Memoirous

one way to take on budget cuts here's a story from the BBC about what one town did to save their library http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-12204369

I used to worry when my daughter went off to college, What if she gets sick? Now I'm worried more about her computer catching a virus. Well, it happened. It's called system tool and is anti-spyware . Pretty much was what it sounds like. It flashed a faux message YOU ARE INFECTED, YOU HAVE A VIRUS and wouldn't allow her to continue unless she coughed up money and paid them to remove the virus. There wasn't any virus except the pesky System Tool that we had to work through how to remove. When I first move away from home and got sick, it felt drastic. I didn't know the first thing about how to cure myself and I couldn't afford to miss classes. (As opposed to high school where my first thought was great now I can get out of school.) I mean I was paying for this and need to go or my grades, my life, everything will be affected. Yet what does one do when they can't even move? I went to the drugstore and bought a little of everything. (This was before computers ...

James Kennedy and Betsy Bird of a Fuse #8 have introduced a great idea for classrooms and after-school facilitators. http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2011/01/13/introducing-the-90-second-newbery-film-festival/ The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival January 13th, 2011 How it all began is anybody’s guess, but it probably started with YA author James Kennedy.  On a day like any other I received an email from him with a proposal: Why not have a contest where kids created videos of their favorite Newbery books.  The catch?  All the videos must be 90 seconds or less . What would that look like?  Well, James made a sample video of his own.  I bring you . . . The 90-second version of A Wrinkle In Time : SEE VIDEO Well, obviously I was gonna be on board with James and his plan.  So we put our heads together and came up with a plan.  Why not have an honest-to-goodness film festi...

Freeze Dance by Jane Hertenstein originally posted at Word Riot We're all dancing, frozen in time I work at a homeless shelter. Mayor Daley has declared that by 2010 there will be no more homeless people in Chicago. Homelessness will be obsolete.     The shelter is an old building, a former warehouse beside the El tracks. There used to be an old water tank for the trains on the rooftop. The last owners manufactured emergency products dispensed in public restrooms: heel band-aids, aspirin tablets, a single tampon or condom. Residents from Goodwill helped assemble the individual capsules. But that operation shut down in the mid-80s leaving the building vacant until the non-profit I work for took it over and rehabbed the five floors. The location is perfect for a shelter because it is situated in a short alley, out of the way, just like how Mayor Daley wants it to be.     After a rainy fall the hun...

When I first moved to Uptown (my neighborhood in Chicago) it was not unusual to see people talking to themselves while walking down the street. Yesterday on the way to the thrift store I heard someone talking very loudly behind me. He was talking into one of those little wireless things that rest in the ear. Some things never change.

I really like  Tayari Jone's blog She is the author of Leaving Atlanta and the forthcoming Silver Girl Here is something she wrote recently for an op-ed piece--anyone care to comment: Opinion: Scrubbing 'Huck Finn,' and Our History Jan 5, 2011 – 4:40 PM Tayari Jones Special to AOL News I, for one, have never endorsed the common use of the phrase "N-word" to replace the offensive racial epithet. For one, it reduces otherwise intelligent conversations about race to something that resembles the way adults spell out hot-button words so that they glide over the heads of innocent children. The recent scrubbing of the word from "Huckleberry Finn" in NewSouth's edition of Mark Twain's classic, replacing it with "slave," seems to be the next logical step in the well-intentioned effort to rid American English of problematic terms. Amazon.com "Huckleberry Finn" explores racism and friendship in ...

found this at GalleyCat from www.mediabistro.com Children's Books , Writer Resources By Jason Boog on January 20, 2011 1:23 PM How do you write a great children’s book manuscript? Read it out loud–over and over again. Greenwillow Books published a video interview (embedded above) with children’s author Kevin Henkes, getting a candid look at how he created the children’s book, Little White Rabbit . It’s a rare peek at a children’s book from manuscript draft to final product. Here’s an excerpt from the video : “When I’m writing the text for a book like Little White Rabbit, I read it aloud, alone, in my studio, again and again and again–because the rhythm has to be exactly right. After I get my manuscript to the point where I think it is perfect, I begin to think about what I want the art to look like.” (Via Martha Mihalick )

Every couple has their own story, but certain stories are stranger than fiction. That’s our story. It was 1985, a time buried in the armpit of disco and the Euro New Wave. By the mid-80s I knew that the decade would go down as a footnote. Seemingly all the real history was behind us and we were stuck with Reagan and mediocrity. I think I was entering my cynical years, post-collage, and just realizing that the world had nothing to offer me. Especially a career. We were in a recession, nothing new—except that this one peaked right when I was graduating and needed a job. When nothing came fast enough I panicked and took a bus for Chicago where I ended up doing volunteer work. In exchange for room and board I worked at a city mission where I was promised a chance to use my educational background tutoring underprivileged kids. Instead I ended up sorting through donations. In retrospect I can see how my classes in psychology were helpful. I developed a character profile on who donates old...

