1. Sandra Boynton…the rhymes, the simplicity, the fun…and the music is awesome!

2. Rosemary Wells…Max is incorrigible and Ruby is such a sympathetic character

3. Barbara Park…Junie B. Jones is quirky and loveable

4. Arnold Lobel…Frog and Toad are charming

5. Russell Hoban…I adore Francis

6. Theodor Geseil (a.k.a Dr. Seuss)…I love a good rhymer.

7. Maurice Sendak…my favorite is Chicken Soup with Rice

8. Judy Schachner…Skippyjon Jones is a hoot!

9. Richard Scarry…the detail and the silliness and the amazing versatility

10. James Marshall…George and Martha are adorable…

11. Kevin Henkes…Lily and Chester and Owen and Chrysanthemum

12. Leo Lionni…such creative illustrations and such wonderful messages

13. Ian Falconner…Olivia, need I say more?

I confess that I’m not doing too well with sticking to my resolutions. Well, that’s not completely true…the writing ones are coming along very nicely, in my opinion (although I’m not writing everyday). It’s the reading ones I’m having a problem with. Lately I can’t seem to find a chance to read at all. For a while I was reading while my sons were playing on the playground, and that was working great, but for the past week and a half, it’s been too cold and wet for them to play, so we come home, I spend some time with them, then they go off to play on the computer, and I write. I suppose I could read, but I can’t bring myself to pass up the writing time.

Then, in the evenings, my husband has me watching all our Tivo’d TV shows…Lost, 24, Numbers, How I Met Your Mother…and now Heros is back. By the time we get done with that, I’m tired–my eyes are tired–and reading two pages or so just doesn’t seem to make sense. And weekends have been hard. Two weeks ago was RWA Meeting/Headache weekend. Last weekend was Sick Husband/Celebrate B.D.’s with Family Weekend. And this weekend is the Rock-climbing Birthday Party.

I know, I know. Excuses, excuses.

So my TBR stack is still chock-full of books I’m just dying to get my hands on, but no progress is being made. On the flip side, I am reading a lot of tips on writing craft, info on market trends, advice on landing an agent, etc. So, I suppose that all fits the bill of ‘good stuff’, but I miss the fiction. I’m so busy writing a romance (or two), I can’t find the time to read one…

My husband tells me to relax…no one is pushing me but me. (And my MIL). And those treasured fans of my first book who are looking for a second. But yeah, I guess it’s just me. I want to finish this book–the sooner the better!

Finally…I’m done. Everyone else lost interest, but I finished it! Seven hundred Lego pieces went into the building of Jabba’s Sail Barge… Now it’s just a matter of time before it gets dismantled…