Last Thursday, September 24th, 2026, I had the honor of giving the Teacher of the Year speech as part of the Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s annual State of Education Address from the capitol rotunda in Madison. I spent around a month sweating over every word of what was supposed to be a 4-minute …
The folks at The Morning Blend were kind enough to let me hang out after that interview so that I could talk with Tiffany Ogle about Those Dreadful Fairy Books (and a little more about teaching and how great the Wauwatosa Area School District and Sheboygan North High School are) for What’s Brewing? Here’s the …
I had a wonderful time chatting with Tiffany Ogle and Stephanie Brown on The Morning Blend today! Everyone there was just amazing! Below is my segment, in which we talk about teaching, Those Dreadful Fairy Books, and how I think kids cheating on their essays will eventually lead to the death of the human race …
On May 4th (yes, Star Wars Day!), due to what I can only assume was a clerical error on someone’s part, I was named one of this year’s five Wisconsin Teachers of the Year! Self-deprecating comments aside, this is really a great honor, although I think less about what I’ve done as a teacher (although …
A couple years ago (yeesh–where has the time gone!) Whitnall Middle School was nice enough to have me in to run some Writers Workshops and give presentations for the students. A few weeks later, the librarians who arranged my visit reached out and asked if I’d be willing to record a couple short lessons to …
Nope, I have not been resting on my laurels. Mostly because I have no laurels on which to rest. I had to sell them to buy eggs, and not many of them at these prices. Anyhoo, I currently have a children’s picture book (as opposed to an adult’s picture book, which should totally be a …
Recently I’ve gotten several questions from people wanting to know what I’m working on, if I have any books coming out, and if there will be any more Dreadful Fairy books, so I decided to finally get off my duff and write a post. (Actually, I guess I got on my duff to do that …
Almost a year ago, Whitnall Middle School was kind enough to invite me to be their writer-in-residence for a day, which included several writers workshops for the kids and presentation to all three grades. In the lead up to that day, their librarians asked if I would be willing to record a promo or two …
I’m honored to report that Yet Another Dreadful Fairy Book has won honorable mention (basically second place) for the Council for Wisconsin Writers’ Tofte/Wright Children’s Literary Award! In addition to a small cash prize, the award comes with a one-week residency at the Painted Forest in Valton, Wisconsin, which will be a great opportunity to …
For those of you who have asked what Quentin Q. Quacksworth, Esq. looks like (since he, of course, refuses to show up to any public events related to Those Dreadful Fairy Books), here he is in all his whiskery glory. This picture was taken right after he won that Blabby Award for Narratorial Excellence for …
