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Hi all,

I put together a list of sites for young authors. Hope you find it helpful:

http://sillybooks.net

Literacy is contagious. Catch it here. You'll find animated books, children's music, puzzles and games that entertain kids while promoting child literacy.

http://apolloslyreco.tripod.com/apollosjuniormuses

Publishes poetry, stories and reviews written by children.

http://www.kidsbookshelf.com

Publishes stories, poetry and reviews by kids.

http://www.launchpadmag.com

Online magazine that publishes poetry, fiction and artwork by children under 12.

http://www.aaronshep.com/youngauthor/index.html

Tips for young authors.

http://www.stonesoup.com/send-work/

Publication that publishes writing and artwork by children under 13.

http://youthfulwisdompress.com

This publisher considers short fiction and novels by young authors ages 13-18.

http://www.fivestarpublications.com/kidscanpublish

Kids, you can get your stories, poems, editorials, articles, photography or cartoons published - free of charge - for all the world to read by entering pieces in Kids Can Publish University's monthly contest.

http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/angeltoangel.htm

Publishes children’s picture books written & illustrated by children under 12.

Other sites for young authors:

http://www.planet.eon.net/~bplaroch/indexb.html

http://www.loriswebs.com/youngpoets

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So, this is the first weekend in forever where I didn't have the word "STELLA!!!" on my to-do list. Because yes, I turned the manuscript into my editor Wednesday night as planned. I also don't have my freshmen research papers coming in until Tuesday, and since they're starting their magazine projects this basically means I have no grading or class prep to do for another day and a half.

Now, there are still a million things I can be or should be doing: laundry, cleaning the kitchen, taking my online defensive driving course, etc. But this morning the boy and I finally had our fancy pants birthday brunch with my parents at the Mendenhall Inn, and after stuffing ourselves silly we had very little energy to do more than chill. Sometime this afternoon I looked at my actual MySpace page for the first time in forever and realized the background I'd been using had somehow disappeared, so I found a new layout and loaded it. But it ran off the browser page, and this annoyed me. Actually, MySpace annoys me to no end. But having a page is, like, mandatory in the YA Universe, so earlier this year I caved and now I have this ugly, annoying thing I have to maintain on a semi-regular basis. Anyway, I asked the boy to help me, and while he messed around with the coding (because he is the best boy in the whole wide world), I slinked off to the living room to watch MY FAIR BRADY and the mini ROCK OF LOVE 2 marathon I taped because Carlie insisted it was gold and I tend to trust Carlie's reality TV judgement.

How disappointed was I to find out that BEAUTY & THE GEEK'S Megan (of Scooter and Megan) as one of ROCK OF LOVE 2's contestants? I mean, wasn't BEAUTY & THE GEEK about dispelling the very stereotypes reinforced by ROCK OF LOVE? Didn't she learn ANYTHING?

It's going on six and the boy had to run to a meeting and won't be back until eight-ish, and I know I should be tackling some of the household chores and applying for jobs and being a productive member of society. But really, all I want to do is cuddle with my pooch and zone out in front of some of the cooking shows I DVR'd this weekend. Food porn: I'm totally addicted.

(Speaking of food porn, if you're into that sort of thing you totally need to check out Hogwash, a new blog I discovered today. It is priceless.)

(Speaking of food porn again, the boy and I have talked several times about making a YouTube video featuring clips of stars from the Food Network eating, scored to classic '70s porn music. Although I bet someone has probably done this by now, because we're not so quick with our brilliant ideas.)

Lastly, watched AMERICAN GANGSTER last night as part of my bid to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as possible before the ceremony later this month ... and managed to fall asleep through 20 crucial minutes during the second half. I'm still trying to figure out what Ruby Dee did during those 20 minutes I missed to garner an Oscar nomination, because the stuff I did see her do wasn't so very noteworthy. But who am I to judge? And oh! It looks like the Oscar question might not be a question at all soon: I hear the WGA is veryveryclose to settling their strike. Which means we may have a May Sweeps season yet!

See the trailer from POV.

Kid Nation has fascinated me from the start; will it be all Lord of the Flies? Or a kinder version of The Girl Who Owned a City, with everything perfect because kids are perfect? (I say that last bit with a "no I don't believe that kids are inherently perfect and wonderful" look on my face, having spent a week with my much loved, but extremely real, niece and nephew.)

I also wondered at the parents -- and the more I read about the contracts that adults signed on behalf of minors, the more I think that the parents should be investigated, as well as CBS.

Seriously, these parents waived any rights on behalf of their children not just for the standard injury, dismemberment, and hurt feelings but also for STDs and pregnancy (link to New York Times article.). I'm so not kidding. Plus, agreed to not have any contact with their children for the 40 days of filming. Anything to be on TV, right?

Newsweek speaks to the culture of "anything to be famous" . While I dislike kids being exploited (and feel that is the source of two thirds of Britney Spears' current problems), I disagree with their point that the responsibility for these children and these shows is not just with CBS / the entertainment issue and "not just the parents whose kids are on the show, but all parents who fuel an industry that has no respect for what it means to be a kid." (emphasis added). When I watch a show that uses children, whether movie or TV series, I watch with the assumption that the laws are being followed and the kids are not being mistreated.

Kids have been acting, since, well, forever. And some parents are responsible about it, and some not so much.

I watch reality TV; the good (The Amazing Race) and the I - can't - believe - I'm - admitting - it (Flavor of Love); the "we are adults so we are turning the genre around" (the Two Coreys.)


It's not unusual to have grown up participants of reality shows cry foul and "it's not me, it's how I'm edited" (along with other accusations of plotted stories, deceptive editing, spoon fed dialogue, and on set psychologists who feed information to producers at the expense of the participants). I tell myself: these people are grown ups. Their choice. They knew what they were getting themselves into; and sometimes, even turn the tables on the show.

These kids... not so much. Seriously, can a kid truly comprehend that they are about to live the rest of their life with the label "bully," with footage of them shown over and over forever? I have this image of a 10 year old kid, forever marked as "the crier" or "the whiner" because, hello, it's reality TV by a network who wants ratings.

They want conflict; and the conflict will come from the kids. And now this kid -- when they are old enough to realize what they were involved in -- has to live with the consequences. With no recourse. Because of the waiver. At least child actors who play unpopular people can say, "acting!" These kids? "It's how they really are!" Or, at least, as a network interested only in ratings defines "real."


As more and more information comes to light about the filming of this show (kids working for 40 days, on call 24/7, for, um, free) I wonder: will this spell the end of cheap reality shows?

It's one thing for adults to say, hey, I know what I'm getting into, it's not work, etc. To say, it's just cameras following me as I live my life (The Real World) or, like The Amazing Race or Survivor, I agreed to play a game and now it's being televised. Heck, there have been game shows just with kids before.

But this... this is something different.

Because, these kids aren't living their regular life; they have been put into a very scripted arena. It's similar to Frontier House, I guess; but still, it seems like there is a big difference between something involving parents and something where the kids are following what the production company says to do. For example, in Frontier House, one of the families basically let their kids off the hook in terms of working the homestead. The family didn't let the show dictate how they would parent or what their kids would, or would not, do.

Here, the parents were not involved. Instead, it was only kids, and kids whose parents said, bye bye for 40 days.

I wonder, what if the courts or powers that be rule that these children ARE working; how will that impact other reality shows?

And you know the worst part?

If this makes it to TV... I think I will watch.

I know.

I'll watch to see if my fears are founded... or unfounded. And I'll feel like taking a shower afterwards.