Ode to Backyard Bunny

This comes under the random thoughts heading. Nothing to learn or ponder here. I wanted to get a picture of my summer friend. Here it is. Notice, he is nibbling weeds. Good bunny.



Backyard Bunny
You're too cute for your fur.
Thanks for eating grass and weeds - no flowers.
If you show up on the patio at dawn,
I'll keep the dog from chasing you.

I love your skinny legs
soft little paws and your perky bunny ears.
But mostly I love your cottontail
and that you visit every day.

Skeleton Horses and Rushmore Kid

Oh, don't you love titles that don't make any sense? It's been a cool week - but HOT. I have some random things to share. First, I went to the Battle of the Barns in Martinez, CA to meet the riders and sell copies of Bull Rider. I expected a horse show and got more of a performance.


The riders were divided into teams by their riding clubs or barns. They all dressed up - pirates, midieval peasants, Indians. They decorated the horses too and then, let the games begin. It's been so hot here, Terri Farley (my partner in signing) and I prepared with umbrellas and sunscreen. Turns out the Bay breeze was going and we longed for sweatshirts. I'm posting my favorite picture - Skeleton Horse. Thanks, Barb, for the invite.

OK, and here are a couple of links for you - Tina Nichols Coury posted an interview with me today on her blog, Tales from the Rushmore Kid www.tinanicholscoureyblog.com and the Sacramento Book Review also posted a review and podcast (30 minutes but come on, I'm kind of entertaining...) at http://www.sacramentobookreview.com/suzanne_morgan_williams.php. This one is also linked on my webiste.

On the home front, my husband and I had contacted a well service to check out our well pump that was cycling on for no apparent reason. We had a series of tests to perform to isolate the leak and decide - plumber, irrigation guy, well eeeek. Then yesterday I went to the goat pen and the darn goats had turned the spigot on. I turned if off. That ten seconds was worth at least two hundred dollars. Moral of the story - always suspect the goats.

I Know It's July but I'm Thinking Fall

I guess my miserable ratio of days to blog posts in July has me thinking ahead. July has been a lovely month filled with keeping the plants alive and the animals cool (so far so good) and hanging out at home and writing. (Also going well.) This weekend, I'm looking forward to Vacquero Girl's Battle of the Barns in Martinez, California. August looks busier and then there's the fall. I'll be in Oklahoma City in September at Encyclomedia - a library convention - and am looking for school visits if any of you know folks there, then Jimez Springs New Mexico in October for the New Mexico SCBWI Retreat (preceeded by our Nevada SCBWI Mentor Retreat which is also in October), then I'll be in the greater Seattle/Puget Sound area in November for a number of events. Check out booktour.com/author/suzanne_morgan_williams for updated information as we make our plans. We, would be me, and Terri Farley, author of the Phantom Stallion and Island Stallion series. We'll be presenting together in Seattle and again at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada in January.

OK, this is getting a little overwhelming so changing the subject - I'm currently reading Crash Into Me by Albert Borris, a Class of 2k9 Member and co-president who's gotten a lot of buzz lately. Albert suffered a massive stroke in December and although he's recovered physically, his language is slower in returning. The 2k9 crew has been helping to get the word out about his book and his story got picked up by School Library Journal, the New Yorker, Media Bistro - a bunch of cool places. So look for the book and check out Albert's work. I'll post about the book when I'm done. That's all for now folks. Off to do what I'm supposed to be doing.

More July

So it's already July 7th and I'm loving this month. I am home, trimming plants, walking the dog, and writing. The weather has been perfect except for the wind and I'm even managing to keep the plants alive that I put in last week. Whose idea was that? OK, it was mine. I thought if I didn't put them in now I wouldn't get a chance until September because of the heat and petunias don't do well around here after about mid-September. Anyway, they are surviving. Hopefully you have just a litte interest in horticulture. Or maybe you like fauna better. Have I mentioned our front and backyard bunnies? I see one or the other every morning. And the wild horses are settled in on the hill across the valley. Have seen them several times this week. So things are going along - happy. I may even catch up on plans for fall events, sending out books, letting the folks at S and S know my plans. Then I'll be able to see the dining room table - at least for a day. Happy summer guys. It's the one we have!

New Widget from Class of 2k9

OK, it's a sunny morning and I'm trying to get settled for a DAY of writing and of course I turned on the TV (oh don't laugh) to have some noise while I eat breakfast and there's a piece on summer reading. UNDER the featured book, but seriously spine out and legible is a brand new book by Ann Haywood Leal who is a Class of 2k9 member - Also Known As Harper. That sent me to e-mail her and the group about the serendipidous, if not exactly long, TV appearance and while e-mailing there was a note about our Class of 2k9 blog having a contest. So - I went there (notice no writing yet) and saw that the winner can win a DOZEN Class of 2k9 books including Bull Rider. OK, that's no surprise. I sent it in a while ago for a contest. But this contest is so big and cool. To enter you just leave a comment - maybe how much you love Bull Rider :) and you are entered. To enter twice you can also add the Class of 2k9 Widget. Which I just did. (still not writing - at least on my book). It's happily flashing on my blog and you can use it to speed right over to The Class of 2k9 blog and enter. I'd love for one of you to win!