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Playing catch-up

OK, OK, OK…. I am here and trying to catch up again.

The first news of the day is very sad: Lloyd Alexander died yesterday. School Library Journal and the Washington Post have obituaries. I wish someone in Philadelphia would kick the Inquirer (Lloyd’s hometown paper) because they don’t seem to have noticed the event yet.

On a happier note (which I think Lloyd would appreciate) the apple trees and lilacs up here are just about to explode into goodness and the hummingbirds are back. My daffodils have started to roll up their flags and go to sleep for another year. I find myself dreaming about fresh tomatoes, but it is still a little early to plant them.

Let’s roll the tape on my totally excellent adventures of the past week.

First, the booksigning at Moravian Bookshop in Bethlehem, PA. This was the last TWISTED event on my calendar for a while and it was a delightful one because so many old friends came out. Click for tons of pictures, including me at IRA with The Stinky Cheese Man Himself!

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Whupped

I was SUPPOSED to come home last night from IRA in Toronto.

But a monsoon hit the airport just before I was supposed to leave. They canceled all the flights.

So I made a lot of phone calls, got drenched waiting for the shuttle bus, walked into the hotel looking like something that just crawled out of the sewer, slept (sort of), woke up at 3:30am to catch the 4am shuttle to get the first morning flight out to a far-away city where I could finally get on an airplane that would take me home.

I am beyond cranky right now. But I will sleep tonight and after many, many errands tomorrow, I’ll try and post a tale and photos of what were the totally excellent adventures of the last week… totally excellent, that is, up until the monsoon hit.

G’night.

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Interviewed by Little Willow

We interrupt this revision week to tell you about the great interview of moi conducted and posted by .She also posted a very nice review of TWISTED.

What do you think?

In other news, Syracuse won the Golden Snowball Award.

But Oswego (12 miles from my house) begs to differ.

For the record, there is no snow on the ground in the Forest today. The daffodils and violets are blooming and birds are singing. Nature is lulling us into a false sense of security.

(BTW, contest winners – you are still on my To-Do list!!)

Back to revising. Sisu. Sisu. Sisu…..

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Talking about censorship & preparing to dive into the Pool of Revision

Madison, Wisconsin and the CCBC are fun. I was there last week to talk about censorship.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic The first half of the workshop name.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic The second half.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic This is KT Horning, Pat Scales, and Megan Schleisman. KT Horning is the director of CCBC and has spent her career making sure there are great books for kids. (She also has a bachelor’s degree in linguistics. What a wise woman.) Megan is a CCBC librarian who very kindly schlepped me around and made sure we had time for a delightful cup on coffee on the shore of Lake Mendota. (I think it was Lake Mendota. Wisconsin has a lot of lakes.) Thank you!

Pat was the leader of the workshop. She is a Master Librarian (I don’t know if that is a real title. If it’s not, it should be) who has worked in libraries for 36 years. I could listen to her talk about books, kids, and the glories of the First Amendment for days on end. It’s a good thing I got to listen to her when I did. Pat was just elected the incoming President of ALSC, and will be rather busy for the next three years.

(I was fascinated to learn about the Lawyers for Libraries program, offered by the ALA to help “build a nationwide network of attorneys committed to the defense of the First Amendment freedom to read and the application of constitutional law to library policies, principles, and problems.” The CCBC also has many resources for teachers and librarians who are having books challenged or banned. Please check it out and pass on the information!!!)

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Thanks to all of the teachers (I knew some of them ::waving to Appleton contingent::) who made the trek to Madison!

We had a bunch of birthdays in the Forest over the weekend, with more this coming week. I head out of town on Friday for my booksigning in Bethlehem, PA and the graduation of my oldest kid from college. (Want proof that the time-space continuum has been mucked up? There is no earthly way that Stephanie is 22 years old, that she is ready to graduate, and that she has a real job. And yet, apparently, this is the case. Go figure.)

After the graduation festivities, I’m off to Toronto for the International Reading Association Convention.

But before any of this happens, I am going to unplug the phones and dive into the final (I hope) revision of my historical novel. So I might not be in LJ-land much for the next couple of weeks. On the other hand, I might, if I think I have anything useful to say about the revision process. Stay tuned.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic I leave you (temporarily) with some of my daffodils.