6/3/09 -- Home again, and this time for several weeks. Visits to Longview and Duvall, Washington both went great. One group of kids asked, "What's next?" I told them about the sequel to ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. "What's the title going to be...

5/28/09 -- 24 hours of travel time from Brazil to Corvallis, OR, and I'm home. For a couple of days, anyway. Then it's pack up again and I'm off to the beautiful state of Washington for more school visits, the last of the 2008-2009 school year. Th...

5/12/09 -- After running a 5K race in Portland on Saturday with my daughter, Kelsey, she and Debbie and Amy and I went to Fed Ex to ship the print-out of STORM MOUNTAIN to New York. I also emailed an electronic copy. So, for now anyway, the story ...

5/8/09 -- Super busy this Friday, doing laundry and packing for 19 days on the road: school visits in Indiana, Idaho, and Washington, then ending in Brazil. Plus I'm desperately trying to finish the rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN, spell check and print...

5/04/09 -- More good news from Michael Jung, a feature writer who interviewed me a few months ago for the online magazine, Suite 101. Another article based on the interview has been published on the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, an...

4/29/09 -- I start every writing day by reading a poem or two. It's like taking a dip in pure language, which is enough in itself. But then mix in the wonderful layers of meaning a great poem can convey, and the experience is multiplied by ten. He...

4/27/09 -- Another wonderful week of school visits under my belt. Both Troutdale, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland were a treat, filled with great kids and educators. Jotted down some fun ideas in my notebook, too, material that will almost certainl...

4/20/09 -- I'm back from Iowa, but already packing to leave again, this time for school in Troutdale, Oregon and Baltimore, Maryland. One of the joys of author visits is the thank you letters I receive from kids where I've spoken. Here's a typical...

4/15/09 -- I'm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a week of school visits. Once again I'm impressed with the incredible quality of learning experiences educators are providing for kids. See a teacher, pat them on the back. They deserve it!

4/10/09 -- Funny how sometimes life imitates art, or dog imitates dog. A librarian showed me a copy of Marley and Me, by John Grogan, the story of "the worst dog in the world." As if to say, "Oh yeah? I'm just as bad a dog as Marley. Watch this!" ...

4/7/09 -- Rewriting is progressing well on STORM MOUNTAIN. Maybe, just maybe, I got over the final hump today. It appears to be smooth sailing from here. Not to imply that all is done. There are still many details to attend to, and another read-al...

4/1/09 -- Since it's April Fool's, I thought it would be fun to offer up the one-and-only example in all 18 of my published books that I've written about this mischievous day of pranksterism. What follows is an excerpt from ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UN...

3/30/09 -- I'm well into the rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN, and things have been going fine. Well, up until yesterday, anyway, when I noticed mistakes that I was sure I'd already fixed on a previous draft, ranging from word repetitions to misspellings...

3/25/09 -- School visits completed in Columbus, Georgia, I've since driven to Charleston, SC to see my mom and sister and her family. Then on to Lexington, Kentucky to meet my wife, Debbie, at her mom's house. The family time has been great, and I...

3/18/09 -- Halfway through my author visits here in Columbus, Georgia and I'm having a great time! The kids are fantastic, as are the educators and the local barbeque. And to top it all off, the weather, which was very rainy at first, has cleared....

3/14/09 -- I'm packing to leave for a week of school visits in Columbus, GA, followed by a week of time with family in Charleston, SC and Lexington, KY. But I'll keep working on the rewrite of STORM MOUNTAIN every day, if possible. One of the grea...

3/13/09 -- Friday the 13th -- a bad luck day to the superstitious. Not to me, though. I was born on Friday, July 13th, 1951, and have had 57+ years of great fortune. Sure, I've broken bones and lost the car keys, flunked trigonometry and wrecked t...

3/11/09 -- In January I was honored to be interviewed by Michael Jung for Suite 101, an online magazine. From the interview he authored two articles: Talking With Children's Writer Tom Birdseye and Storyteller Shares Thoughts on Children's Books. ...

3/10/09 -- Today a literary quote from the great Groucho Marx: "Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog it's too dark to read."

3/9/09 -- I'm back from Oskaloosa, Iowa, where I spoke at a young author's conference March 5th and 6th. A great event, it was put on by dedicated educators, and attended by over 1,000 aspiring writers. On top it that, it was a balmy, unseasonable...