I’ve been working on a few different projects: several picture books and a middle-grade nonfiction proposal. I expect I’ll be dusting off my novel manuscript this year, too. I’m looking forward to a bunch of upcoming speaking opportunities and a new book coming in May 2027: Newton’s Paws of Motion!

I’ve also been keeping busy with climate advocacy volunteering—including coordinating a recent trip to Olympia for 15 students and 13 adult chaperones, where the students lobbied 10 of our state legislators for four different climate-friendly policies. It was a successful trip, and it felt good to make a difference—for the climate and for the kids.

In personal news, my oldest kiddo just finished their Master’s degree in bioinformatics and bought a house in Denmark, so I’m looking forward to visiting them there again this year, along with some other fun trips to places I’ve never been before!

I hope you and yours are safe and well. 💜

The whole series, now in board book!

You Are a Robin! and You Are a Garter Snake! both recently released in board book format, so now your littlest readers can own the whole set. All the books in the Meet Your World series use movement and pretend play to introduce young readers to animals that most likely live in their neighborhoods… AND to the joy of reading!

Buy now

2025 in review:

I always like to sit down and reflect on the past year as we move into a new one. Here are some of the highlights:

• I got back on my feet after breaking and badly spraining my ankle at the end of 2024.
• I got to visit my family in Wisconsin and later in Michigan.
• I led the event planning for and moderated a panel at the Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s Greater Pacific Northwest regional conference.
• I sold a manuscript (Newton’s Paws of Motion, coming in May 2027 from Sourcebooks Xpress)!
• I participated monthly in a citizen science program to monitor amphibian populations in a nearby park.
• I bought a new car (an all-electric Honda Prologue).
• I got to spend time with my oldest kiddo when they came back to the U.S. to attend a friend’s wedding on Orcas Island.
• I lobbied for climate policies in person in Washington, D.C., and virtually.
• I researched and made progress on a middle-grade nonfiction proposal, but have since shelved it (at least for the time being). 
• I finished one nonfiction picture book poetry manuscript and started another one (alas, poetry picture books are a tough sell these days!).
• I researched and started drafting another nonfiction picture book (NOT poetry).
• I revised an old nonfiction picture book (but it still needs more work).
• I wrote an article for the SCBWI’s Essential Guide to Publishing for Children.
• I got a letter to the editor published in the Seattle Times.
• I presented at five school visits, one library event, five Meet Your World story walks, the Washington Library Association conference, Kindling Words West, an adult writing for children course, and the Poulsbo Book Festival.
• I planted dozens of trees and removed invasive plants in our local parks.
• I saw a ton of spectacular plays and musicals.
• I got to spend lots of quality time with family, friends, and pets. 

Favorite reads of 2025:

I enjoyed a lot of great books last year, so I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. In no particular order, here they are:

Picture book fiction:

• Grace Builds an Almost Perfect Dog by Curtis Manley and Tracy Subisak
• This Wolf Was Different by Katie Slivensky and Hannah Salyer
• Blue by Suzanne Kaufman
• There’s Something Odd About the Babysitter by Elayne Crain and John Ledda
• The Riding Lesson by Jennifer K. Mann

Picture book nonfiction:

• From BAM! to BURP!: A Carbon Atom’s Never-Ending Journey Through Space and Time and YOU by Melissa Stewart and Marta Alvarez Miguens
• On an Ocean Journey: Animals in Motion Through the Seas by Elizabeth Shreeve and Ray Troll
• Flurry, Float, and Fly!: The Story of a Snowstorm by Laura Purdie Salas and Chiara Fedele
• Bounce! A Scientific History of Rubber by Sarah Albee
• Pedal Pusher: How One Woman’s Bicycle Adventure Helped Change the World by Mary Boone and Lisa Anchin
• Almost Underwear by Jonathan Roth

Middle grade fiction:

• The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats
• Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth Bunce
• Annie California by Margaret Kellerman

Middle grade nonfiction:

• Eating to Save the Planet: How Veganism Helps Fight Climate Change by Anne Broyles

Adult fiction:

• The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
• Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
• The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
• Weyward by Emilia Hart
• The Sirens by Emilia Hart
• The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
• The Story Collector by Evie Woods
• The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
• Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree

Adult nonfiction:

• Blueprint for a Revolution by Srdja Popovic
• Wildly Inspired by Joni Sensel
• Bigger by Ren Cedar Fuller

Upcoming events:

• Feb 4: Author visit at St. Louise Elementary
• Feb 10: Literacy night at Apollo Elementary
• Mar 1: Attendee at nErDcamp Bellingham
• Mar 2: Author visit at Ben Franklin Elementary
• Mar 17: Keynote speaker at Tacoma Public Schools Highly Capable seminar
• Mar 31-Apr 8: Vacation! 
• May 2: Breakout speaker at SCBWI-WWA conference
• May 11–18: Attendee at Kindling Words West on Whidbey Island
• Jul 14–15: Library presentations at Sequim, Forks, and Port Angeles

I’d love to hear from you! Please drop me a line anytime. And thanks for reading!

