Get Out Your Tap Shoes, Francis!
a new book and some old cicadas
Dear Friends,
I have not written in so long! This is because I, like many of you, have discovered this astounding thing called “outside” (owwwwwuuut sighhd is how I say it. Am I pronouncing it correctly?) After months and months of mostly staring at my own walls, let me tell you that outside is just a full range of wonders. Did you know that sometimes water falls on your head WITH NO WARNING? Just a real delight.
Also there are cicadas. Not here in NYC, but seemingly everywhere else. Let me tell you what I love about cicadas:
17 years ago they were eggs. They lived their whole life underground, and now they pop out this summer to have one final hurrah before they die. These are aging divas, who waited their whole lives for their big break and this summer it’s all GET OUT YOUR TAP SHOES, FRANCIS, BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING ON. I’m just saying I want the best for them.
In addition to my intense new relationship with “outside,” I have been busy with formerly secret writing things (that I will tell you about in this newsletter) and currently secret writing things (that I will tell you about in a future newsletter.)
The big current news is that I have a new picture book coming out in September about my favorite dog that I have never met, Mr. Major Biden!
He is the first shelter dog to make it all the way to the White House and I love him and consider him a rags-to-riches inspiration for shelter dogs everywhere.
“Wait,” you ask. “Can I pre-order this book right this very moment?” Why yes, Denise (I call all of you Denise in my head.) You can. It’s a lovely thing to do for yourself, because you will forget about it, and then WHOA! Surprise treat book!
Here are some links to pre-order this book for the kid in your life, or the shelter dog with an inferiority complex:
Indiebound (great place to find your local independent bookstore)
Bookshop.org (some proceeds go to indie bookstores)
But also it would really mean the WORLD to me if you’d order it from your local independent bookstore or don’t spend any money at all and request it from your local library. Indie bookstores and libraries do so much for us, and I want us to use them.
We have all had a rough couple of years, so I wish each of you a glimmer of joy every day. Live your summer like a horny cicada diva.
Kisses (metaphorical!),
Jill “The Ice Pick” Twiss
p.s. Buy my picture books here (hyperlinked):
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
p.s.2. Follow me on social media here: