Pumpkins, clouds, and superheroes

I love autumn! Love, love, love autumn. And this year, we've had the most delicious, leaf-crunching, cider-drinking, sunny-shining, breezy, easy autumn ever. I was so afraid when I left for Chicago last week that when I came back, autumn would have already been pushed aside by winter, but it's still lingering. And I've been celebrating by wearing sweaters and sandals, eating apples and drinking hot chocolate. Mmm...

The tour is over until January when I go back out with Libba Bray. It was terrific, as always. What's better than meeting readers and booksellers, librarians and teachers, kids and old fogeys who all love books? It's wonderful to crawl out of my house and see the world this way, one book store and school at a time. Traveling is tough though, and I'm glad to be home and getting the kids back on routine. I got home on Halloween, in time to take a nap to try and recover from a bad night, carve a pumpkin, and watch the cutest little Green Lantern ever go trick or treating. Max would ring the doorbell himself and when the door opened, say, "Trick-or-treating!" After obligatory candy was placed in bag (a book bag from Andersen's Book Shop in Naperville, Illinois), he'd always say, "Thank you. Happy Halloween!" Who's got the cutest kid in the world. Me. That's right. Maggie was Wonder Pig (dressed as a pig with Wonder Woman arm bands and tiara, from an episode of Justice League were Circe turned Wonder Woman into a pig. As I'm sure you're aware. Clearly.).

Take a gander at these pumpkins my friend and pumpkin carving enthusiast Laura Middleton made. She and her family do like fifty each year. If you were with us at the time, you saw a princess academy one she made a couple of years ago, and outdid herself again with a homage to book of a thousand days and austenland. Outstanding.