When I wrote The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, I often thought of my own sock monkey. There are many sock monkeys in the book, of course, so I asked my friend Millie Dosh to sew more monkeys for me. I have quite a group. Some nights I could swear they’re having a party. Are you inspired by… Read More
In The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, I’ve written about an entire family of sock monkeys. Each time a new person is born into the family of Ethel Constance Easterling, who celebrates her 90th birthday during the book, she creates a sock monkey for them and names each one. Within this story, we meet: Throckmorton S. Monkey,… Read More
Throckmorton S. Monkey, one of the main characters in The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, is a red-heeled sock monkey. Do you know the history behind these easily-recognizable stuffed animals? Did you know that Rockford, Illinois calls itself the Home of the Sock Monkey? That’s because John Nelson, a Swedish immigrant to America, patented a sock-knitting machine… Read More
When I stood in front of the crowd of well-wishers who’d gathered together at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul on August 26th to celebrate the launch of The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, I felt for a few dazed moments as if I’d been suspended inside my own story, on stage in the ballroom of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea,… Read More
It seemed only fair that Sir Rudyard S. Monkey should accompany me to the 43rd Annual Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) summer conference held August 1 – 4 in Los Angeles. In The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea, Throckmorton tells the reader that his cousin, Sir Rudyard, is “considered the smartest in the long… Read More
In an early chapter of The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea: The Story of Annaliese Easterling and Throckmorton, Her Simply Remarkable Sock Monkey, Throckmorton is reunited with his sock monkey cousin, Captain Eugene S. Monkey. Captain Eugene belongs to nine-year-old Annaliese’s older brother Teddy. Throckmorton immediately notices that Captain Eugene’s limbs are badly stained in some places… Read More