Sesame Street, This is Your Life

I received one of the most startling, albeit joyful, shocks in my life two weeks ago when our Western Washington SCBWI awarded me the first Lifetime Achievement Award during our annual conference at Mariott Hotel in Redmond. It was truly a surreal moment to recieve a standing ovation from over 400 of my dear fellow writers and illustators.

My award included an engraved plaque and clock, and an all expense-paid trip to the national SCBWI conference in LA in August, which I joyfully look forward to.

But what stay in my heart in these days since the conference are those words of love and affirmation spoken by so many of you during the "Sesame Street This Is Your Life" portion of the presentation. Sara Easterly sent me a copy of all of these, as I was too much in shock to take it all in as you were speaking. My heart is warmed each time I read these over.

You give me courage, all of you, as I continue on my writing/teaching journey.
I'll continue to share some of the joyful moments in late posts.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

Ack! I see snow in my last blog entry--must get a new blog entry. Okay, so I could do a blog with lots of rain images, and how the rain makes our creative spirits grow, but right now, today, at 3:42 this lovely Tuesday afternoon, the sun is shining, and my red tulips in the front yard are just starting to peek out. (The brave white ones bloomed two days ago, even in the rain.)

So that is how it is with our writing too--some of the stories just huddle away in the quiet parts of our hearts until the sun shines on them enough to open them up to our conscious. But some of our best stories open out and flourish in the rain, even sometimes in the storms of life.

It's a good thing to remember for those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest!

May your stories bloom this week, both in the sunshine and in the rain.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at one of our favorite Story Blooming spots, the SCBWI conference in Redmond Town Center. Just three days to go!