A Sweet Vacation and Sneak Preview

This year's vacation, sweet as it always is, was made sweeter by an email from my editor at Scholastic who notified me that my newest manuscript had been accepted for publication in the spring of next year. It takes me a long time to research and write a book; my stories go through numerous revisions with many of my agonized words landing on the cutting room floor. Here's an outtake from my upcoming novel which I will write more about as it nears publication...

Afterwards,

whenever people gathered,

the question was asked—

Where were you 

when it happened?

And then, 

How did you survive?

The important people,

the doctors, lawyers,

and citizens of great

consequence

would share their stories,

and we'd mourn their loss

or celebrate their courage.

I also survived and my story

has been told

by someone who matters,

someone 

remembered by name—

but even he now lies
beneath the earth,

the name on his headstone

washed away by time.

What should be remembered,

what matters most

is that we were both saved 

by gentle, loving, dog

who cared not a whit

that earlier in the day

I had been sweeping floors

and emptying chamberpots.

More to come!

My Vacation Office