My Wienermobile article just came out in the January-February 2005 issue of the SCBWI Bulletin! Better yet, the Bulletin has been newly redesigned, with full-color cover art by Tomie dePaola on this issue, so it's a really sharp-looking publication to appear in. My 6-year-old son was also thrilled to find his photo in the magazine!

I also got 2 rejections in the past 2 days, and wow, were they quick! They were both from e-mail submissions I made on January 16th. One rejection came on the 17th and one on the 18th! But both were friendly and helpful, and I thanked both editors for their quick responses. At least they didn't leave me hanging for months. (My rejection last week came 8 months after the initial submission.) One of the editors also mentioned that my writing was "spot-on" (unlike the topic), and they both said I am welcome to try them again, so that is heartening.

Finally, I finished drafting a new poem last night. I'm not sure if it's a poem or an attempt at a picture book, but I hope to figure that out as I polish it!

The only resolutions I've made for 2005 are: (1) to get rid of at least 1,000 things, and (2) to finish my novel, Purple Panic. With any luck (or rather, discipline...), I'll knock both of those things out in the first half of the year and move on from there!

Unfortunately, I got a rejection yesterday for a short story. I like the story a lot, but can't think of another place to send it. So, I have to brainstorm about a new market for that one, and meanwhile, I sent a status request about another short story submission yesterday, and submitted a picture book manuscript.

I'm looking forward to a picture book workshop with Lisa Wheeler in March. I know it's going to be a lot of fun, not to mention helpful! I submitted my manuscript The Zoo That Grew for her to critique, since she's known for rhyme and it's a rhyming manuscript. I already know some of the problems with the manuscript, but haven't figured out how to solve them, so I'm hoping her critique will give me some insight. In the meantime, she's assigned us a lot of "homework" of picture books to read in preparation for the workshop, so I need to get going with that!

In other news, the youngest of my 2 sons is turning 4 this week. I would have sworn I had a baby just yesterday...this age is a lot of fun, though! We're celebrating Friday with Spider-Man cupcakes in his preschool class, followed by a Lion King party. He's been counting down to his birthday for a couple of weeks now! (And with the help of his new Spider-Man watch, he's also telling us the time every, oh...half-minute or so!)