Ah, Monday after the holidays. Time to ease right in and…

Nope! I could barely carry in all my mail!

Let’s see, what do we have here?

My cousin Stacy sends me a grey beaded choker necklace for my birthday. Lovely! Stacy is a teacher in Topeka and lives with her family in Lawrence.

Page and Erik send us (me and Greg) a set of bar mixes. Page is a writer and Erik is a computer games designer. They moved to San Francisco from Austin this year, and we already miss them!

I also have cards here from authors Haemi Balgassi, Brent Hartinger, Jeanette Ingold, and Shutta Crum (who includes a postcard for her upcoming picture book, The Bravest Of The Brave, illustrated by Tim Bowers). I, um, didn’t send cards this year. But I did send out my revision; does that count?

Check out Debbi Michiko Florence’s 2004 reading list. If you want to be a successful writer, you have to be a successful reader. Debbi is both! I received a novel manuscript from her today and can’t wait to dig in.