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Beth, Dana, and Deb will be live at 1:00 EST today

Take a peek at our presentation from Saturday at #theedcollabgathering.

Four of us will present at The Educator Collaborative Spring Gathering tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

link to presentation online: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xcUYdQsHqvV_-UPwr0DS9iHxHjfUrZxLqi1Wpbg701o/edit?usp=sharing

We're sharing our presentations from NCTE with you, along with quotes I jotted down from a variety of authors and literacy leaders. ALSO, take a peek at some photos from our Slicer Dinner.

We're sharing our presentations from NCTE with you, along with quotes I jotted down from a variety of authors and literacy leaders. ALSO, take a peek at some photos from our Slicer Dinner.

This Thursday I will be heading out to the 2015 YALSA YA Lit Symposium in Austin, Texas!



Part of the reason I will be there is because I'll be presenting. I'm part of a panel, Whose Reality Gets Written?, on Sunday, 10:30am-12:00pm. Panelists are Svati Avasthi, Steve Brezenoff, Elizabeth Burns, E. M. Kokie, Andrew Karre, Blythe Woolston.

The full description: "The formula for YA fiction is no secret: Wrap a load of dysfunction in a layer of bleak despair and spice it up with little romantic angst. Problem is, that formula is a fantasy. Writers, editors, and readers are all making personal, particular choices. This panel will tackle these questions: Are certain realities over-represented? Are others under-represented? If so, why are some privileged while others are neglected? Does YA entail a different set of responsibilities than "adult" fiction? Who defines those responsibilities? Does narrow focus on a particular "here and now" doom books to irrelevance or rapid obsolescence?"

The hashtag, for those talking about this online, is #yalit14.

I haven't made up my mind about what programs I'll be attending, because they all look good.

I'll have some free time in Austin on Friday and Sunday afternoon. So, any suggestions for a first-time visitor in Austin?

And any dining recommendations?

I hope to see you there!






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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

I had the pleasure of speaking about "Curating and Cultivating a Virtual Community of Writers" with the members of the Chester County Reading Association this afternoon. I talked about the ways blogging, microblogging, other digital technologies allow teacher-writers to interact with each other worldwide.

I had the pleasure of speaking about "Curating and Cultivating a Virtual Community of Writers" with the members of the Chester County Reading Association this afternoon. I talked about the ways blogging, microblogging, other digital technologies allow teacher-writers to interact with each other worldwide.

I’m looking forward to presenting about online writing relationships at this year’s Keystone State Reading Association (KSRA) Conference, which will be held in State College, PA in less than two weeks.  Ruth and I… Read More →

August is here! What are you eagerly anticipating this week, later this month, and this-coming fall?

I’ve been working with Keith Bollman and his fifth grade class on a research project. The end result is a tour of the solar system, completely planned, designed, researched, and created by the… Read More →

I wish Google Docs had an embed button, but nope...they give you a link to share :)  So here's the presentation from TCEA.  Enjoy!
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-wHb5Nsjhy0MGJIUDVBSmlRWWs/edit?usp=sharing

Tomorrow night I’ve been invited to talk with parents and host a mini-writing workshop for families. You must know, about a week ago, our youngest, Sam (a first grader), gave two slips of… Read More →

I had a great time at OCL (Berkeley branch) last night. Despite the heavy downpour, which started a half hour before my presentation began, we had a good-sized crowd. I received a lovely email from someone in the audience this morning. The heading was 'Your Awesome Talk at the Library', so I knew I had at least one satisfied customer.

In the general book signing/chinwag afterwards, someone told me they'd tried to book themselves a place on the 150-minute workshops I'm teaching at the Georgian Court University next month, but there were no spaces available. 

Last week Annie Campbell published this op-ed, “Guarding Fragility,” in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. It is powerful and worth the read. I hope you check it out. Annie has been helping me with my… Read More →

I had a great time at the New Jersey Library Association conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. I met lots of nice people, some of whom I knew via email or telephone only, so it was good to put faces to names. I've got plenty of new contacts for NJAN, and other writerly events. I also sold some books, so all in all, a successful trip. 

If you ever find yourself in Atlantic City, NJ, I highly recommend the Revel Resort hotel. The staff were terrific and I loved my room, especially the shower. The towels were so light and fluffy, I could hardly close the lid on my suitcase. I'm not too good with heights, so I did find it unnerving to have a wall-length window view of the ocean from my room on the 25th floor, but it was nothing curtains couldn't fix.

I left a little early so I could get home in good time to make it to my 10 Things Every Writer Should Know talk at Monmouth County Library (HQ) in my adopted home town of Manalapan last night. People seemed to enjoy it. I had another 'Savor the moment' moment afterwards when two people in the audience brought their copies of Fur-Face up to the table. I thought at first they'd come for a refund, but it turns out they wanted me to sign them.

Afterwards, I had a good chinwag with some of my friends from the Monmouth Creative Writing Group for about an hour-and-a-half, which is always fun.


Now it's back to the grindstone. I've got my inbox down to less than a hundred emails now. If I owe you a reply (or a blog comment) I expect to have pretty much caught up by around midday. Then it's lunch, followed by my afternoon writing session.

How about you?

How's your week going?


   

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