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last month for one night only, cargo london held an illustration exhibition comprising of an eclectic mix of work from 60 top illustrators and designers raising over £2000 for the national autistic society. curated by illustrators lucy joy and rosie shorter the exhibition began as a portrait-swap. each illustrator's name was picked from a hat and paired with another at random. marcus oakley's

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after seeing karolin schnoor's design for the hellohead project i thought i would post a few more of her beautiful illustrations, and cards which are available from her etsy shop.

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nick wakeling is a graduated pattern designer who studied illustration at the norwich university college of the arts. whilst studying illustration nick became much more interested in repeat pattern and decided to get involved in surface design/ textile design and keeps and online blog here.

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       They've announced that Jürgen Habermas has been awarded the Heine-Preis 2012.
       Among recent available-in-English Habermas titles is The Crisis of the European Union; see the Polity publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk (it seems to be selling quite well, by the way).
       This biennial prize, worth €50,000, is -- as they put it -- one of the major German literary and personality prizes ('Literatur- und Persönlichkeitspreis'), and with previous winners that include W.G. Sebald, Elfriede Jelinek, and Amos Oz has a pretty decent track record.
       Decent but not unblemished: the screwed up royally in naming Peter Handke the 2006 winner of the prize -- and then not following through; see my discussion of that mess.

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       The Nepal Literature Festival runs 20 to 23 September, and it's nice to see a local-dominated literary festival (see the list of participants).
       See also coverage in The Himalayan, Literature fest from from Sept 20.

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       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Tarun J. Tejpal's The Story of my Assassins.
       This came out to much notice and considerable acclaim in India in 2009, but only now has a US/UK publisher -- Melville House.

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Max Found Two Sticks
Author/Illustrator: Brian Pinkney
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publishing Date: 1994


When the wind blows two sticks in bored Max's direction one day, the young boy discovers they make wonderful drumsticks. Tapping the sticks on his thighs, boxes, trash cans and soda bottles, Max pounds out the rhythms of his neighborhood. When a marching band passes by, one of the band members sees Max's talent and tosses him a pair of real drumsticks. Max never misses a beat.

Pinkney's Max Found Two Sticks is an engaging story that should be on every child's reading list. Although Max stays in and around his brownstone stoop, Pinkey effectively captures the vibrancy of a neighborhood by merging the musical, natural and urban worlds with his energetic text and illustrations.

The text of the book reminded me of "call and response" songs. In this case, Max's response to everyone's question, "what are you doing with those sticks?" is to tap out a rhythm with his sticks. No doubt this book is used in music classes everywhere.

Want More?
Visit the author's website.
Miniature drummers might also enjoy Drum City.

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First I need to apologise to my subscribers as I didn't realise the email updates where bringing up an error if i posted an image before text. I don't know how to correct this apart from remembering to write before an image. They looked like spam and I am sorry for the confusion.This week I have scanned in about 32 texture background I created so I can mess around with illustrations such as this.

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“The night I got my new red shoes, I couldn’t wait to wear them to school. I was too excited to sleep, so I went outside and sat on the lawn. When I looked up, I shivered. The sky seemed so huge and cold. How many stars were in the sky? A million?
A billion? Maybe the number was as big as infinity. I started to feel very, very small. How could I even think about something as big as infinity?”
(Click to enlarge spread)

As a child, I used to sit and think about infinity. And the universe. And how the universe might not have an end. And, if it did, what it could possibly look like. I have very distinct memories of wondering about this. If I wasn’t sitting and listening to my stack of 45s with my trusty record player at my side (think: Peaches & Herbs and Donna Summer), I could probably be found sitting there having my mind blown, wondering if the universe just falls off or if there’s a dividing line of some sort that points to hell-if-I-knew-what. (In between my 45s and ruminations on space and utter boundlessness, I watched an episode or two of The Price Is Right.)

This is not unusual. Children think about such abstract concepts, and many of us grown-ups find them difficult to explain. (I am still clueless about the universe’s end, and if I ever find out the answer, I doubt I’ll be able to report back here.) In Infinity and Me, which will be released by Carolrhoda Books next month, Kate Hosford (author) and Gabi Swiatkowska (illustrator) explore this notion — that something can exist with no limits. And they do it well. (more…)

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La Bloga Revisits The Classics

José Antonio Burciaga. Drink Cultura. Santa Barbara : Joshua Odell Editions, Capra Press, 1993.
ISBN 1-877741-07-8

Daniel A Olivas, Ed. Latinos in Lotusland. Tempe, AZ: Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 2008.
ISBN 9781931010474

Latinopia. Dr. Thelma Reyna reviews Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street.
http://latinopia.com/latino-literature/latinopia-book-review-sandra-cisneros-house-on-mango/


Michael Sedano

Saturday afternoon, the Autry Museum in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park kicked off fiestas patrias month with a lavish feast of Chicana and Chicano short fiction. The reading and signing were a renaissance for the 2008 anthology Latinos in Lotusland. Four years seems an eternity in a world where literary competition spotlights the latest and the brightest, where yesterday’s sizzling title isn’t today’s.

