Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

First, the two links:

* * * Head on over to Anne Boles Levy’s Book Buds today, ’cause she’s posting a Q&A with none other than Jane Yolen for a cause she’s promoting. She’s Children’s Ambassador for the Winterthur Museum in Delaware and is hosting a contest for children to write their own ABC books. As Anne put it yesterday, it’s “not some measly, peasly bloggy giveaway, either, but one sponsored by a museum with a gala dinner thrown in.” Woot!

* * * Secondly, have you all seen Alkelda’s new Spinning Wheel series? I have to take a moment to point out how rockin’ it is. It’s a series of interviews she has begun — her own original series, that is — of children’s musicians. If you are someone who cares about good, doesn’t-make-you-want-to-gag, non-Barney-esque music for children, then it’s a great resource (as well as Warren Truitt’s Children’s Music That Rocks, a colleague of Betsy Bird’s at the New York Public Library). If you visit Saints and Spinners and look on the right of Alkelda’s blog’s template, you’ll see the musicians she’s interviewed so far (under “Spinning Wheel Interviews”). Today she interviews Eric Ode. Here’s the link. Enjoy!

At the Southern Festival of Books a couple weeks ago here in Nashville, I heard author/illustrator/novelist Rosemary Wells speak briefly. She said — and I quote this exactly — “process doesn’t exist. Any good writer will tell you that.”

What say you, authors? As someone who likes to talk to authors and author/illustrators about their writing process (though fellow Southerner Gwenda is the queen of this), I found that an interesting statement. But then, I’m not a writer. If you are, what do you think? Do tell. We Blog Nerds who love to read and read about writing would love to know.

Addendum: This was very much a parenthetical, quicky side comment as she was telling us that — after showing us slides of her space at home where she works as an artist (which was great) — she would talk about her novel. I didn’t hear her entire talk, so I missed some about the novel-writing. She might have delved into process — or the lack of it — there, though I believe she was planning on mostly talking about her Civil War research. Part of what makes this a good question for authors is the open-ended nature of it. I, in no way, mean to imply that Wells was being insensitive.

Also, here’s a great response for you, a glimpse into an author’s brain on the tricky nature of process.

Hi, everyone. Just a quick note to say that we will be guest blogging at ForeWord Magazine in their Shelf Space column (“Booksellers and Librarians talk about what’s in their reading room and what’s on the horizon”) for the next few weeks. Eisha took week one, and I’ll take another . . . and we plan to co-write some pieces, too.

Here is Eisha’s write-up, which was posted yesterday. It’s entitled, “Those Crazy Kids: Depression Remains a Hot Topic in Young Adult Fiction,” and in it she discusses her impressions of a few recent titles that feature clinically depressed characters, including It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (Hyperion, 2006); Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2007); Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2007); and Get Well Soon by Julie Halpern (Feiwel & Friends, 2007).

We are looking forward to the rest of our articles over at ForeWord. If you’re not familiar with them, you can read all about it here. Bottom line: They are a bi-monthly review journal of books from independent presses. In early September, they launched a new web site featuring blogs from publishing insiders and librarians and booksellers. Their inaugural bloggers were Michael Cairns and Betsy Bird, a.k.a. Fuse. We’re honored to be working with them.

Happy Saturday to all . . .

It’s late, but here I am posting conference photos so that other conference-go’ers can see them on Monday morning. Now, people: Before anyone complains about how BIG they are, well . . . I can’t do tables in WordPress, and I don’t have time to figure out picture formatting/sizing right now, so here they all are, each at width 500. And absolutely NO ONE is allowed to email and say, but I look awful! Wah! . . . ’cause none of you do. You are all beautiful. So there.

We sure did have fun meeting everyone. Enjoy the pics. Wish I had a lot more, but I’m bad about runnin’ my mouth, talking to folks, and being a bit too much in the moment, only then realizing much too late that I haven’t taken a single photo. This is better than what I usually turn out, though, yes, I’m still kicking myself for not getting even more photos of bloggers we met.

(For the record, I got a big family photo, too, but it came out way too dark. Go see Mark and Andrea for a beautiful copy) . . .

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So, yes, it’s my turn for Poetry Friday, but a) I’m packing for the 1st Annual Kidlitosphere Conference, and b) I’ve been busy this week with my work that . . . well, pays, to be frank. Yes, as much as I love runnin’ my mouth about literature here at 7-Imp, it’s a labor of love which does not help pay the bills, and so the work that does help pay the bills came first this week. This means I don’t have a proper book review for you today or a well-considered poem. But I’ll get back to that soon enough.

What I did stumble across, which I want to quickly share (and which is not poetry), is this little piece of advice I had jotted down years ago in a journal and just re-discovered. It’s from the mind of writer Henry Miller (pictured here in a photo taken by photographer Carl Van Vechten and first published in the U.S. in 1923; the image is in the public domain):

“Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music — the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people.”

