I was honored to be interviewed by First Book as part of their celebration of National Library Week! The podcast of the interview is available here (on the First Book Blog).
Please visit the First Book website to learn more about this wonderful organization.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Another Nomination!
Library Lion has been nominated for the 2009 Monarch Award, which is the Illinois K–3 Children's Choice Award! You can learn more about the award at the Illinois School Library Media Association website.
Children's choice awards are especially wonderful because children get to vote on the books THEY like best. :)
Winners will be announced in March 2009. I hope the students of Illinois have a wonderful year of reading!
Children's choice awards are especially wonderful because children get to vote on the books THEY like best. :)
Winners will be announced in March 2009. I hope the students of Illinois have a wonderful year of reading!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
SCASL
I just returned from a lovely time at the South Carolina Association of School Librarians conference. Despite the challenge of having to be awake and coherent and speaking to an audience at 8 a.m. (two days in a row!), it was a great experience and wonderful to be around such a passionate and dedicated and friendly group of library people. I also got to hear the announcement of the 2007–2008 South Carolina Children's Book Award winners and found out that Library Lion has been nominated for the 2008–2009 Book Award!
Oh, and the weather in SC was so beautiful - right in the 70s, just perfect!
And they make very good peach cobbler down there, just FYI.
Of course, one side effect of the conference preparation and traveling is that I have fallen totally behind in the March Madness writing project. It doesn't help that I'm not loving the way the writing has been going, either. This weekend will be about trying to get back on track and figure out how to catch up and start working toward fixing or changing or whatever else might be necessary to change how I feel about the MS in progress.
Oh, and the weather in SC was so beautiful - right in the 70s, just perfect!
And they make very good peach cobbler down there, just FYI.
Of course, one side effect of the conference preparation and traveling is that I have fallen totally behind in the March Madness writing project. It doesn't help that I'm not loving the way the writing has been going, either. This weekend will be about trying to get back on track and figure out how to catch up and start working toward fixing or changing or whatever else might be necessary to change how I feel about the MS in progress.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
March Update
I seem to be continuing my trend of not blogging very regularly. You know, maybe if a few more of you guys left comments once in a while... ;)
My MFA application has been completed and submitted, and so now I get to wait. Luckily, I am very good at this part, since being a writer often involves lots and lots of waiting (to hear from editors, agents, etc.). I don't mean I'm patient or anything, I just mean I'm familiar with how the waiting process works.
This month I'm participating in a "March Madness" project with a great group of children's book writers. It's sort of a mini-version of National Novel Writing Month. We each pledged to write a certain number of words or pages (or some other kind of measurable unit) each day in March, with the goal of having a complete (rough) draft by the end of the month. And if that weren't enough of a reward in itself, we get to eat one peanut M&M for each successful day. Mine are in the freezer, which makes them extra delicious. The combination of candy and peer pressure seems to be working so far: I've hit my goal of 1500 words per day for March 1, 2, and 3. The project I'm working on is a new young adult novel. I plunged in with only a vague idea about the characters and the story, so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
My MFA application has been completed and submitted, and so now I get to wait. Luckily, I am very good at this part, since being a writer often involves lots and lots of waiting (to hear from editors, agents, etc.). I don't mean I'm patient or anything, I just mean I'm familiar with how the waiting process works.
This month I'm participating in a "March Madness" project with a great group of children's book writers. It's sort of a mini-version of National Novel Writing Month. We each pledged to write a certain number of words or pages (or some other kind of measurable unit) each day in March, with the goal of having a complete (rough) draft by the end of the month. And if that weren't enough of a reward in itself, we get to eat one peanut M&M for each successful day. Mine are in the freezer, which makes them extra delicious. The combination of candy and peer pressure seems to be working so far: I've hit my goal of 1500 words per day for March 1, 2, and 3. The project I'm working on is a new young adult novel. I plunged in with only a vague idea about the characters and the story, so it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Spider Drama and the Critical Essay
Why do the spiders seek me out? Why? Why?
