I just bought plane tickets. To where? Well might you ask! To Minneapolis!
Now while I'm sure the fair polis of Minnea has many charms, I'm going there for one of my favorite events of the year: the annual Kidlitosphere Conference, otherwise known as my best excuse to geek out over books and blogging and meet people I mostly know online.
It's October 23rd and I can't wait! Will I see you there?
The Cybils are the Kidlitosphere's much-loved literary awards, coming up on their fifth year. Right now, they're running a fund drive in order to fund the good work they do.
Now, the Cybils are all-volunteer all the time, but webspace ain't free, people. Neither are awards, printing of bookmarks and shortlists, and all the other things produced by these wonderful volunteers. If you've participated in, been inspired by, or utilized the Cybils in any way, here's your chance to give a little of that love back.
You can donate outright through PayPal or hit their CafePress store for some nifty swag. C'mon, you know you want to.
The next Kidlitosphere Conference has been set for October 23 in Minneapolis, Minnesota! Click through to the official KidLitCon10 blog (hello, of course there's a blog!) for all the details.
If you've never been, consider it! If you have, I don't need to convince you.
By: Sally Murphy,
on 3/28/2010
If you've been dropping in regularly then you'll know that all month I've been hosting visting bloggers who have been dropping in to help me celebrate the release of Toppling by telling me (and you) what it is that they like about chidlren's poetry. Please welcome today Jackie Hosking, poet, chidlren's writer and editor of the Pass It On newsletter. Welcome Jackie. Why I like poetry. I’ve
By: Sally Murphy,
on 2/8/2010
On every writer's networking list I am on, or have ever been part of, one of the recurring subjects is that of the names of editors at particular publishing houses. "Does anyone know the name of the editor at XYZ?" someone will ask, or "Is Josephine Bloggs still the submissions editor at ZXY?" Nine times out of ten someone on the list will know the answer and it is duly proferred and the askee
MotherReader and Lee Wind are starting the 2010 Comment Challenge today! I could talk about why I like comments (getting and giving) but I'll quote MotherReader instead:
What if I told you that for the cost of a few extra minutes a day, you can boost your blog readership, foster a feeling of connection, and make someone’s day? Does that sound like something you might be interested in?The Challenge runs for 21 days, from Friday the 8th through Thursday the 28th. They challenge you to comment on five different kidlitosphere blogs a day and there's a prize drawing for those who hit 100 comments. Plus, y'know, you might get a few extra comments yourself. Zowie!
Well, I’m talking about commenting, and the power is in your hands to make a difference.
Okay, New Year's Day isn't until Friday. But I thought I'd get these out there now. Lately, my life has been just a little insane, and my blogs are two things I pushed to the back burner. I have no problem with that--for a little bit, other things took precedence. But now I want to get back to blogging, and also to improve some things about my own blogging experience.
Resolutions work better when you set a specific goal, so I'll include one.
This year, I resolve to:
Comment more
I know people love getting comments, and there are varying schools of thought on their value. Speaking for myself, I like commenting and getting comments because it feels like I'm deeper into this awesomely fun conversation we've all been having for, oh, the last four years or so. I hear murmurings of a comment challenge in January. Maybe this will be the kick in the pants I need. I resolve to leave at least 5 comments a week. At the moment, that's 5 more than I am doing.
Post more
Like I said, I haven't been blogging much lately. That's been life-related, but it would be too easy to let that non-blogging habit continue. I resolve to post at least twice a week on both blogs. My next resolution should help with that.
Review more
My policy is not to review a book unless it has That Thing. That special spark that makes me go, "Ooooh, this is something I want to talk about." All very well and good, but I've been skipping books I wanted to review but just didn't. MotherReader's 48-Hour Reading Challenge in June taught me that I can write a review in twenty minutes or so, and even the blathery ones don't take more than half an hour to 45 minutes, including links and images. Surely I can carve out half an hour each week to write a review of a book I want to talk about anyway. I resolve to post one review a week on either blog, and preferably on both.
Not sweat the small stuff
Okay, this one might seem contradictory, given all those great intentions I have up there. But I do tend to overfocus and obsess a little, even if it's in the privacy of my own mind. So this is the year I'm going to relax and not chew on things like statistics. I've always done this for me first, and I want to stop grizzling because So-and-So has more followers than I do. Or whether I've read that hot book everyone's talking about. I'll get to it. If it's that great, it'll still be that great in ten months or whenever. No goal for this one, because I can't really say, "I resolve to not freak out at least once a week."
So that's my plan for 2010. What are your New Year's Blog Resolutions?
The noms don't start for the Cybils until October 1, but you can put in your name to be a judge right now. From the Cybils blog, the requirements:
One of my favorite things about the kidlitosphere is the trouble--ahem, initiatives--we regularly cook up. See Robert's Snow, the Bridget Zinn auction, Operation Teen Book Drop, etc. Guys Lit Wire is getting in on the fun with their own project, the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys. In a nutshell:
We are moving today into the second phase of GLW, where we put our money where our mouth is and physically act on getting books into the hands of boys that otherwise have none. Today we start the first two week Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys to help the teens incarcerated in the LA County Juvenile Justice System. They have no books - at all - and they need them; they need them desperately.Since it started last Wednesday, I take it that the GLWBFB runs until the 27th. Drop by Guys Lit Wire to find out more, especially how you can help.
For the fourth year in a row, MotherReader is challenging us to crank our natural gift for devouring the written word up to 11. Yes, my chickies, it's time once again for the the 48-Hour Book Challenge, in which kidlit lovers all over this great land hole up with two days' worth of chocolate, caffeine, an internet connection (to review, natch!) and of course, the books.
