After last week's bad news bonanza over at Harcourt Houghton, the hits just keep on comin'. Latest news: publisher Becky Saletan has quit. Here's the AP story.  I'm so sad to see this happening.

Full disclosure: I used to work at Houghton, when it was still independent and before its multiple mergers. Ten years ago (gasp!) it was my first "real" ( Read more... )

 Here's what's on my plate this weekend:

1. Finish responding to the interview questions for the 2010 Children's Writers & Illustrators Market.The writer, Meg Leder, sent me about a dozen questions to work on--and I'm workin'! One of my responses is nearly two pages long! Good thing she said she "likes long answers." She's going to take my mini- ( Read more... )

After an exhausting weekend--CC's Christening, family bday party, out to dinner with Stylish Sis and her husband (I haven't done this much socializing since the baby was born!)--I dragged myself out to work today....

And my car broke down less than a mile from school.

There were signs: first, the radio starting turning off and on. By itself. Then all ( Read more... )

1. One week down, sixteen to go. Both CC and I made it through my first week back at school unscathed. However, she did decide that waking up every two hours on Tuesday night to make sure that I was home was a suitable punishment for my absence. And trust me, by 3pm Wednesday afternoon, I felt suitably punished! She also sent me a gorgeous bouquet ( Read more... )

I turned my grades in today, which means this was my last day of work. The next time I go up to school, it'll be the fall and I'll be a full-fledged Mommy (and, thankfully, not a Giant Balloon-Shaped Pregnant Cruiser). Wheeee ( Read more... )

One of my students is interested in pursuing a project for the next year where she'll write, edit, design and bind her own book--a memoir of being a first-generation daughter of a Greek immigrant family. At the Wee Art School Where I Teach, we have plenty of resources for the bookbinding and design elements of her project, but she's gone through ( Read more... )