Melinda Palacio

Bloguero Daniel Olivas edited Latinos in Lotusland but did not take the opportunity to read. However, the readings from Michael Jaime-Becerra, Estella Gonzáles, Lisa Alvarez, Sandra Ramos O'Briant (who read twice), and bloguera Melinda Palacio, reminded readers that quality lives in the thing itself, not the © date.

Sandra Ramos O-Briant

Lisa Alvarez

Olivas’ inspiration to put out the call for writers—and the flood of submissions—provided the editor a rich lode to work through for the finest specimens. Olivas’ work resulted in Latinos in Lotusland becoming a classic upon publication.

Michael Jaime-Becerra

Estella Gonzáles

The exemplary readings should have inspired folks lined up at the signing table to take the volume home and devour it, dustjacket and all. La Bloga readers will find a good reward tracking down a copy on your doublestacked shelves and enjoying it all over again.

Drink Cultura. Chicanismo. C/S.


While the Autry reading offers a renaissance of sorts to Latinos in Lotusland after only four years, there’s no equivocation in the status of Jose Antonio Burciaga’s 20 year-old Drink Cultura. From its hilariously effective logo to the final essay, Burciaga’s riff on specialty magazines where he spins off out of Día de los Muertos into health care.

There are many people who experience death and remember hovering over their own bodies, speeding down a tunnel, seeing the light at the end and reaching the clouded dunes of heaven only to be turned back like a bad dream, like picking a monopoly game card that says, “Go back to earth. You owe the hospital $10,000.” 144

Burciaga’s essay style recalls a time when newspaper columnists developed large followings for the homespun local angle on stuff that mattered if even in small insignificant ways. In Los Angeles Jack Smith, in The City (San Francisco), Herb Caen and Ralph J. Gleason enthralled readers.

José Antonio Burciaga writes in the same vein, except his homespun comes out of the Chicano Renaissance. Burciaga’s essays peopled themselves with raza, people and places and things. Piñatas, pendejos, politics, Cinco de Mayo, and all manner of entertaining matter put together with a satirist’s razor wit and a genius’ inner eye.

Burciaga’s politics is not the confrontative picket line stance of el movimiento but an overarching awareness of the polis in “politics,” the human landscape of our own history.

“The Joy of Jalapeños” extolls the pleasures of burning your mouth with that first bite of an incredibly hot salsa de molcahete, or a big raw chile picked fresh off the plant. Like Burciaga, one of my fondest memories of life on an isolated Korean mountaintop was care packages from home bringing canned chiles and a rare taste of home.


“Reasons to Celebrate El Cinco de Mayo” needs to be read to classrooms every year for its historical overview. Burciaga’s thesis is the victory of the French dissuaded the grand plan to unite British and French navies to break the US blockade of Southern shipping ports. Think Gulf of Hormuz and Iranian oil.

“Con Safos” wraps up everything you probably heard about c/s but weren’t sure. Now you can be sure Burciaga said this, and it feels right from my memory, too. Así es. c/s

Every essay brings its own particular joy, if only in watching a skilled writer at work. Burciaga saves even an unsuccessful piece, like "All the Things I Learned in School Weren’t Necessarily True,” which suffers from absence of his customarily reflective, controlled anger, but comes together a little in his ruminations about shifting meanings and cashing-in purgatory indulgences.

“Pendejismo” alone is worth finding the out-of-print masterpiece. The essay finds Burciaga at his best, stringing facts together with outlandish evidence that produces both conviction and chortles. Some portion derives from Armando Jimenez’ Picardía Mexicana, whom Burciaga credits as the world’s foremost pendejólogo.

That’s deeper into the essay. Burciaga launches it academically-minded, with the detailed explanation at whose heart lies this:

Pendejo is probably the least offensive of these P words. In Guadalajara and some other parts of Mexico, it is a common everyday word. For the non-Spanish speaking, the word is pronounced pen-deh-ho (not pen-day-hoe); feminine, pen-deh-ha; plural pendejas or pendejos. The noun, or committed act of a pendejo( a), is a pendejada. The verb is to pendejear. The term pendejo is commonly used outside of polite conversation and basically describes someone who is stupid or does something stupid. It's much stronger to call someone a pendejo than the standard Spanish estupido But be careful when calling someone a pendejo. Among friends it can be taken lightly, but for others it is better to be angry enough to back it up. Ironically, the Yiddish word for pendejo is a putz which means the same thing.

