Outta’ this world blog

April 8, 2025 — My brother Ken was the first-born child in our family of four children. Two more boys followed, spaced about two years apart, Derek and David (Davey). “The little girl” (that’s me) arrived on the scene some four years later. My Mom called me “the pleasant surprise.”

That’s a short introduction to my nuclear birth family, but this post is about the paintings by Kenneth Wolfe Rodman. I always thought his middle name was exceptionally cool. Ken was always artistic and creative. I recall the comics he drew when he was young, featuring three delinquent friends, who always found trouble. I believe the comic was called “Punky and his Pals.” They’re probably in the boxes stacked in our son’s former bedroom. I came from a family who s

March 11, 2025 — A memory my Mom loved to recount from when I was a little girl: one day she told me she had an “enjoyable story” to share with me. After at least several days had passed (and, apparently, no story), I asked “when are you going to tell me the enjoyable story?” And then, she’d laugh. I guess I was very young, and because I’d remembered and used the same words she did, she was impressed and amused. 

I think it’s in our nature to love stories: to listen to, to tell, to read, to write stories down, to watch them on television and at the movies, to hear stories on the radio … in just about any way, shape or form. I was reminded of this while on vacation with friends (five other couples) recently in Sarasota, Fla. We decided we’re not

October 29, 2024 — I asked our son, Trevor, some questions about his favorite childhood books and this exchange is the crux of this week’s blog post. 

July 24, 2024 — For our upcoming book, Into the Thicket, the illustrator and I decided that we’d like to print in hardcover. Our book’s page count isn’t high enough to qualify us for hardcover printing through Amazon so I started to Google research (these two words are synonymous nowadays, right?) other alternatives. 

A highly-rated service that got my attention and would allow for hardcover printing is called BookBaby. They offer a wide range of services from editing and design (interior and cover) to printing and marketing. 

June 18, 2024 — This week I’ll share several short and sweet updates. First, I received a wonderful thank you note from the students at Brick Elementary School. They sent it to me with a photo of me reading to children inside the tent on Literacy Night. What a sweet and appreciated gesture! I’ll be back at Brick on Tuesday night this week for their Reading in the Park event, where I’ll read my book aloud. This week is expected to be HOT (in the 90s)  and so I hope (for everyone’s sake) that it’s cooled down enough by the early evening time of this event, but at least there should be some shade, under trees or tents. 

June 4, 2024 — After my first interview with Jenny Kalejs, illustrator of How Happy Is a Lark?, of course I thought of more questions. As mentioned in the first interview blog post, here’s part two with more of her endearing and enlightening answers.

1. What was your illustration style for How Happy Is a Lark? What influenced your decision on a style to use (if relevant)?

For the Lark art, I would generally sketch something in pencil, paint in watercolor over it (I use a really simple little portable kit), and then create bold outlines and details using black pen (Staedtler “pigment liner” of various sizes, to be exact). At heart I’m an illustrator more than a painter, so the hybrid style of drawing + filling in with paint allowed me th

May 14, 2024 — On a hot summer afternoon, our sons were playing football in the backyard, just like so many other days. Davey threw one over Trevor’s head. Trev ran to get the ball and noticed something unusual near the ball in the grass. Turns out it was an injured baby rabbit. We took the rabbit to wildlife rehab to try to save it. Nearly 20 years ago (the boys were about 11 and 8 years old), this real life story inspired me to write a picture book manuscript, dubbed Into the Thicket. In the manuscript, after the boy finds the rabbit, the rest of the story is highly fictionalized. The rabbit rehab info, however, is true. 

Because the book was written so long ago, this year I consulted with a wildlife rehabber to ensure the book w

April 9, 2024 — Jenny Kalejs is an exceptionally cool human who I had the good fortune to meet at my previous job. We were both communicators working in different, but related, areas. Jenny was with the University of Michigan Biological Station. I worked in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Prior to 2019, we worked in separate buildings but with our move into the new Biological Sciences Building, our cubicles shared a (tall) wall. I knew Jenny was an artist as I’d seen some of her creative drawings for the Biological Station and if we sat together in a seminar, I’d notice her amazing doodle notes. But what I didn’t know at the time was that she was a children’s book artist. 

After looking around on the internet and social medi

February 6, 2024 — Can I get a virtual drumroll please? Ba-dum-bum-CHING! In fall 2024, we’re aiming to self-publish a new children’s picture book titled Into the Thicket. The story is a highly fictionalized retelling of the real experience of my youngest son finding an injured baby rabbit in our backyard one summer during his childhood. We delivered the little creature to a wildlife rehabber for help. The story encompasses an appreciation for wildlife, compassion, overcoming fears, loving  — and letting go, and demonstrating how even small acts of kindness make a difference in a great, big world.

I am fortunate to have worked with another incredible artist during my time at the University of Michigan (another touch