Last year was my first year doing this, and talk about a marathon. But I also flexed my reviewing skills and I'm very pleased with the result. (Hint: click the 48-Hour Book Challenge tag at the bottom of this link and see what I read and what I thought of it all.)
This year's 48HBC takes place June 5-7. You don't really have to go 48 hours without sleep in order to read, but it made a catchy title.
I just realized I'm scheduled for three days off that weekend. Woo-hoo! I can read for 48 hours AND do my laundry! Cleaning my apartment will probably take the back burner, however.
Are you in? Drop by MotherReader's blog to read up on the rules and regs, and to throw your name in the hat.
Do you doubt me? Then read this post: An Open Letter to . . . People and prepare to have your doubts smithereened.
This has been bugging me lately--not the feeling that I should be reading "grownup" books, but the reactions of others seeing that I love reading kids' books. From the standup comic who sneered at his dates reading Harry Potter, to the co-worker who told me (jokingly, but he said it all the same) "Grow up!" I'm getting just a little sick of people thinking I am less of a book lover if the books I love are intended for a group that can't pour themselves a glass of wine while they read.
The first step is letting people know you aren't ashamed--then maybe they'll start wondering why they think you should be.
Thanks for the rant, Melissa. It was just what I needed to hear.
So last week, Gregory K. emailed me to tell me about this rather awesome project called 30 Days/30 Poets. April being National Poetry Month, he intends to post a brand-spankin' new, never-before-seen poem, specially written for the purpose, every single day, starting tomorrow.
Participating poets include Jack Prelutsky, Pat Mora, Jane Yolen, Nikki Grimes . . . and those are just the ones that made me squeal extra-loud. Since I'm kind of a poetry dunce, you know this is a pretty special collection to make me sit up and take notice.
Stop on by his announcement to see the full list of poets and a list of other ways you can participate in National Poetry Month.
So you know how Uncle Sam is totally giving you back all sorts of money this year? What are you going to do with it? How about passing on your deep and slightly scary love of YA by participating in Operation Teen Book Drop?
In all their awesomosity, a whole bunch of blogs like Readergirlz and Guys Lit Wire, plus more, are sponsoring a drive to bring good books to hospital-bound teens. How can you participate, I hear you say? So glad you asked.
Readergirlz invites teens and YA authors to leave a book in a public place on April 16th. Participants can download bookplates to insert into the books they'll leave behind.And if Uncle Sam is being a cheapskate this year, well, there's always the library book sale. Follow the link to find out what to do once you've gotten the book you want to drop.
So those crazy kids, MotherReader and Lee Wind, have cooked up something else for us all to join in on. It's the 21-day Comment Challenge!
I admit it, I'm not the best commenter ever. I'll save posts, think about them, even link to them if I decide to write about the topic on my blog, but I don't comment on the other person's actual blog. Knowing what a thrill it is for me to get comments, I feel bad about not putting in a little time to give that thrill to someone else.
No more! MotherReader and Lee, I'm in and I'll do my darnedest to speak up, even if it's to say "Go You!"
Just like I said up there. You've only got until midnight to express your love and devotion for your favorite books of the year! Is there a book in one of these categories that you can't imagine living without?
From the Cybils blog:
The genres: Easy Readers, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade Novels, Non-Fiction Middle Grade/Young Adult Books, Non-Fiction Picture Books, Poetry, Young Adult Novels.Has it not been nominated yet? Then go nominate, you silly person!
Lee Wind over at I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read? and Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray are putting together another initiative, this one called Blog the Vote! Quotage of the fundamentals:
Blog the Vote is a one day Kid and Adult Lit Blogger Event, where we all blog on Monday Nov. 3rd about the importance of voting on Tuesday Nov. 4th.What's this got to do with kidlit?
Blog the Vote is about sharing WHY it's important to vote. It's about the issues that will be decided by whoever wins this election . . .
Blog the Vote is not, however, about hate-speech or being rude - posts that overstep into nastiness won't be linked on the master list.
If you aren't now, you'd better be by the first weekend in June! MotherReader has set her Third Annual 48-hour Book Challenge for that weekend. The challenge: to read, and blog, for 48 straight hours somewhere between Friday and Monday. Click the link for more details.
A few months back, one of my favorite-ever authors, Terry Pratchett, announced that he was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Here's one of the first interviews he's done since breaking the news. Alzheimer's or not, he's funny and sharp as always.
When I was going in for the tests, they asked my wife and PA to say what they had noticed in my behaviour. They jointly wrote a letter saying, 'Like any author who's in the throes of writing a book, Terry probably shows all the signs of dementia: he's unworldly, he doesn't pay attention to things, he's antisocial, grumpy.' I'm a typical bloody writer. Maybe all of us have had Alzheimer's for years without realising it.
The Dewey Donation System 2008 Book Drive is happening now through March 12. This year, they've turned the force of their philanthropy on schoolkids in Jamaica and at-risk children in L.A. County.
Donate now! How, you say? Check out the How to Donate page to see the wishlists from the two institutes. (And seriously, folks, check out those detailed wishlists from the Children's Institute in LA. They've got some damn fine early-childhood advocates putting those together.)
What are you waiting for? Go! Go! Go!
I'm super jealous! I'm not able to make it this year. Hope you have a great time. :)
That sounds so fun! Have a wonderful time, when you go, and don't forget to tell us all about it. :D