June was hopping! Talk about starting summer off with a bang. My newest book, Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, coming out in September, received favorable mentions in an Associated Press article, a Publishers Weekly cover story, and a short feature in Newsweek. There's lots of great early buzz about this book, and that definitely put a smile on my face.
This year's American Library Association Conference was held in Anaheim, CA, not far from my home. As a result, I got to play host to a few good friends in the business: librarians, authors and literacy specialists. Their good vibes still permeate the air in my humble home.
Guess what? I got together with a good friend—my main computer guru, Craig Northcutt—and recorded poems from several of my books to add to the website. Look for audio clips to start showing up on my site any day now.
As promotional plans heat up for my Obama book, folks keep asking, "What're you working on now? Well, that's easy: two young adult novels, a picture book of historical fiction, a new chapter book series, and keeping my sanity! I seem to be allergic to working on one book at a time!
Meanwhile, I've always got other irons in the fire, like the two writing workshops I taught at Harding University in Arkansas. One workshop was on poetry, and the second focused on storytelling through poetry (picture-books, novels-in-verse, etc.). Both were well received, plus I got to hang out with my pal, Alexandria LaFaye, an awesome award-winning author of historical fiction. Check out her novel Worth when you get a chance!
All for now! Have a great, and a safe, Fourth of July.
Nikki

