James Thurber's Peeps
I'm home.

Although I had the most marvelous four weeks living in James Thurber's house, it's good to be home.

Before I came home I flew to Monterey, CA to speak at the Writers at Work Conference. The man sitting next to me on the plane spoke with a thick Irish accent. He wasn't Irish, he just thought it was funny. So I thought it best to fake sleep for three hours.

Luckily, the conference was MUCH more fun. The teachers came from 24 states and 47 different countries. (Well, maybe not 47 different countries, but more than two, for sure.) And guess what? Ruth Culham, the conference queen, went to high school in my hometown!


(Above: Peepy and I give all the teachers an A+.)

Speaking of James Thurber (I know that's an abrupt transition, but I'm sort of jet lagged), only months ago I got the good news.

Then it felt like I just arrived at Thurber House, and now my residency is over. Despite it looking like I was hobnobbing all over Columbus, OH, and meeting wonderful young writers, and dining with luminaries, and attending literary picnics, and falling flat on my face . . . I actually got A LOT of writing done, too!

Here's an incomplete list of my authorial doings:
1. Wrote an essay for HORN BOOK magazine
2. Outlined and began a short story
3. Worked on CHARM SCHOOL DROPOUT, a novel to be released next year-ish
4. Began the JUST BOBBY series, chapter books to be released 2009-ish
5. Selected winning essay for SO TOTALLY YOU contest
6. Blew up some Peeps

Who knew that there were Peeps in James Thurber's House?


Was James aware of this . . .


The Peeps liked to play Bye-Bye Birdie on the piano . . .


Despite being warned . . .


. . . they also played in dangerous areas . . .


Then one day, they got too close to the microwave . . .


It was not a pretty sight . . .


But the Peeps learned their lesson, we think . . .

I decided to post this blog AFTER I moved out, so I wouldn't get in trouble. (I wasn't sure if it was legal to explode Peeps in Thurber House.)

On a more serious note, I want to extend a very special and heartfelt thanks to JP Morgan Chase for making my fellowship possible, the Thurber House Board of Directors, the Children's Author Selection Committee, and to the wonderful wonderful wonderful people at Thurber House--especially Missie, Anne, Meg, Pat and Susanne, who is hiding behind the door . . .


Of course, none of this would have happened if Hubby, Teen, Son and Puppy hadn't insisted, "You go, we'll be fine. We promise." And you know what, they were. I am so proud of them.

Being named the 2007 Thurber Children's Writer-in-Residence has meant the world to me. The authors associated with Thurber House are amazing. Many like Alice Hoffman, Simon Winchester, Jodi Picoult, Myla Goldberg, and all the Children's Authors-in-Residence like Deborah Wiles and Sam Swope have signed their names in a closet . . .


And visiting authors like Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, Alice McDermott, Rita Mae Brown, Scott Turow, Garrison Keillor, Tobias Wolff, Sue Graffton, Nikki Giovanni, Peter Dexter have their photos on the walls . . .



I can't believe that this photo will be among them . . .


A short four years ago I was an unpublished author who had no idea what lay before her. And now, to have lived and worked in James Thurber's house, to have soaked up the atmosphere in this vibrant literary salon, is beyond words even for this rambling-blabbering-blubbering writer.

So to all who made my Thurber House Children's Writer-in-Residence possible, I will simply say, "thank you."