It’s finally time to share a secret: Book 10 in the Humphrey series, Secrets According to Humphrey, will be released in the U.S. on January 2, 2014! That means that diehard Humphrey fans will have to save a bit o’ holiday cash!

I have a real thing about secrets.  I believe that secrets are always revealed in the end – and there are secrets flying around Room 26 like crazy! The theme of ancient Egypt was inspired by someone at Penguin (who?) who suggested it at a large party that included marketing, art and sales people. Thank you, anonymous person! Humphrey makes a great pharaoh!

Even though Secrets comes out after the  holidays, there are plenty of books available for gift-giving ! First of all, there’s Winter According to Humphrey, which was published in paperback in October! (Christmas According to Humphrey in the UK)

Also in the UK is a fun new activity book, Humphrey’s Book of Christmas Fun! A perfect stocking stuffer!

And there are two books that had been published in the UK by Faber and now have been released in the US by Penguin. Humphrey’s Book of FUN-FUN-FUN combines an activity book with puzzles and mazes and a joke book! Humphrey’s World of Pets is an extremely comprehensive pet care guide. If you’re getting a holiday pet, you need to know how to take care of it or you could be facing a real disaster, sorry to say.

Secrets According to Humphrey comes out in the UK on February 6. I think it’s interesting how similar (and fantastic) both covers are. That’s not always the case.

In case you’re still looking for another Humphrey book in the UK, this has recently been released: a compendium of previously-published Humphrey’s Tiny Tales and a BRAND-NEW ONE, probably my favorite: My Mixed-Up Magic Trick. Who doesn’t love a bit of magic?

So have a HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY Humphrey holiday! If I haven’t posted recently, it’s because: I’M WRITING ANOTHER HUMPHREY BOOK! And the U.S. has loads of new books to look forward to… but that’s still a secret!

Wishing you all a magical holiday season and a hamster-rific New Year!  xxoo

Sooooo many Americans have asked, “Why can’t we buy those other Humphrey books here?” They were referring to books that were originally published only in the UK. So I’m HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY to announce that the activity book, HUMPHREY’S BOOK OF FUN-FUN-FUN and the comprehensive pet care guide, HUMPHREY’S WORLD OF PETS, are now available in the U.S. Whoopeee!

More good news: WINTER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY is now out in paperback. All this on the same day!

HUMPHREY’S BOOK OF FUN-FUN-FUN is chock full of jokes, puzzles, mazes, drawing activities and just plain fun.

HUMPHREY’S WORLD OF PETS gives detailed information on the care of all kinds of pets, from dogs, cats, hamsters of course, gerbils, mice, rats, rabbits, chinchillas, fish and exotic pets as well. If you love pets, have pets, would like a pet are planning to get a pet, this book has it all. But that’s not all – there are also jokes and activities and amazing pet facts and stories.

WINTER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY, which was released in hardcover in the U.S. last year, covers the excitement and confusion in Room 26 as the class prepares for a holiday musical performance. There’s music and dancing and of course, the star of the show: Humphrey! (This book is called Christmas According to Humphrey in the UK.)

And I know it’s early to talk about he holidays, but HUMPHREY’S BOOK OF CHRISTMAS FUN was just published in the UK – a really fun holiday-themed activity book.

All in all, I’d say this was a HAMSTER-IFFIC day!

( Please note, I put all the titles in Italics, but when I put the blog up live, the italics disappear. Thanks, WordPress. I do know better. )

Finally – Mysteries According to Humphrey is now out in paperback in the U.S.! (The Humphrey books are only published in paperback in the UK.)

I’m happy that the Humphrey books are hardcovers. They look great, last a lot longer and – let’s be honest – I get a higher royalty. But I’m equally happy when they come out in paperback because they are more affordable.

