Tulip Festival Time in the Pacific Northwest’s Skagit Valley I’ll keep things short and (hopefully) sweet this time around: Here’s a link I saved about two years ago but never shared. Seems like the right time to share it now – April! The tulips are blooming! In a few weeks, the lilacs drift in. Most everybody knows a book can go anywhere, any time, any place, and in (almost) any weather. There’s very little I find as soothing as a reading a book out in the sunshine – and if you agree, you might not need any nudges. But if you think reading a good book is only about cuddling up on the sofa to ..read more

My husband, Joe Max Emminger is a painter. He goes to his studio and paints every day. He probably has paint running through his veins as well as blood. There is a wall in the dining room where we always have a painting by Joe, and it changes frequently. Joe and I have been married since 1986. Happy Anniversary by Joe Max Emminger Our lives and our art are intertwined. Jug with Cherry Blossoms collaborative painting by Julie Paschkis and Joe Max Emminger Bench painted by Joe Max Emminger, with roses from Julie Little This blog is usually about children’s book illustration, or I post about my ..read more

Kismet is one of my favorite words. I love to say it, and I love to experience it. It has a hint of onomatopoeia to my ears–whether it technically fits the definition or not. (I checked; it doesn’t.) But hear me out: “‘Tis meant!” she shouted when a pair of boots just her size mysteriously appeared at the trailhead the very moment hers fell apart. The word itself has Arabic (qisma), Persian (qismat-portion or lot) and Turkish (qismet-fate) roots, and when the American author and playwright, Julia Constance Fletcher, learned about kismet while traveling in Egypt, she was inspired to write her 1 ..read more

I know it is early February, but already I am on the lookout for signs of spring. In my garden the witch hazel named Arnold’s Promise has kept his promise and is covered with yellow frizzy ribbon flowers.  Snowdrops are popping up through the leaves. And I am looking for something to bloom in my studio as well. After months of recuperating from knee replacement surgery, I am getting back to regular sitzfleisch – and it feels really good to be back at my desk. My Portland friend, author Margaret Bechard, cautions not to talk about work in progress so it won’t lose its impetus to be born ..read more

Almost 20 years ago I painted this illustration for Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal. In September I finally got to go to Poland. The trip was a feast of color and beauty. I am sharing a gazillion images with you here. Enjoy the scroll and the stroll! Margaret Chodos-Irvine and I joined an excursion led by Karolina Merska to look at folk art in Warsaw and surrounding towns. Karolina wrote a book on making Polish Pajaki (mobiles), and she has a store in London called Folka. Karolina is a joyful person – an exuberant, knowledgeable and wonderful tour guide. She cares deeply about preserving and sh ..read more

Just before Christmas, I read a book review written by Dwight Garner (click here for an interview of him at Poets and Writers magazine) for the New York Times, and rather than go to the library and look for the book he reviewed, I got online and looked Garner up, He struck me somehow as a kindred soul; his priorities about what makes a book good seemed to echo my own. In addition, I liked the way he wrote – both clear and clever – and I liked his sentences at the level of word choices, I liked his wit. What I found as I looked into his writing was that he has a book out titled Garner’s Quotat ..read more

We’ve taken another circle around the sun and here in Seattle, we’ve entered the Big Dark. Usually a time of gray and rain and the blues. But it can also be a time of renewal. As a friend reminded me when she posted a poem of mine that I’d forgotten about called “Sleep”. It got me looking through my collection of illustrations of books in art and wondering about images of reading and sleep. Who doesn’t remember falling asleep reading under the covers as a kid? Or that nap in the summer sun? Or dozing off as the book slips from your hands? And, among others, I found these. Some suggest she ..read more

Every time I give myself over to this practice of blogging for Books Around the Table, things interesting and wonderful happen. Mystery and serendipity are likely to come along, too. It goes like this:  I gather books, willy-nilly at first, and always more than I have the time or space to write about. I keep an eye and an ear out for commonality, a hook I might hang my selections on. I sort, shuffle, and stack, trying on themes and motifs that might offer structure to my post. More visits to the library for more books with elements that overlap or provide a counterpoint to those piles tha ..read more

Need encouragement to do your thing? We found plenty last summer at  Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. The ING bank had bannered the sky bridges with that well-known ‘do your thing” phrase pointed in many directions. This one, especially, spoke to me. Dreamers, do your thing. But there was encouragement for everyone: Sisters, do your thing Timezone hoppers, do your thing Wavemakers, do your thing Innovators, do your thing Free spirits, do your thing Pioneers, do your thing Soulmates, do your thing Superheros, do your thing Instagrammers, do your thing Deep thinkers, do your thing Techies ..read more

Recently, I went a four-day meditation retreat. I didn’t actually go anywhere. I was at home online. It wasn’t the same as a residential retreat, but I did my best. My kids are gone, I have my office space, and my husband and I are both comfortable with quiet. Mostly I was on Zoom. The days were long. At times it was incredibly tedious. I was often restless, uncomfortable and impatient, but sometimes it felt good and like I was finally getting the hang of this meditation thing. So, what does that have to do with writing? It takes me back to one of my favorite wonders: where does creative insp ..read more