class critters

A Few Bookish Updates

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on July 21st, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Some weeks, I know exactly what I want to write about. 

Other weeks, Thursday sneaks up on me and catches me off-guard. 

This week was the latter. I finished my chapter yesterday (8,185 new words this week, not counting whatever happens today!) and was sitting there thinking, now what do I need to do? Then I remembered my newsletter. 

You would think, since I've been doing this weekly for over a year, that forgetting it wouldn't be an option—but that's life. 

So, what's on my mind this week? For starters, it seems like I *may* be allowed to announce this secret project I've been working on soon. One of the strangest aspects of doing a write-for-hire job has been the secrecy. With my own books, even if the news of a book deal isn't public yet, I can talk about what I'm working on as much as I want with my friends and family. My current project has not been like that; only a select few people know what I'm up to right now. There is a freedom in that, but it's also a bit isolating. I like sharing what I'm working on, especially when it's going to become something people can buy next year! 

So, I'm very excited at the prospect of announcing these books in the near future. Please stay tuned! 

In other news, I learned this week that the paperback of Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle is currently being reprinted—which is great! Not quite as great: the reprints won't arrive in my publisher's warehouse until probably mid-October. So, that paperback edition might be a little scarce over the next couple months. (It's already listed as Out of Stock on my publisher's website, and is only available on Amazon in used condition...) If you have a hankering to purchase a Class Critters title, I hope you'll consider choosing David or Madison, or else buying Tally in hardcover. There are still plenty of hardcovers floating around! 

Multiple printings of a book are wonderful. They mean there has been, and continues to be, demand. And I believe this may actually be the third printing of the Tally Tuttle paperback, as I've seen second printings in my local bookstore. 

School visits have been a great source of sales for me with this series, which brings me to the other thing I've been thinking about this week: 

I am currently booking author visits for elementary schools for 2023-24! Please reach out for information if you have any interest at all in bringing me in to speak to your students. I can do Class Critters presentations for K-4 and will be working on a presentation centered around The Thirteenth Circle for grades 4-8 for the spring. (That book releases in January!) 

I think that's all the updates I have for this week, and my brain is mush from trying to write all the words while my kiddo is in camp, so I'll catch up with you again next Friday! 

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: My BookBub summer reading challenge is going great! So far, I've read: 

  • The Antiquity Affair (book recommended on the BookBub blog) 

  • Freewater (historical novel set before the 20th century) 

  • Smile (biography or memoir—in this case, a graphic memoir about middle-school, perfect for middle-grade readers!)

  • Mrs. Nash's Ashes (romance featuring your favorite trope: in this case, a grumpy-sunshine match. In this road-trip romance, she's an eternal optimist and he's a grouch with a secret heart of gold. I loved this book!) 

Does anyone want to recommend a thriller set in a vacation destination or a book about books/libraries? 

Watching: I went to a Broadway show this week! I haven't been to a Broadway show (aside from taking my kiddo to see Winnie the Pooh: the Musical last year) since before Covid. A friend and I went to Funny Girl on Wednesday evening. The show was fun, and Lea Michele is such an incredible singer and performer. 

Loving: My daughter has started swimming lessons, and I'm so proud of how brave she's being in the pool and how open she is to trying what the instructors ask her to do. But I can't share a picture of her swimming (for starters, there are too many other kids in the pool at the time!) so here's a pic of the Funny Girl marquee. Look, Broadway! 

My Newsletter is One Year Old!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 21st, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

One year ago, I launched my newsletter! 

My first email to my list went out on April 22nd, 2022. Technically, I've sent out 47 missives since then; at the start, I was writing every other week. 

I wasn't sure, when I began this project, whether I would stick with it. I wanted to, but...maybe it would be too time-consuming. Or maybe no one would be interested in hearing from me all the time. Or maybe I'd simply get bored, or run out of ideas. 

I am pleased to report that none of the above came to pass. My list of subscribers isn't huge, but it is loyal. People respond, when I write something that resonates. And honestly, I really enjoy writing each edition. 

My newsletter isn't just a place for me to share publishing news (and to beg for Amazon reviews...). It also asks me to reflect, once a week, on some aspect of my work or my life that merits a deeper dive. What am I meditating on, in terms of my writing, my career, my work ethic, my free time, my family, my hobbies? What feels meaningful in this particular moment? Is there something I need to write out in order to work through? Is there something I can offer others who might be in the same boat? 

