I'm on the other side of the world doing school visits at the Western Academy of Beijing and still not completely on the right time zone. In order to clear my head and try to get the lead out of my legs, I went for an urban run this afternoon. At ...

At the Portland, Oregon airport (PDX) waiting for a flight to San Francisco, then on to Beijing, China. Long day ahead -- 17 hours of flight time, 15 time zones -- but I'm excited. Hopefully not too excited to get a bit of sleep on the way. I'll n...

After five weeks of being home (well, mostly home, there were those trips to the mountains to play in the snow), and lots of writing from my seat in the pilot's flight deck (seen here), I'm headed to Nebraska and Missouri to talk with kids about t...

I've always been a morning writer, mostly out of necessity. Get it done early before life intrudes and the creative side of my brain is overrun by minutia. A couple of months ago, though, circumstances conspired to force me into a few days of afte...

I've just learned that a world-famous climber (not to be named, in honor of a request for privacy) recently used my book, Storm Mountain, as a read-aloud to practice English for an upcoming speaking tour. I find this both exciting and unnerving. A...

According to Franz Kafka, "A book should serve as an ax for the frozen sea within us." That's a high literary bar to shoot for, but why not at least try to change the world while telling a good story?

I'm back in Oregon after two weeks of travel, first to upstate New York for a school visit on the Akwesasne Reservation, then on to Montpelier, Vermont, where I'm on the faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Childr...

The shortest day of the year, and I just finished the longest scene of my new novel -- Don't Forget to Put Your Pants On, and Other Very Important Tips for Middle School Coolness. Long title, I know. Maybe I'll shorten it. But now is not the time....

Still stunned. Still unable to wrap my brain around what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. I keep thinking that I'm a writer. I should have something to say, something that offers perspective, maybe a bit of clarity, even ho...

Before Thanksgiving I did author visits in elementary schools in Middlebury and Southbury, Connecticut. Lucky for me, I dodged Hurricane Sandy and the snowstorm that hit the following week. The weather was fine while I was there; the kids were eve...

The Washington Post Style Invitational contest asks readers to submit "instructions" for something (anything), but written in the style of a famous person. The winning entry was The Hokey Pokey, written in the style of William Shakespeare by Jeff ...

There are many, of course; more and more all the time. But I just finished listening to an audiobook version of Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES (http://maggiestiefvater.com), so it's the one on my mind right now. Mostly I experienced this st...

On this soggy morning in the Pacific Northwest, I'm grateful for the gentle rain and light breeze. Wishing all who are in Sandy's path safe passage.

I'm at a writer's retreat north of San Francisco, outside the tiny town of Gualala. The schedule is simple, and with one main focus -- getting lots of writing done. Yesterday I mixed in a run on the bluff above the beach. Today I've been splitting...

Aristotle said: "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an action but a habit." In other words, writers, keep at it and eventually you'll come up with your best. On the other ha...