For those of us who have been students or teachers for a very long time, the New Year officially starts in Sept. when pencils get sharpened, class lists are posted, and those big yellow dinosaurs begin to rumble through town. January 1st is just a blip on the calendar; we all know when the year really starts.

So, in honor of the new year, some rituals and resolutions. First, it is time for me to get back to regular blogging-enough vacationing. In fact, I started back to my school job-supporting gifted and talented students, and their teachers, at Enterprise Middle School. 

I’ve also been thinking about New Year, (read fall), rituals. On Oct. 5th, at Santoro’s Bookstore in Seattle, the Northwest is debuting some of its writers’ fall titles. I am happy to say I’ll be there talking about Wolfproof, and I look forward to hearing about other YA and children’s novels that are new this year. One of the questions the orginizers asked is: Do you have a favorite fall ritual? And I have a confession to make; I do.

There is a certain time in the fall when the weather is just about to change, the light is more golden and the scent of frost is in the air. You know what I’m talking about–a time when something seems like it’s about to happen. When my kids were little, we used to mark that time with “the fall dance.” We’d go out in the yard and dance for joy. It’s been a long time since I’ve done the fall dance, but I always think of it on fall days when I get that twitchy feeling and my heart leaps just a little. Who knows what might be just around the corner?