I mentioned, in my very first newsletter a year ago, that I used to blog. I always enjoyed it. As I suspected it would, my newsletter has filled that space in my writing life. I could have themed it—book promotion only, or writing tips, or being a working parent, or maintaining a work-life balance, or or or or or—but instead, I chose to keep things open-ended. The newsletter is about all of those topics, and more, whenever each feels relevant. It's for my readers, and for aspiring writers, and for my friends and family, and for anyone else who finds what I have to say interesting. I hope that its open-ended-ness is a strength. 

Regardless, I am grateful to each and every subscriber. Let's leap into Year Two together.  

~Kathryn

What I'm: 

Reading: I finished Carrie Soto is Back. Then, I read Curtis Sittenfeld's newest book, Romantic Comedy, about a comedy writer on a sketch show who falls in love with one of the celebrity hosts. On my way home, I read Trish Doller's Off the Map, about a girl with epic wanderlust falling for a guy who has always dreamed of seeing the world, but has chosen stability instead. And once I was back in Brooklyn, I read Corey Ann Haydu's spectacular middle-grade novel One Jar of Magic! 

Writing: MarcyKate and I are thinking about our proposal for a second Science & Strange book, a sequel to The Thirteenth Circle. It's been so fun to work on the sample chapters, and I can't wait to do more with the idea. 

Listening to: The soundtrack to "Daisy Jones & The Six." It's one fictional classic rock earworm after another! 

Loving: My author trip in April was so successful. I talked to so many kids and sold so many books. Here's a shot of me at the new indie bookstore in my hometown, Neighborly Books. I sold out of copies of Class Critters at my event there, but they've ordered more, so keep them in mind for your online order needs! 

A Few Thoughts on Closing out a Contract

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on April 14th, 2023. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

As you may have heard (since I've mentioned it, ahem, more than a few times...), the paperback edition of Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! is out in the world. All three Class Critters books are now available in four formats: hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook. That feels pretty amazing! 

But there's also something about this moment that feels bittersweet: my three-book contract with Abrams Kids is now officially fulfilled. 

And I don't know, as of right now, whether there will be any more Class Critters books. I want there to be more—I absolutely do!—but I can't be certain. That's publishing, in a nutshell, but it's also a hard pill to swallow. 

I received the offer to publish Class Critters in January 2020. When I signed the contract, spring of 2023 seemed so very far away. This was my first multi-book deal, and it felt incredible to know I had so much in the pipeline.

I also assumed, perhaps naively, that I'd sign on for more books in the series before the third paperback released. It hasn't happened that way. It's hard to launch a new series in a market already glutted with long-running, beloved series. Pandemic disruptions to both publishing and schools continued much longer than anticipated. Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle wasn't a hit right out of the gate, which gave the subsequent two books harder mountains to climb. 

I intend to pitch more Class Critters books to my publisher. I know I have many more stories to tell in this world. I also intend to keep doing school visits and other promo for the series. At the same time, I have to make peace with the idea that this might be it. I love these three books, and I know readers do too. 

Will you help me give Class Critters one last push?

Here are a few ideas: 

  • If you haven't already bought the series for the kids in your life, will you go ahead and do so? (Even if they're too young now—they'll be the right age soon enough!)

  • If your kids have already read the books, maybe you'd consider buying a few extra copies to give to their friends as birthday presents this year?

  • You could request the titles be purchased by your local public library or elementary school library! (You could also buy the set to donate to a school library...) 

  • You could visit your local indie bookstore and ask them to stock a few copies on their shelves! 

  • You could review the books on Amazon. All it takes is a star rating and a single sentence, something like: "My child loved this book." 

  • Easiest of all, you can tell people about the series! The next time a colleague or neighbor or fellow dance or soccer parent happens to mention that they know a child who's looking for something new to read, I hope you'll point them toward Class Critters. 

Books don't succeed in a vacuum. They need word of mouth. They also need to be findable—on shelves where readers can actually pick them up and skim the teaser on the back. 

If you've read this far, please know that I am so grateful for your support. I love what I do and I am proud of what I have produced, and the fact that you're here, reading this, means the world. 

Now, go forth and get those paperbacks!  