There is now an activity kit/curriculum guide for the first two books in the Meet Your World series, YOU ARE A HONEY BEE! and YOU ARE A RACCOON!, and it is adorable! The guide features creative art projects, games, and writing and science-related activities to extend both the fun and educational value of the books. You can download it HERE. Huge thanks to Debbie Gonzales at Guides by Deb for creating these wonderful resources for parents and educators.

It was fun hearing the other speakers and getting to chat with the librarians during the book signing. And it all came with an honest-to-goodness medal!

After the ceremony, I had some time to walk around and explore the city. The weather was perfect, and Pasadena is lovely.

I, of course, had to visit the local independent bookstore, Vroman’s!

Beachside Nonfiction Workshop

I started out the month at the Beachside Nonfiction Workshop with Candace Fleming & Jennifer Swanson. It was amazing! The faculty were all stellar, the location was gorgeous, and the attendees were lovely. It was fun hanging out with other nonfiction geeks for an entire weekend. We all struggled to answer the “So, what do you write?” question, however, since we can usually just get away with “Nonfiction,” and have that be the end of it! I didn’t take nearly enough photos, but here’s the view from my hotel balcony…

Yes, it was hard work. There were a lot of sessions, and they were mostly master level, plus networking and critiques. I came away with so much useful information and new ideas to apply to my works in progress. There were obviously some other perks, too!

Seattle Reading Council Appearance

In the middle of the month, some of the members of my critique group (and all agency-mates at Erin Murphy Literary, as it turns out!), did an appearance at the Seattle Reading Council. It was a billed as a “Books and Chocolate” event… what could be better?! We each talked about our books and process and then took questions. The crowd was mostly teachers and librarians, so it made for a wonderful evening of sharing book love (and chocolate!) among likeminded new friends.

School visits

I had an elementary school visit where I got to talk to several third-grade classes about my writing journey, grit, and writing with emotion, as well as several fifth-grade classes about evaluating sources and spotting fake news. It was an awesome visit with super-engaged audiences, but alas, no photos. You’ll have to take my word for it!

I have another visit coming up early in June (the last one of the school year!), so I’ve been making sure everything is ready for that one, too.

SCBWI-WWA Spring Conference

Finally, I attended and helped with the SCBWI Western Washington’s spring conference, Imagine That! It was a great weekend: hearing from inspiring speakers, getting feedback on one of my works in progress from a powerhouse editor, and catching up with author and illustrator friends in the industry. I’m still soaking it all up and processing what was said! Good stuff.

Book Releases!

Along with all of that I’ve been getting ready for the Two Truths and a Lie: Histories and Mysteries paperback release on May 21 AND preparing for the upcoming new release of Two Truths and a Lie: Forces of Nature on June 25th! I’ve designed and ordered postcards and swag, scheduled social media announcements, and made other plans to get the word out.

Works in Progress…

And, of course, there are those works in progress, too! Earlier this month I submitted both a nonfiction picture book revision and a graphic novel proposal to my agent. I’m currently revising a nonfiction picture book, a fiction picture book, and a middle-grade nonfiction manuscript. I’m also working on a brand-new nonfiction picture book draft and a young-adult nonfiction proposal. Busy, busy!

Yes, I do love my job. More so every day, in fact! =D

Please join me for the West Coast Launch Party for
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE: IT’S ALIVE!

Sunday, June 25th, at 2 p.m.

Where do you find ideas and how do you decide what to write about? How do you get from there to the finished product? This workshop, presented by award-winning nonfiction author Laurie Ann Thompson, will answer those questions and more! Thompson will explain the process of writing compelling nonfiction, including research, planning, drafting, revising and editing. The presentation will be interactive and all participants will have a chance to craft an engaging nonfiction piece of their own.

For more information and to register, please visit the King County Library System’s event page. I hope I’ll see you there!

None of my flights went as planned, but I finally arrived late at night and went straight to bed. I spent Saturday finding my way around the exhibition hall and chatting with other kidlit folks who I happened to bump into, like these lovely agency-mates!

