Mid-Week Field Notes–December 22, 2021

Some very quick things:

1. It’s official! My third novel in verse, Camp Nordland, was sold in an exclusive submission to Carolyn Yoder at Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers. The announcement appeared in both Publishers Marketplace and Publishers Weekly. It’s due for Fall 2023 publication. The story centers on the friendship of two teens in Newark, New Jersey that unravels when Tommy attends the German-American Bund camp, Camp Nordland, in rural Andover in 1937.
2. My first draft of my dissertation is nearing completion within days. Received some clarity from my committee chair late last week.
3. I’ve been writing lots of poetry and am exploring prose poetry in particular. After months of procrastination and illness, I’m finally sending the work out into the world.
4. My Writing Family History workshop through Storyscapes Studio has filled, but there are still spaces in the memoir workshop that starts January 8 from 11 am to 1 pm, Eastern. Another Writing Family History workshop will be scheduled for February. In each, we’ll be writing to timed prompts and providing feedback using the Amherst Writers & Artists method about what’s strong and memorable. Please comment below if interested in either workshop.
5. Save the date: January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Join me in a commemorative event via Zoom (5 pm ET) at the Mercer Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center, where we’ll be hosting a panel of former hidden children from Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.