It's getting Weird(er) in Here

My publisher chose three of my zaniest hat designs as contenders for the cover of the new book.  Because the cover shoot happens before the rest of the project photos, I'm working on the three cover contestants first.  Of course, I can't tell you anything about them yet, but I couldn't resist giving you this sneak peek.  HA HA - get it?  "Peek"?  It's like they follow me, wherever I go...

When I was a child, my mom worked as a theatrical costume designer.  Which meant that I could never tell what strangeness would be overtaking our dining room (where all the magic happened) next.

One time I brought some friends home after school.  We found the dining room table completely covered by nothing less than a two-man fur camel suit.  Unable to resist, a couple of us climbed inside, only to discover that Mom had rigged the mouth of the camel to open and close with a lever mechanism she hid in its long neck.  The camel could actually sing along with the rest of the chorus, on stage.  It had sparkly white teeth and long eyelashes, too.  My friends told everybody at school that I had the coolest mom in the world, and they were right.

So it brought me no end of joy when my Smallies came home from school to discover the weirdness I've been making in our living room.  They argued over who would get to try it on first, and begged me to be allowed to wear it to school.  Then they invited the neighbor kids in to see it.

I'm so happy my apple fell close to Mom's tree.  I hope my kids grow up to embrace the weird, too.  So far, I like their odds.