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Look what came today–my glossy new radio and internet history books–straight from the publisher. They still have that new book smell.

One of my resolutions is to keep my website more up to date! After the Memento Nora series (and blogging as part of a group blog for years), I got burnt out on social media and blogging.  And last year, I focused mostly on writing educational titles. I was a science writer for many, many years. So now, in addition to writing fiction, I’m writing about science and technology again, but for younger readers. Over the last 12 months or so, I’ve actually written 5 nonfiction books:

• Amazing Feats of Aerospace Engineering.  (ABDO 2014).
• 12 Great Moments that Changed Internet History.  (Black Rabbit 2015)
• 12 Great Moments that Changed Radio History (Black Rabbit 2015)
• 12 Great Facts about the Moon Landing. (Black Rabbit 2015)
• 12 Great Facts about Dropping the Atomic Bombs.  (Black Rabbit 2015)

All of them are high-interest educational titles, written primarily for the library market. The reading level of the first book is 6-8th grade, but it’s probably appropriate for high school level readers. The latter books are 4th grade reading level.

I’ve also been polishing up a new fiction project with my lovely new agent, Susan Hawk of the Bent Agency. This book is very different from the Memento Nora series. In my head, I was calling this new thing Appalachian fantasy, but Susan tells me it’s really magical realism. And that’s all I’ll say about that. 😉

Sadly, I had to put my dear sweet, goofy Bridget to sleep earlier this year. She was 13, which is ancient for a large dog, and her hip dysplasia just got the better of her. The vet very kindly came to house to take care of her.

Bridget’s a good Irish name. She’s one of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the Irish deities.  Brigid is the Celtic goddess of poetry as well as smithing, arts & crafts, and spring (among other things).  She’s also associated with fires and doors. (I swear I read the latter somewhere).  My Bridget (full confession time) was also named after the Helen Fielding book. 😉 But my Bridget served as a bit of a muse and guardian.  And, those of you familiar with the MEMENTO NORA series know I named the black dog in the story after her. That Bridget guarded the doorway into Black Dog Village, where Micah and his mom lived. Here’s when you first meet Bridget:

From the school, we walked a couple of blocks, across an old pedestrian bridge that ran over the railroad tracks, and then another block to a place called Black Dog Architectural Reclamation and Bakery. The bakery part hung below the main sign on a painted wooden panel.

“Your safe place is a junkyard,” I said, astonished.

It was an old brick building with antique bathtubs and stone gargoyles in one window—and loaves of bread in another. Instead of going in the front door, Micah led me around the side to a wrought iron gate with an Authorized Personnel Only sign hanging on it. A stone wall seemed to encircle the actual junkyard part behind the building.

“Don’t worry, I’m authorized,” Micah said, laughing, as he pushed open the creaky gate.

Once inside, we wound our way through a maze of junk. Stacks of wrought iron fencing. More old-fashioned bathtubs. Stained-glass windows. Doors. As we turned a corner, and I caught a whiff of fresh-baked bread, we ran into a black dog. A big one.

“Bridget, this is Nora,” Micah told the dog. She sniffed me once and then ran back the way she had come, tail wagging as she trotted. “She won’t allow strangers past this point without an introduction.”

We emerged from the junk maze, and Micah opened another gate, this one with a dog flap at the bottom. Bells tinkled as he shut it behind us. Inside was something almost as surprising and wonderful as Winter’s garden.

This fall / winter, I’ve been working on really fun project for ABDO that will come out in 2014. The working title is AMAZING FEATS OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING. It’s an educational title for middle and high school students. I got to write about the Saturn V, International Space Station, and the Airbus A380.  Felt like I was back at KSC!