Dear Kids:

Well I'm late with my homework. When you're a self-employed writer like me, you have to set all your own deadlines. And I promised myself that I would try to write a newsletter every February and every October. So this is my February newsletter. Can you imagine what would happen to you if you handed in your home work almost two months after it was due!

But I have a good excuse. I've been rewriting a novel. This is the first novel for 8-12 year olds that I've written since I published THE BATTLE FOR THE CASTLE back in 1993. Since then I published a novel for grownups (ISLAND JUSTICE -- tell your parents and teachers) and a number of picture books.

Last May, I published a picture book named DUMPY LA RUE. In case you haven't read it, I'll tell you it's the story of a dancing pig who pays no attention to all the characters who warn him that pigs don't dance. He gets the whole barnyard dancing by the end of the story. People have loved DUMPY and so I decided to try a sequel, a story about some of the other dancing animals. I picked the five gray rats. I thought to myself "well, this will be another picture book about the rats who leave the barnyard and go to dance in the big city." But sometimes books take you in new directions that you never expected. Instead of a five page picture book manuscript, my rats told me a 155 page story filled with adventures and characters I didn't know I had inside me. The rats names are Benny, Fletcher, Ella, Woody and Monk and it turns out each one of them has a distinct personality. They make their way to New York City to seek their fortunes and have many an adventure both in the ! city and underneath it.

The editor loved the book and asked for certain revisions. I used to groan when I was told I had to rewrite something. I used to think it meant I'd done it wrong the first time. But that's not the case. You've got the story down and now you get to play with the plot, improve the language and tweak the characters so that the book gets even better. After all, now you really know the story so you can tighten the connections between events and characters. Revision has truly become my favorite part of the writing process.

I think the novel will be called RATTY MUSIC. That was the first name for jazz back at the beginning of this century. And my five rats love jazz and tap. So it seems perfect. But I have been known to revise titles too. I'll keep you posted.

So that's my excuse for sending my newsletter out a little late. I hope the revision will be done soon and the novel will be published next year. Keep watching my website for further news on my dancing rats.

Thanks to all of you who have signed my guestbook and joined the Castle Club. I love reading your comments even though I don't have the time to respond to each and every one of your notes. And no matter what else happens, please keep reading. The world needs readers...

Elizabeth Winthrop