Mysteries is a title I had in my head for a long time before writing the book. I’m a mystery lover and I liked mysteries when I was growing up. There was Nancy Drew, of course! Back in the 1950s, we were still reading the originals, so Nancy wore frocks and drove a roadster. That didn’t bother me. In fact, I thought it was kind of cool.

Another book I loved was Mystery at the Little Red Schoolhouse by Helen Fuller Orton. I liked reading about kids in other time periods and I also liked any book that took place in a one-room schoolhouse. My grandmother and my father attended one-room schools and I loved hearing stories about them.

Somewhere along the line, I got a cheap paperback that had abridged versions of two Sherlock Holmes stories. The Red-Headed League was just so clever, it stuck with me, so I had to include it in Mysteries According to Humphrey.  That well-loved paperback led me to a lifelong love of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective and a deeper exploration of his adventures, which you can read more about here.

Happy August – a great month to read a mystery! Or at least a couple of Sherlock Holmes stories. The Dancing Men is another favorite.

I was thinking about firsts in author’s life because of something I’ll tell you about later on in this post. I was amazed at how many there are.

  There’s the first book that you can actually buy in a store that has your name on it. Actually, this had three names on it, but one of them was mine and I was thrilled.

 There were other Disney books but after a lot of hard work, there it was – the first book with my own characters – not someone else’s.

Then, there was my first middle grade book published. I didn’t know it would also be my first series. (Yes, this was the original cover.)

 If you’re lucky, there are the first starred reviews which I got for this book.

Each book has its own set of firsts. There’s the first time you see the cover, the first time you hold the book in your hands, the first review. Fingers crossed that it’s a good one- even if there are less flattering ones to come, you’ll have that in your pocket. (Whew, Humphrey’s were all positive.) It goes on and on. The first fan mail, the first award, the first time a book earns back its advance, the first school visit.

          I was thinking about this when I learned about author Bridget Zinn. I don’t know Bridget and I never will because though her debut novel, Poison, just came out this week, Bridget didn’t live to see this first. But she wrote it and and she sold it and she knew it would be published and that’s quite an accomplishment. If you haven’t done it, try it – it’s not as easy as it sounds. I haven’t read Poison yet but I’ve ordered it. Who can resist a 16 year old heroine who’s a specialist in poisons and potions and oh, yes, she has a pet pig. The pig sold me. And so did Bridget – you can read about her, see her and hear her on her website.   You’ll wish you knew her — and you can. One of the greatest thrills about having a book published is that it’s there, somewhere, on a shelf and it doesn’t go away. Eventually, you may not find it in a bookstore, but it’s still in a used bookstore, a library, on a shelf in a home – and ebooks will probably always be available. I’ve ordered the book because it sounds like a great read. And also because of Bridget. Why not see for yourself?

Whew! It’s that time of year again!

In The World According to Humphrey, our curious, adventurous classroom hamster spent Christmas at Mrs. Brisbane’s house. He does it again this year, but not until he’s already had quite a spin on the Hanukkah dreidel and helped Room 26 get through a very rocky holiday program at Longfellow School! Singing snowflakes, jingle bell horses …. Do-It-Now-Daniel is not practicing the piano for the show. Eeek! But I feel the most sympathy for Helpful-Holly, who has gotten a little out-of-control with the need to make a multitude of handcrafted gifts and make the holidays super-special for everyone. I think we’re all in danger of falling into that trap. Luckily, Humphrey helps her and you know what? He’s helped me, too! If I don’t get to post before the end of the year: HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY-holidays to all of Humphrey’s friends — and mine!

By the way … in the U.S. the book is WINTER ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY. In the UK, it’s CHRISTMAS ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY. It’s the same book (though we dropped the tamales from the UK book- too bad because they’re so delicious!) In fact, for our recent 30th anniversary, my husband and I went to Santa Barbara and visited La Super Rica Tacos- haven’t been there for awhile, but it’s iconic …. Julia Child’s favorite restaurant!!! Thank you, Frank, for 30 adventurous years! And Happy Holidays to one and all!