Blog

Many thanks to all you librarian-types for answering yesterday’s plea, both in the Comments section and via email. You’ve given us a lot of information and it is very much appreciated.

Last BH and I went into the Big City (Syracuse) for the first Rosamond Gifford Lecture of the season. Last night’s speaker was Henry Petroski, an engineer who writes for non-engineers about things like pencils and bookshelves. Attending a “lecture series” made me feel like a grown-up, which is rare.

Today I have to get ready for the Florida trip Friday, deal with email that is clogging my computer, brainstorm the next round of revisions, and figure out where to order curtains for the windows I’ve been working on. Oh, and go to the gym. This is Week 4 of my Get the Middle-Aged Spread Under Control Program. I think it’s beginning to work.

One of my kids is considering various library schools for her graduate degree. The long list includes Syracuse, Rutgers, Simmons, Seattle, (and another one I can’t remember, but if she really cares about it, she’ll remind me what it was.)

The short list is Syracuse and Rutgers.

She is most interested in becoming a YA/childrens librarian, though I’m encouraging her to keep her options open.

So I figured we’d throw it open to youse guys who have already lived through this. Which one of those schools offers the best program? Which one would you encourage your daughter (assuming you had one) to attend? Should any of those schools be stricken from the list because the professors are all trolls? Any hints about getting through library school without going into millions of dollars of debt?

Well, thank you Colorado!

The conference was one of the best I’ve ever had the good luck to attend. The organizers were organized (yay!) and the conference-goers enthusiastic and really nice, in a Mid-West kind of way, but this was Colorado, so they were nice and ecologically sound all at the same time.

Along with my pal Kimberly Willis Holt, I got to hang out with Chris Raschka, Jaime Adoff, his dad, the poet Arnold Adoff, and illustrator Steve Jenkins. They are all funny, fascinating people and we had a great time. It felt more like sleepaway camp than a conference.

They do things in a very hip way in Colorado. The food for example: chicken fajita wraps and black beans for lunch. One of the author signings/receptions was a cookies and milk reception. (I kid you not.)

And then there was this.

The dessert spread for the other author signing. But check out the close-up.

That is a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!!!! They had bowls of fruit and cookies to dip in it.

I wanted to put my whole face in it. But that would have rude, so I didn’t. But I sure thought about it long and hard.

Me and Hilary, my author wrangler for the weekend.

If you get the chance to go to next year’s conference you should. Rumor has it that Richard Peck will be there. I don’t know about the chocolate fountain, but you should go just for that alone, if you ask me. It is held in Greeley, CO, which is up near Wyoming and Nebraska, and only an hour away from Denver.

This is a short week for me because I leave Friday for Orlando, for the Florida English Teacher’s Conference. (No, this is not autumn, this is Conference Season.) I spent most of the day catching up on paperwork. Tomorrow I dive back into the next round of revisions of my WIP. My editor liked what I sent her, and we agreed on which areas need expanding to even out the pacing issues. We’ll be making some website updates, stay tuned for those.

BH is calling… the chili is ready.

Sorry for not posting earlier. The day ran away with me. Mostly I spent it sanding and painting more window frames, but a good chunk was taken up preparing for tomorrow’s trip to Colorado (yay!!!) where I’ll be speaking at the Rocky Mountain Children’s Literature Conference. Yeah, I know – not too shabby. I love, love, love Colorado and the teachers are really nice out there, so as long as the plane doesn’t fall out of the sky, it should be a great weekend.

I’ll try to take photos. Not sure if I’ll have an Internet hook-up, but if I do, I’ll let you know how it’s going. My speech is all done and the last load of laundry is in the dryer. Almost time for bed.

Yesterday/today is the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting and reflection, with extra emphasis on family and community for Muslims around the world. It is one of the aspects of Islam that I really appreciate and admire. BBC has some cool resources, if you’re interested.

Like most Americans, I was sadly ignorant about Islam for most of my life. This changed in 1999 when I was hired to research and write a book about Saudi Arabia for very young readers. I set about reading everything I could about Islam and talking to people about life in Saudi Arabia. The people at the Saudi Arabian embassy let me use their library, and I interviewed the wives of several Saudi diplomats to get a clearer picture about life for kids in their country. The editors of my book did a lot of chopping – I was not at all happy with the finished project. But the experience was valuable and enriching for me.

If you’ve never heard of her, I’d like you guys to look into the work of Rukhsana Khan, a gracious and gifted author who has written many books that touch on Islam. Teachers should be sure to visit her website – it has a wealth of info and links to Muslim resources.

One of the best things about America is that we are all free to choose our religion and worship in peace.

Today I have to get ready for this weekend’s conference in Colorado, and try to find my desk. Right now it is hiding under the six inches of paper that accumulated these last couple of weeks I’ve been hammering on my book.

I want to clear up a misunderstanding about my writing process. The draft I finished Monday was Draft #5. In some ways, it could be considered a first draft – it is the first draft that I consider good enough to show to other people, and there are elements that are rather different that the other four drafts. My novels seems to take 7 drafts. I thought for sure I could do this one in fewer, but my character had other ideas. I am still celebrating the fact that I got it done. Fifty tons off the shoulders makes it easier to walk around.

I also want to celebrate hearing from Max, who are corresponded with me a lot. He finally got to watch the SPEAK movie and this is what he wrote:

I just recently purchased the DVD version of Speak from Barnes and Noble. I took it home and watched it that night. I was very surprised. It did have a lot of differences from the book, but they were good differences. I loved this movie, even though it didn’t have the bathroom chatroom. At first, Steve Zahn didn’t seem like a likely person for Mr. Freeman, but he really pulled it off well. And the dramatic scenes were amazing. I also saw the behind-the-scenes. You looked great! I got through about 3/4 of the movie with the commentary on, but then I had to go out and eat dinner. I loved hearing you and the director’s opinions and little facts on everything. It was so awesome. I wrote a journal entry about what I want to be when I grow up for my texas history class (we have journals due every week). I told her I wanted to be a writer and mentioned your book. In her response, she said that she had read your book and that it was amazing. In my next journal entry, I wrote about the movie, and she was very excited. I am letting her borrow it. Thanks for doing such a great job with this book and giving the rights to make the movie.

Thanks, Max!! ( I would love to see what you get to study in Texas history. That sounds fascinating.)