~Kathryn 

What I'm: 

Reading: I finally read Sabaa Tahir's multi-award-winning YA novel All My Rage. It was every bit as good as the accolades suggested. I tore through it in a little over a day! This week, I've been reading Carrie Soto is Back, Taylor Jenkins Reid's companion novel to her earlier book Malibu Rising, about a professional tennis star attempting a late-career comeback. I am not a tennis fan, and yet I am pretty riveted. 

Watching: Speaking of Taylor Jenkins Reid, we've been watching "Daisy Jones & The Six" on Prime. The music is great! 

Working on: I'm in Tennessee right now, doing school visits! Hooray! 

Loving: Look at my three paperback babies, all together. What a dream. :) 

Let's Talk About "Writing for Hire"

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on October 21st, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

This week, for the first time in a very, very long time, I started writing something completely new. I opened a blank Scrivener document. I wrote "1" at the top of the first page. And then I stared at the blank screen.

And stared. And stared.

Starting a new book from scratch is a bit daunting. It's hard to know exactly where to begin—and in many cases, writers begin at the wrong spot entirely and end up cutting the first few pages or even chapters down the line. I've heard this referred to as "clearing your throat," a.k.a. getting some stuff out of your system and out of your way before reaching the nitty-gritty of the story. Some level of throat-clearing is necessary, of course. Chances are, you aren't going to write the perfect first line on Day One, so you might as well write forward. It's better to get words on the page than to be paralyzed from the start.

If I were working on something that's entirely for me, this early-drafting phase would be like messing around. Playing in the sandbox. Seeing what feels right.

But, as it turns out, this new thing I'm starting is not entirely for me. It's an audition for a write-for-hire project, a sample chapter that will help the editor and the creator of the project decide whether I'm the right writer to make their vision a reality. So, strangely, a lot more is riding on this first chapter than if I were starting a book of my own. Even if it were to change entirely in edits, it has to be solid enough now to land me the job!

I've auditioned for a write-for-hire gig before, and I've also done some freelance ghostwriting. The previous WFH tryout was back in 2018, and it was for a chapter book series about animals that had various jobs. I wrote a sample about Chef Cheetah and his search for his missing mozzarella. (I think I can talk about this now because, as far as I know, this series never actually became a thing? At least, not in the way it was described to me at the time...) After I'd turned in my sample, I found out that at least one other children's book author in my immediate network had also auditioned for the job. Neither of us got it...and, as I said, I don't know if the series ever saw the light of day.

But! My agent loved what I'd written. She suggested I try my hand at an original chapter book idea. I was into that suggestion—and what resulted was Tally Tuttle Turns into a Turtle. So, while that particular WFH audition was a bust, it did ultimately send my career in a new direction!

On the ghostwriting front, I spent 2019-2021 working with an adult science-fiction writer who self-published a series on Amazon. Some ghostwriting jobs involve writing books from scratch, but in this case, he wrote first-drafts that I then edited and enhanced, in some instances almost doubling the word count. I worked on seven books with him, over three years, and each time he trusted me to fill in more story and characterization. (The first book was already published when I got my hands on it; it hadn't been selling well and he wanted someone to beef it up. By book seven, he was sending me slim chapters one or two at a time, as he wrote them, and I fleshed them out into a full story arc!)

With the ghostwriting gig, my name is not attached to the work. I was hired in a strictly behind-the-scenes role. And that's fine! These books are this guy's thing, and I don't need credit! I was paid for my time and effort.

With writing-for-hire, there are a number of ways in which the writer can be acknowledged and/or credited (or not). You might be working with a celebrity author, and that's whose name will be on the cover. (Yours won't.) Or you might be published under a pseudonym. Or you might be listed as a "with"—i.e. BIG NAME AUTHOR, with Kathryn Holmes. Or you might get to be the actual author, on the cover and title page! Contracts (and fees) will vary.

What matters with writing-for-hire is that the concept and outline/story are someone else's intellectual property. Someone else—a celebrity, a book packager, the publisher—has an idea that they are hiring you to execute. You might have some freedom within that template, but the book is not your baby. Someone else has the final say on what gets sent to print.

A lot of authors do write-for-hire work in addition to publishing their own books, and a lot of books are published each year that you might not know are IP projects! (IP = intellectual property, for those paying attention.) It's not just Star Wars and Marvel novelizations—some books that have original concepts fall into this category, simply because the publisher or a book packager had an idea that they hired a writer to write.

