{"id":576,"date":"2007-04-09T00:48:36","date_gmt":"2007-04-09T06:48:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=576"},"modified":"2007-04-09T00:52:38","modified_gmt":"2007-04-09T06:52:38","slug":"seven-impossible-interviews-before-breakfast-18the-bloomable-blue-rose-alvina-ling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=576","title":{"rendered":"Seven Impossible Interviews Before Breakfast #18:
The Bloomable Blue Rose, Alvina Ling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Episode 2 of our series of interviews with the Blue Rose Girls<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Today we’re getting to know Alvina Ling:\u00a0 children’s book editor, blogger, adventurer, and yet another person to add to our list of Bloggers We Wish We Could Hang Out With In Person, ‘Cause She Seems So Freakin’ Cool.<\/p>\n

Why is she cool?\u00a0 Let us count the ways…<\/p>\n

First:\u00a0 She has TWO blogs.\u00a0 There’s her own personal one at Bloomabilities<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, as well as being a member of the BRGs.\u00a0 Talk about multitasking…\u00a0<\/p>\n

Second:\u00a0 She’s been immortalized as a children’s book character!\u00a0 Lately she’s been contributing a series of “How I Met…” posts on the BRGs tracing her individual connections with each of the other members.\u00a0 The first<\/a><\/strong> describes how her childhood friendship with Grace Lin<\/a><\/strong> eventually became the basis for Grace’s novel, The Year of the Dog<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, which Alvina edited.\u00a0 How beautiful is that?<\/p>\n

Third:\u00a0 She’s edited some of our very favorite books, including The Sound of Colors<\/em> by Jimmy Liao<\/a><\/strong>, and Hippo! No, Rhino!<\/em> by Jeff Newman<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Listen here<\/a><\/strong> for a\u00a0great interview with Mark of Just One More Book!!<\/em><\/a><\/strong> about what it was like to edit a Taiwanese adult graphic novel for a young American audience.\u00a0 And read more about her editing process in this\u00a0fabulously informative post<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Fourth:\u00a0 She’s gone skydiving<\/a><\/strong>!\u00a0 We weren’t kidding about that adventurous thing.<\/p>\n

Fifth:\u00a0 And she ran a marathon<\/a><\/strong>!\u00a0 Running for pleasure<\/em>, and not because\u00a0you’re on fire<\/em> or you’re really late<\/em> or something with fangs is chasing you<\/em>,\u00a0is not\u00a0a concept\u00a0either of us can fully grasp.\u00a0 We are in awe.<\/p>\n

Sixth:\u00a0 She’s thoughtful and interesting, and she’s not afraid to push the envelope, like in\u00a0these<\/strong><\/a> three<\/a> posts<\/a><\/strong>, in which Alvina speaks with refreshing frankness and insight on the issue of racism.\u00a0 We particularly like the way she’s doing her part to fight racism by bringing more multicultural character-based children’s books into publication.\u00a0 Woo-hoo!\u00a0 Go, Alvina!<\/p>\n

Seventh:\u00a0 She apparently has really good taste in music.\u00a0 See below.<\/p>\n

If you’ve checked out her blog, you may be wondering where the name Bloomabilities<\/em><\/a><\/strong> comes from.\u00a0 Alvina says:<\/p>\n

…\u00a0Bloomability<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Sharon Creech<\/a><\/strong> is one of my favorite children\u2019s books, and I just love the idea that this character in the book, who is Japanese, invents words, and “bloomability” is his word to mean \u201cpossibility.\u201d One of my philosophies of life is that anything is possible, and I\u2019m open to all the possibilities life has to offer. So I called my blog Bloomabilities<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We love that idea.\u00a0 And we have loved getting to know Alvina Ling a little better.\u00a0 Now it’s our very great pleasure to share that “possibility” with you, dear readers.\u00a0 So, here she is!<\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center>7-Imp:<\/strong> What do you do for a living?<\/p>\n

Alvina:<\/strong> I am a children\u2019s book editor.<\/p>\n

7-Imp:<\/strong> How long have you been blogging?<\/p>\n

Alvina:<\/strong> My very first post was on MySpace<\/a><\/strong> on August 17, 2005, and then I became fairly active on Friendster<\/a><\/strong>, switching over to Blogger in June 2006.<\/p>\n

7-Imp:<\/strong> Why did you start blogging? Why do you continue to do it?<\/p>\n

Alvina:<\/strong> I wrote a post about why I blog here<\/a><\/strong>. But in a nutshell, I started to blog because some of my friends were doing it, and it was a outlet to write something that wasn\u2019t work-related, to share my adventures with my friends, and to spread the word about the books I\u2019ve worked on. I continue to blog because of all of these things, but also because I\u2019ve become part of this wonderful blogging kidlit community that I never knew existed, and I can\u2019t give it up!<\/p>\n

7-Imp:<\/strong> Which blog or site would you take to the prom to show off and you love it so much you could marry it?<\/p>\n

Alvina:<\/strong> It\u2019s not a kidlit blog, but I have to say Cute Overload<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, just because it\u2019s so darn cute, and it makes me feel good throughout the day. But other than that, I\u2019d take my Blue Rose Girls<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, of course!<\/p>\n

7-Imp:<\/strong> What are your other favorite things to do, other than reading and blogging?<\/p>\n

Alvina:<\/strong><\/p>\n