I have been conscious to post an update because I have been getting a healthy amount of COVID-19 updates myself and I didn’t want to spring another one on you all. But, here we are! What a strange turn this world has taken in the last few weeks. I hope you all are healthy and well through everything…
On that note, I just wanted to send you an update on my own schedule. Most of the tour for Go With The Flow has been canceled. Thankfully, we got to have some amazing school visits and book events in California where we met thoughtful kids and wonderful librarians. In California, we ate many snacks in the car, talked a lot about friendship and periods, watched some late-night movies, and I introduced Karen to some amazing gluten-free bread (she did not think it was so amazing…). We made some great memories in Chicago (C2E2) where we recorded a podcast under a duvet in a hotel room and talked about periods at our first official comic conference. In Texas (NTTBF) where we hung out with so many rad comics creators, signed MANY books, and heard from some incredible kids. It all came to a quick close before Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle (which didn’t happen last weekend). It was a bummer to not be able to attend ECCC and Denver Children’s Festival Of Stories this year as I had been really looking forward to both events and this was my first real book tour! There are so many faces, kids questions, and stories that will stay with me forever and I have truly had an amazing time making the most of every moment. But the health of my fellow humans is far more important than a book or book tour and I am really really thankful to my whole publishing team and co-author Karen for making this time incredible and responsible. I’ve included some fun snapshots from our latest events to share!
Karen and I have some podcasts and a radio show coming up and I hope you’ll keep an eye out for that listening on Colorado Matters by Colorado Public Radio in the next few weeks, Read Between The Lines podcast, and follow along at The Children’s Book Podcast.
Photos from our GO WITH THE FLOW book tour
I’m taking a bit of a social media break because the world is a bit scary right now. I volunteered for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign and that loss was a huge blow and now with this… I need some time to mentally distance myself in addition to the social distancing we are all doing. Thank you for understanding! I will probably be sending more emails on my mailing list than tweets for a little while. I think it really is important for everyone to recognize when things online feel like too much and put that down and focus on something else. I’m really excited to get sewing (I already made a shirt while I type this) and reading in this social distancing time… in addition to working on my upcoming books and teaching (yup, I do that now)!
I hope that you all are taking good precautions, staying in, social distancing, staying in place, and even quarantining where you need to. Right now, this tiny little virus circulating the globe is SO much bigger than all of us. It means we all have to look out for each other. The decision making behind on social gatherings, interactions, and going out is not about us anymore… it’s about keeping others healthy. I saw a post online about how this fear is how a lot of young kids feel about climate change – this existential doom that could affect our whole world and future. In this time, I’d like to remind you to just be kind to one another online and in-person… but hopefully in person means from a very safe distance. We have to look out for each other.
Also, if you have the financial ability to help a small business in your neighborhood please do! Bookstores, hair salons, small restaurants, and more all need our help right now. Call them up and get some gift cards or credit to your next appointments asap! Also if you are in need of a happy feel-good movie, I suggest renting the new Emma and checking out Booksmart! Two of my favorite movies I’ve watched in the last 12 months.
Be healthy, stay healthy, keep others healthy.
Wishing you all healthy thoughts,
