Hello dear readers!

I've been meaning to share these photos with you for a while now... Maria Virginia (my co-author of The Queen of Water) sent them to me back in January. She just finished up her ninth out of ten semesters for her degree in clinical psychology-- so proud of her!

Love this pic of Leslie (Maria Virginia's baby) in traditional indigena garb! So sweet...

Here's Maria's mom in the very house where Maria spent her early childhood in a village outside of Otavalo, Ecuador. This is the cooking area of her parents' home (which was a setting in Queen.)

Below is baby Leslie is with her paternal grandmother-- it looks like they're in her house, in another village on the outskirts of Otavalo.

Here's Maria's dad holding Leslie in another area of the house where Maria spent her early years.

Here's Maria with more close relatives.

Maria, husband Tino, and baby Leslie at their home in Otavalo.

Maria's wonderful 9-year-old son, Yanni, with his little sis.

Baby Leslie with her dad, Tino and brother, Yanni, in their living room...

So great to see them together and happy!

OK, a couple quick news items:

Thai rights for The Queen of Water were sold to Sanskrit Books! So, so excited about this! I absolutely cannot wait to see our book in this beautiful language!

My essay "Barren in the Andes" won second place in the Solas travel writing awards! This is an essay I'd been wanting to write for years, but due to the Notebooks deadlines, I didn't have time to do it till last fall. It felt really good to finally write it, after all that simmering inside me. Note that this is meant for adults, not the usual teen/kid audience, so be warned... you can read it here if you're curious.

If you're in Fort Collins, check out my article in the latest issue (Spring 2013) of Fort Collins Magazine. It's called "The Wonder-filled Soul of Les Sunde," and it's a profile of the man whose ideas on creativity and alive-ness have had a huge impact on me these past few years. You can pick up the free mag in any of the magazine boxes in Old Town. Here's the link to the full article (p. 51). So happy about this piece!

EVENTS:

*This Saturday,* March 30, at 2 pm, I'll be doing an event at Old Firehouse Books in Old Town, Ft Collins with Jeannie Mobley, fabulous author of Katerina's Wish! We'll talk about our books and writing for teens and older kids, and field any questions you have. Chatting and signing will ensue.

My NCW workshop on Creating Vivid Worlds was rescheduled to April 7, from 1-4 pm. Register here.

Saturday, April 6 -- Chicago. Litworks: A Teen Lit Festival. 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This begins at Eisenhower Public Library and moves to Ridgewood High School at noon. Other authors there will be Matt de la Pena, Alex Flinn, Mark Crilley, Jennifer Bradbury, and Brent Crawford. Details here. Free for teens, $5 for adults.

April 19-20-- Pikes Peak Writers Conference, Colorado. Presenting two sessions, and possible panel. Details TBD. Registration required.

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I think that's it for now! Happy spring!

xo,

Laura