Anne Kennedy
Anne Ursu
Betsy Snyder
Bobbie Hinman
Carmella Van Vleet
Dandi Daley Mackall
David Catrow
Ellen Schreiber
Jane Morris Udovic and David Udovic
Jeannine Garsee
Lisa Klein
Lynda Durrant
Marcia Christensen
Marlane Kennedy
Michael J. Rosen
Michael Salinger
Michelle Houts
Pat McCarthy
Sara Holbrook
Tammie Lyon
Tiffany Laufer
Tim Bowers
Tony Abbott
Tracie Vaughn Zimmer
Will Hillenbrand

Join us, won’t you?

Paul Hoppe, she said, is on board to provide illustrations for my YA nonfiction book about impostors, masqueraders, what-have-you. How excited am I about this? Well, just know that it literally took maybe a second and a half of looking at his work for me to recognize that he was right for this project. Please, see his work for yourself.

So, while I was already eager to resume work on my manuscript revisions as soon as I got back from my vacation, knowing Paul’s going to be involved has given me even more of a boost. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to those…

I delivered a brand-new presentation — Me? Write Science? — to three groups of seventh-graders who had just begun their own writing projects for an upcoming science fair, and it was easily the highlight of my week. (The highlight of the highlight? Hearing my tie described as “beast.”) But there’s been other good stuff lately, too:

The 2009 Teddy Award nominees have been announced by the Writers League of Texas. Congratulations to Dotti, Jenny, Kathi, and Xavier!

So, for now, please click here for more information about me, The Day-Glo Brothers, or my author appearances.

Since The Day-Glo Brothers came out in July, author-appearance opportunities have loomed before me like a really, really good buffet, and I’ve been sampling a little bit of everything: one bookstore event, one presentation to other authors, one public library visit, one school visit (this coming Wednesday), and one homeschool workshop (next week).

Next month, I’ll make it to the dessert cart, with my first out-of-state trip since publication. On Saturday, November 7, I’ll be signing books at the Buckeye Book Fair in Wooster, Ohio — just down the road from Cleveland, where Bob and Joe Switzer invented their daylight-fluorescent colors.

If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by to say hello — and to check out the other authors on the bill.

I’m delighted to announce that Eerdmans Books for Young Readers will be publishing The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch, the story of a man who in ten years went from teenage field slave to Reconstruction-era Congressman.

If you’ve seen Eerdmans’ recent Caldecott Honor-winning biography of poet William Carlos Williams, A River of Words, you’ll have a good idea of why I’m so excited to be working with them in telling Lynch’s exceptional story.

Registration opened this week for Destination Publication!, the January 30, 2010, conference of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

Now, Austin SCBWI tends to do conferences well. But this one’s so big you’ve got to take a step or two backwards in order to see the whole thing. It will have:

A Newbery Honor Author (Kirby Larson)

A Caldecott Honor Illustrator (Marla Frazee)

Three Agents (Andrea Cascardi, Mark McVeigh, Nathan Bransford)

Three Editors (Cheryl Klein, Lisa Graff, Stacy Cantor)

Eight Featured Authors (Liz Garton Scanlon, Shana Burg, P. J. Hoover, Jessica Lee Anderson, Jacqueline Kelly, Jennifer Ziegler, Philip Yates, and me)

One Special Guest Author (Sara Lewis Holmes)

One Featured Illustrator (Patrice Barton; no, we’re not)

Traditional Critiques

Advanced Critiques

Portfolio Reviews

Two Parties with the Faculty

Like I said — registration for the conference opened this week. I wouldn’t count on it staying open for long.

What is “this”? What is “it”? Why, it’s the cover of Shark Vs. Train, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld and coming from Little, Brown in June 2010!

First, I’ll be the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Six days later, I’ll get to make a presentation at the public library in my hometown.

Semi-official descriptions and details are below — I’d love to see you at either event, and I hope you’ll consider spreading the word about them.

What: Who Did It First? Who Did It Best? Who Did It Differently?
When: Saturday, September 12, 2009, 11:00 a.m. – 12 noon (Austin SCBWI monthly meeting)
Where: BookPeople, 603 North Lamar, Austin, TX

Whatever you’re passionate about, there’s somebody in that field whose life story would be best told by you — and as a picture book biography, no less. Chris will help you figure out who in the world that person is and what on earth you should do about it.

Chris is the author of the new picture book biography The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors (Charlesbridge Publishing; illustrated by Tony Persiani), which has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. His other upcoming books for children and young adults include Shark Vs. Train (June 2010; Little, Brown and Company; illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld) and Just Who Do You Think You Are? (2011; Dial Books for Young Readers). You can visit him at http://www.chrisbarton.info.

What: Local boy makes good with The Day-Glo Brothers
When: Friday, September 18, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Where: Sulphur Springs Public Library, 611 North Davis, Sulphur Springs, TX

If you’ll be in Sulphur Springs the day before the World Championship Hopkins County Stew Cook-Off, join author Chris Barton for a “colorful” presentation at his hometown public library.

With the assistance of the younger members of the audience, he’ll be discussing the story, the science, and the patience behind his first book for young readers, The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors.

It’s an “enlightening story” (says WIRED magazine) … “of quintessentially American ingenuity” (Publishers Weekly) … that “makes a bright idea stand out even more” (The Washington Post).

If you’d like to learn more about the book, please visit http://www.chrisbarton.info/books/dayglo.html.

And if you’ll be in town on the 18th, dress in your Day-Glo best and come join Chris!