It’s been 10 months since my last post on this blog, so I’d say I haven’t really kept my promise of using this space for “occasional musings and updates.” My resolution for 2009 is to try to do better. I have been blogging once a month on Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (I.N.K.), but those posts tend to be a bit formal. I’ll try my best to create a more casual dialogue here between me and anyone who stops by.

This week, the big news is that my book Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly, is finally going to press. I started it way back in 2003, but put it aside while I wrote Swifter, Higher, Stronger and then Freeze Frame. I went back to it late last year and I’m overjoyed to finally see everything come together on it. Renowned journalist–and host of Nick News–Linda Ellerbee was gracious enough to write a foreword, which is thrilling for me because I’m a big fan. Not surprisingly, she did a fantastic job pointing out Nellie’s significance to the women who are at the forefront of journalism today. Bylines will be on the Fall 2009 list of National Geographic Children’s Books.

That’s it for now. At least I’ve broken my silence. I’ll be back soon.

This page used to be called “What’s New,” but anyone who’s ventured here recently probably came to the conclusion that I haven’t been doing all that much lately. The reason? Adding “What’s New” content required me to use HTML coding and go through all sorts of security measures to prove that I had the right to make changes to my site. During one of those forays, I accidentally erased everything on the page. That made me rather gun-shy.

Fortunately, the age of blogging has ushered in easier ways for those of us who are less literate in coding language to post material, and thankfully, the original designer of my site, Chiedu Egbuniwe, was willing and able to substitute this blog in place of the What’s New page. So from now on, when I want to give you a head’s-up on my recent and upcoming adventures, I can type my post and miraculously see it here without the muss and fuss of previous years.

What’s New? So now I finally can tell you that my book Swifter, Higher, Stronger: A Photographic History of the Summer Olympics has been updated for the 2008 Games. The new hardback edition will be available in June with U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps on the cover. There’s a good chance Phelps will break all sorts of records in Beijing, including the one for the most gold medals ever won by a Summer Olympian. The all-time record is nine and Phelps already has six.

More Blogging. Besides this blog, I’m also one of 20 or so authors who’s contributing to a new blog called I.N.K.: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. It’s a thrill to be part of an impressive group that includes such luminaries as Kathleen Krull, David M. Schwartz, and Vicki Cobb. Each of us writes at least one posting a month on anything that strikes his or her fancy. My posts will appear on the first Friday of each month, so take a look. The address is http://inkrethink.blogspot.com.

That’s it for now. If you have any questions or comments on what you’d like to see here, write me at mail@suemacy.com.