Welcome to my new blog, which now includes content from many of the blogs I’ve created over the years. You can now also access content via category from this one page instead of having to search for my individual blogs, which were scattered over various platforms and websites.
Quick peek at the utterly gorgeous, moving and uplifting new picture book, SURVIVOR TREE, written by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Aaron Becker. Also see Debbie’s Reading Journal as well as Debbie’s Bookstagram.
My goal every day, no matter how crazybusy things get: push myself to do SOMETHING, even a very small something, to work on improving my craft (art or writing) longterm. Keeping track of these tiny steps in my bullet journal helps ground me during chaostimes. More about bullet journals later . . .
Thanks to 13-year-old Abigail The STORY Teller, who was my 45,000th follower on Twitter! When I asked Abigail which of my books she would like me to send to her as a thank you gift, I was honoured when she chose my own solo picture books Sam & Eva and . . .
*****[Exciting update November 9, 2021, 3:30 pm ET: MY BOX OF CONTRIBUTOR COPIES JUST ARRIVED!!!!.] According to my social media followers, either librarians, squirrels, aliens or Ame Dyckman stole my books! 😀 Even though I’M SORRY launched over two months ago (Sept.7th), I have yet to receive my box of . . .
Try very hard NOT to compare your progress with someone else’s as your success/fail marker. Envy can be a creativity-killer. Set small, concrete, achievable goals, then celebrate each success (no matter how small).
NaNoWriMo begins today! For those who don’t know, the full name of this annual event is called National Novel Writing Month. There are many variations possible for those who want to use this community writing challenge in other ways (I’ll be talking more about this later in this post), but . . .
Photo: With Carrie Davies at Nerd Camp. I continue to be grateful to school librarians for sharing my books and works by fellow creators with young readers. I was lucky enough to meet teacher librarian Carrie Davies (see photo above) in person at Nerd Camp Michigan years ago. I’ve also . . .
(Feel free to scoop the above image for posting elsewhere. You can also access the animated gif version on my GIPHY page.) I’ve had book creators ask me how to find book links for indie bookstores, so here is a short tutorial. For U.S. indies, it’s relatively easy. Just go . . .
I’ve had more questions recently about my art process and materials behind some of my pieces, so I’m going to start posting details about how I create some of my art. If you like my found object art, I encourage you to check out GURPLE AND PREEN by Linda Park . . .