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February 2008
Aloha Friends and Happy Hearts Month,
Just back from a sunny Hawaii where my husband, Tony Paratore, was
honored as a three-time member of the Medtronic Corporation’s
President’s Club. (Congratulations, Ton!) Lucky for me, I got to sit
next to the distinguished founder of Medtronic, the man who invented the
pacemaker, Dr. Earl Bakken, a person of enormous wisdom and humility.
Dr. Bakken is doing groundbreaking work with a new hospital which blends
the very finest state-of-the-art medical care with holistic and
spiritual practices of the Hawaiian people.
Happy Birthday to Catching the Sun, my new picture book out this month
from Charlesbridge. Illustrated by the mega-talented Peter Catalanotto
and edited by the wise and wonderful Judy O’Malley, this book is near
and dear to my heart. The “firefly moment” of its inspiration came one
morning years ago when my son, Dylan, and I went to watch the sunrise on
Cape Cod. Just when that first tiny blink appeared on the horizon, Dylan
closed his eyes and shouted “I caught it!” Wow, I thought, goosebumps
all over, that’s gorgeous. He caught the sun? How perfect. Peter stayed
at our Cape cottage for three days and sketched from the exact location
where the story was born. Check it out. I hope you’ll love it as much as
we do.
Many thanks to all who came to my signings for Willa by Heart at The
Book House (thank you Rachel King!) and Barnes and Noble (thank you
Marisa Geraghty!) and congratulations to Jennifer Paley of Van Corlear
Elementary and Diane Krug of Maple Hill Middle School whose names were
drawn for free author visits.
In January, I enjoyed visiting with Keyshia Jackson and Mary Leak and
the fine group of teenagers in the Leading Ladies organization in
Albany. Hope you’re enjoying the journals. Keep up the great work!
I also had great fun talking about the Willa books with the
Mother-Daughter Book Club at the William K. Sanford, Town of Colonie
Library, under the skillful direction of Anne Marie Growney, (who also
made the most delicious “Willa by Heart” cookies, yumm.)
On a sadder note, my dear friend of twenty-five years, Gail George, died
of cancer last week. She was one of the brightest lights ever to grace
this planet. As I participated in the nearly three hour long celebration
of her life at Union College, Schenectady, yesterday, a short mantra
rang in my head: use your life, use your life, use your life. It’s not
enough to just live it. It’s not enough to just enjoy it. Open your
heart and move, do, make a difference. Use your light. Use your life.
Happy wishes to YOU!
Read on, write on, dream BIG!
Coleen 
January 2008
Hello Friends and Happy New Year,
This month I welcome my 6th book into the world: Willa by Heart, Simon &
Schuster. It is a stand-alone novel and also the third book in the
continuing story of Willa Havisham of Bramble, Cape Cod. Oh how I love
this girl. And, happily, with a new contract from Scholastic Press, I
will get to write at least three more books about Willa. Woo-hoo!
In November, I had a wonderful time presenting at the Rochester
Children’s Book Festival. Kudos to director Carol Johmann and everyone
involved. Hundreds of children and parents attended. Such great
excitement about reading. It was a festival, indeed!
Thank you to Sue Smith and Jan Peters and everyone involved in the
fabulous New York State Reading Association Conference in Saratoga in
November. I enjoyed giving a presentation and listening to others. (I
was moved to tears hearing my dear friend Debbie Dermady “book-talk” my
novel, The Cupid Chronicles, a Charlotte Award nominee).
Thank you to Joan Krege, Kendall Reilly, and Nancy Smith for hosting my
visit to Elsmere Elementary and thank you to my friend, Mary Ann
Brookman, teacher extraordinare, and all of the 6th-graders at Harry
Hoag Elementary for a wonderful visit and book-talk about Mack McGinn’s
Big Win.
In December, it was a treat to be a featured author at the Author’s Ball
to benefit the Troy Public Library (my childhood library!). Talk about a
full-circle experience. Wow.
On a sad note, my dear friend and mentor, Micki Nevett, the luminous and
legendary children’s librarian at Westmere Elementary School died of a
heart attack at the young age of 53, just weeks before she would have
casting her vote on this year’s Newbery Committee, the most
distinguished honor in her field. Micki was a firefly, a sparkler, an
inspiration to all of us. In celebration of her life, the Children’s
Literature Connection of New York State will award annually the “Micki
Nevett Sparkler Award” to honor an outstanding champion of children’s
literature -- someone who inspires others to read by their own sheer joy
of books. The award will carry a $1,000 cash gift to the winner and a
$1,000 matching gift to the library of the winner’s designation.
In this new year, I wish you one perfect moment of joy each day. I hope
you will find time to read and carve out time for your dreams. If you
are an aspiring writer, make a promise to show up on the page and then
write your heart out.
Read on, write on, dream BIG!
Coleen
October 2007
Hello Friends,
Happy Autumn! Hands
down my favorite season. It’s a kid thing – my birthday is in October.
Hope somebody’s baking a vanilla/chocolate swirl cake with chocolate
frosting for the 19th. Let’s not count candles, okay?J
My two latest novels,
The Cupid Chronicles (Simon & Schuster, 2007) and Mack
McGinn’s Big Win (Simon & Schuster, 2007) are out in the world and
selling well. And the fan mail, wow, what a treat! I love reading and
responding to the e-mails I get each day from children, parents,
teachers and librarians. Thank you so much for the feedback.
This weekend, Oct
12-13, I’m off to Rutger’s University to be a mentor at the wonderful
One-On-One conference for aspiring writers (http://www.ruccl.org). When
I was trying to break in, I met my first editor there (the wonderful
Alyssa Eisner Henkin, now an agent with Trident Media) and she signed up
my first book, How Prudence Proovit Proved the Truth About Fairy
Tales (Simon & Schuster, 2004).
Oct 17-20, I’m off to
Charlotte, North Carolina, to do school visits and present at the
Novello Festival of Reading with fellow authors Nikki Grimes, Grace Lin,
Tony Abbott, Eric Kimmel, Libba Bray, James Ransome, Jeff Smith, Pat
Mora and Wendy Van Draanen While there, I’ll be visiting with my
fabulous agents, Tracey and Josh Adams, Adams Literary and talking about
The Wedding Planner’s Daughter and The Cupid Chronicles
with a Mother-Daughter Book club at the home of Sue Gorman, whose
husband is Superintendent of Schools for Charlotte/Mecklenberg.
I am writing every
day – it is my absolute joy. Look for three new books in 2008:
* Willa by Heart,
third book in The Wedding Planner’s Daughter series, Simon & Schuster,
in stores on January 8th.
* Catching the Sun,
a picture book illustrated by the talented Peter Catalanotto, published
by Charlesbridge, will be out in February.
*The Funeral
Director’s Son, Simon & Schuster, will hit stores on August 5th.
AND NOW…. drum roll,
big news…. 6 More Books in the Works…
I have just accepted
a 5-book offer from Scholastic Press (editors David Levithan and
Jennifer Rees) for a new middle-grade novel, Sunny Holiday,
(love, love, love this girl) and a sequel, and three novels based on the
continuing story of Willa Havisham from the Wedding Planner’s Daughter
series. I have also signed a contract with Dial (editor Alisha Niehaus)
for an upper middle-grade/Ya novel, tentatively entitled “P.I.T”
(Princes-in-Training). How do princes get charming any how? Fun, fun,
fun!
Here’s wishing you
sunny fall days filled with wonder.
Read on, Write on, Dream BIG
J Coleen
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