I’ll be at the Dakota County Heritage Library this Saturday, from 1-2pm, reading WORM LOVES WORM and talking about how pictures books are made.
So if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in, say “Hi!” and check out my “new-ish” pants.
This Saturday, at 10 am, I’ll be reading WORM LOVES WORM at Barnes & Noble in Edina
Stop by, hear me read,
and then we can grab a hamburger (served with habit-forming “crispy potatoes”) that the StarTribune calls an “unexpected delight” and rates one of the best burgers of the year.
When I moved to the Twin Cities seven years ago, one of the best things I did was to go to the Loft Literary Center and sign up for a class taught by Rosanne Bane about how to building a writing habit.
Not only did the class help me increase my writing results, but also it helped give me confidence that I could handle the workload of Hamline’s MFA Program in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults.
This fall is the last time Rosanne will be teaching “The Writing Habit” class at the Loft Literary Center. In 2018 she’ll be semi-retired and “reveling in the glory of so much time to write and travel.”
I’m honored to announce that Rosanne will be handing the torch to me, and I’ll be co-teaching with her at the Loft beginning next week. The intention is that I’ll take over teaching this classic course, which has launched hundreds of satisfying and successful writing practices. I’ll also be adding all the apps, online tools, and techniques that I’ve found to help simplify
Rosanne’s book!
the logistics of building a writing habit and a writing career.
Hence, we’ve renamed the class “Writing Habits and Hacks.” It runs on Thursdays evenings (6:00 to 8:00 p.m.) for six weeks at the Loft Literary Center from September 21 to October 26, 2017. Here’s the catalog description: “Do you want to write more — more often, more freely, more effectively — but fear you don’t have the discipline or time? Forget will power! What you really need are consistent writing habits and a handful of ‘writer brain hacks’ adapted to fit your writing life and style.”
I invite you to join Rosanne and me!
These “Power Paisleys” are from Loud Mouth Golf. I thought them fitting for this month pants since:
A) Paisley Park is here in Minnesota.
B) I just found out that WORM LOVES WORM is representing Minnesota at the 2017 National Book Festival.
How this happened is beyond me, but I’m very happy and honored to be repping the North Star State. If we hadn’t moved here I would have never discovered Hamline’s MFAC program and WORM would never have been written.
You betcha’!
So, if you know who it was that made WORM the rep of the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, please let me know so I can thank them properly by buying them some lutefisk taking them to a hockey game baking them a hot dish sending them a nice note.
Last week at the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Lu & Bean, and their mom, Tracy, for their fantastic kids story podcast!
It was so much FUN! Not only did I get to read WORM LOVES WORM out loud, in all my goofy voices, but we also got o talk about Star Wars, my next book, and, naturally, awesome pants.
So if you want to hear all the voices that live in my head go over and give it a listen right here.
Event date: Sunday, February 13, 2016 – 2:00pm
Come to Wild Rumpus Bookshop to celebrate love and its ability to conquer all. J.J. Austrian will read his new book, Worm Loves Worm, and, since it’s a party, we’ll have cupcakes!
WHEN A WORM meets a special worm and they fall in love, you know what happens next. They get married! But their friends want to know—who will wear the dress? And who will wear the tux? The answer is: it doesn’t matter. Because Worm loves Worm.
This irresistible picture book is a celebration of love in all its splendid forms.
Join in the celebration January 5, 2016!
Event date: Sunday, January 17, 2016 – 1:00pm
Red Balloon Bookshop
You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of a worm . . . and a worm.
Join debut local author J.J. Austrian and Red Balloon bookshop for a special Worm Loves Worm storytime and launch party. We’ll have wormy wedding treats, book signing, and fun. The party starts at 1:00!