So back to my sample chapter! I can't say what it's for, other than that the client is a nonfiction writer who wants to branch into fiction. I don't know if I'll get the contract, and if I do, whether I'll be able to speak about it publicly. But I wanted to write about it here because WFH is an increasingly large part of the publishing game—and a great way for authors to earn some extra money in between solo deals.

That said, I really do want this—the subject matter and ethos of the project are a great fit for me—so please cross your fingers the client likes what I've done!

Until next week...

~Kathryn

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is running its BookStop promotion until December 5th! I've got pages up for all three Class Critters books. You can check them out here:

Chances are, if you're a regular reader of this newsletter, you have already bought a book or two...but if you're so inclined, you could share these BookStop links with your friends and family! You can also leave a comment in the Guest Book on each page, to tell anyone who browses the BookStop how great the Class Critters kids are.

We're launching into holiday gift-giving season, and BOOKS are one of the best gifts any kid can receive!

What I'm:

Reading: As promised last week, I'm reading the third American Royals book, Rivals. (To be honest, I've been too busy to do a ton of reading this week, so I'm not very far into it! But that has nothing to do with the quality of the book.)

Watching: "Floor is Lava" inexplicably has a third season on Netflix. Even more inexplicably...my husband and I have already blazed through it. ;)

Dancing to: Who remembers Ray LaMontagne's peak in the 2000s? My dance teacher brought another blast from the past (i.e. my mid-20s...) into class this week by setting choreography to "Duet," sung by Rachel Yamagata and LaMontagne. I definitely felt some feelings to this song circa 2008...

Loving: It finally feels like fall!

What's Going on Now and What's Ahead

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on September 2, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

Are you someone who wakes up extra early, before the rest of your household, to get things done? I am...usually not. But I got up this morning as soon as I woke up to make sure I had time to finish this newsletter for you. (The main problem is coffee; our kitchen is next to the kiddo's room, which makes early-morning coffee prep a ninja-like endeavor, stealthy and slow and silent. Make a sudden noise, and all is lost!)

Anyway, I wanted to check in today, at the start of this long weekend, the tail end of summer, with what's going on with me and what you can expect from this newsletter in the months ahead.

What's going on with me:


As you know, Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! is out now, and I'll be continuing to do various promotional things in the coming weeks. Two important dates/events to note:

  • I am participating in a virtual chapter book panel hosted by Books of Wonder tomorrow—Saturday, September 3rd—at 3pm! After the event, I'll be signing orders at Books of Wonder; order your signed and personalized copy of Madison Morris by clicking here.

  • You can meet me in person at the Maplewood South Orange Book Festival in Maplewood, NJ, on Sunday, October 2nd! If you're in the region, please come by and say hello—and bring your kiddos. Sunday is the festival's children's day!

As for my various writing projects, my coauthor and I are turning in our latest revision of The Thirteenth Circle (the middle-grade crop circle book) today. MarcyKate and I are so happy with how this book is shaping up! I seriously can't wait for you all to read it. We'll likely have one more round of line edits this fall before the manuscript is sent to copyedit and then to design.

Also happening in September: my first picture book manuscript is going on submission to editors! The submission phase is when a literary agent shares a manuscript with a select group of editors for consideration. Please cross your fingers for me that someone on my agent's list likes my picture book!

What's next for this newsletter:

Next week, you'll get a recap of my school visit from this past Monday. (Spoiler: it went great!) I'll fill you in on my favorite moments from the day, what surprised me, and how you can get in touch to schedule a visit at your school or your child's school!

To stick with the back-to-school vibes, I was thinking I might also try to interview a couple elementary school teachers about how they encourage a love of reading in their classrooms and what books their students can't get enough of. (Are you an elementary school teacher? Maybe I'll contact you!)

I also thought, since The Thirteenth Circle sold to Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan shortly after I launched this newsletter, it would be fun to give you the inside scoop from sale to publication. So, as each next step in the process happens (like turning in a round of revisions today...), I'll keep you in the loop!

As always, if there's something you want to hear more (or less) of, feel free to email me! If you reply to this newsletter, it will go straight to my inbox.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!
~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: I just finished Yolk, which I mentioned starting last week; it was a good but difficult read. For something a little different, I've picked up Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey (the author of Very Sincerely Yours, which I gushed about a few weeks ago). This one is a second-chance romance about high school sweethearts (one of whom is now a country music star) reconnecting and falling back in love.