I was settling down to begin work on writing (well, reading and prewriting for) my first critical essay in 12+ years (part of an MFA application, due March 1) and I had a sudden urge to check that I'd locked the front door and there was a large spider climbing the wall in the front hallway. He looked a little big (and especially agile) to try catching in a cup, and he was right near the front door, so I thought I'd just try to get him to climb on the end of the broom and then I could transport him right out into the hallway. I'm not sure I succeeded, however. He deftly avoided my first few attempts to load him onto the broom, and then I *think* I got him successfully out into the hallway, but then I lost track of him. So he may still be lurking in my entranceway (ugh, what if he gets inside my SHOES??) or he may be hiding in the brush of the broom (I can't make myself look too closely in there to check), or he may be hanging out in the hallway or crawling into someone else's apartment. Or, I suppose, back into mine. I guess this is why people kill them instead of just evicting them. But I can't bring myself to do that.
And of course now I can't remember if I locked the door again after evicting (or not) the spider with the broom. So I have to go back over there and check. It's not like I can be afraid of my front hallway forever, anyway. But right now I'm still in that post-spider-sighting stage of feeling like things are crawling on me.
(Checked the door; I *hadn't* locked it. Although it had been locked the first time when I originally went over to check before the whole spider drama.)
Maybe it's time for more exposure therapy. Ugh.
Anyway. I suppose I'll try to get myself back to a place where I can concentrate enough to do some close reading. Wish me luck; it's been a long time since I wrote an English paper. Hopefully it's like riding a bike. Fingers crossed. I just wish I didn't have the extra obstacle of now being on spider alert.
I was settling down to begin work on writing (well, reading and prewriting for) my first critical essay in 12+ years (part of an MFA application, due March 1) and I had a sudden urge to check that I'd locked the front door and there was a large spider climbing the wall in the front hallway. He looked a little big (and especially agile) to try catching in a cup, and he was right near the front door, so I thought I'd just try to get him to climb on the end of the broom and then I could transport him right out into the hallway. I'm not sure I succeeded, however. He deftly avoided my first few attempts to load him onto the broom, and then I *think* I got him successfully out into the hallway, but then I lost track of him. So he may still be lurking in my entranceway (ugh, what if he gets inside my SHOES??) or he may be hiding in the brush of the broom (I can't make myself look too closely in there to check), or he may be hanging out in the hallway or crawling into someone else's apartment. Or, I suppose, back into mine. I guess this is why people kill them instead of just evicting them. But I can't bring myself to do that.
And of course now I can't remember if I locked the door again after evicting (or not) the spider with the broom. So I have to go back over there and check. It's not like I can be afraid of my front hallway forever, anyway. But right now I'm still in that post-spider-sighting stage of feeling like things are crawling on me.
(Checked the door; I *hadn't* locked it. Although it had been locked the first time when I originally went over to check before the whole spider drama.)
Maybe it's time for more exposure therapy. Ugh.
Anyway. I suppose I'll try to get myself back to a place where I can concentrate enough to do some close reading. Wish me luck; it's been a long time since I wrote an English paper. Hopefully it's like riding a bike. Fingers crossed. I just wish I didn't have the extra obstacle of now being on spider alert.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Book signing in Essex, Vermont
I'll be signing books as part of the Kindling Words caravan tomorrow, January 24, 2008, 4 to 5pm, at Phoenix Books & Cafe in Essex, Vermont:
Phoenix Books and Cafe
21 Essex Way, #407
Essex, VT 05452
(802) 872-7111
http://www.phoenixbooks.biz/
I'll be one of more than 20 children's book authors and illustrators gathering at the store. If you'll be in the area, please stop by!
Phoenix Books and Cafe
21 Essex Way, #407
Essex, VT 05452
(802) 872-7111
http://www.phoenixbooks.biz/
I'll be one of more than 20 children's book authors and illustrators gathering at the store. If you'll be in the area, please stop by!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
For the Cat People
My friend Peter sent me this today. It's awesome:
http://www.thefunnystuff.net/viewmovie.php?ad_key=MYQFWBUSMQKD&tracking_id=890373&id=614%5C
You may enjoy it even if you aren't a cat person, but it's especially good for those of us who have been there.
While we're on the subject of funny cat things on the web, if you aren't already a fan of LOLcats, please go here:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
(Warning: the LOLcat site can suck you in for hours. Maybe days. Seriously. Visit with caution.)
http://www.thefunnystuff.net/viewmovie.php?ad_key=MYQFWBUSMQKD&tracking_id=890373&id=614%5C
You may enjoy it even if you aren't a cat person, but it's especially good for those of us who have been there.
While we're on the subject of funny cat things on the web, if you aren't already a fan of LOLcats, please go here:
http://icanhascheezburger.com/
(Warning: the LOLcat site can suck you in for hours. Maybe days. Seriously. Visit with caution.)
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