Hello dear friends. To celebrate the launch of PEDAL, BALANCE, STEER: Annie Londonderry, the First Woman to Cycle Around the World, I’m cycling the blogsphere and I’ve got a bunch of guest blog post coming up. I thought it would be a good idea to give you all a heads-up so that you can be on the look-out…some of the posts have giveaways attached to them…so please visit those blogs and leave a comment.

1. January 2: Writers’ Rumpus
2. January 25: Why We Write Podcast
3. February 6: Kathy Temean’s Blog
4. February : Darlene Bock Jacobson’s Blog
5. February 16: Beth Anderson’s Blog
6. February 19: Maria Marshall Picture Book Buzz Blog
7. February 20: Book Birthday on Erin Dealey’s Blog
8. February 23: Q&A on Picture Book Builders Blog
9. March 27: March On With Mentor Texts

I also wanted to let everyone know that I’ve got a Facebook Birthday fundraiser going on in support of the Stuart Kirkfield Scholarship at Highlights Foundation. This scholarship was spearheaded by Maria Marshall and Sheri Jones Rivers when my husband passed away in 2018 – and several writers have already received funds to attend Highlights’ retreats. And I’m committed to seeing it continue helping folks follow their dream. You can donate right on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1108264050308830/
Or, you can go directly to the Stuart Kirkfield Scholarship page on the Highlights Foundation website: https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/stuart-kirkfield-scholarship/
And when the fundraiser is over, I’ll award a 60-minute Zoom Ask-Me-Anything Zoom chat to a randomly chosen winner – you can get a ticket in the giveaway hat in one of several ways:
1. Donate to the scholarship fund in any amount or
2. Share the Facebook post or
3. Share the Twitter post or
4. Share this post on your favorite social media platform

And last, but certainly not least, on February 11, get set for the Heads-Up-The-Contest-is-Coming post with all of the guidelines for #50PreciousWords right here on Picture Books Help Kids Soar.

Sharpen your pencils, dear friends…we’ve already got editor and agent critiques and submission opportunities, plus author feedback, seats in Picture Book Writing classes, Ask-Me-Anything chats, and signed picture books…and of course, the Paula Cohen Martin Big Dreams Mentorship.

Have a wonderful weekend, dear friends. Thank you for spending your precious time here.