By the time the author’s wit has sharpened enough to do harm to the weakly constituted, he’s citing a taxonomy of pendejos, helpful because, as Don Armando avers, “The great majority of people regardless of class, color, or creed, are pendejos”. So re-reading Drink Cultura may help ‘splain some of the weirdness going around lately—“The politicos, who think they will change the world with money, charisma or speeches”—or perhaps help one find one’s place—“The optimistic pendejos, who are naïve, happy, and talkative. They look for hidden treasures, mines, underground water. They also buy lottery tickets, bet on everything and believe in television wrestling.”


Latinopia’s Classics Series

The web’s number one site for diverse Chicana Chicano video and, increasingly, prose, Latinopia, features an outstanding series where Latinopia writers Luis Torres and Thelma Reyna alternate coverage of select greats from the Chicana Chicano canon.

Currently, Latiopia is running Dr. Reyna’s beautifully crafted appreciation of Sandra Cisneros’ trailblazing House on Mango Street. Reyna recognizes Cisneros’ power with the assurance of a seasoned literary investigator.

“La Sandra,” as Sandra Cisneros has sometimes been called by her fans, is perhaps the most famous American Latina writer alive today and possibly of all time. Her books have been translated internationally and are taught in grade schools and universities across our nation. As a multiple award-winner in her long, distinguished career, Cisneros has had a tremendous influence on the contemporary renaissance and evolution of Chicano/Latino literature in the United States.
. . . .
Unlike a novel, the book does not have a plot in the traditional sense. The thread that holds this book together is the recurrence of various characters—most of them Esperanza’s peers and family—from section to section, though many characters appear only once. Cisneros calls this “story cycles” and purposely chose “little stories…connected to each other.” Each “chapter” (not traditional chapters either, but “a little story” instead) can be read as a stand-alone. The vignette may be as simple as a child’s description of clouds, or as complex as girls mocking a dying woman.
. . . .
Like a deft artist, Cisneros paints pictures of her characters in tight, economical brushstrokes. She says little about them in restrained, simple language, and picks unobtrusive details to show us their essence.
. . . .
Those who didn’t know that poetry was a first love of Cisneros would guess this from the book’s imagery. The simplest things are endowed with little grace notes that surprise us, for Cisneros’ language is not what we ourselves would have invoked.

For a couple of reasons, Thelma Reyna’s elegant review merits your full attention at this link. First off, Reyna’s appreciation for the literature and its place in a broader context give her review interest.

Also, it’s an opportunity to hang around and explore the vast resources amassed at Latinopia.

Finally, Dr. Reyna’s essay is another reminder to take some time out of your pursuit of today’s current literature to enjoy some of the old stuff. There’s old stuff you only recently forgot, and maybe some old stuff you’ve heard about but never really got into, sabes? Now you can.


Banned Books Update: Countdown to Nine Two One

What's it to be then, eh?

That's what Alex in Anthony Burgess' classic A Clockwork Orange would ask, just before the caca hit the fan. Arizona's done enough ultraviolence to the flag. It's only a few days until the Court sets things back on track.

This Friday, September twenty first, the court releases its Special Master Report on the Tucson school desegregation case.

Will the Special Master return the banned curriculum, the banned books, to the culture?

What's it to be then, eh?

Global Modernities Conference Coming to Cal State LA

Today's most arresting email comes from La Bloga friend Roberto Cantú from the University on the East Side of Los Angeles, Cal State LA.

Cantú's upcoming conference takes Chicana Chicano scholarship into heretofore unexplored subjects, the May 3-4, 2013 Conference on Global Modernities.

In general terms, the conference expresses its desires to change the world, one academic investigation at a time. Change inevitably begins with the spoken word at conferences, so this is really important news:

We now turn our attention to areas of concern related to global demography, biodiversity, and to political and social movements in different parts of the world. The proposed scope of reflections range from the challenges to rethink and imagine a world that has become increasingly interdependent, to posing new questions, conditions, and possibilities for a better understanding of the ways in which modernity—global and manifold in scope--is shaping our modes of communication, the emergence of local identities, and a financial crisis in an unprecedented global scale.


Visit Dr. Cantú's program website for detailed information along with an exceedingly attractively illustrated webpage.


