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Want to write a book in July? Want to illustrate it, too?
If you're between the ages of 8 and 108, you're invited to join our July Master Class. Details right here.  Once upon a time there were a lot of kids who were stuck inside all summer because of a nasty virus. Rather than feel bored or cranky, these kids decided to be creative and productive. They signed up for a three-week online master class with award-winning author Kate Klise and her illustrator sister Sarah Klise.
With the Klise sisters' help and encouragement, the kids wrote picture books. They illustrated them, too! The classes weren’t easy. In fact, they were downright challenging. Kate insisted the kids work like real authors. They had to think, write, rethink, rewrite, edit, and polish their stories. Sarah helped the kids bring their stories to life with art and design. She showed them how to sketch, draw, shadow, and create compelling visuals with characters and text. Sound like fun? We think so, too. Here are the details: The JUNIOR MASTER CLASS (ages 6-8) will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, June 2-18, 2020 (six classes). The SENIOR MASTER CLASS (ages 9-13) will meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, June 1-19, 2020 (nine classes). A Publishing Day Party will be held via Zoom on Saturday, June 20. Attendance is optional, but we’d love to celebrate our young authors and illustrators in style with an open mic-style launch party. All classes will be conducted via Zoom. Apply right here. Participation is limited. Send in your application now to guarantee a spot. Questions about the classes? Contact Kate Klise. Questions about applying or payment? Contact Sarah Klise. More classes coming in July and August. (Maybe one for adults. Interested? Let us know!)  That's me (Kate) embracing my new hobby during this strange and surreal time. Don't worry. There was only one other person on the river and he was six feet away. In other news: A belated (but enthusiastic!) thank you to South Dakota readers for putting STAY: A Girl, a Dog, a Bucket List on the South Dakota Prairie Bud Reading List for 2019-2020. We hear voting has been extended till May. Carry on!
 Someone recently told me there's a common thread in all of my books: strong female characters who won't take no for an answer.
Well, guess what? I wrote a documentary about a real woman, not a fictional character, and she doesn't much like the word no, either. Her name was Blanche Ames. The film is premiering Saturday night, just outside Boston. Please come if you're in the neighborhood! We'll be rolling out the red carpet for Blanche. You can read more about the documentary here and see a review of the film here.  "Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work." -Gustave Flaubert *He looks a little bit like Wally Russ, doesn't he?  This is a weird picture of us, but I'm sharing it here because how many times in our lives are we going to be presenting to the American Library Association on two huge jumbotron monitors with an ASL interpreter? What a thrill! Thanks to the ALA for inviting us to share some thoughts about why *we* love all librarians at the I Love My Librarian Award ceremony in Philadelphia this weekend. Our newest book was inspired by one of the winners, Cathy Evans, a school librarian in Memphis, Tennessee. It was so much fun to hear Cathy's remarks and all the other winners. Truly inspiring!
It's that time of year again! I'm on the road, meeting young authors in Lawrence, Kansas, and Glendale Heights, Illinois. As always, I am blown away by the enthusiasm, ingenuity, intelligence, wit, kindness, and just plain fabulous-ness of these creative young writers and illustrators. Could these kids and their projects be any cuter? (The old kid is me, posing in front of my heroine, Olive C. Spence, at Glen Hill School this morning.)
Happy to report I didn't fall off the roof of my apartment building in Lisbon, Portugal (see post below). Even happier to report that Sarah and I both have had great summers! Sarah spent time in NYC while I was in Chautauqua, New York. Now I'm back at Queset House, my favorite haunted house/library in North Easton, Massachusetts, where I'm leading fiction workshops for kids and obituary writing workshops for grownups. Can you think of a more perfect place to write than right here? I'm also working on a documentary about one of my new-found heroes, Blanche Ames. Check out the trailer here. Isn't she something?
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