Welcome to my Blog!

It all started last summer. You see, I was a teacher (actually a school librarian), and I had the summer off. All during the school year I am crazy-busy, so there are lots of jobs around the house that I put off until summer. Then sometime near August, I have done all the easy jobs and the only ones left are jobs I really never wanted to do at all. I was now puttering around trying really hard not to face the worse job of all - sorting and cleaning the mess that was my basement laundry room (stored Christmas ornaments, boxes of fabrics, stuff that I can't even remember why I own it!)

So one morning just before waking up, I had an image in my mind of an ornate cast iron street lamp with signs attached that said "Nitpicky" on the signs. I opened my eyes. How weird! What was that supposed to mean?

As most mornings, before I get up, I spent some time praying. As I prayed that day, I kept getting the impression that I was supposed to do something about that image of the lamp post. I got up, went to the gym to swim, and as I did laps, I decided that I should write a book about it. So, to me, the book Nitpicky Corners: The Doppelgangers, was heaven-sent. (And the laundry room is untouched!)

I have done a lot of writing in the past, but mostly technical writing, newsletters, press releases, and grant writing. Fiction never came easily to me, but for Nitpicky, it seemed to write itself. Having said that, once it was finished I spent nearly 6 months doing revisions and rewrites. I now feel it is ready to be looked at by an editor. I am very excited that in September, Steve and I will go to Mackinac Island for the Michigan Fall Conference for the Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators. Part of the package includes meeting with agents and publishers, including Arthur A. Levine of Scholastic!