Tommy

Here’s Tommy, in a triple role. As the firstborn of my youngest niece, he’s the newest member of my family. As a mouse aficionado, he has adopted my totem animal. And as a Tommy (even if he spells his full name Tomos, as befits a Welshman) he’s a model for Megan’s new half-brother. That Tommy appears in the book I’m working on now–Mouse Menace. And yes, mice show up in his crib too. 

One way to launch a book

Why spend an hour on what can be done in three minutes, give or take? My niece’s husband, the Reverend Canon Dr.

Stephen Cherry, found a great way to launch his third book, as you can see here:  http://t.co/U2lU3b8J? (Ecclesiastical note: the gentleman in purple is the Bishop of Durham, who will shortly become the new Archbishop of Canterbury.)

Heading for Walnut Creek

I’ll be speaking about Mousenet on a “debut author panel” sponsored by the Contra Costa and Alameda wing of SCBWI (the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Writers). It’s at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1924 Trinity Avenue, Walnut Creek, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st. As a bonus, there'll be holiday cookies: people are invited to bring a dozen to share. So if you like cookies, or if you want to know how writers get published (spoiler alert: it takes a while) come on by. Register at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=ztqkjicab&oeidk=a07e6n0ddt4339e2a2e, if you’re a member. If not, just turn up.

Rats

I am just back from Myanmar. There probably aren't too many readers of 'Mousenet' there but I did find out one fact that is gratifying to a writer of mouse books. I was born with a natural affinity for rodents.

The Burmese people follow astrological signs that depend on the day of the week you were born, and my sign (for a Thursday birth) is the rat. We visited several ceramic rats, including one at the massive Shwedagon pagoda complex in Yangon. This rat is being watered by a Thursday person who is giving him one cup of water for each year of her life (apparently–as with the candles on birthday cakes–people over a certain age are allowed to cheat, with one cup per decade, but I still didn’t indulge. The rat looked water-logged enough.)

Talking of rats, I recently made a guest appearance on a blog called ‘Ginny’s Friends.’ Ginny Rorby writes splendid Young Adult novels with a deep concern for animals, and I related the tale of Fido, the rat I rescued from a grocery store for my son Charlie. See the post at http://grorby.blogspot.com/2012/10/fido-rescue-rat-by-prudence-breitrose.html. 

Fido turned out to be one of the most successful pets we ever had.

Minnie gets busted

Let’s hear it for Minnie Mouse, who chained herself to the railings outside Disney Headquarters. Actually she’s an activist for the Rainforest Action Network in a rather cunning disguise. 

Minnie was protesting the fact that Disney–my publisher– had been using paper from endangered rainforests in Indonesia for its books, possibly including ‘Mousenet.’ And the protest worked!! Disney hadn’t realized where its suppliers were getting their paper until Minnie told them, and from now on they’ll insist that it be from sustainable sources. So ‘Mousemobile’ (due out next fall) will be environmentally respectable.

Headquarters of the Mouse Nation?

I’ve been busy copy-editing Book Two, otherwise known as 'Mousemobile–When a Nation Hits the Road,' due out next fall. 

The head office of the Mouse Nation is not the only organization behind the Great America theme park that has to hit the road, because look what’s coming there–the new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers. 

(Actually the mice have a different reason for leaving, as you'll find out when you BUY THE BOOK. That's an order.)

The mouse in politics

It was good to hear from Obama's acceptance speech that climate change can finally come out of the closet, politically. No, mice don't have the vote, but if they did. . . (OK, one can't be sure that mice would be democrats. Democmice, maybe?)