BEST DAY EVER!

I have always marveled at the people who can point easily to the perfect days in their lives and say without pause, "That was the best day." I mean, I'm a writer. Ask me to point to a miserable day and I can deal out a dozen or so in a heartbeat.

But the game has changed because I now have that day, that PERFECT DAY, etched forever in my brain-box. It all began with a weekend trip to New York to visit with my editor, Liesa Abrams, at Aladdin. Apparently there were people in her office who had read MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE and wanted a chance to meet me. Cool, I thought. I'll just drive down from Montreal and take Milo with me on the one condition that I control the radio.

The weekend fun was kicked off by walking from our hotel through Times Square on our way to meet Liesa and her husband for a matinee of AVENUE Q. Times Square always smells like a hot summer day so it felt normal to be bombarded by the sights, sounds and smells of a 92 degree, humid summer Sunday.

After Milo and I sweated through clean shirts and baked under the July haze - we got to the theater and sat through the hysterical musical. Everyone says the puppets are "so racy" - but even Milo thought the show was kind of tame. I guess that's what watching so much SOUTH PARK will do to a kid's brain!

Had a lovely dinner with Liesa and James and as super-fantatstic as that Sunday was, it was just the precursor to the Monday that was to come. First I had to check-out of my hotel and though I had a minor freak-out that I'd lost my passport (found after a frantic search through the suitcase that then fell apart) the morning began slightly less humid and with a vente iced latte, so all was good.

Milo and I arrived outside the Simon & Schuster offices and he was immediately awed by the building.

We went inside and rode the elevator to the 4th floor. Stepping off the elevator the first thing I saw was this wall of MILO books. We both felt a surge of caffeine-adrenaline and posed for a picture taken with exquisite care by the multi-talented Liesa Abrams.

Not only is Liesa an incredibly talented editor and a great photographer - but she is the coolest person in the world because she loves all things BATMAN. This is a shot of a shelf in her office.

Now you have to realize that Liesa had tried to prepare me for what was to come by hoping that I'd be ready to "share the love" around the office. But I had no idea that Milo (the book) had so many fans already! I walked into the conference room and was met by dozens of people who had read and LOVED the book and it was probably the most overwhelmed I'd been in a long while. I had a chance to speak to the group and explain how personal Milo's story is to me.

Then I had Milo pose with everyone.

This was the first moment that my book felt like it was really out in the world and I made sure to bask in the feeling that it was a story that was touching people. Writing a book about parental loss and grief was an emotional journey for me and seeing that the emotion carries to other people touched me very much. Because the final book isn't ready yet I signed printed copies of several of the book's cartoons for people, which again just hit home how real the experience of publishing Milo felt.

The morning was made even more special because my wonderful agent, Jill Grinberg was there too. Thanks Jill!

Liesa, Me, Milo and Jill

Life is supposed to be full of great days but sometimes I've had a hard time finding them. I am so thankful to everyone at Simon & Schuster who was part of this incredibly special day for me. Of course I feel lucky just to have a new book being published - but to be able to feel the support and emotion of what my book is starting to mean to the people reading it is giving a new meaning to the BEST DAY EVER.

For me and Milo anyway.

FINISH LINES

I disappeared this fall and even my semi-random posting became near extinct.The reason for my "now you see me - now you don't" blogging? That guy you're looking at - MILO.

After two failed (for now) starts on second books - I began something in August that soon turned into something else; a novel with my cartoons that is a journey of exploration and humor that helped me unlock doors and draw new connections to my own life through the fictitious one of someone else, MILO.

I gave myself a goal, a deadline on the end of the year to finish this funny book - and though the going was rough due to some of the unexpected emotional road blocks that pop up from re-experiencing the memory of what was - I was on track to meet my deadline (shock!).

The sudden learning that my wonderful agent Jill Grinberg was having a second baby - soon - pushed me into an even higher gear so that she could give my own baby the attention I need before her own new one is due.

And yesterday - MILO was sent off for his first read (after my wife of course) and I am proud and fulfilled to have told his story, while being able to liberate my own.

The cartoons add humor and emotion and will be scattered throughout. I'm very excited about that part - and holding my breath, counting backwards from a million, doing laundry, cleaning my office - trying not to think about when I'll hear back from Jill.

More on MILO soon....

DADNAPPED IN PRE-PRODUCTION

As I sit staring at my backyard where several leaves have the nerve to change colors already - I have good news.

My Disney Channel movie (no, not High School Musical: The Musical) is in pre-production, which for any non-film folks out there means the director and his minions of hard-working crew folk are on location in Utah gearing up for the actual shoot which will happen starting mid-October.

WOW! I'm very excited that this idea I had over 10 years ago is now (numerous rewrites later) actually getting made. Sadly, the title DADNAPPED has to change and I'm resigned to it, though have no good alternative title yet.

They might still need extras - so if you're in Utah, check it out!

On the writing front: I've just sent my amazing agent Jill Grinberg five chapters of something "new" and top secret! I value her input and hope to be able to tell everyone about it soon.

And - I'm gearing up for my big Texas trip, which is also scheduled for mid-October. I'll be visiting the CyFair school district for two solid weeks of author-silliness, and with the exception of missing my family, it promises to be a blast!

More on that later...