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I ran the NYC Marathon in 2006, and it was an amazing experience. On Sunday, the day of the marathon, I re-read my blog post about my run and got all nostalgic.
Today, my friend Gwen posted this great recap of her second marathon. She also documented her run using a special camera on her head! I have to say, it made me emotional to watch this, remembering how I felt at certain spots of the route.
Read and see her video here. (Time-lapse video is also below)
2010 NYC Marathon Time Lapse from wnyc culture on Vimeo.
Congratulations, Gwen!
I actually entered the lottery for the marathon this year, but I didn't get in. And to be honest, I was actually really really really hoping that I wouldn't get in. It's an amazing experience, but it sure does take up a lot of time for the training. Plus, it's exhausting and painful and all that...
But I've decided to just keep entering the lottery to see what happens. And perhaps I'll eventually run one with my Dad.
Lounging, once again, in the favorite chair. |
I love this:
Sign Montage from the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear from ekai on Vimeo.
Vote for Jon and Stephen.
On Thursday we had our company Halloween party. Here are pics from throughout the day:
we sure have a weird cast of characters at our editorial meetings. |
Deirdre as the Substitute Creature (by Chris Gall) |
Mara as THE CURIOUS GARDEN by Peter Brown |
Pam and I are Rachel and Tina from GLEE |
Emma as Squeaker, Leslie as Lucy from Peter Brown's CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS |
1 Comments on Happy Halloween!, last added: 11/1/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: Serena, Furball Friday, Add a tag
1 Comments on Furball Friday, last added: 10/30/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: YA, publishing, nypl, panel, Add a tag I was on the panel "Reflections on YA" this past Tuesday at the NYPL. The audio of the panel is up on the NYPL website. We talked about digital publishing, paranormal romance, diversity in publishing, and more. It was a great conversation. If you missed it, you can hear what went on here.
1 Comments on Reflections on YA, last added: 10/29/2010
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Head over to see what's new at the Blue Rose Girls--we've just give the blog a brand-new look, and are running a contest right now. You can win cookies! And books!
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1 Comments on Furball Friday, last added: 10/23/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: cats, Venus, Serena, Furball Friday, Add a tag
Now that I'm the proud co-owner of two cats, Venus and Serena, and am constantly taking pictures of them and showing them off to people like a crazy cat lady, I thought I'd follow fellow Blue Rose Girl Anna Alter's lead and start a Furball Friday post.
5 Comments on Furball Friday, last added: 10/17/2010
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As if the shaking apartment was not provocative enough, above is a photo of the note G encountered when he reached their apartment door. As you can imagine, this note did not improve his mood. After a lengthy discussion with the neighbors about "rights" (their right to throw a party in the U.S. of A, our right to sleep and live in peace in our own apt), they turned the music down. To their credit, they've been quiet neighbors ever since (a talking-to by our landlord probably helped, too). To our credit, the phone number above is blocked out. Yes, I have officially turned into the cranky old neighbor. Kids these days. Sheesh.
2 Comments on But hey, it's Brooklyn, not Ohio, last added: 10/11/2010
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Grace Lin had really wanted to do the red carpet video at ALA, because she wanted to tell the story of how she picked and eventually found her dress, but because we were in the receiving line for so long after the banquet, we didn't have a chance to do it until close to midnight when we were both exhausted. Grace made me do it first, and although I had hoped that the video would end up being lost somewhere, I just discovered that they've edited my video with Grace's, asking us about "the call." Please excuse us in advance for our babbling, and I also want to apologize for getting our School and Marketing Associate Director's title wrong (I called her Manager). Sorry, Victoria! You can also view the video on YouTube here.
