New Book!
Little, Brown has accepted a new picture book manuscript called Brown Is Warm, Black Is Bright, all about the joys and beauties of these two gorgeous colors. (Ever noticed how often books on color actually leave out brown and black? What’s up with that?) I’m so happy this book has found a home! Can’t wait to hear who the illustrator will be.
Here is my favorite stanza. (Picture a child curled up in bed with a beloved pet.)
Read MoreBrown is warm
and soft and breathing
curled up next to me.
Epilog to Deadly Wish
My editor and I disagreed about the epilog to Deadly Wish. She is a very sagacious lady so quite likely she is right and I am wrong, but I have always been fond of this epilog. If you’d like to find out what happened to the pearl with the demon’s soul inside once it ended up in the possession of a sailor from Portugal (thought by Kata to be a demon because who else could smell so bad?), read on!
Read MoreUp ahead, Luys could see the place where the path curved around an ancient chestnut tree. He knew that it would head down a small slope through Jorge Velho’s olive grove, and from there he’d be able to see the lights of his village.
Night was gathering, but Luys didn’t need light to walk this path. Even after five years, his feet knew every stone, every rut, every hollow. And his heart was fuller of joy with every step.
Happy Independence Day
How to portray a woman who did not leave a photograph or a portrait behind her? Her shadow on the wall testifies to both her presence and her absence from much of the historical record.
It’s the Fifth of July (okay, posting a day late), so it’s appropriate to take a moment to be glad–perhaps “satisfied” is a better word–that Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s planation, has opened a new exhibit to explore and explain the life of Sally Hemings.
What should we call Sally Hemings? Jefferson’s slave? His mistress? His victim? His common-law-wife? His sister-in-law? Mother of his enslaved children?
Or how about simply a woman who had independence in her grasp but gave it up, only to work hard and negotiate skillfully to achieve independence for her children.
Sally Hemings features in my adaptation of Jon Meacham’s biography of Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson: President and Philosopher.
In his farm book, Jefferson recorded the fate of his crops and the details of the lives of his slaves. He coolly noted down the births of his own children with Sally Hemings. These children did not receive the tender care that Patsy’s and Polly’s boys and girls knew from their grandfather. Jefferson was apparently able to think of them as something entirely separate from his cherished life with his white family. “He was not in the habit of showing…fatherly affection to us as children,” said Jefferson’s son Madison Hemings.
She also gets a mention in Secrets of the Seven: The Eagle’s Quill.
Read MoreWe Interrupt Your Work to Present This Puppy
Please do not write. Please snuggle. Thank you.
This is Karma, sixth month old rescue pup who is doing her best to ensure that I never write another word. Stay tuned for more insights about writing, children’s literature, house training, and chewing the furniture.
Read MoreSarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Thomson focuses on newfound connection, magic, and suspense to conjure a fast-paced, heartwarming mystery. Thomson’s world is populated by resourceful protagonists, fanciful creatures, and quirky supporting characters.”
—Publishers Weekly