When we met, most of us didn’t know the correct way to pronounce the city of Montpelier (mäntˈpēlyər), but we were happy to be there, at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Very happy, in fact, and not just a little scared. At least, I was scared. An MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults would take two intense years to complete. I’d heard stories about people’s lives changing dramatically during those two years and didn’t know if, or how, my own would change. And then I met my class and I knew that everything would be all right, as over time we laughed together and stressed out together and navigated the dark waters of disagreement together (bagpipes or no bagpipes?) and through it all we became family. And because of this class-family, I changed to become a stronger person, a bolder writer, and a more faithful friend. We are a diverse group and we live all over the map, and we think that’s why you’ll enjoy stopping by to read this blog. No single post will be like another, but will reflect our differences even while celebrating our greatest common interest: writing good, good stories for kids. We hope you’ll stop by often and leave us little messages so that we can get to know you. We really like little messages. They make us feel the love, which we hope you’ll feel in return, because if you’re reading this then you, too, probably like good, good stories and, see? we’re getting along already.