Coming from me in 2015: Pioneers and Pirouettes
Good news from the Erin Murphy Literary Agency: Some projects just feel like they are touched by kismet. Such is the case with Chris Barton’s nonfiction picture book text PIONEERS AND PIROUETTES. Chris...
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Interview Across a Breakfast Table: Big Trees, Fancy Cakes, Primary Sources,...
Welcome back to the ongoing series in which my wife — author Jennifer Ziegler — and I question each other amid coffee refills, canine constitutionals, and sometimes even actual breakfast. After a bit...
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Meet the illustrator for my 2015 book Pioneers & Pirouettes!
The text is done for Pioneers & Pirouettes: The Story of the First American Nutcracker, my 2015 title being published by Millbrook, and now it’s time for the illustrator to do her thing. But first,...
View ArticleTwo lessons in keeping an eye on your files
In my school visits, I often shock audiences by revealing that it took THREE AND A HALF YEARS from the day I got the idea for Shark Vs. Train until the official publication date. And then I tell them...
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Picture book biographies coming in 2015
Illustration by Adam Gustavsonfrom Fab Four Friends Inspired by Greg Leitich Smith’s annual list of books from our Austin writing community, I thought I’d start compiling the picture book biographies...
View ArticleA new title for my next* next book
For a decade now, I’ve had a book in the works about Willam, Harold, and Lew Christensen, the Utah-born brothers who had a huge influence in the development of ballet in the United States. Among their...
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In which I talk with Katie Davis about gaming, writing, marketing, and 85 or...
I’m a few days late to the party, thanks to my participation in the YALSA and ILF events, but I’m happy this morning to share with you this recently recorded interview I did for Katie Davis’ kidlit...
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Bartography Express for November 2014, featuring K.A. Holt’s Rhyme Schemer
This month, one subscriber to my Bartography Express newsletter will win a copy of Rhyme Schemer (Chronicle), the new middle-grade novel in verse by Kari Anne Holt. If you’re not already receiving...
View ArticleKeep keepin’ at it, folks
You know how I mentioned the other day that it had been eight years since I started working on my John Roy Lynch book? By the publication date, it will be more like eight years and three months, which...
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Bartography Express for January 2015, featuring Trent Reedy’s Burning Nation
This month, one subscriber to my Bartography Express newsletter will win a copy of Burning Nation (Scholastic), the second book in Trent Reedy’s Divided We Fall YA trilogy If you’re not already...
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Bartography on Pinterest
Just a reminder, for those of you on Pinterest, that I’ve got pages there for each of my books: The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! A Gamer’s Alphabet Can I See Your I.D.? True...
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The stunning cover of ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America
Sometimes my dog will be sitting in my lap, being hugged and petted on, and he will begin to whine and whimper as if there’s still not enough affection getting expressed, as if it’s impossible that...
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A first look at Jennifer Ziegler’s next book
Those of you who loved my wife Jennifer’s 2014 novel Revenge of the Flower Girls might just be interested in what’s coming this August: And if you’re sensing a theme running through the books Jennifer...
View ArticleHuffington Post review of ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America
Those of us who write for kids don’t write only for kids. We want our books to be shared and enjoyed widely. That’s why it’s so gratifying to me when one of my books for young readers gets acknowledged...
View ArticleBartography Express for July 2015, featuring Lindsey Lane’s Evidence of...
This month, one subscriber to my Bartography Express newsletter will win a copy of Evidence of Things Not Seen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Lindsey Lane. If you’re not already receiving Bartography...
View Article‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America is out today!
A mere 12 years, 6 months, and 23 days after I saved my first file on the topic of Utah-born Willam, Harold, and Lew Christensen, today marks the launch of my newest book, ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to...
View Article“Music, dance, a holiday tradition”
Thank you, Teresa Rolfe Kravtin, for this appreciation of ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America: How Three Ballet-Loving Brothers Created a Holiday Tradition. It cites a book I adore, but whose connection...
View ArticleA star for Nutcracker from Publishers Weekly!
I couldn’t be happier with this starred review from Publishers Weekly for ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America: How Three Ballet-Loving Brothers Created a Holiday Tradition. Here’s an excerpt: Balancing...
View ArticleA 2nd starred review (from Booklist) for the Christensen brothers!
Things are shaping up nicely for Willam, Harold, and Lew Christensen, the subjects of my new book with Cathy Gendron, ‘The Nutcracker’ Comes to America: How Three Ballet-Loving Brothers Created a...
View ArticleWriting what I’d love to learn
A post I wrote for the Nerdy Book Club has gone online, and I think you’ll like it. It’s titled “Write What You Know? Try Writing What You’d Love to Learn,” and it expands on a theme I discuss a lot in...
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