Poetry Collection. I’ve been working on a poetry collection of about 50 poems, so far. The theme is about characters on a certain street in my old neighborhood. As I look back, these were lively, spirited characters with different perspectives on life that made them so vibrant and rich.  Even though it’s been years, I still remember these vecinos (neighbors) who breathed life into my barrio. In my mind, I travel down the street with each character. I plan to enter this collection in poetry contests and see what happens. Wish me luck.

At one of the SCBWI conferences which I attended in Los Angeles a while back, Ms. Mem Fox was one of the keynote speakers. She is a highly-regarded picture-book author in Australia. Her books are read worldwide. On her blog, she listed 20 dos and 20 don’ts for writers writing picture books. Take a peek at her website to learn more.

Here’s a list of “The Most-Anticipated Children’s and YA Books of Spring 2017” published on the Publishers Weekly online blog. Great books!

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. – Barbara Kingsolver