    As I lay there in bed I tried to think back as far as I could, exercising my memory as if it were a flabby muscle. Pictures spindled across the photo album of my brain. I leaned forward and squinted my closed eyes trying to decipher them. Book jackets. Freddy the Pig, Barnyard Detective . Charlotte’s Web . Little House on the Prairie with the Garth Williams’ illustrations. Little Women —I actually saw the chapter illustration where Jo peers into Beth’s trunk and is overcome by grief. Piles and piles of Nancy Drew mysteries, and sitting on the back porch two-seat rocker with my legs dangling over the armrest and a glass of sweetened ice tea sweating on a small stand near by. Stories were intertwined with my life story. Books served as the chronological markers of my personal history.      The Newbery shelf at the local library where I felt as if I were reaching into a crock of gold and pulling out rainbows—I read them all beginning with Hendrik...

No 'Today Show' for Vanderpool or Stead My response to the Today Show fiasco? c'mon producers USE THE OUTRAGE and schedule the Newbery and Caldecott winners now and GO ONE STEP FURTHER how about the Coretta Scott King award winners if not, if I was ABC or CBS I'd be on this CONTROVERSY in a hot minute and schedule an interview while those authors are in town it's a win/win--they don't even have to pay for their airfare

Save the Date! March 13: SCBWI-Chicago Talk with Simone Elkeles Can I say OMG? For those who don’t know Simone Elkeles, you need to stop reading this email and run and get a copy of her bestselling book, Perfect Chemistry. Really. Go get the book. Now. Now that that’s taken care of, you’ll know why we are SO excited that Simone’s speaking to our chapter.  Simone is the NY Times & USA Today bestselling author of over seven teen romance novels. She has won various awards and recognition for her books, including the coveted RITA award from the Romance Writers of America for her book Perfect Chemistry and being named Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Her funny way of looking at life and the world around her has an effect on the people she hangs out with. If you hear people laughing, you’ll probably find Simone not far away. http://www.simoneelkeles.net/ SPACE IS LIMITED, SO RSVP EA...

The American Library Association just announced its Media Awards which include the Newbery and Printz. My hands are shaking even as I type. Go here for a complete list. But a good friend and a superior person has just won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent (Illustrator) Award “Seeds of Change,” illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler, is the 2011 Steptoe illustrator winner. The book is written by Jen Cullerton Johnson and published by Lee & Low Books Inc. For more infor on Jen and her AWARD-WINNING book go here Congratulations Jen!!

It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve read a book that’s grabbed me. So, dear reader(s), if you have any suggestions, send them my way. I’d love to hear from you. ALSO this past weekend while at a New Year’s Writers Retreat I met someone who had read my blog. Whoa, a brush with infamy. The New Year’s Writers Retreat was a great test run for my artist residency the end of next month. Before I entered the building I panicked: what if I fail? Maybe it was how I was raised or self esteem issues, but I’m always measuring myself to see if I add up. Sadly I’m usually lacking. But I’m proud to report I was no slacker. I spent close to 48 hours getting some good work done. I’m 10,000 words into a new project. We’ll see where this one goes.

I’ve been tied up for a week helping my parents who declining health-wise. It’s been extremely painful. I know it’s not about me, yet who can not see themselves in their place in ten, twenty, and God help me thirty years. Even now a slight mental slip or brain fart makes me paranoid—it’s happening, I think. I look for the signs of early dementia. Even a slow down is a reason for sudden alarm. I run now every other day and instead of the 5 – 6 miles, I’ll do 4. At the same time I experience a certain hubris—I’ll never be like Mom, clutching my purse afraid that someone is going to steal my wallet, hovering over people to make sure they’re doing things right, dozing in my chair after lunch. Then it hits me. The older I grow, the more like my parents I become.

Pretty bad. I had a conversation this morning with a doctor, a librarian, and a school teacher ten years in the system and all had been recently laid off. So I guess I shouldn’t complain if my life plan of getting published and living off the fat of the land hasn’t happen yet. It is a TOUGH economy and the hardest hit segment seems to be publishing—well that and civil servants whose paycheck is tied to state and municipal budgets. So if the tenured and tracked professional is feeling it, then I shouldn’t be surprised. Now I have to go re-invent myself and upload my manuscript to Amazon for the Kindle.