On-Line Floricanto for September's Penultimate Tuesday
Sharon Elliott, Nancy Green, Sonia Gutiérrez, Andrea Mauk, Hedy Garcia Treviño

Gentrification by Sharon Elliott
Immigration Blues by Nancy Green
The Calculated World of Monsters by Sonia Gutiérrez
The Non-Existent Words and Double Negatives of Education by Andrea Mauk
Walking on the Shards of Broken Dreams by Hedy Garcia Treviño


Gentrification 
by Sharon Elliott


or “on the wrong side her whole life”


I want to expand your idea of neighborhood
the real estate agent said
what the heck does that mean


will you take me somewhere
and show me property
that only  a white person can buy
because she has money for a down payment
or access to special programs
or the right color skin
and eyes as blue as the sky


those neighborhoods
are where my beloved compañeros live
skin of many hues
blue eyes a thing of dreams


or a consequence of mixed birth
if I buy the house they are renting
they will have to move
take their children away from their friends
say goodbye to the grocery store where everyone knows their name
the restaurant where their order is a given
the parque where they play congas
dance and sing til clave is exhausted


exactly what is the idea of neighborhood
you want me to adopt
oh exalted real estate agent
not one that can be broken
or blown to ash upon the wind
and should be preserved
respected
you need to make your commission
and I’m the most likely candidate


let me expand your idea of neighborhood
teach you the cost in pain
resettlement
tears of the children
connection
come with me into the homes
when the tenants are there
talk to them
eat with them
play dominoes
play catch with the kids
understand what you do


before then
I won’t sign your papers
or look at another house with you


This is an experience I had 15 years ago when I was able to be a property owner in Seattle. 



©Sharon Elliott



Immigration Blues 
by Nancy Green

Hatred in the air
Craters of ignorance

Walls of fear
Overwhelming odds

Desperate arrivals
Hidden destinations

Political agendas
Divided alliances

Regurgitated lies
Feigned respect

Immoral decisions
Indecent laws

Adulterated promises
Divided families

Forgotten destinies
Incarcerated souls

Raised consciousness
Mobilized communities



The Calculated World of Monsters
by Sonia Gutiérrez

In all parts of the world,
there are monsters
that eat women
and children.

Monsters smell the nights
and days. With their claws
like hooks, they stalk and snatch
the long hair and the tender
bodies that walk blindfolded
through this calculated world of monsters.

Yesterday, in an isolated place
on her way home,
the captive fell into the very claws
of the rings of monsters—hidden
behind the faces,
behind a gun,
behind a name,
behind a switchblade,
behind the face of money,
behind government positions,
behind a borrowed human’s face.

Monsters hide
and spit the masticated bones
on roads and prairies.

Who are these monsters
that call themselves men,
gentlemen, and sirs?

Who are these monsters
that call themselves fathers,
uncles, and brothers?

Who will put a stop to these monsters—
to The Kings of Misogyny?


El mundo calculado de los monstruos
por Sonia Gutiérrez

En todas partes del mundo,
hay monstruos
que se comen a las mujeres
y a los niños.

Los monstruos huelen las noches
y los días. Asechan y arrebatan
con sus garras como anzuelos
los cabellos largos y cuerpos
tiernos que caminan con sus ojos vendados
por el mundo calculado de los monstruos.

Ayer por la tarde, en un lugar aislado
rumbo a casa, la presa cayó
en las mismísimas garras
de las redes de los monstruos—
escondidos detrás de las caras,
detrás de una pistola,
detrás de alguien con nombre,
detrás de una navaja de muelle,
detrás de alguien con cara de dinero,
detrás de los puestos de gobierno,
detrás de alguien con la cara
prestada de un humano.

Los monstruos se esconden
para escupir los huesos masticados
sobre las carreteras y praderas.

¿Quiénes serán esos monstruos
que se dicen llamar hombres,
caballeros y señores?

¿Quiénes serán esos monstruos
que se dicen llamar papás,
tíos y hermanos?

¿Quiénes les pondrán un alto a los monstruos—
a Los Reyes de la Misoginia?



The Non-Existent Words and Double Negatives of Education 
by Andrea Mauk

Ain’t no Kellogg’s Koko Krispies Global Academy of Advanced Learning,
No corporate-run charter, no back to the basics three Rs,
No scaffolding it down to the infinitesimal to make it comprehensible
Gonna help.

Ain’t no Teach for America teacher who drives a Lexus in from the suburbs -
never lived in the hood, but really wants to be a part of the change,
No multicultural credit on the transcripts, or SDAIE strategies, no hour and a half of
Sheltered ELD instruction
Gonna make the difference.

No standards-based education that serves to set limits
Like impenetrable borders, rather than goals to be surpassed,
No E. D. Hirsch “What Your Third Grader Should Know”
According to his gentlemanly Southern ideals, superimposed on us
Gonna serve the purpose.

