Lexicon and Tumblehome Learning

I have neglected this blog for a couple of weeks, for which I apologize. I've been caught up in a whirlwind (why is a whirlwind good and a tornado bad?) of book and writing related activity. A second launch for Lost in Lexicon (the 2nd edition), a new company that I'm ready to start mentioning, and progress on two or three other books. Here are some highlights:

* Lost in Lexicon just won a Mother's Choice Gold Award, which will lead to promotion at book fairs and on the Barnes & Noble website.

* I attended the Midwest Booksellers' Association last week in Minneapolis, great fun in a beautiful old depot, and a chance to interact with lots of independent bookstore owners, who bravely uphold adventurous literature and opportunity for small presses.

* This week I finished proofing the galleys of New Frontiers in Formative Assessment, the educational book I pulled together from multiple authors and edited this past year. The book will come out from Harvard Education Press in December. It's been an adventure and will, I think, make a concrete contribution to the field.

* In July, three friends and I founded a new venture, Tumblehome Learning, which will produce science-based mysteries, adventure stories, and biographies for kids ages 8-18, each accompanied by a science kit, a set of activities, and/or electronic apps. We are based in Boston, Minneapolis, and Taipei. This is a great new adventure. We'll be rolling out our first set of three books, maybe more, at the US Science and Engineering Fair in DC and April. As anybody associated with the publishing business can attest, this is breakneck speed.

* I've written a draft of the first Tumblehome Learning book, and the first book in our elementary Galactic Academy of Sciences series. The book is called The Desperate Case of the Diamond Chip, and it features two sixth graders traveling through time to consult with giants in the development of electronics to help them find out who has stolen a diamond-based integrated circuit that will change the face of computing.

* I turned in a penultimate draft of the second Lexicon book, The Ice Castle, which will appear next fall, a more ordinary amount of lead time in the publishing world.
Last week in Minneapolis, the publisher and I consulted with our artist, Joan Charles, on the cover design. It's going to be great.

That's mostly it on the work front, though right now I'm at a Noyce Foundation board meeting in Los Angeles. Next week is Maine, then Boulder, CO, Portland, OR, and back to Northern California. I'll try to find some time to blog.