So, here’s to the beautiful souls and interesting people I’m looking forward to meeting tomorrow when I arrive in Chicago. I’m really excited about meeting the faces behind the blogs. Safe travels to everyone else attending, too. Until tomorrow . . .

It’s here! The day you’ve all been waiting for! The 2007 Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards have officially begun! Here’s the official press release, courtesy of Editor and Co-Founder Anne Boles Levy of Book Buds:

Will Harry Potter triumph among critical bloggers? Will novels banned in some school districts find favor online?

Judges come from the burgeoning ranks of book bloggers in the cozy corner of the Internet called the kidlitosphere. They represent parents, homeschoolers, authors, illustrators, librarians and teens.

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I had wanted to post a book review today but didn’t quite get to it. Maybe later. And I know we at 7-Imp never committed to posting something daily, but I still want to show you something again anyway. Those people who saw it in our Sunday post, including Eisha, lurved it. So, here’s an encore (plus, maybe some readers missed it then).

It’s just too stinkin’ cool.

Here’s exactly what I wrote on Sunday. Enjoy . . .

Wanna see some poetry in the air? I’m a bit partial to ASL myself, but, man, this just rocks. It’s a Quidditch match as conveyed in American Sign Language. Really, you don’t have to know ASL to understand it {rather, you can still appreciate it, even if you’re not fluent in ASL}, as his poem is mostly comprised of what are called classifiers, or ways of showing shapes and movement in ASL (or, if you’re a nerd: classifiers move through the signing space to iconically represent the actions of their referents). And this is hard to explain, but each sign begins with a letter of the alphabet, and he goes from A to Z (it’s a particular kind of ASL poem, and it’s especially clever how his last one is “Z” for Harry’s scar). This poem is short. And awesome. And, hey, you don’t have to turn up the volume. At first, the man is signing “An ASL Poem: Harry Potter and Quidditch.” That’s all you need to know. Then, just watch him go. (Thanks to my fellow interpreter friend, Judith, for the link!) . . .

Jules here. We had a blogger interview with the fabulously hip HipWriterMama planned for today, but we will feature that on Wednesday of this week. Tomorrow we have a surprise for our readers, particularly those of the picture-book-slant. And I hope to actually review a middle-grade or YA book some time soon, perhaps even today?? We had Radar Week and then Picture Book Week and then the Robert’s Snow call to bloggers . . . whew. We’ll get caught up on reviews soon.

Here is a finalized list of all the blogs who will be participating in the upcoming multi-blog effort to drive traffic to the Robert’s Snow site during their online auctions. All the snowflake-makin’ illustrators from this initial list have been snagged up by over 60 blogs, and we’ll be featuring them and their ’07 snowflakes and directing wannabe snowflake-buyers to the auction sites (I posted the Call to Bloggers on Thursday, and by Saturday evening we had all the bloggers we needed for over 150 illustrators!). Details as to when that all begins are to come soon . . . (If there were more hours in my day, those blogs in the linked list would be hyperlinked for you, but for now you’ll have to cut and paste if you want to visit some of them. Isn’t that an impressive turn-out?).

To be clear, there were many bloggers who expressed interest in participating but sat back and offered to let others highlight, promising to help spread the word and publicize this multi-blog, cross-posting effort when the time comes (or even assist other bloggers), such as Read Write Believe; Robin Brande; Journey Woman; JacketFlap; The Reading Tub; Miss Erin; Jen Robinson; Bottom Shelf Books; Roz Fulcher; Liz In Ink; and I’m sure more that I’m perhaps forgetting. I’m mentioning this now a) out of gratitude and b) ’cause they’re not on the linked list (the linked list features bloggers who will actually be highlighting a snowflake-makin’ illustrator — or two or three or four or five).

Many thanks to all you bloggers out there for your interest in this event . . . And, again, more details later as to when the illustrator-features begin. Until then . . .

Hi there. Three random announcements here at 7-Imp on this Tuesday.

First, we are truly excited to share our very own 7-Imp art work here at the blog, thanks to illustrator Frank Dormer. In July, we featured an illustration from Frank’s upcoming illustrated picture book, Not So Tall For Six, written by Dianna Hutts Aston (to be published in ’08 by Charlesbridge). And can you even believe that this was Frank’s response? He created this original, action-packed Mad Tea Party illustration just for us and posted it at his blog. We were rather squealy-excited about this wonderful image, and then he told us, yes, it’s ours to do with as we please! So, we decided to put it on our new “Featured Illustrators” page (a definite work-in-progress — we’re, essentially, compiling a list of the illustrators we feature every Sunday, as well as a growing list of those illustrators or author/illustrators we have interviewed), replacing the Tenniel Alice image in that template with Frank’s (it just took a while, as 7-Imp’s tech support, a.k.a. Jules’ husband, had to figure out how to place the new image in the template on that page). Go see, and tell us what you think! The page is kind of like 7-Imp’s art gallery; maybe we can even put thumbnail images there one day. Anyway, it’s perfect with Frank’s Alice scene up top. Many, many thanks to Mr. Dormer! . . . Maybe as time goes by, we can have a different Alice image for each page (although we will probably always be married to the Tenniel image on the blog’s very front page. We started out with it and want to stick with it for as long as 7-Imp is alive. We’re sentimental that way).