It don’t take no school uniform, no Parent Revolution blue t-shirt
They were suckered in to wearing to show they support vouchers and charters
And have a desire to dismantle Public Education. There is no magic bullet, no
Brown vs. the Board of Education, no San Antonio v. Rodriguez,
No children’s intelligence measured by the shade of their skin
Gonna put us on a new road.

Open your eyes to the crisis around you,
Open your ears and let the rhetoric astound you.

Don’t say that sounds good or begin to cave in,
Don’t believe the test scores, the media-hyped panic:
Of all the civilized countries in the world, we rank in
The middle, shame-shame, 18th out of 36 developed nations,
Because Arne Duncan says we have to get serious about
Education out of one side of his mouth, while he encourages
State cuts to funding from the other.
And the man being interviewed on CNN says “ It’s those damn
Immigrant children that don’t know no English, when my
Child's been ready, that slow the teachers down. God knows those teachers try.”

Don’t invoke religion in your message, try to pull God over to your side,
and don’t blame the teachers,
They are not Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher, one and all. It ain’t gonna
Change things because the test is norm- referenced, they throw
Out the questions more than 50% of the students will pass.
Data can be useful but it should not define students. Do you call
Your kid by a ranking, a number? If you do, for Pete’s sake, give the
Child a name, a meaningful one from back in the family, and let
Your offspring know from your heart that you care.
Celebrate their strengths.

What we must do is wake up Paulo Freire, asleep in his grave,
And ask him again, “What did you have to say? Oh, now I got it.
When we allow the oppressors to make all the rules, they only let
The oppressed learn what they want them to learn. Eeeewwww!
Someone give Angela Valenzuela a bullhorn and let's listen to
What she has to offer: Subtraction is taught in our schools every day,
When your child’s culture is extracted and turned bland,
stomped on, given no credit where credit is due, where
If it was instead respected, it would create interest, engagement, and look good on you.
Where speaking two languages is seen as a liability, and
Not memorizing the leaders of the American Civil War is
Met with a look of reprehensibility.

Open your eyes to the crisis around you,
Open your ears and let the rhetoric astound you.

You can follow the teachers' manual line by precious line,
but let me tell you, you'd be wasting your time.
It’s not starting at the college level,
So many of our kids don’t even get there.
It’s starting in pre-school, or even before that
Because we were put through it, too. It was
Done to me and it was done to you,
with an outdated system and more of the same
given a different acronym to describe the game.
This country's crisis is not just about immigration.
I tell you, clear your mind and take a fresh
Look at education. And when you get a good
Picture of what’s going on in your head,
You might just want to cry.

You can spend a trillion dollars, but it will never add up
to a classroom community filled with genuine caring. The revolution can not
be exacted from the outside in.

(And in this case, double negatives will never add up to a positive.)



Walking on the Shards of Broken Dreams 
by Hedy Garcia Treviño

Walking on the shards of broken dreams
scattered voices call
from underneath the desert sand
where nothing grows
Lies still the seed of hope
Awaiting the furrow of the plow
unearthing hope that never sleeps
gaining strength from every storm
Lies still the seed of hope
Called forth by footsteps on the desert floor
keeping rythm with the heartbeat of the sun
comes forth the seed of hope


BIOS
Gentrification by Sharon Elliott
Immigration Blues by Nancy Green
The Calculated World of Monsters by Sonia Gutiérrez
The Non-Existent Words and Double Negatives of Education by Andrea Mauk
Walking on the Shards of Broken Dreams by Hedy Garcia Treviño


Born and raised in Seattle, Sharon Elliott has written since childhood. Four years in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua and Ecuador laid the foundation for her activism. As an initiated Lukumi priest, she has learned about her ancestral Scottish history, reinforcing her belief that borders are created by men, enforcing them is simply wrong.


Nancy Green is author Crucified River/Rio Crucificado a collection of poetry dedicated to the young women who have been murdered in Juárez and the thousands of immigrants who die crossing borders published by Mouthfeel Press (2010). Her work has been anthologized in Sowing the Seeds: Our Spirit…Our Reality, Poetry and Art by Rincón Bohemio, Mezcla: Art and Writing from the Tumblewords Project, Mujeres de Maíz Zines 5 & 6, Chrysalis, and Bordersenses. She can be reached at nancygreen9@yahoo.com

Sonia Gutiérrez is proud and blessed to be part of Poets Responding to SB 1070 and La Bloga’s On-line Floricanto, both promoters of social justice and human dignity. She teaches English at Palomar College, where she co-advises the Palomar Poets and Encuentros United. Her bilingual poetry collection, Spider Woman/La Mujer Araña, is forthcoming this 2012. To learn more about Sonia, visit her bloguita chingona, Chicana in the Midst, where she shares the work of artistas and poetas.