1 Comments on Newbery red carpet videos, last added: 8/18/2010
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I've been feeling a little guilty about neglecting this blog. Poor blog. Every year I'm determined to post more often, every year that resolution goes by the wayside. At any rate, I thought I'd just mention that after 8 years of living in New York City, specifically in Manhattan on the Upper East Side (in two different apartments), about six weeks ago I made a big move to Brooklyn. I was a little apprehensive about leaving my huge triplex with a beautiful roof terrace (here's a picture of me on one of my last times on the terrace. Boo hoo.): I've always liked Brooklyn, and have hung out there a bunch, a lot of my friends live in Brooklyn, and overall I was excited the make the change and explore a new neighborhood. To make new memories. So far so good! I'm loving it. The commute isn't bad--I miss the walk, but it's the same amount of time, I have a lot of different subway options and routes to choose from, and more importantly I'm finding that I have more reading time. I've been running in Prospect Park most mornings. I've been meeting friends in the neighborhood for brunch and dinner and drinks and trying out local places. So many great restaurants to try! And this past Friday I celebrated my birthday in a Brooklyn bar a few blocks away from my apartment. (I'm holding the youngest party guest!) I heart Brooklyn! This picture is from today, on a block near my apt: More soon. I promise.
3 Comments on Brooklyn in the House! Or, er, apartment in Brooklyn!, last added: 7/22/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: video, book trailer, Happyface, Shark vs Train, Halloween, Add a tag
Yes, we're silly. During our office Halloween party last year, I decided we should take advantage of our costumes and film a few impromptu book trailers. First, here's one for SHARK VS. TRAIN by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld.
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: family, Taiwan, politics, video, Add a tag
All my life, my parents told me "If anyone asks, you're Taiwanese. Not Chinese. It's different." As a child I would dutifully comply, even though I didn't completely understand the distinction. In high school, one of my friends would tell me that I was Chinese American, like her. And when I disagreed, we would argue about it, no doubt just spouting our parents' political beliefs.
4 Comments on I am Taiwanese American, last added: 3/6/2010
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2 Comments on OMG, giant bunny!, last added: 2/23/2010
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Hi all,
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Okay, no more cheating, I'm no longer going to re-post from Blue Rose Girls. I will, however, link to new posts I have over there. But I figure I'll need some motivation to post original content over here. Doing Grace's hair and makeup:
1 Comments on Acquisitions, Celebrations, and a BRG weekend, last added: 2/11/2010
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Cross-posted from the Blue Rose Girls: This past weekend I spoke at the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York for the first time. I've participated multiple times in the Writer's Workshop the day before the conference, but never spoke at the big event, so was excited to see what it was all about. I was also curious to see how it would compare to the Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles. So, how did it compare? Well, it was equally wonderful, inspiring, and well organized. The conference was kicked off Saturday morning a keynote speech by the incomparable Libba Bray, who certainly started things off on a humorous, touching, and inspiring note. I especially loved the story about her son: When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, "I want to be a giraffe!" Wow. Me too. (okay, not really, I wanted to be a dolphin.) She declared this year the "Year of Writing Dangerously." Then we broke off into workshops. I led one called "The Real Deal about Literary Novels" which I gave twice in the morning and once in the afternoon. I attempted to define "Literary Fiction," (in general, literary novels are more character focused, whereas commercial fiction is more plot focused--but really, it took almost the whole hour to just define it!), gave examples (Firegirl by Tony Abbott, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, North of Beatiful by Justina Chen Headley, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, etc.), read some gorgeous descriptions from the latter two novels, read some examples of literary "voice" (including the opening of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which most people recognized right away), and weaved in the different definitions of "literary fiction" that I gathered from my colleagues. One of my favorites compared literary fiction to eating a chocolate truffle: "a little goes a long way, you savor each bite slowly, enjoying the nuances of the different ingredients, the textures and how they work together, the coating, the presentation, etc.” I also read a passage from agent Nathan Bransford's very excellent post giving his definition quite clearly. Thanks, Nathan! The lunchtime keynote was by Jacqueline Woodson. It was soothing, personal, and powerful. I could listen to her talk all day! I wonder if she reads her own audiobooks...
