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Curling Up with a Hairdo Archeologist
Flavia statue, which Ms. Stephens describes as a “mullet from hell” A couple of Facebook friends* sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal concerning a scholarly journal called the Journal of...
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Teachers Write!
I hope you’ll hop over to Kate Messner’s blog today, where I have a guest-author post about writing humor. Here’s the link. Teachers/librarians: if you don’t yet know about Teacher’s Write, it’s a free...
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Authorizing
Sunrise this morning. I got here a day early, and had the whole place to myself. This week, I am back at my annual writing retreat in upstate New York, overlooking beautiful Lake Champlain near...
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Confratute 2015
Last week I was at the UConn Co-op for a bookstore visit followed by a conversation with the amazing Susannah Richards, as part of the Confratute program. Here’s Susannah! Susannah is on the faculty at...
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Hello Mutter
I just returned from a research trip to Philadelphia, where, among other things, I visited the Mutter Museum. It was founded in 1863, and has been at its present location, at The College of Physicians,...
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Frenemas
Brass, ivory, ebony and pewter enema syringes Wellcome Library, London. I’m still deep in the midst of picture research for an upcoming book. In this blog post I wrote about the preponderance of...
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Author Event: Hotchkiss Library of Sharon
Tomorrow evening (Friday, July 30th) I’ll be signing books at the annual Hotchkiss Library of Sharon Book Signing in Sharon, CT. I participated last year and it was a fantastic experience, with a huge,...
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We Interrupt This Blog…
Hello, Dear Reader, and thank you for stopping by my site. I’ve decided to take the month of August off from blogging. I am working on not one, but two new book projects, plus finishing up my last...
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Happy Labor Day
Hello, Faithful Friends! I’ve been away from the blog for a month, and–cough–am sort of still away, for a few more days. My book deadline is looming, but I’ve made great progress on it. And yet, I’m...
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Bad’s News
The Regent (later King Charles V, right) and the King of Navarre (Charles II the Bad, left) conferring in a tent. From the Chroniques de France ou de St Denis, BL Royal MS 20 C vii f. 135v Meet...
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Suck it Up
I’m reading a lot of medical journals these days. As I was browsing Medical Magazine, dated 1833, I kept coming across lines like this one: A quick search of the whole journal brought up dozens upon...
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End of Summer Send-Off
As a final farewell to summer (*sniff*) I thought I’d post some amazing panoramic images from the Library of Congress, showing bathing beauties from the “aughts,” teens, and twenties. But then I...
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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
As part of my research for an upcoming book, I’ve been reading old newspaper accounts of murderers, including an infamous poisoning case that happened in London, in 1910. Here are the quick details:...
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Warwick Children’s Book Festival
This Saturday, September 26th, I’ll be signing books at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival, in Warwick, New York. The Festival is from 11am-4pm, rain or shine, on Railroad Avenue. Admission is free....
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Fabulous Festival
Yesterday I signed books at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival in Warwick, New York, in a beautiful part of the Hudson Valley. It was a sparkling Fall day, with a fantastic band playing, little kids...
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Pink and Blue
Anyone who’s ever set foot in the “girl” aisle of Toys R Us knows that modern toy manufacturers like to assign pink for girl-toys and anything but pink (usually blue or black or camouflage) for...
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Williamsburg and Jamestown
The approach to Jamestown. I am back from a week in Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, Virginia, where I went to do research for a book. Conveniently, I was able to go with my history-teacher...
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Darien (CT) Library
Connecticut friends–this coming Monday, October 12th, I’m going to be speaking about my book, Why’d They Wear That? at the Darien Library at 3 pm in Darien, Connecticut. Here’s the link. Please stop by...
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Visits, Real and Virtual
This past week has been full of opportunities to meet with and talk to kids, both in person and via Skype. On Monday I gave a talk in Darien, Connecticut, at the library, about my latest book, Why’d...
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Whirlwind Weekend
My whirlwind of author visits and festivals continued through this past weekend. On Friday, I visited the Friends Academy in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Janice Griffin is the librarian there, and she...
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