Andrea García Mauk grew up in Arizona, where both the immense beauty and harsh realities of living in the desert shaped her artistic soul. She calls Los Angeles home, but has also lived in Chicago, New York and Boston. She has worked in the music industry, and on various film and television productions. She writes short fiction,
poetry, original screenplays and adaptations, and is currently finishing two novels. Her writing and artwork has been published and viewed in a variety of places such as on The Late, Late Show with Tom Snyder; The Journal of School Psychologists and Victorian Homes Magazine. Both her poetry and artwork have won
awards. Several of her poems and a memoir are included in the 2011 anthology, Our Spirit, Our Reality, and her poetry is featured in the 2012 Mujeres de Maiz “‘Zine.” She is also a moderator of Diving Deeper, an online workshop for writers, and has written extensively about music, especially jazz, while working in the entertainment industry. She is currently in pre-production of her independent film, “Beautiful Dreamer,” based on her original screenplay and manuscript.

Hedy M. Garcia Treviño. Has written poetry since the age of eight. Her first poem came as a result of being punished for speaking Spanish in school. Her poetry has been published in numerous journal's and other publications. She has performed her poetry at numerous cultural events. She continues to write poetry, and inspires others to use the written word as a form of self discovery and personal healing. Hedy is also one of the moderators for Poets Responding to SB 1070.

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Woohoo! It’s Tuesday…even better, it’s Slice-time!

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Woohoo! It’s Tuesday…even better, it’s Slice-time!

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I'm trying to add some new work to my portfolio, focusing more on variety in my character shapes and showing different emotions. I also want to work more on my story telling. This was just an idea I had and went with. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Joy

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Release Date: Jan. 22nd 2008
Publisher: Walker & Company
Age Group: Middle Grade/Young Adult
Pages: 256
Flirt Factor: Chaste
Overall: 3/5 stars

Two Juliets,both alike in desperation. . . Seventeen-year-old Mimi Wallingford, of the Broadway Wallingfords, has a life most girls can only dream of—complete with the starring role in her family’s production of Romeo and Juliet.  But acting is not her dream, and she’s fighting for the right to trade her script for a scalpel and become a doctor.Fourteen-year-old Juliet Capulet, of the Verona Capulets, has lived a lonely life—imprisoned by the feud that consumes her family and by her iron-fisted mother’s forcing her into an unwanted marriage.  She will do anything to avoid her betrothed, even if it requires faking a boil on her bottom—or something more dangerous. During the play’s final performance, Mimi’s wish to get away actually comes true when she and her heartthrob costar, Troy Summer, are magically transported into Shakespeare’s Verona. Now that she knows the real Juliet, Mimi doesn’t want to stand by and allow the play to reach its tragic end.  But if saving her new friend means changing the ending of the greatest love story of all time, will she and Troy ever make it back to Broadway? (blurb taken from Suzanne Selfors Website)

I picked up this book during my last trip to the library in the mood for a good romance book. I figured since it was based on Romeo and Juliet, the most famous love story of all time, I wouldn't be disappointed. While I did enjoy the story, it did disappoint in the whole romance department. There was maybe two actual romantic scenes. Enough with me ranting though, let's get to what I actually thought about the book.

While the book was hard to get into, once I got to the part where they enter Shakespeare's world I was hooked. I loved that Selfors took shakespeare's story and provided her own spin on things and made it more relatable to the modern teenager. She did a great job at not making the twists too predictable either, and while this is definitely no tragedy, there were a few surprises along the way. One of those suprises was when you met Juliet she was a spunky and adventurous girl who the nurse referred to as Beastie. In contrast when you meet Romeo he is completely love sick over Rosealine and mopes around for most of the book.

Selfors also did a good job at keeping the setting accurate to what you would find during the time period Romeo and Juliet was written. I think the constant setting helped keep some similarities to the original Romeo and Juliet.

All in all the book had a great idea for a story line, but the events that happened only needed 100 pages, not 256. I actually enjoyed it more then I thought I would after reading the first 20 pages and would recommend for anyone in the mood for a twist on a classic to read it.

Writing: 3/5 stars
Characters: 3/5 stars
Plot/Setting: 4/5 stars
Ending: 5/5 Stars
Cover: 3/5 stars

XOXO,
Jenni

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Getting an agent is hard enough. But leaving your manuscript’s fate in the hands of a stranger is sometimes harder. After spending all that time conceptualizing your story and drafting your chapters and preparing your proposal, it’s often difficult to sit back. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Here are five ways writers can stay involved after they have landed an agent but before their book has sold.