Watching: Almost done with "The Sandman"—it's so wonderful! Very, very excited to start the new Lord of the Rings series, "The Rings of Power," next.

Listening to: Well, technically not yet, but did you see that there's a new Taylor Swift album coming soon??

Loving: Being home after a long road trip. Here's the kiddo at a playground near us yesterday. She couldn't get enough of this slide!

Greetings From Vacation!

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 26, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

On Monday, it was supposed to rain all day long. Not just rain—thunderstorm. I was awoken at 6:00 a.m. by a clap of thunder so loud and so close, it shook our entire beach house. As the sun rose, it continued to rain so hard, we could barely see past the porch railing.

Then, mid-morning...it started to clear up.

And so, we decided to be optimistic. We got into our swimsuits, grabbed our beach bags, and headed out to see what the day would bring. When we arrived at the beach, it was still overcast. The wind was gusty. The water was cold. Not exactly the fun in the sun you hope for from a beach vacation.

But the clouds blew away. The sun came out. By the afternoon, it was HOT. I sat in a rented beach chair letting the high tide wash over my ankles (and occasionally up over my knees, into my seat) and stared at the ocean, so very glad we'd decided to show up.

I've been thinking a bit about choosing the path of optimism. I've written about this before, in a sense, when I talked about writing for publication being an act of radical hope. The thing is, the weather might not have improved on Monday. We might have gotten caught in another storm. We might have had to turn around and go home. We took a risk, and ended up having a wonderful day...but it could just as easily have turned out differently.

Last week was release week for Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! I threw just about everything I had at that book launch. I organized giveaways. I bombarded social media. I did podcast and blog interviews. I emailed my friends and family. I visited and contacted bookstores. I shared link after link after link. Will any or all of those things move the needle? Will Madison take off and help Class Critters become the successful series I so very much want it to be?

I don't know.

I don't know, any more than I knew whether the weather would work out for us on Monday. But I choose the path of optimism. I tried my hardest and will keep trying to let as many people as possible know about this book I love and believe in. I'm hoping for fair skies ahead for my Class Critters kids.

That's all for this week. I am, after all, on vacation.

~Kathryn

What I'm:

Reading: I brought two new paperbacks to the beach: the historical romance A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall, and Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi. Both were recommended by the bookseller at my local indie, Terrace Books! I've finished the romance, and it was a perfect beach read. I'm about to start Yolk, which is a coming-of-age sister story set in NYC, and which Goodreads says is a tearjerker.

Watching: We started "The Sandman," and it's so good so far! We also watched the "House of the Dragon" premiere on Sunday. It was...fine? Curious to see if it comes to feel like must-see TV in the weeks ahead...

Loving: This donut. Hello, gorgeous. *heart-eyes*

Class Critters Giveaway Alert! (Plus a Few More Thoughts on Disappointment...)

This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on July 29, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.

This week, I got finished copies of Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse!

There is something so very special about holding the physical version of a thing you created. This book existed as an idea in my head. Then it was a draft on my computer. And another draft. And another. Then it was a PDF with illustrations. And now it's a hardcover book! (And an ebook, but holding that isn't quite as exciting; I hold my phone every day.)

Madison Morris releases on August 16th. That's so soon!

To celebrate my series hitting three books, I'm going to do a giveaway just for newsletter subscribers. In two weeks, I'll randomly choose a subscriber to win the trio of hardcovers pictured above. If you're someone who already bought Tally and David and plans to buy Madison—well, first of all, THANK YOU. And secondly, I hope you'll consider gifting the three books to a teacher, librarian, or young bookworm in your life.

I won't pick a winner until just before sending my newsletter on Friday, 8/12, so if you have friends who might want a chance to win, now's the time to get them to sign up! Here's the direct link for people to subscribe:

www.KathrynHolmes.com/newsletter-signup

Hooray!

When I sat down to start drafting this week's newsletter, I'd just taken my first yoga class in almost a month. That's rare for me; I prefer to do yoga once or twice a week, in addition to my weekly dance class(es). But between our family's Covid stint and my regular yoga teacher going out of town right after my daughter was released from quarantine and then our family going to South Carolina last week, it just didn't happen. Sure, I could have done a yoga video at home by myself...but I didn't. Things got in the way. To be honest, I was tired.

