For today's list, the five things I'm most excited for this weekend. It's a simple list, but then again, everything seems a little simpler on the weekends.

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My dad used to say that if you want something bad enough, you have to put in the work to make it happen. And with grad school starting in two months (two months!), I have a lot of work to do. I want to start a new writing project for school, which means I need to finish up the old one.

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I love SCBWI events, so when my friend Julie Phend asked if I wanted to go to Richmond with her for Everything I Needed to Know: Paths to Success in Writing for Children, it didn't take too much arm twisting to get me to agree to make the two-hour drive. Mostly I wanted to have some time to spend with Julie as she lives about an hour and a half away, and seeing a good friend twice a month just isn't enough.

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I've been collecting pictures of interesting bookshelves for a few years now, and I thought it might be about time to share some of my favorites. I do not own any of these book storage devices, but I have tried to attribute them as clearly as possible. These designers, architects and innovators deserve major kudos.

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...and the writer falls down a ladder.

No really, that's what happened. My roommate, a friend and I went to see a really cool Tumbleweed house that was on display in DC this past weekend, and while climbing down from the loft, I lost my footing on the tiny ladder and slipped. After falling three rungs, I managed to catch myself before hitting the floor, but thanks to an old shoulder injury, I probably should have chosen the floor.

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Near the beginning of The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, narrator Sam Childs reflects on a series of marchs led by Martin Luther King, Jr., in Chicago during the summer of 1966. Though this is a work of fiction, it was rather surreal reading about this event as I had heard the story once before—from a very different perspective.

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My librarian friend is coming to visit this weekend, and she reminded me that it's National Library Week. So in honor of Steph, I wanted to give thanks for my ever-changing relationship with local libraries. I will always be grateful for the books they give me access to, the information they make available and the many librarians who have helped me along the way.

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Easter Bunny Gets an Assist from Knuffle Bunny

I love when my roommate's nieces and nephews come to visit because they love books just as much as I do. The first thing they wanted to do when I got home from work was have me read Knuffle Bunny (1, 2 and 3) to them. It doesn't matter that the oldest is 12 and the youngest is three, they all want to laugh and shout out lines and beg for me to read "just one more" ever time we see them. And though their 21-month-old cousin is a little young for the interactive reading, she carried around my stuffed bunny all weekend.

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Rain (v) to send down in great quantities, as small pieces or objects. From Middle English reinen, meaning...er...rain, also related to Gothic rign.

I was very much looking forward to the Kite Festival this year, unfortunately, one of the most common signs of spring is rain. And rain it did on Saturday morning. So instead, I did laundry and mending and cleaning and shopping and reading. My life is so tough.

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I realized today that while the majority of the books I'm in the middle of right now are YA, they basically have nothing in common with each other.

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