Happy Holidays

Our holiday newsletter, The Tarp Street Journal, is here.

Whiskey is 1

And what we have learned over the past year is how good a dog Bailey is.

Visit from mom and dad

We drove up to Trinity College to visit Sam. We saw "Hamilton" (from perhaps the highest seats I have ever been in in a theater). My dad fixed the chimes in our antique wall clock. We ate BBQ. We just hung out. 

It was a short visit, but it was just enough time to remind me that they are great.

I won't provide a full itemized list of why, but the short list would include being unconditionally loving, being great role models for a successful marriage, and genuinely caring about other people and the world. 

We're #1

As I'm about to go to bed, Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath is the #1 children's book in the entire country on Amazon, in its first day. This is not so much an indicator that NN is destined to be a classic, but that Amazon First Reads is an effective marketing program. 

But it's like if you beat the defending NCAA wrestling champ on a locked hands penalty point. You're not going to complain about it.

And so it is.

An excellent day.

My life over the past 30 days

I went dinosaur hunting with my nephews.

My bride and I both celebrated birthdays.

We had a spooky Halloween.

I had hernia surgery. From lifting nephews. I'm tough. I'm fine. 

I went to a writer's conference in upstate New York. It was fun and cold.

I created a new author's website (in case you're wondering why toddtarpley.com no longer points to this blog.)

Copies of my new book arrived. Pub date is December 1.

The puppy dogs are doing just fine.

My lovely bride is as lovely as ever. And we are celebrating the sale of a new manuscript. Yay!

Book update

The cover of Library Books Are Not for Eating is here: 

It has two actual holes cut out of it, like dinosaur bite marks, revealing the art on the inside page. It's very eye-catching.

This is my first book published by Doubleday, which has an illustrious history. It's over a hundred years old, and in its early days featured authors such as Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad--more recently John Grisham. Its parent company, Penguin Random House, is the largest publisher in the world, and home of my favorite author, Dr. Seuss. So I'm happy to be affiliated with both.

It will be out in summer 2020.

Meanwhile...

• Three Grumpy Trucks is featured in Scholastic's November Inchworm flyer.
• We're anxiously awaiting the publication of Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath in December (Amazon First Reads) and January (official publication date).
• We have three manuscripts in circulation with editors, I'm still cranking on YA novel Imagine, Arizona, and I hope to have at least one more picture-book manuscript done by the end of the year. I'm headed to a picture-book writer's retreat in two weeks, which should provide inspiration and/or feedback.

Note from the future

October 7, 2014

Dear Mr. Tarpley:

I am writing to you from five years in the future--2019. 

There are a few things you may want to prepare yourself for. To make it easier, I'll just give you the good news...

1. He's about to be impeached.

2. They go out of business after you leave.

3. You always said you wanted a daughter, right?

4. Happy first anniversary!

Sincerely,

Marty McFly