The Barnes & Noble blog has this fun newish feature called Kidlit Open Mic (maybe there’s an adult one too? I don’t know) where they ask authors to share personal stories. There isn’t any guidance on what the authors can talk about, just that it should be a personal story, and around 300 words.

I’m honored to have been asked to be part of the picture book group. Go check it out! Because we were allowed to write about whatever we wanted, there is a really interesting mix of stories. I wrote about the time my dad took me to my first Broadway show. I’m up there with Kell Andrews, Cece Meng, Jessica Walton, Liz Wong, Ruth Ohi, and Isabel Campoy.

And many thanks to my neighbor Brian Reeves, who fielded my urgent text saying, “I need a photo for a blog post in the next three minutes…can you meet me in the street?” with grace, patience, efficiency, and proper equipment. (Also be sure you click through to Brian’s website, which right now features an art installation by my daughters, who often take over Brian’s house and art projects, which he also greets with grace and patience. I mean, who lets some neighborhood kids crash art installations and move stuff around? Brian does. And then teaches them electric guitar afterwards.)