Another year, another birthday, another Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

My signings were on Saturday … my birthday on Sunday … my postponed birthday dinner was last night. This year’s FOB was special because my sister-in-law Jane is visiting from Massachusetts and is a devoted bookophile and former bookstore owner.  It was also special because my granddaughter and fellow booklover Remy (almost 4) came for the very first time!

I started off signing at the Whale of a Tale bookstore booth, which hosted the Penguin authors. I was paired with Ingrid Law, (above) author of one of this year’s Newbery Honor Book, Savvy, which I can’t wait to read. I don’t like the photo but I like Ingrid … and she’ll be on the faculty of this summer’s SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) as will I!!

Remy and me

Judy Shachner and Remy (Remy loves Skippyjon Jones ... just not the camera!)

Due to a wonderful serendipity, following our signing was Judy Schachner (Skippyjon Jones – yea!!!!), whom I met in late 2007 and with whom I shared a mind-bending and memorable flight from Yakima, WA to Seattle.  I think we are bonded for life thanks to that flight and it was great to see her again. I had a second signing with Ed Decter, screenplay writer extraordinaire and middle grade and YA author fantastico.

I also got to schmooze with writer friends Lisa Yee, Julia DeVillers, Michael Reisman and got to meet the awesome illustrator Jarrett Krocosczka and family who, it turns out, live fairly close to sister-in-law Jane.

Julia DeVillers, caught mid-Twitter

The family (husband Frank, sister-in-law Jane, daughter Rebecca, granddaughter Remy) segued to Kate Mantilini’s in Bev Hills for dinner, minus son-in-law Gary who was ailing with the flu but NOT the swine flu. We missed him but soldiered on without him.

However, my birthday took a sad turn when our next door neighbor, Donald Specht, passed away early Sunday morning. Don was a jazz musician and composer as well as a writer and he will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to his wife, Mary, our dear, dear friend. In addition to writing a kabillion arrangements and commercial jingles, Don once penned The Betty Song, for which I am eternally grateful. And there was also Tropical Nights at the Birneys (a tango).   I will share soon.

I have been so very quiet lately … and that means I’m writing on an undisclosed manuscript. I don’t have any idea how it will turn out but I’ve made some progress.

I am a social person who loves to get together with friends, loves to talk BUT I need lots of space and lots of quiet to write. You can’t write and talk at the same time – a point I tried to make recently to a group of rowdy kids in a writer’s workshop.

I leave Sunday – Easter – for Omaha for a full week and then on to DePere, WI. The trip was booked so long ago, I didn’t realize I was leaving on Easter. (Last year, the same thing happened with Mother’s Day.) Hopefully, I’ll have some quiet time on the road.

Check out my schedule under School Visits on my website for book signings in Omaha and DePere.

And now … back to work!

I just figured out that n the last 3 1/2 years, I’ve traveled to 18 states (some multiple times), 2 foreign countries and spoken at about 128 schools.

Even when I’m home, I always seem to be on the road! On Friday, I got up bright and early to drive to Ekstrand Elementary School in San Dimas, about 38 miles from my house according to MapQuest. I allowed LOTS of ample time, leaving the house at 6:15. My start time was 8:15, and my goal was to arrive between 7:30 and 7:45, allowing way more than enough time to get set up. The set-up is the only thing I stress about. Once the projector and laptop and screen and lights and mike are all set, I can enjoy myself.

I was making such good time going east on the 210, I probably would have arrived at 7:00 – traffic was really sailing. But not too far before I reached the San Dimas exit, I hit a massive backup due to an accident with multiple fatalities. I called my contact at Ekstrand, Lydia Molloy, to alert her and we both pretended to be calm. I sat in traffic for 40 minutes, inching along and eventually, the four lanes were reduced to one lane.

It was the worst accident I’ve ever seen and from the newspaper account yesterday, it seems they still haven’t figured out what happened. (There were actually several accidents involving several cars, a bus, two trucks.) My inconvenience was inconsequential in comparison to the lives that were ended and other lives changed irrevocably.

As it happens, I got to school at about 10 to 8 and the set-up was smooth and effortless. The kids were GREAT-GREAT-GREAT. After signing books, I was ready to hit the road again. But even going back in the opposite direction, traffic was at a crawl as I passed the site again. By that time, the eastbound lanes were totally closed – I believe they were closed for 10 hours. So it was actually an amazingly lucky break that the freeway was open when I was headed to San Dimas and that I made it on time.

But it wasn’t a fun drive.

The next day – Saturday – Frank and I headed down to Laguna Niguel to visit my Aunt Katie and Uncle Cy, who live there, and my Aunt Mil and Uncle Bob, were were visiting from St. Louis. Going to Orange County from L.A. and vice-versa is always tricky and you just have to expect heavy traffic. Too many people! It’s 66 miles from door to door, but it took 2 hours, 20 minutes to get there. It was worth it to have a great visit with my family and a drive to Dana Point Marina for a walk.  After dinner, we headed back to L.A., leaving around 8 and getting home at 9:10 – a much more reasonable drive!

So I’m more than happy to be sitting at my desk today, proofreading the U.K. version of The Princess and the Peabodys, which comes out in June, and the U.S. version of Summer According to Humphrey, which comes out next February.

No driving today!

We've had a lot of rain this year, which we need. One recent rain produced a spectacular sunset - this was taken a few feet from my office door.

When I haven’t posted for awhile, do not assume I’m lounging around eating bon-bons. It probably means I’m on a deadline, or possibly that I’m on the road.

A week ago today, I finished up the hurried-up revisions on the 6th Humphrey book, due out next year. Then I spent two days at Miller Elementary School in Burbank – probably the closest school to my house I’ve ever visited. Really great kids and the school had such a nice vibe. My thanks to Fran Zimmermann, Judy Hession and Betty O’Dell for hosting me so well. As usual, I learned as much as the kids did.

Then I’ve been dealing with some new health problems for Desi the dog. She spent the weekend in the hospital. She’s as pretty and sweet as ever but they’re trying to figure out what the problem is. She’ll be back home tonight, hurrah!

Ooh, the new book for next year has just the best cover ever, but it’s too early to share it. I wish I could!

ADVENTURE ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY comes out next week (drum roll, please), but it was written a year or so ago. I always talk about doing some kind of research on every book I do (and I am grateful for the internet which has made it so easy). But not all research is done in books or online. I snapped a photo of an experiment I conducted in my bathtub back then to make sure what I was writing was accurate.

I challenge anyone – ANYONE – to figure out what the heck I was doing.

No teddy bears were actually harmed in the making of this book!

This led to a second experiment (or just a lovely still life):

Stay tuned for another wacky but non-watery experiment to come!