Rollercoaster Days

My husband and I snuck off to Chicago for a few days before Labor Day. For years, when he mentioned some amazing faraway travel destination, my more homebody self would say, “What about Chicago?” We had both been for work and never seen a lick of the city itself. I knew the Art Institute of Chicago was one of those museums that wows, and it felt crazy that I hadn’t visited before. I don’t think either of us was expecting to love the city so much. The weather was horribly hot and humid, but it didn’t stop us from taking an architectural boat cruise and walking to all the main ‘first’ sights. The food was amazing and very Celiac-friendly. Next time, we will bring the kids, though they got a nice shot of independence staying behind.

One of the sweetest dogs, the Bernese Mountain Dog! My family had one when I was a kid, and Moose was just the best. My very first published illustration featured him (the newsletter for the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley, see below) Maybe your students can make a superhero version of their own?

After lots of waiting, I am full steam ahead on final art for SNOW DAY WITH DADDY. It’s been lovely so far to get lost painting snow scenes, trucks, and cute dogs. Wish me luck in keeping up a good pace. We are hoping to move the book up to a Fall 2027 release. As soon as I’m done with that book, I’m hopping on another drawing book for Bushel & Peck. I’ll have more details about that project next month, and that book will be available in Spring 2027! I almost forgot (ironic: if you know, you know) that I wrapped up work on a new picture book dummy. I created some really fun sample art that I might be sharing as promotional art this fall. Keep your fingers crossed that my new book finds a home this fall too!

After our trip to Chicago, I was feeling off. Chest pain and shortness of breath that I chalked up to a weird side-effect from an antibiotic. I nearly passed out the next morning (my birthday!) just walking downstairs, so my husband brought me right to the ER. After several scary tests, I learned that I had a bilateral pulmonary embolism. Possibly from the plane ride or a medication I had been on for years that carries a risk of blood clots. Recovery is different for everyone, but is generally several months on blood thinners and a slow return to full activity/exercise levels. I feel very lucky to be alive and still need time to process what happened. But I’m grateful to have gotten fast and excellent care, get back home, and be able to work quietly on this book. Also, I kept the yellow grippy hospital socks because HOW did they know I love yellow?

Reading: Shift by Hugh Howey. This is the second book in the Silo trilogy. I didn’t dare start this until after the season 3 finale. I still can’t even sort out how there are two huge books left and just one season of the show? I’m just a few chapters in, but I’m excited to dig deep (haha) into this world again.

Watching: Best Medicine on Netflix. Hear me out. It’s meant to be set in Port Wenn, Maine (fictional), but they get so many things wrong (plus it’s filmed in like, the Catskills). I’d say even the town name is poorly chosen, but I lived in a town called Winterport nearby, which sounds even more fake. It’s incredibly cheesy and over the top. But it has some really funny writing mixed in, a quirky mix of actors, and the medical mystery formula made this a nice comfort watch.

Listening to: 11/23/63 by Stephen King. I waited a long time for this 31 hour audiobook. Thankfully, it landed in my Libby account just when I needed something to listen to while I work on my book. So many readers mark this as one of their favorite Stephen King books. It was a bit of a slow start but I’m now 40% in and really enjoying it!