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1. conference tips countdown

Eleven days until the SCBWI-Midsouth Annual Conference. Woo! If you’re a writer or illustrator and you’ve never attended an SCBWI conference, go to the SCBWI web site and search for a conference near you. It’s time and money well invested in your career.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “Why should I go to a conference? How would I benefit?” In today’s post, and in those leading up to the conference, I’ll share some reasons why SCBWI conferences are so awesome, and I’ll even include some tips on how to get the most from your conference experience.

Conference Perk #1: The energy generated at an SCBWI conference is contagious, long-lasting and will keep your creative batteries charged for weeks.

There’s always an air of excitement at an SCBWI conference. Opportunities are there for networking, making friends, finding critique partners, and more. Where else can you sit and chat with multi-published, well-known authors?

Children’s writers and illustrators are an incredibly friendly bunch. I’ve never met one who wasn’t willing to talk about their creative process, what motivates them, etc. From the pre-published to those with book sales in the millions, we all share a common experience — the long hours spent alone at the computer or locked away in a studio, perfecting manuscripts and artwork, wondering if anyone will find our creations fit for publication.

Perhaps we’re all bound together by the insecurities we share that seem to be an inherent part of the writer’s/illustrator’s craft. We empathize with the struggles of our fellow artists and wordsmiths. And we all have that desire to tell a story that will send shivers of delight up and down a child’s spine, or will capture the readers interest so that he’s willing to stay up late at night and read the book by flashlight under the covers.

Whatever the case, it’s wonderful to spend a day or a weekend among like-minded souls who savor a great metaphor or make a living sketching friendly monsters.

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2. back from vacation

Long time, no posts! With vacations, catching up on work (meaning my actual paying  job) between days off, and my youngest getting married in 29 days, blogging has been, like, at the bottom of my list.

So if you can tolerate some random “catch-up” here, read on:

  • The first half of my vacation was all about the grandkids — from Chuck E. Cheese night to late-night Disney movies, it was a week’s worth of baby and preschool fun.
  • Our future daughter-in-law hung out with us during the second segment of our vacation. We stayed in one of those hotels that have suites with fully-equipped kitchens. Normally, I don’t cook much. But on this trip, we cooked just about every meal and it was so good. The future d-i-l taught me how to make homemade guacamole and it was incredible! I am now a guacamole guru. When it’s done, it looks like a party on a plate.  Take two ripe avocados, cut in half, remove pit, scoop out the flesh onto a plate and smush it with a fork ’till chunky. Chop a couple of tomatoes and some fresh cilantro, mix into the mashed avocado (be sure to use the tomato juice!) and add salt and onion powder to taste. (Lemon or lime juice is optional.) Eat with tortilla chips until you get sick or your pants don’t fit, whichever comes first.
  • A bit of advice from one who has been there and done that: When it comes to hotel rooms, chances are you’ll get what you pay for.  In our case, an inexpensive room in a facility that appeared decent on the outside turned out to be a filthy nightmare on the inside. When we arrived at the hotel and opened the door to the room, it not only smelled bad, the bathroom floor was dirty, the kitchenette disgusting, and the hide-a-bed couch mattress was covered in weeks’ worth of filth, crumbs, and grime. We immediately left and found a spotless suite with kitchen (even a dishwasher!) at a Marriott Residence Inn just down the road. It cost twice as much, but it was worth it to be able to lay my head down on the pillow at night.

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3. LOL news: the last chance burrito

A guy suspected of drug dealing led Indiana Police on a high-speed chase through two counties …

… until he saw a Taco Bell.

Read the story here.

This would have made a great scene in a Dirty Harry movie.

(DRUG DEALER leaps from car, runs to door of Taco Bell; DIRTY HARRY in pursuit.)

DIRTY HARRY (stops running, wheezes, points gun at drug dealer): Freeze, punk!

DRUG DEALER (grabs door handle): I gotta have my burrito, man!

DIRTY HARRY: I have a burrito for you.  A cold steel burrito. (Cocks the trigger.) Go ahead — say ole.

DRUG DEALER: That’s all I want, man, just one more burrito.

DIRTY HARRY: That’s what you’re gonna get, punk — one more burrito, with a bullet.

DRUG DEALER: Does that come with a large Pepsi?

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4. Earthquake!

I AM HAPPY TODAY BECAUSE … I don’t have to eat spiders, like I saw Bear Grylls do just now on MAN VS WILD. (He said the Australian spider tasted like guts and pus and brains. Ugh!) He also drank his own pee earlier in the episode. If I were Bear Grylls, I’d be looking for another job.

 

 

 

 

The big news today is the 5.2 earthquake that hit this morning. The epicenter was in southeastern Missouri, about two hours from where I live in Kentucky.

 

 

This map is from the U.S. Geological Survey. You can learn more about earthquakes and see where they are occurring around the world by clicking this link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The quake hit at approximately 4:37 a.m. and was felt as far south as Tennessee and as far north as St. Louis and beyond. I never knew it happened until I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. and turned on the TV. It was all over the news. There have been some aftershocks, but I haven’t felt them.

I couldn’t help but think about the fact that we live near the New Madrid Fault. The earthquake of 1811-1812 that occurred along this fault was so strong that it made the Mississippi run backwards and created Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee. I also thought about Candie Moonshower’s book, The Legend of Zoey, and how Zoey goes back in time to save her ancestors from the terrible tragedy.

I also heard stories about pets who alerted their owners about the impending tremor. Well, my cat never budged from the foot of the bed, I’m certain. He slept through it just as soundly as I did.

Thank goodness no one was hurt. But I guess it will make us more cautious and I’m sure schools will have earthquake drills more often!

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5. Festive little bits (in pieces)

Today’s bits may not be news for some of you anymore, but here they go, in true December-mode (i.e. scrambling to get things done and running behind on almost everything there’s to run behind on):

Lights have shined on Kashmira Sheth’s Keeping Corner, which got a starred review from Kirkus, and Linda Sue Park’s Tap Dancing on The Roof: Sijo Poems, which made the Hornbook Fanfare list in the Poetry category. In this year’s Fanfare we find Tap Dancing on the Roof in the very good company of the likes of National Book Award winner The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (YA fiction) and The Arrival (Picture Book), to mention just two of the many great books that made the prestigious list.

~ ~ ~

On a “coming up soon” note, Mitali Perkin’s First Daughter: White House Rules, the follow-up novel to First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover is coming out in Jan 24 from Dutton/Penguin. Hurray for Sameera! It will be nice to catch up with her, as she continues to learn to march to the beat of her own drum. A review will be posted to the PaperTigers website soon (and, no, Mitali, the fact that we haven’t reviewed it yet is not a matter of sequel review syndrome, but most likely of “end of the year chaos” syndrome!)

~ ~ ~

And last but not least on today’s set of “sparklers”… Happy second anniversary to Jen Robinson’s Book Page! May her blog continue to inform and enlighten us all for many years to come!

1 Comments on Festive little bits (in pieces), last added: 12/17/2007
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6. “Books Beyond Borders” Book Fair

Keeping CornerBooks Beyond Borders: An International Children’s Literature Fair, happening on Oct 20th in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, will showcase the scope and quality of international children’s literature and encourage reading of authentic books about other cultures both by children and to children. The fair will be hosted by The Writers Read Program and College of DuPage Library. Special guest speakers include Kashmira Sheth, acclaimed children’s book author of My Dadima Wears a Sari, Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet and – just out this month – Keeping Corner.

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