Back in California for a Bit

We left the wonders of Lake Chelan to journey back home to California... but we'll soon be hitting the road again, this time traveling to the East Coast!

I'm not sure how this upcoming trip will impact my writing. So far, I'm on Chapter 43... I was cruising along while we were at the lake, because there's not much to do besides eat, write, and occasionally in danger yourself on the water. (I went kayaking, people!)

We'll see how much writing gets done on the East Coast. Going to be much busier... but I'm really hoping to finish this draft by the end of August!

Day #219: One Picture Book VS. 15 Editors

So, my fourth picture book is in the hands of fifteen different publishing houses. The last time I had a book so widely solicited it resulted in a small bidding battle between two publishers... And that book was ultimately sold to Candlewick!!! Needless to say, I'm very interested in seeing what will happen with Book #4.

Keep your fingers crossed and soon as I get a response from one of the fifteen, I'll post information on the blog. 

"CSI: Neverland" by Wade Bradford

If you didn't already know, I am madly in love with children's literature.  That's why I am so thankful that I have children, so I don't look odd when I'm reading Dr. Seuss or The Hobbit or Junie B. Jones.
I've always loved stories such as Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, and of course more modern kid's books such as the Harry Potter series.  But you know what I've never liked?  CSI television shows.  It started off with just one show -- then they spun off with CSI Miami and CSI New York, and some CSI Navy show or something.  And I thought it was a ridiculous amount of over-kill worthy of being lampooned. 

So, that was the origin of CSI:Neverland.

So far this has become my most popular show -- mainly because I full-on embrace silliness.  And I had such a fun time creating the Peter character -- this obnoxious, fun-loving man-child that has unlimited energy.  I've had the pleasure of watching several schools perform the play -- and each time, the director did a brilliant job of casting the right kid to play the lead role. 
Check out this awesome commercial that some students posted on YouTube:



And here's a brief scene which someone kindly posted:



CSI: Neverland is available at Heuer Plays.