Flying Deep, Plus Big Life Events

So much has happened in the last 16 months, and yet I haven't blogged in ages. I think it's because I found I really enjoy micro-blogging on Instagram. It's quick and easy and I can do it from my phone when I have a few minutes.

Here's a recap of a few big things that happened since I last posted:

• I won a PEN New England, Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award for my non-fiction picture book manuscript, Flying Deep.
• My agent sold Flying Deep to Karen Boss at Charlesbridge Publishing.
• My family moved from Massachusetts, USA to Dublin, Ireland. We lived there for one year.
• My family moved back to the USA about a month ago.

Here's the cover of Flying Deep, illustrated by the fabulous Nicole Wong.

Publication Date: May 2018

From the jacket: 

Imagine
you’re the pilot
of Alvin, a deep-sea submersible
barely big enough for three.

Climb inside the coolest vehicle
around and dive almost two miles
down to the bottom of the ocean.
Follow a typical dive schedule for
the day. Descend at 8 am—

Down, down, down.

Head back to the surface to arrive
by 5 pm—

Up, up, up.

What will you see?
What discoveries will you make?

What do you think of the cover? It's pretty wonderful, right? 

Back to my microblogging for a minute: While I was in Dublin, I posted #DublinLife almost daily on Instrgram. These posts highlighted something about my life in #Dublin that was different compared to my life in the US. Now that we're back, I'm posting #RochesterLife. I hope you'll check it out. If you're not on Instragram, I cross post to Twitter and to my "Michelle Cusolito, Author," Facebook Page.

PEN New England, Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award

Last week I received amazing news. I am one of the authors being honored with a PEN New England, Susan P. Bloom Children's Book Discovery Award for my manuscript FLYING DEEP. This award honors emerging writers- writers whose work has not yet been published. 

All of the winners will read their work and receive awards at Simmons College in Boston, MA on the evening of May 15th. 

FLYING DEEP invites young readers to imagine themselves as a pilot of deep-sea submersible Alvin, exploring hydrothermal vents two miles deep where alien-looking life forms thrive far from the sun’s rays. I spent many months researching in order to get the details just right. The highlight of my research was a trip to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) where I met with Bruce Strickrott, Manager of the Alvin Group, and got to climb inside Alvin.

In the pilot's seat.

To learn more about Alvin, and see some of the resources I used in my research, check out the my FLYING DEEP Pinterest board.