I just finished David Small’s graphic novel, Stitches. It  is heartbreaking, not only because of his illness but also those appalling parents. I too had cancer that was caused by the 1950s enthusiasm for radiation. In my case it was a miracle cure for the skin infection called ringworm, and the radiation was on my face as was the cancer ten

If I were the type of person to shout Huzzah! or intone with Lewis Carroll, Oh frabjous day! I would, right now. My last birthday present has arrived—the Oxford Historical Thesaurus. Not only does it give synonyms for nearly every word in English but it dates them as well. I am so excited. It’s perfect for a historical novelist. I can find out exactly what

Wordstock in Portland was a hoot. Lots of great speakers and exhibits and panels, like ours. Here we are, talking about differences and similarities between writing historical fiction and fantasy: Ellen Howard has a new historical novel, The Crimson Cap, out next year; Susan Fletcher is the author of Shadow Spinner and the amazing Alphabet of Dreams; me, you know

Today is my birthday. After I get over the shock of being a year older, I will have a lovely time. My husband will bring me tea in bed and build a fire. I will stay in my pajamas all day and do whatever I want. That will probably include writing—we authors are a funny bunch. Happy birthday to you, whenever your birthday is.

Many years ago I used to make carrot juice for my two adorable blond nephews and as a result was christened Aunt Carrot. Now they are all grown up, still adorable although no longer blond.  We all—my brother Art, sister-in-law CJ, nephews Christian and Kevin, their lovely wives Deborah and Becca, and my beloved husband—gathered together on San Juan Island to

Rosanne Parry and I are going to share the stage at the Wordstock Book and Literary Festival in Portland in October so I wanted to read her novel before I met her. Heart of a Shepherd is a lovely book about soldiers and ranchers in Eastern Oregon, people and place that couldn’t be more different from me and mine. And she

On this day in 1969 Philip and I were married in the backyard of my parents’ home in Orange, California. A rabbi in an African dashiki recited the words to the Beatles’ “In My Life.” Philip wore a brightly colored velvet vest that I made him. I carried the dog, Dog, who wanted to be part of the celebration and wore daisies

I felt like a rock star this weekend! I was at the society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference (SCBWI) in Los Angeles with 1,100 other writers. And I got to hang out with other rock stars, like Richard Peck, Linda Sue Park, Sherman Alexie, Eve Bunting, Holly Black, Ellen Harper, David Wiesner!!! We ate rubber chicken and talked

I have been reading the galleys for Alchemy and Meggy Swann. Galleys are manuscript pages printed just as they will be in the book but not cut and bound. This is the last chance to find missing words, misspellings, words divided inappropriately, and other such mistakes. It’s too late to do editing although I always find sentences I wish I’d

Not only does Meggy have a cover now, she has her first review—from the wonderful Richie Partington of richiespicks.com. He says, among other things, “The first thing that you’ve got to know about Cushman’s latest piece of historical fiction—this one set in London at the dawn of the Elizabethan era—is that there are wonderful waves of high-spirited discourse providing balance to the dire