GIVEAWAY: Rachel is excited to give away a free copy of her memoir to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before.

 

 

 

         

Guest column by Rachel Eddey, author of Running of the Bride:
My Frenzied Quest to Tie the Knot, Tear Up the Dance Floor, and
Figure Out Why My 15 Minutes of Fame Included Commercial Breaks (May 2012; skirt!).
The memoir spans her whirlwind wedding experience, from a proposal
on the Sex and the City movie set to appearing on two bridal reality
shows to winning a honeymoon—in four short months.
Join Rachel on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
or at any dive bar in New York City.

 

 

 

1. Provide a tie-in timeline. Look at all the holidays and national events scheduled for the next six months, whether government recognized or injected into the mainstream through a large corporate sponsor. For example, did you know that March 4 is national Grammar Day? Or that June 1 is National Go Barefoot Day? Chances are, your book’s themes tie in to at least a few. However silly or tenuous they might be, making these connections for your agent in advance will help her pinpoint editorial entry points. I used Will and Kate’s 2011 royal wedding to highlight how crazed the nation is over love stories, and it helped me sell my humorous memoir, Running of the Bride.

2. Gather connections. Though agents have many relationships within the publishing industry, it is impossible for them to know everyone. Any connections you can provide are extra tools with which your agent can arm herself. If you don’t think you have any connections, think again. I don’t personally know anyone who works at Simon & Schuster, yet I have immediate access to 6,241 current and former employees. This is all thanks to LinkedIn. As resistant as some of us are to social media, it really is a powerful tool.

LinkedIn is particularly useful in helping writers connect with industry professionals because it lays out not only personal connections but also the connections the user’s friends and friends of friends have. Here’s my breakdown: I recently opened my LinkedIn account and have accumulated just 38 first-degree connections. This balloons to 13,600+ second-degree connections and 1,532,700+ third-degree connections. When I type “Simon & Schuster” into my search box, I get to that 6,241 number—and all these people all in my extended network. I can then prune that list based off what is appropriate for my particular book and present these finds to an agent, who will determine next steps.

3. Research editors. Agents are busy people. While they have a lot of tools at their disposable and priceless institutional knowledge, they don’t always have time. Writers can help here by suggesting appropriate editors. There are several ways to find these. My favorite is through a site called Publishers Marketplace, a paid service that offers, among other useful tools, a “who represents” search box. Be warned, though, that writers do have to be careful about stepping on toes here. My last agent asked me for suggestions, but individual personalities prevail in the creative world. Find what works for your agent-writer relationship.

4. Ask for advice. I wrote to David Sedaris last year asking for advice on how to sell my first book. I don’t know David. But you know what? He wrote back—on a postcard from Paris, no less—with smart, helpful suggestions. I talked these suggestions over with my then-agent and we were able to move our efforts in a different direction because of it. Hearing from people you admire not only helps you think about your own work in different ways, but can also keep you inspired.

5. Build your platform. One refrain editors like to use is that first-time authors often don’t have a platform, meaning they don’t have built-in followers from previous book sales or being a television personality or serving as a world-renowned expert in their field. By building your brand, you help convince editors that you have the power to sell books—the number one attribute they’re seeking in a writer. You can build your platform in a number of ways, from starting a blog or Twitter account to building a Facebook fan page to finding speaking opportunities in your community. The more ways you can link your name to your book’s topic, the better.

There are, of course, far more than five ways a writer can help her agent to the finish line. What has worked for you?

GIVEAWAY: Rachel is excited to give away a free copy of her memoir to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before.

 

 

 

 

Want to build your visibility and sell more books?
Create Your Writer Platform shows you how to
promote yourself and your books through social
media, public speaking, article writing, and more.
Pre-order it now. (Releases Nov. 2012)

 

 

 

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Accessible and engrossing, Tumbleweeds  tells a love triangle of sorts involving Cathy, John and Trey.  Each of them are standouts in their own right - good looking, athletic, smart, and wildly popular.  John and Trey had been best friends and leaders even as children.  When Cathy moved to Kersey, they took her into their group and forged a special bond that stretched and held through high school and the complicated ups and downs of teenage love.

John and Trey are football stars in high school.  Cathy is an intellectual who makes her own way.  When a mistake in judgment leads to irrevocable damage and tragedy, the three friends separate.  When Trey returns nearly 25 years later, the reunion threatens to bring into the open secrets and Cathy and John have long kept hidden.   As closely held secrets come to the surface, so does the threat of violence and betrayal.

Leila Meacham draws you into the lives of Cathy, John and Trey.  While I sometimes could predict the characters' dilemmas,  I still wanted to know how they resolved their problems.  Much like a good soap or drama, Tumbleweeds kept me engrossed until its satisfying end.

