What am I waiting for (12/07)?

The shortlist of Cybils nonfiction picture book finalists, which I'll help judge.

Official word that publication of The Day-Glo Brothers is 12 months away, at which point I'll start working in earnest on a full-fledged author website. (My wife, by the way, has been justifiably raving about this one.)

An editor's verdict on J.R.

The posting of the complete schedule at the Texas Library Association conference.

After the holidays, when I'll try to convince some of my local author friends to let me tag along on their school visits.

The right time to pick the brains of the librarians at the elementary school just down the street.

The right time to try my hand at writing a "Cadenza" for Horn Book.

The right time to pitch a children's nonfiction panel for the 2008 Texas Book Festival.

The right time...

What am I waiting for (3/07)?

News from editors on Pasta, James, Smith and P.O.

Submission (or revision) news on J.R. and Arbor.

Word on whether, where and when I'll be traveling to do some on-site research for one project or another.

The Cybils post-mortem. Get your comments in now.

The receipt through Interlibrary Loan of an obscure figure's autobiography -- a book that might well be a crushing bore but might also inspire yet another research project. The two are not mutually exclusive, you know.

Official confirmation on a couple of fun pieces of news that I can share with you all.

The arrival of my very first issue of Horn Book, which I ordered over the weekend. It seems like it wasn't very long ago, when I was first getting started in this business, that subscribing to Horn Book seemed like a total cart-before-the-horse extravagance.

What am I waiting for? (2/07)

News from editors on S.V.T., Pasta, James and Smith.

P.O.'s return to circulation.

The right time to travel a few hundred miles east for some on-site research for J.R.

Anything that may develop from an animation studio's recent out-of-the-blue inquiry about one of my projects.

TLA!

What am I waiting for? (11/06)

Half a year since I last posted about this, I'm still waiting for more things than I'm working on. Including:

My first glimpse of the art for The Day-Glo Brothers.

News from editors about several manuscripts:

• My biographies of James (picture book) and Smith (middle grade), which are both with the same editor. This editor gets them, I think, but there's a big difference between "gets" and "buys."
• My middle grade novel, Arbor.
• My proposal and sample chapters for Pasta.
• My picture book/graphic novel series P.O.

Copies of the books nominated for the Nonfiction Picture Book category of the Cybils.

The next big industry/literary event I plan to attend: the Texas Library Association annual conference in San Antonio in April.

Next summer, when -- a year before The Day-Glo Brothers' publication date -- I'll get cracking on a full-fledged web site, curriculum guides, and whatnot.

What am I waiting for?

I'm waiting to hear from Charlesbridge about how the illustrations for The Day-Glo Brothers are progressing.

I'm waiting to hear from various editors who have manuscripts for a middle-grade biography, a picture book biography, and a picture book series (or perhaps graphic novel), plus a proposal for another picture book biography.

I'm waiting to hear from my agent about the two new picture book manuscripts I just sent her.

I'm waiting to hear from one friend who is voluntarily doing some sketches for that perhaps-graphic-novel.

I'm waiting to hear from another friend who is also having a look at one of those new picture book manuscripts, though I really shouldn't, since I told her it was purely for her reading pleasure, and I meant it.

I'm waiting to see whether seven-year-old S will discover Kid Blink Beats the World and A Full Hand, the final arrivals (as of yesterday) for this month's history reading.

I'm waiting to receive some catalogs and nonfiction review copies that a couple of publishers said a few weeks back that they'd send.

I'm waiting to find out more about the panel I'll be on during next month's conference.

I'm waiting to figure out what I'm going to submit to my critique "group" for next Saturday.

I'm waiting to resume work on my marketing database for Day-Glo until I'm a little closer to my spring 2008 publication date.