January 2026 Newsletter

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a lovely time celebrating the holidays with friends and family.  My family and I have certainly kept busy the last few weeks, merrily closing 2025 and excitedly opening a new chapter in 2026.

If you have availability to join, I’m honored and thrilled to welcome you to a couple of virtual events I’m participating in this month.  I also have an exciting in-person event towards the end of the month!

On Tuesday, January 13 at 2:00 PM ET, I’ll be interviewed by “Papa” Rick Harris, host of the podcast Adventures in the Heart of Children’s Book Authors, which was awarded “Best Children’s Literature Podcast” by Million Podcasts. Join via Rick’s website to listen as we discuss motivations, impact, and insights into crafting meaningful children’s books.

If you’re unable to join live, the podcast recording will be available here afterward.

On Sunday, January 25 at 12:00 PM ET, I hope you’ll join children’s book author and host Parul Bhandari, co-host and publisher Heather Felty, and me as a guest on the Children’s Book Writing Workshop. This three-day virtual workshop is for anyone interested in learning how to get started writing children’s picture books.

For more information about the workshop, please visit:

https://luma.com/user/plb_author

I am incredibly grateful, thankful, and excited to share that Deer Park Elementary School in Newport News, VA received a 20-book donation package as a direct result of the news article highlighting last month’s Dine to Donate event at Texas Roadhouse. I am currently awaiting final approval for a second donation package to be awarded to another local elementary school, which I hope will be delivered by the end of January.

Thanks to the success of last month’s fundraiser, a total of 40 children’s picture books centered on positivity, inclusion, acceptance of differences, anti-bullying, and (most importantly) kindness are being donated to York County and surrounding communities.

If you have an interest in receiving a book package for a school, hospital, church, or other organization, please visit Ella’s Way and submit a request!