An Author's Christmas List

Do you have an author friend? Or perhaps you are an author and need to give your family a Christmas list.

If so, here are some ideas to take along with you as you head out to the stores this holiday season:

1. Books!

2. Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market

3. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books

4. Coffee (for those late nights and early mornings)

5. Chocolate (for inspiration of course)

1. 6. Cute pencils and pens

7. Unusual journals

8. Sketch books (for brainstorming and character sketches)

9. Subscriptions to writing magazines like Children's Writer, Children's Book Insider, Writer's Digest

10. Cash for writing conferences and classes

What do you feed an author?

Spaghetti? Chicken? Pizza? Bee-bim bop?
Not too long ago, my family and I were totally thrilled to have picture book writer Sandra Horn over for dinner. After all, she was flying all the way from England to Korea.

I’d like to say she came all that way to visit little old me, but she didn’t. My school joined up with a number of other international schools to pay for Sandra’s flight, accommodations, as well as speaking arrangements so she could chat about books. (My personal favorite topic.)

So of course, when I heard Sandra was coming, I invited her over for dinner.
But that leads me to the terrible, stomach growling question. What was I going to feed Sandra and her husband? After all, what do you feed a picture book writer?

I considered the formal chinaware. But that’s not really my style. My kids suggested mac and cheese (the cheesiest kind). Hmm... sounded a little too informal.

In the end, I went for my signature recipes: balsamic grilled chicken, creamy veggie pasta, salad, and herb bread. Italian night in Korea!

The dinner all ended up fabulously as we invited some friends over and made a little party of it. And guess what we talked about? Books of course! Heaven.

So if you came to visit me here in Korea and I had to cook a dinner for you, what would you want on the dinner menu?