Saying Yes

Do you remember, two months ago, when I wrote this:

Jan. 1, 2008

As for me, I hereby pronounce 2008 to be

The Year of Once (Upon a Time)

This year, I want to believe in the magic of words on paper. I want to believe in love that transforms, and art that heals. I want to believe in journeys that change you, in spells that are broken, and in rough stones (even me) that become gems.

I also wrote:

This year, before saying "yes" to something that beckons to me, I'll say: "Is it part of the story I want my life to tell?"

Last Friday, I said yes to something that I very much want to be part of my life story. Cheryl Klein---yes, that Cheryl, of Arthur A. Levine Books, and of the brilliant and funny blog, Brooklyn Arden---asked me if I would work with her on my next two books.

It was the easiest yes I've ever said.

Many, many hugs to my agent, Tina Wexler, for putting us together.

I'll admit, there were several days when I forgot that I had vowed, in that same Jan. 1 post, to do this:

This year, each day, every day, I'll begin with: "Once upon a time, there was a girl who believed..."

The universe must have forgiven me for my lapses. But then, it's larger than I am. Reading, writing, and believing are all larger than I am. For which I am grateful.

P.S. Here's the official announcement from the Publishers Marketplace newsletter:

CHILDREN'S: MIDDLE GRADE
Author of LETTERS FROM RAPUNZEL, Sara Lewis Holmes' NEW RECRUIT, the story of two cousins living on an Air Force base, the dynamic sixth grade teacher who introduces them to improv, and the community that rallies around them when one of their own goes missing in Afghanistan, to Cheryl Klein at Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, in a two-book deal, by Tina Wexler at ICM (NA).