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: resolutions, books I've edited, newbery, Add a tag
Cross-posted from the Blue Rose Girls! *** First of all, I added a few pictures to my ALA Midwinter post when I cross-posted it on my personal blog. Check it out here. And here's a picture of what I came into my office to see after the news was announced. My assistant made the huge medal to adorn the book (the Al Roker is from another coworker after we found out the book would be Al Roker's Book Club pick on the Today show, and the stars are for the starred reviews the book received). The beautiful flowers are from my Publisher. They smelled fantastic, too. I'm still basking in the news of Grace's Newbery Honor, and I can't express enough my gratitude to the Newbery Committee who recognized Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. As I mentioned in my post, as an editor, it is my dream to acquire and edit a book that becomes a classic. Of course, a Newbery Honor, or even a Newbery Medal, does not ensure that a book will become a classic, but it sure the heck doesn't hurt! Grace, your books are all classics in my book. **** So, now that we're over three weeks into 2010 (not a bad year so far, I must say!), and I thought I'd check to see how I'm doing on my work resolutions. 1) Learn how to say "no" more. Yes! I turned down at least two conference invites this year already, as well as a few requests for meetings. 2) Stop counting on weekend and vacations and holidays to "catch up" on work. I'm sorry to say that I haven't kept this up. In fact, I went into the office both days this past weekend. Then again, I didn't feel bad about it. I enjoyed the work I accomplished. 3) Don't stay at the office past 9 pm. Yes! I think two days this year I stayed till just before 9 pm, but overall I've managed to leave the office at a decent time each evening. 4) Work towards "Inbox Zero"--I think this is probably too lofty a goal, so to be a little more realistic, I'd like to have under 20 emails in my inbox by the end of each day (Let's call it Inbox Twenty). Yes! I'm the most amazed that I've been able to keep this up. The closest call was the first Monday back at work after the break, because I was dealing with weeks of emails that had piled up over my vacation. As 8 pm passed, I realized that resolution #3 would at times be in direct competition with #4...but for now, both resolutions have been achieved. 5) While at work, work. Less socializing and web surfing. Yes! Limiting Facebook and Twitter use while at work has worked wonders. I should probably cut out Gawker, too, though. 6) Acquire at least two picture books, two middle grade, and two young adult projects this year. I'm working on it! Just finalized a two-book deal for two YA novels--more on that after the deal is announced. Also have a three-book middle grade deal in the works... 7) Read a little before bed at least five times a week. Read at least one published book per mont
1 Comments on Newbery Aftermath and Checking In on my New Year's Resolutions, last added: 1/29/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: wrap-up, awards, ala, conferences, Add a tag
I'm so thrilled that Grace Lin's Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has been awarded the Newbery Honor! And also so happy that Jerry Pinkney has finally won the Caldecott Gold with The Lion and the Mouse. It was a good day for Little, Brown! See all of the honorees here. Watch the announcements of the Caldecott here, and of the Newbery here. My apologies for the shaky, off-center camera work! Grace posted a few pics of "the call." So cute! Here are Grace's agent Rebecca Sherman of Writer's House and I fawning over the book and the nice, shiny medal: And finally, Grace arrived triumphant to the convention center in the afternoon: Yay, Grace! I love this book so much. One of the Newbery committee members said to me afterwards, "This book is going to be a classic." That is my hope and dream. For an update of the rest of ALA as I posted on the Blue Rose Girls before the award announcements, read on below. ********** I'm writing this post on Sunday night in my hotel room in Boston while watching the Golden Globes. I've been here since Friday for the American Library Association Midwinter Conference, and as actors and writers and directors, etc. all collect their awards, I'm trying not to think about our awards, the ones bestowed by the venerable American Library Association. I was burned last year, and on a roller coaster ride the whole weekend before the announcements, and was determined for that to not happen this year, and for the most part it's worked. I've managed to not think about it too much (yeah right). That aside, I've set this the post automatically at 8:30 AM, so by now we all know which books have won, so I'll just give a general CONGRATUL