On the mat the other day, everything hurt. My hamstrings were tight. My tree pose was wobbly. My plank pose was shaky. Even holding my arms in the air for an extended period of time was uncomfortable. A decade ago, I could take a break and bounce back pretty easily. Not anymore. These days, I lose flexibility and strength more quickly and have to work extra hard to get it back.

The other thing I did that same morning was start edits on the new book I told you about two weeks ago—the crop circle one, now titled The Thirteenth Circle. (The deal was just officially announced in Publishers Weekly!) Prior to the video-call MarcyKate and I had with our editor in mid-July, it had been months since I'd even opened that document. I popped in twice last week to move a few chapters around, basically the equivalent of pushing the furniture away from the wall you're about to paint. This week, I dove in.

At first, I couldn't nail down my main character's voice. I kept wanting to check social media on my phone. I paused to answer some emails. Eventually, I found the groove and did some good work...but it wasn't easy. I was out of practice.

Being a writer and a mover have always dovetailed for me. I am a more creative thinker when I take time to work my body. I can more easily focus and relax into a movement class when I've spent time using my brain in other ways. The absolute best day for me is one that includes both creative writing time and dance or yoga. So it was strange to feel rusty on both counts. Yes, I just came back from a week away, after an extremely stressful month prior, but I couldn't help feeling a little...disappointed.

How could I have let my body get so stiff? Why wasn't I able to pick up right where I left off with a writing project I absolutely adore? Never mind the extenuating circumstances, when something doesn't feel as good or as natural or as easy as I'd like it to (or even as hard, but the good kind of hard, which is totally a thing), my first instinct is to blame myself.

I should have, I could have, why didn't I, what if...?

Do you do this to yourself?

More importantly, how can you (or I) stop?

Next week is August, a.k.a. the slowest part of the summer. Or at least, it would be the slowest part of the summer, if I didn't have two book releases (David Dixon paperback and Madison Morris hardcover), followed by a week-and-a-half-long trip to pack for, concluding with my first in-person school visit of the new year (and thus a new presentation to prepare and rehearse). Plus, the new book edits are due around Labor Day, so I know MarcyKate and I will be busy with that. And I have to get my kiddo ready for kindergarten, and, and, and...

I'm going to have days where nothing feels smooth. I'm going to feel overwhelmed and disappointed in myself. But a lot of the things that are happening next month are good things! A book launch! A beach vacation! My first in-person school visit for Class Critters...ever!!! (And it's in my hometown, which makes it extra meaningful.) I want to try to stay positive. I want to think about how good and easy and natural the things I love doing can feel, rather than how tough they are sometimes.

Two days after my painful yoga class, I took a dance class. My body still felt stiff, but it wasn't quite as bad.

I've kept working on book edits, and each time I enter the document, it's easier to jump in. Every day, my brain is a little more on board.

Sometimes doing the things I love is easy. Sometimes it's hard.

Either way, I've got this.

Whatever you're working on or striving for this week, you've got this, too.

Next week, you'll get the fifth installment of Creating While Parenting, the short interview series I'm running this summer with fellow parents who work in creative fields. Stay tuned to meet another great kidlit author and mom!

What I'm:

Reading: My sister loaned me By the Book by Jasmine Guillory, the second title in the Meant to Be romance series, in which each story is based on a classic Disney animated film. By the Book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, featuring Isabelle, a book editor and aspiring author, and Beau, a reclusive celebrity who's been commissioned to write his memoir. When Izzy ends up moving into Beau's house to help him finish (or rather, start...) his book, sparks fly. I will admit, I didn't like this one quite as much as the first in the series, If the Shoe Fits (a Cinderella retelling by Julie Murphy), but if you're looking for a few pleasant reading hours, check it out.

Watching: Lots of things. "Westworld," "Only Murders in the Building," "What We Do in the Shadows," rewatching "The Umbrella Academy"... Oh, and I can't wait to jump into season 3 of "For All Mankind" soon!

Listening to: My daughter loves dance parties, and her musical tastes tend toward the pop songs that run over the credits of animated films. We even had some car dance parties on our road trip. I still have "When Can I See You Again?" by Owl City, from the end of Wreck-It Ralph, stuck in my head...

Loving: It was a delight to see my kiddo interacting with her cousins last week. Playing, hugging, tickling, just chatting about things... Here she is with my brother's six-year-old son, doing sparklers. (This family trip was supposed to happen over 4th of July. Instead, we set off fireworks on July 21st...)