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I Have No Clue What to Say

10/15/2018

I love how Anessa from Iowa started this letter. "Dear Ms. Klise, I have no clue what to say." Neither do I! It's been so long since I've posted here. Should I tell you that I bought the cutest little apartment in Lisbon, Portugal, on a street named Olival, which is Olive in Portuguese? Isn't the view pretty? (See below.)

Or should I tell you that sister Sarah and I are working on a new series starring a group of can-do fifth graders and their rabble-rousing school librarian, whose name is Rita B. Danjerous? (Say it fast.) Or should I tell you how much I'm looking forward to meeting all the young authors in Lawrence, Ks., San Antonio, Tx., Wilmette, Ill, and Omaha, Ne. in the weeks ahead? Or or or . . . See what I mean? I have no clue what to say! But I should tell say you can always write to me here. Missouri is still my home base. I just plan to spend my writing months in Portugal. More on that to come.

Oliver!

8/31/2018

"Oliver" is one of my all-time favorite musicals about a can-do boy who can and does amazing things. So imagine what a thrill it was to meet a real, live boy named Oliver Massey last night in Scituate, Massachusetts, who did an amazing thing: He wrote, directed, and co-starred in a musical based on our book, "The Show Must Go On!" You can see for yourself in these pictures how much work Oliver and his friends (and cute brother, Parker) put into this show. Deep bows to Oliver, his fab family (I met them all last night!), his school librarian at Inly, Shelley (loved her and that cool school!), and, of course, his "secret weapon" Kristin. As I told him in my clumsy and impromptu on-stage speech after the final curtain call, I *know* this will be the first of many, MANY productions from Oliver Massey!

Read more about the production here. The local paper did a cute story on it!

Guess Where I'll Be Next Thursday

8/25/2018

I'm Back at Queset House

8/21/2018

Queset House is my haunted home away from home.

Sorry for the silence lately. Sarah and I have been lollygagging all summer long in Lisbon, Barcelona, and New York. But now I'm back in North Easton, Massachusetts, for the next four weeks. If you're in the area on Wednesday nights, stop by for my 6:30 writing workshops at Queset House, my second favorite haunted house. (Olive C. Spence's mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road has to be my #1 favorite, right?)

Little Irony on the Prairie

6/26/2018

There's a lot of talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder this week. I confess I didn't love the books as much as Sarah did when we were younger, but I grew to love Wilder when I moved to Missouri as an adult. What I love most about her is not the books but the fact that she left her entire literary income--all her royalties from those bestselling books--to the public library she helped to found in Wright County, MO. (Actually, it was a life bequest to her only daughter, Rose. On Rose's death, all the money was to go to a little public library system.) Did the money go to the library? Nope. It went to Rose's Harvard-educated lawyer, Roger Lee MacBride, who passed himself off as Rose's "adopted grandson" for years. He profited, as did his family, and the NY publisher. Everyone but the little library Wilder hoped to endow. To my mind, that's the bitter irony in this tale: Laura had more in common with ripped-off Native Americans than she knew.

How Do You Say "Stay" in Japanese?

6/22/2018

Deer Me

6/11/2018

A friend visiting me here in Lisbon told me everyone needs to know his or her spirit animal. What's yours? I saw mine yesterday.

Always Fun to See What's On Kids' Bucket Lists

5/26/2018

So fun (not to mention really intriguing) to see what kids put on their bucket lists after reading about the Eli's bucket list in our latest book STAY: A GIRL, A DOG, A BUCKET LIST.

We love that having a cat made Mohammad's list in Worth, Illinois!

Thanks for sharing, W.E. Library friends. Happy summer reading -- and bucket list making -- to all!

Bom dia from my favorite city: Lisbon!

5/24/2018

The Maine Event

5/6/2018

Thanks to the magnificent librarians in Maine for naming STAY: A Girl, a Dog, a Bucket List to their 2018-2019 Chickadee List!

I need to do a little research to find out why it's called the Chickadee List, but I'm too busy right now reading sweet reviews like this from my new friends in Maine. Thanks, pals!

(Back with my research results: The chickadee is the state bird of Maine. Now I know!)

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