A few months ago, my friend Greg Leitich Smith put out a call to writers and illustrators to send pictures  of themselves with dinosaurs. Why? Because early next year, March 2012 to be exact, his book CHRONAL ENGINE is coming out and I think he wanted to start all of us thinking and dreaming about dinosaurs. Check out this fabulous cover:

Anyway, I love these kinds of requests. They bring out the whimsy in me. First, I started looking for dinosaurish things in my home. Nada. The teen was an insect girl when she was wee so there is not any dinosaur paraphernalia in our house. Not any? Oh wait, what about that book her best guy pal gave her when she was one? Sure enough.

So I sent Greg this picture and five minutes later he’d written the loveliest bio and posted it on his blog here. If you are a writer or illustrator and want to get in on the fun, write gregatgregleitichsmithdotcom.

And guess what? I am not only thinking about dinosaurs, I am also very excited about CHRONAL ENGINE and feel invested in its release. Nice marketing, Greg.