Interviews are slow incoming for December, which is completely understandable given the semester’s end and competing holiday activities.

I’m personally busy working with my talented Web designer, Lisa Firke of Hit Those Keys, on the redesign in progress of my main site. I’ll keep y’all posted as things develop and let you know when we relaunch.

ARCs I’ve read recently include The Queen of Cool by Cecil Castellucci (Candlewick, 2006) and debut novel Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen Headley (Little Brown, 2006)(read an excerpt). More on these titles to come. In the meanwhile, read some buzz on The Queen of Cool from Chasing Ray and Shaken & Stirred: Hangovers (Nov. 15th entry).

Congratulations to The PlanetEsme Bookroom, led by children’s author Madame Esme Raji Codell, winner of a $1000 James Patterson PageTurner grant. Hooray, Esme!

Advice from a Caterpillar: Writing for Children by Peggy Tibbetts from Writing-World.com. “Finding Information about Pop-up Books; Getting Published Fast; Interactive E-books for Children.”

K. Michael Crawford, Children’s Book Ilustrator: Chicken Little listed on Reading First website (Eager Mind Press, 1998), Family Choice Award for Bugoo the Bug meets Alex (Trafford Publishing, 2005), Miss Panda Series (7 Books) (Windstorm Creative, 1199), The Munched-Up Flower Garden (Red Rock Press, 2006), Skunk Skills (Perfection Learning, 2005), Baby Craig (Perfection Learning, 2005), Ike Takes a Hike (Perfection Learning, 2005), Sneaky Jean (Perfection Learning, 2005).

Successful Book Tours and How to Plan One by Fern Reiss from The Publishing Game: How to Find a Literary Agent, Self-Publish, and Promote Your Book. Targeted to self-publishing authors, includes articles about marketing, literary agents, and POD/subsidy publishing.