. I was recently asked juggling advice and did I recommend it. Hum . . . The answer depends on your best way of working. Jane Yolen always juggles many projects at… Read more

I just finished many present-day trips to India in the pages of Indu Sundaresan’s brilliant new short story collection: IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS (Atria Books). The fabric of these stories is silken, the flow of language itself transports the reader. Though the stories vary in time and place, all of the striking stories… Read more

EXCALIBUR PEN Driving along the Big Sur coast in California, we stopped to climb down to a deserted beach, then scaled rocks to a waterfall. Guess what I found embedded in the mud below the enchanted falls? Pictures tell the story . . . ~the Wart walked up to the great sword for the third… Read more

ZOOM ZOOM photo shareOctober’s been a travel month. First stop Oregon SCBWI Retreat at Silver Falls State Park where I taught Story CPR, met fellow writers, Chronicle books editor, Julie Romeis, and Holiday House editor, Leanna Petronella. Leanna gave a stomping good session on writing YA novels. Five words for this retreat= Terrific!! Watch out… Read more

What a surprise to be nominated for the I Love Your Blog award! And to be nominated by my favorite blog Wordlings by Justina, Justina Chen Headley is a true honor! Here’s the To Do nomination list flying round the web for those of you who would like to join in the fun. 1) Add… Read more

Leapin Synchronicity! Author Julia Cameron talks a lot about how the world joins you in synchronicity when you commit to a project. I’ve experienced this phenomenon any number of times. The most recent incident had to do with leaping from one novel to another. It was time to leave Stealing Death (after sending it in… Read more

DIVINERS CELEBRATE HOLLY CUPALA’S BOOK NEWS! Last week the Diviners were celebrating again. This time we whooped it up for Holly Cupala’s amazing news! Holly’s agent sold her YA novel A Light That Never Goes Out in a two book deal to HarperCollins. Hooray for Holly! As always, Peggy King Anderson wrote a fun cheer… Read more

Yesterday I taught a fun Mystery Writing workshop in Leavenworth at A Book For All Seasons. Here we are out on the sunny back deck watching one of the campers seek a hidden object. She’s getting warmer! We worked/played at mystery writing for two hours then the campers went off for lunch and a swim…. Read more

LEAP DAY Here I am on the edge of the cliff and stalling. Well who wouldn’t stall before taking a leap? The leap I’m referring to is the next writing phase. I finished my rough draft (all 349 pages of it) On Tuesday. That’s 240 pages in a little over two months. A new record… Read more