This week is a busy one! Here’s where I’ll be:

• Saturday, 1/21, 11:30 am — Cornell Elementary, Albany, CA //
• Monday, 1/23, 6-9 pm — The Linden Tree (bookstore), Los Altos, CA //
• Tuesday, 1/24, 5:30-7:30 pm — The Reading Bug (bookstore), San Carlos, CA – SCBWI SF South bookstore event with debut authors panel //
• Wednesday, 1/25, 10:15 am — AP Giannini Middle School, San Francisco //

I am excited to be reading this Saturday at 11 am at my friend  Monica’s store, Monkei Miles. Here’s the awesome poster she made up. (And look how cute her store is!)

• Saturday, 11/5: Wordstock: Portland’s Book Festival, Portland Art Museum, 12:30-1 pm //

• Sunday, 11/13: Wolf craft and reading at Bird & Beckett Books, San Francisco, 11 am //

• Wednesday, 11/16: Presentation at Peninsula Del Rey retirement home, Daly City, 7 pm //

• Tuesday, 10/18: Copperfield’s Books, Sebastopol, 4 pm //

• Friday, 10/21: Literacy Night at Matanzas School, Santa Rosa, 6 pm //

• Thursday, 10/27: Authors’ Day, Jefferson School, San Francisco //

• Thursday, 10/27: NCIBA Fall Discovery Show, South San Francisco, 4 pm //

• Saturday, 11/5: Wordstock: Portland’s Book Festival, Portland Art Museum, 12:30-1 pm //

• Sunday, 11/13: Wolf craft and reading at Bird & Beckett Books, San Francisco, 11 am //

• Wednesday, 11/16: Presentation at Peninsula Del Rey retirement home, Daly City, 7 pm //

I hope to see lots of friends, family, and anyone who’d like to come at my Journey launch party. Here are the details:

 The San Francisco Zoo has a new wolf exhibit! And I’ll be doing readings of Journey right outside it, on September 24 and 25!

 I’ll be reading Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West at Green Apple Books on the Park, in San Francisco, on Tuesday, October 11 at 6:30 pm. After the reading, I’ll do a fun slideshow about wolves, interesting for both kids and adults. If I can get things in gear, I’ll also have WOLF COOKIES to pass out! So if you’re local, please come by and celebrate with me.

• What: Journey book launch //
• When: Tuesday, October 11 at 6:30 pm //
• Where: Green Apple Books on the Park, 1231 9th Ave //
• Why: To celebrate with me AND support a wonderful independent bookstore!

Thanks to to the wonderful Mill Valley Public Library for hosting my very first official Journey reading and program! I have a soft spot for this library. Not only is it where I did my internship while in library school, but it’s got to be the most beautiful, serene library in the country, and just being near it makes me happy. And of course it was such a pleasure to share Journey with a great group of  kids and parents–all of whom impressed me with their knowledge, interest, and questions.

Author Karlin Gray (author of Nadia: The Girl Who Couldn’t Sit Still), posted this interview with me. Thanks, Karlin! I feel like a real celeb now!

I can’t believe it–the cover for my first picture book, Journey, is here! (The full title of the book is Journey: Based on the True Story of OR7, the Most Famous Wolf in the West, but in the name of brevity, I’ll call it Journey!) I’m so grateful to Robin James for her beautiful illustrations. (If you want to see more by Robin, check out Alaska’s Dog Heroes, here.) The publisher chose this illustration for the cover because it captures the wolf’s hesitation as he looks back, before setting forth on his incredible odyssey.