Secondly, remember The Cybils last year? Well, it’s that time of year again — it’s time for The Cybils 2007. Here is Anne Boles Levy’s post on it, in which she declares that this year’s sequel to The Cybils will feature some new bloggers, a new site design, and belly dancers. Hoo hah! And here’s the blog for now, which Anne re-worked a bit, and the new site of which she speaks will be unveiled soon. Kelly Herold is hard at work on this new home page, where the cybils.com domain name will be parked. Daily posts will begin there on September 17th, and nominations will open October 1st.

We at 7-Imp will be heading two separate categories this year. Yes, between the two of us, we’re covering the world of picture books: Eisha will be heading the Non-Fiction Picture Books category, and Jules will be the organizer for the Fiction Picture Books category. We’re honored to be doing so and really looking forward to the awards again this year. We’ll have continual updates here at 7-Imp.

Seven cheers for Cybil-ance all around! . . .

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“I’ll help.” Mrs. Murry squatted at Mrs Whatsit’s feet, yanking on one slick boot. When the boot came off it came suddenly. Mrs. Murry sat down with a thump. Mrs Whatsit went tumbling backward with the chair onto the floor, sandwich held high in one old claw. Water poured out of the boot and ran over the floor and the big braided rug.

“Oh, dearie me,” Mrs Whatsit said, lying on her back in the overturned chair, her feet in the air, one in a red and white striped sock, the other still booted.

Mrs. Murry got to her feet. “Are you all right, Mrs Whatsit?”

“If you have some liniment I’ll put it on my dignity,” Mrs Whatsit said, still supine. “I think it’s sprained. A little oil of cloves mixed well with garlic is rather good.” And she took a large bite of sandwich.

“Do please get up,” Charles said. “I don’t like to see you lying there that way. You’re carrying things too far.” “Have you ever tried to get to your feet with a sprained dignity?” But Mrs Whatsit scrambled up, righted the chair, and then sat back down on the floor, the booted foot stuck out in front of her, and took another bite. She moved with great agility for such an old woman. At least Meg was reasonably sure that she was an old woman, and a very old woman at that.

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Here is Wednesday’s Radar-Books schedule. Don’t know what we’re talking about? Just getting caught up? Read here for an explanation.

• Big A, little a: The Tide Knot by Helen Dunmore
• Bildungsroman: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion, Part 1
• Bookshelves of Doom: Harry Sue by Sue Stauffacher
• A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy: The President’s Daughter series by Ellen Emerson White
• Chasing Ray: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion, Part 2
• Chicken Spaghetti: Pooja Makhijani guest blogs with Romina’s Rangoli by Malathi Michelle Iyengar
• Finding Wonderland: The House on Hound Hill by Maggie Prince
• Interactive Reader: Shake Down the Stars by Frances Donnelly
• Jen Robinson’s Book Page: The Zilpha Keatley Snyder Green Sky trilogy
• lectitans: Innocence by Jane Mendelsohn: A Discussion, Part 3
• Miss Erin: The Reb & Redcoats and Enemy Brothers, both by Constance Savery
• Shaken & Stirred: Elizabeth Knox and the Dreamhunter Duet
• Writing & Ruminating: Dear Mr. Rosenwald by Carole Weatherford

And remember that next week will be Picture Book Week here at 7-Imp. Here is another great, new picture book in order to help get you geared up for 7-Imp’s Seven Impossible Posts About Picture Books next week.

This type of rumination might be a) irritating or b) the perfect way to rile up some readers, but I want to boldly say that, of the author/illustrators working today who most reflect the spirit of the Great and Almighty Sendak (whom I worship), Polly Dunbar is right up there at the top of that list. And I say “irritating,” since it could well be argued that we don’t need to be looking for Sendak imitators, but that’s not what I’m getting at — Dunbar also manages to have a style all her own. But not only do her line drawings have the loose, relaxed, uncluttered child-centered appeal of Sendak’s early work (think the Ruth Krauss titles he illustrated), but with this new title of hers, in particular (Penguin, released by Candlewick this past June; my source: review copy), she doesn’t tiptoe around the fears of children (Sendak’s greatest strength of all his many superpowers) with her child-chompin’ blue lion. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me explain a bit more about the book . . . Read the rest of this entry �