Then, that evening was the Random House “family dinner.” I love these events, because they’re often the first time you get to meet–and thank!–many of the people who’ve been working hard to make your book successful. This one was extra special, because it was the first time I got to meet my editor, Anne Schwartz. Squee! She is just as lovely in person as over email, and we all had a wonderful evening.
Afterward I met up with the fabulous Miranda Paul and we hung out at the We Need Diverse Books party, the Simon & Schuster party (I got a copy of Scraps signed by Lois Ehlert!!!), and the Nerdy Book Club party. There were great people all around, and at every stop I was reminded that this is a very good business to be in. I couldn’t stay out too late, though, because Sunday was the busy day!
First thing Sunday morning, I ran into the huge poster in the hallway of the convention center, and yes, I totally teared up, and yes, it was right before our signings.

We started out with back-to-back signings on the exhibition floor on Sunday morning, first for Random House, then for Follett.

Then we went to the photo session for the Schneider Family Awards…

followed by the ceremony itself!


Then it was off to the President’s Reception. (Thank you, Krista Marino, for the wine!)
That was followed by the Newbery Caldecott Banquet. What a treat! Every one of the speeches was powerful and moving, and I got teary all over again. Afterward, I got to catch up with one of my favorite kidlit bloggers, Michele Knott! 🙂

Still, Monday was arguably the best day yet. We were treated to the intimate Schneider Family Award luncheon, where we got to meet the award committee, ALA representatives, the other winners, and the agents and editors associated with the winning books. The highlight of the luncheon was when we got to conference call with the award’s sponsor, Dr. Katherine Schneider. She told us she’d read, and loved, all of our books, and shared why the award was so important to her. We were all moved by the conversation, and I’m extremely grateful to have been able to participate.

Flights were a bit of a stress-inducing mess on the way home, too, but I didn’t really care: The whole ALA experience was 100% worth it! Huge thanks to ALA, Dr. Schneider and the committee members, Anne Schwartz and the whole outstanding team at Random House, Ammi-Joan Paquette and everyone at Erin Murphy Literary Agency, the talented and classy Sean Qualls, and the inspiring Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah joining me on this incredible journey.

• 1 high school presentation,
• 13 middle school presentations,
• 4 elementary school presentations,
• 6 Skype visits (including one to Hawaii, one to Brazil, and one more to go!),
• 3 radio interviews,
• 2 preschool storytimes,
• 2 teen library events,
• 1 adult library event,
• 2 Girl Scout workshops,
• 3 bookstore signing events,
• 1 book launch party,
• 1 blog tour,
• 1 book trailer,
• 1 storytime activity kit,
• the Texas Book Festival in Austin,
• the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference in Columbus,
• the Pacific Northwest Library Association conference (PNLA) in Portland,
• the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) conference in St. Louis,
• one research trip to St. Louis,
• Indies First! on Small Business Saturday at Secret Garden Books,
• 1 guest lecture at the University of Washington,
• 2 appearances at a children’s museum,
• 2 summer camp visits,
• 2 Twitter chats (including one for WWE moms!),
• 2 recordings for TeachingBooks.net,
• 1 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award presentation at SCBWI-WWA’s Inside Story event,
• 1 middle-grade book written and submitted,
• 3 picture books revised (but not yet finished),
• 1 YA project edited and revised (still in progress),
• preliminary research for 2 new book projects,
• at least 2 major website overhauls (one here and one for Online Author Visits),
• volunteering for We Need Diverse Books,
• volunteering for SCBWI Western Washington, and
• 19 blog posts.

Not too shabby! It’s so easy in this business to feel like I never get anything done. I have a stack of in-progress manuscripts that I desperately want to perfect so they can go out and try to find their publishing homes, and every day that they don’t quite get there (or worse, don’t make any progress at all!) feels like a big fat failure. Listing out all of the things that I have done makes me feel a little bit better. I haven’t just been spinning my wheels, after all! I didn’t get to finish everything I had hoped to by now, but I did check off some big goals and also did a bunch of things I hadn’t expected or planned on. And, many of the things listed were firsts for me and/or major highlights, so there’s a lot of personal growth hidden in that list as well as some major accomplishments to be proud of. So, all in all, not bad!
Still, there’s so much more I want to do! My goals for the rest of the year include:

• finishing up revisions for the first book in the Two Truths and a Lie series: It’s Alive!,
• completing the photo research for It’s Alive!,
• attending the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando to accept the Schneider Family Award,
• revising my nonfiction picture book until it’s ready for submission,
• revising one of my fiction picture books until it’s ready for submission,
• revising the middle-grade nonfiction proposal until it’s ready for submission,
• revising the YA project until it’s ready for submission,
• finalizing the outline for Two Truths and a Lie, Book #2, and beginning the writing,
• and writing more blog posts.

There are several other manuscripts I hope to finish revising, as well as a handful of new ideas I’m really excited about researching further and beginning to write, but those will all just have to wait until I complete the above. Revision is one of those things that’s difficult to predict how long it will take, so I’m not sure if this list is even anywhere close to doable. I’ll check back in January to let you know how I’ve done! 🙂