An important historical personality receives deserved attention in this fine account … STEM-inclined readers should find her story especially fascinating and uplifting.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Herschel shines as a figure of resilience — and brilliance. The creative team compels with this portrayal of empowerment through vocation.” (Publishers Weekly)
Comet Chaser
My picture book, Comet Chaser: The True Cinderella Story of Caroline Herschel, the First Professional Woman Astronomer, is finally here!
When I first learned about Caroline, I thought it was a shame she didn’t get the credit she deserved for working with her brother, the famous astronomer William Herschel. After all, if they had been working together in the 21st century, she would’ve been a co-author on all their scientific papers. Yet even during the 18th century, her accomplishments were recognized as extraordinary. I travelled to Bath, England, where the Herschel home is now a museum, and to London to see one of Caroline and William’s surviving telescopes.
Publisher’s Weekly interviewed me about Comet in an article about Women’s History Month.
If you’d like a signed copy of Comet Chaser shipped to you, please contact my local bookseller, Mrs. Dalloway’s. Just note in the memo that you’d like it signed, and to whom you would like it signed.
Have Skulls Will Travel
In March I was off to the National Science Teaching Association to give a presentation, “After Lucy: New Approaches to Teaching Human Evolution.” (2024 is the 50th anniversary of Lucy’s discovery.) My co-presenters were the talented Elizabeth Shreeve (author of Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas) and the engaging John Mead, a middle school science teacher from Texas. I spoke about How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps and why I chose to focus on our ancestors themselves, rather than fossil-hunting scientists. And no, when it came to the group photo, we just couldn’t help ourselves.
My friend, the wonderful writer Deborah Hopkinson recently asked me to weigh in about long-form non-fiction and why I chose to write Human the way I did.
George Schaller
A few weeks ago, I flew to Tucson to see George Schaller, the subject A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts.
While George and I have kept in touch over the years, I haven’t seen him since he and his late wife Kay hosted me at their home in Connecticut while I was researching A Life in the Wild.
At 91, George is still a very active conservationist, visiting the Arizona desert as part of an effort to conserve jaguars that inhabit the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
My Son, Connor
I haven’t put out a newsletter for well over a year, and you might be wondering if I disappeared off the face of the Earth. In a way I did, for a long while. In April 2023 my thirty-year-old son Connor passed away following an epileptic seizure. It was a sudden, horrible, heartbreaking loss. Connor had a wry sense of humor and loved stories and storytelling. He was a talented writer himself.
For the last year or so I’ve been crawling out of a pit of sadness, hand over hand. The experience has reminded me, in an all-too-brutal way, that we should tell people how much they mean to us now and not wait for tomorrow. That’s why I flew to Tucson to see George. That’s why I never miss an opportunity to be with my grandchildren. That’s why I’ve started writing again, to honor the creative spark within Connor.
If you have any questions or comments, please connect with me via Instagram, Facebook, or email.
