border crossing

i just moved to mexico. san miguel de allende, mexico to be exact. which would partly explain my lack of new posts (another reason: usually late in the year the publishers throw everything at me. i suspect the holidays & year-ender deadlines are the main culprits).

i hope to get back on track soon & update this blog. at the moment, i've got a new found fascination for mexican culture & history. san miguel is perfect for that. it's quite an artist town too & i've already met a few of them.

i'm guessing my current picture book will be heavily influenced by the bright colors & architecture that surround me ( it's called "alfred zector: book collector" - about a boy who loves collecting books & in the course, practically drains a whole town of them. more on that later).

last note. in the last 2 months, i've visited both of the US' neighbors, canada & mexico (the hat & the pants, ha). and even though i i've always been aware of this, it's still fascinates me how little we (as in, US residents) know about our neighbors. there is this never-ending caricature of mexico & canada that now seem so lazy & outdated. i get the humor, in fact i find them funny, but i wish a few more americans could see what they are missing out on.

anyway, i'm now excited to explore my new home. there are pyramids, colonial ruins & an exotic rich history to be discovered. plus, andy & red's beach (ehrm, shawshank redemption) is only an extended bus ride away! (publishing gods please be kind, heh).