ISBN-10: 1455509248 - Hardcover $26
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (June 19, 2012), 480 pages.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

About the Author:
Leila Meacham is a writer and former teacher who lives in San Antonio, Texas. She is the author of the bestselling novel Roses.

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LATEST NEWS

Artie’s new story The Race for Space was published in the September issue of the Teachers.net Gazette. To read the story please click on the image below. (This story is dedicated to the memory of Neil Armstrong, whose courage and heroism will live on forever)

Artie’s children’s book Living Green: A Turtle’s Quest for a Cleaner Planet is now available as a free video for kids through StoryCub. A shortlist finalist for the national 2012 Green Earth Book Award, Thurman the turtle is tired of seeing the land he loves cluttered with trash and decides to take action.

To watch the Living Green video on Youtube, please click on the cover below. StoryCub videos are one of the most watched programs on Apple’s iTunes Kids & Family section.

Use of any of the content on this website without permission is prohibited by federal law

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Our friend and classmate from our MFA days, Jackie Resnick, is giving away 3 advanced reader copies of her upcoming middle-grade novel, THE DARING ESCAPE OF THE MISFIT MENAGERIE.  We're so excited for her!  Click here to find out more about the giveaway: http://jacquelinewrites.com/Blog.

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I was commissioned by author Susanna Hill to rework the Summer Short & Sweets web badge into one for her Fall event, Short & Sweets. Here is the badge I created using the same template as the summer version:

 

 

If you would like to learn more about Short & Sweets, please visit Susanna’s site !

 

 

 

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I’ve just heard that John Coates, best known for being the “production supervisor” on Yellow Submarine, a co-producer of Heavy Metal, and producer of several notable shorts (The Snowman), series (The World Of Peter Rabbit) and features (When The Wind Blows) has passed away at age 90.

Coates co-founded TVC London (aka TV Cartoons Ltd.) with George Dunning in 1957 and was known as the business partner of the duo. In the 1960s, TVC produced the original Beatles TV cartoons and the Cool McCool series for King Features – and that led to them being the studio behind Yellow Submarine (1968). Coates continued to align himself with quality work throughout the years, and was most recently nominated for an Academy Award for Joanna Quinn’s short Famous Fred in 1997. A legend of the British animation industry, John Libbey published a biography of Coates last year.

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To celebrate the Inky Awards, the Centre for Youth Literature is offering libraries and schools across Australia the chance to win one of two complete sets of the 2012 Inky longlisted titles for their library collection.

The winners will receive:

 

Gold Inky (Australian books)	Silver Inky (International books)
Shift by Em Bailey	Bitterblue by Kirstin Cashore
Night Beach by Kirsty Eagar	BZRK by Michael Grant
Brotherband 1: The Outcasts by John Flanagan	Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Act of Faith by Kelly Gardiner	Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
Queen of the Night by Leanne Hall	Storm: Elementals 1 by Brigid Kemmerer
Blood Song by Rhiannon Hard	Legend by Marie Lu
Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan	A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Coming of the Whirlpool: Ship Kings 1 by Andrew McGahan	Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
The Deep: Here Be Dragons, Volume 1 by Tom Taylor (illustrated by James Brouwer)	The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
The Reluctant Hallelujah by Gabrielle Williams	Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

 

To be in the running all you need to do is share with us how your library or school is celebrating the 2012 Inky Awards. You can get creative by vlogging, hosting an Inky party, putting up an Inky display, or absolutely anything else you can think of!

The only condition is that your celebration needs to feature the 2012 Inky Awards, and an image of Inky in some way.

Attached are vector images of Inky – found here and here, which can be altered to fit an A2 print, and our Inky Award badges – gold found here and silver found here.

Entries open now until the 14^th of October. The Centre for Youth Literature team will judge. Winners will be contacted on the 22^nd of October and announced at our InkyFest on the 23^rd of October.

Terms and Conditions for participants:

Please note that by entering this competition you are agreeing to allow the State Library of Victoria to copy and reproduce your entry in a range of online and print media. This includes, but is not limited to, our websites (www.insideadog.com.au, www.slv.vic.gov.au), blogs, e-newsletters, press releases, and on social media networks (e.g. our twitter and facebook pages).

SLV employees are not eligible to enter.

Both schools and libraries are eligible.

 

 

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I’ve been trying to think through how to explain thinking in scenes to young writers in a way that makes it accessible. It seems they either write two scenes and call it done… Read More →

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I’ve been trying to think through how to explain thinking in scenes to young writers in a way that makes it accessible. It seems they either write two scenes and call it done… Read More →

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