5 Comments on ALA Midwinter 2010: an honor!, last added: 1/20/2010
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Cross-posted from the Blue Rose Girls: I don't know if people ignore this rule out of ignorance, or in hopes that we'll take a look at their query or submission anyway. And, okay, yes--very very rarely, if you catch me in a good mood, I might scan the submission (especially if it's a book dummy with illustrations), but I don't actually remember an example where I've then actually ended up considering the submission--it still gets returned as slush. And I can say with 100% certainty that I've never ended up acquiring a submission that was initially sent to me as slush. So, STOP TRYING. You're wasting your time, my time, my assistant's time, our receptionist time, and you're also wasting money and paper, and making it harder for people who are following the rules to have my undivided attention. Stop it. Seriously. Sigh. Remember when you loved getting mail? Remember a time when mail was something other
2 Comments on How I handle mail, plus a rant, last added: 1/11/2010
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Blog: bloomabilities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap) JacketFlap tags: resolutions, list, work, work/life balance, Add a tag
Cross-posted from the Blue Rose Girls. Definitely! RT@DaveMcKean Resolution? More unequivocal days, that is WORK days and PLAY days, not guilty play days and distracted work days. That really resonated with me, because if I had to pick two words to describe how I felt last year, they would be "busy" and "guilty." I felt guilty all the time because of all of the things I had to do and wasn't doing. All of the submissions yet to read, the unanswered emails and calls, the people to get back to. I felt guilty all the time about not working, even when I wasn't supposed to be working. And that needs to stop. So, in addition to my usual work goals, in 2010 I'm going to try to set some boundaries and make some changes in how I work. Here are a few of my work-related resolutions I've come up with so far: 1) Learn how to say "no" more. Last year I really did try to say no to favors and requests that I really didn't have the time to do, but if someone insists and says "Are you sure? Please?" I often fold and say yes. I need to stop that. Because this past year, I've said yes to things, and then have not followed through with the task in a timely manner, and that's contributed to this constant sense of guilt. 2) Stop counting on weekend and vacations and holidays to "catch up" on work. Weekends and vacations are "me" time! And it never really works, anyway. (This is an example of "guilty play days.") 3) Don't stay at the office past 9 pm. 4) Work towards "Inbox Zero"--I think this is probably too lofty a goal, so to be a little more realistic, I'd like to have under 20 emails in my inbox by the end of each day (Let's call it Inbox Twenty). If you're curious as to what Inbox Zero is, watch this (rather long) video: 5) While at work, work. Less socializing and web surfing. Sure, Twitter and Facebook and blog reading are also work-related for me, but I need to stop checking the sites throughout the day. Once in the morning, once during lunchtime, and once after 5 pm will suffice. 6) Acquire at least two picture books, two middle grade, and two young adult projects this year. 7) Read a little before bed at least five times a week. Read at least one published book per month. 8) Tidy my office at least a little bit once a week. And, of course, I resolve to keep all of my resolutions! Really! And if I
8 Comments on My work resolutions for 2010, last added: 1/7/2010
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Earlier this year, when I looked back ten years ago to when I first started my career in publishing, I hadn't realized that we were also nearing the end of the decade and the beginning of a new one (although...technically 2011 is the beginning of the new decade, right? Details, details!).
5 Comments on The Oughts: A Look Back, last added: 12/31/2009
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Re-posted from the Blue Rose Girls. And to conclude this random post, let's get back to snow. Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite snow book, which is also my favorite picture book of all time, is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Other snow books I love are Robert's Snow by Grace
1 Comments on It's snowing! It's snowing random links, that is., last added: 12/24/2009
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Congrats to Gwen!
The NYC marathon is on my wishlist of marathons to run. :-)
Congratulations! What a wonderful accomplishment...and the race is just the reward for all those months of training and dedication and maintaining motivation. Enjoy the moment and cherish the memories!