Cocky

You should all check out Taylur's superb story, "I Am My Rooster," up at Blackbird.

Sustenance

On my last Rolling Readers meeting before the kids went on spring break, they told me I often pick books about food.

"You make us hungry and it's not even eleven o'clock."

I thought about it, and realized they were right. I try to pick books from many cultures, and since food is such a large part of any culture, these books often include food. Also, food's a fun topic for children's book writers to base stories around. It's fun for literary writers, too.

I recently wrote a story about a guy who eats a five-pound burrito. An all-food literary journal, Alimentum, has just picked it up. I promise not to read the story to the second-grade class, and make them hungry for Mexican food.

Good Fortune

Good fortune continues to abound for Squaw Valley alumni. The latest Santa Monica Review arrived in yesterday's mail. On my way up to bed last night, I randomly opened it and happened upon the name Timothy Dyke, whom was in my Squaw Valley workshop. It's a great, clever story-about-a-story meta-story, and I recommend every either buy a copy or borrow mine.

Tell Me a Story

For better or worse, you can keep a lot from a child. In my classroom this morning for Rolling Readers, rather than explain that I hadn't brought the promised Indiana Jones book because I've been laid up with a nasty stomach flu, I simply said I'd brought something else that I thought they'd like. Not a question was asked. My stomach was a conflagration, but I was still able to do all the characters' voices to perfectly hyperbolic pitch. Next week? Indy for sure.

A belated congratulations to my workshop mate, Brian, who recently placed a story.

Happy long weekend!