Such a happy development this week: a publication offer for my picture-book manuscript Adriana's Angels!

When my kids were young, I wrote text for four picture books & sent them out to publishers. Each of them got very close to a publication contract, but no cigar. I didn't have an agent--that too was a near miss, as one agent expressed interest in representing me & then stopped responding to my e-mails. So I set aside this childhood dream & focused on poetry.

Last year I met an editor at Sparkhouse Family, the children/youth publishing division of Augsburg Fortress, & she told me that the company intended to branch out from curriculum into a range of other genres for kids. I mentioned that I had a manuscript I might like to submit--& this winter she got back to me & asked to see it!

Everyone at Sparkhouse has been very enthusiastic about the book, & yesterday I got a publication offer for Spanish & English versions! It will be so much fun in the next week or two to do the translation into Spanish. One of my sisters is a Spanish prof, & a local Colombian friend is a language expert, so I'll consult with both of them to make sure it works well & flows poetically.

Sparkhouse Family is also interested in seeing my other manuscripts, which I'll first adapt to make Adriana the protagonist. I'm making a brief list of Latino/a illustrators whose work I particularly like & will send that in soon. And today I've joined the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators! I want to take some classes to learn book illustration so that down the road I can do my own art.

So my work is cut out for me--& it is work that I love. I have no intention of neglecting poetry, though! Project for the rest of my life: learn & grow as a writer, poet, artist. And as a human being. :-)