| Marvelous Monday! |
[Nov. 9th, 2009|06:28 am] |
This is how to start the week off with a smile: CHAINS has been nominated to the longlist of the Carnegie Medal! What is the Carnegie Medal, you ask? It is the top award for children's novels in England, sort of a combination of the Newbery and the National Book Awards. I am completely blown away by this - honored, stunned and very, very happy.
 British hardcover  British paperback
I had a blast at the American Association of School Librarians conference this weekend. I signed thousands of books, met countless friendly and passionate librarians and gave a speech. Thank you to everyone who made my conference so much fun.
 Half a ballroom of librarians. (The other half of the room was filled, too!)
Many people asked me to post my speech online. We will be doing that soon. Here are a couple of snippets that people responded to the most. Permission is granted to reproduce, with proper acknowledgments, of course.
I talked about the recent censorship challenges my books have faced and then said this:
"I believe that every time a library budget is cut, every time a librarian’s hours are cut - or the position is eliminated completely - it is another form of censorship. It is stealing from children and interfering with their education.
Taking books out of libraries and taking librarians out of libraries are just like ripping the roof off of a school. And maybe that’s how we need to describe it, in the dire, stark terms of reality. You can't run a school that doesn't have a roof. You can't run a school without librarians and libraries.
Book people – like you and me – tend to be a little uncomfortable with conflict. We value discussion, we respect other opinions. We avoid fights. When I was kid, I was not allowed to start fights. If I did, I knew that I’d be in a whole lot more trouble when I got home than I could ever be at school.But my mother – she of the hats and gloves and ugly purses - told me that if anybody ever hit me first, I was allowed to punch back as hard as I could.
“Don’t you ever start a fight,” Mother said. “But if somebody picks a fight with you, by God, you finish it.”
The people who do not value books or librarians have picked a fight with me. That was a mistake.
They are ripping the roof off our libraries, off our schools. They are exposing our children to ignorance and condemning them to poverty. When they rip the roof off of libraries, they weaken our country."
[I'm cutting out a little from this section]
"Those of us who truly, deeply care about the health and happiness of kids and teenagers have a sacred obligation to help them along their path to adulthood. We are charged to create and to find the very best books for these children. To hand a book to a child or a gawky adolescent is to rescue her from the unforgiving isolation of illiteracy and transport her to the joyful and rewarding kingdom of an open mind. I cannot think of a job more difficult or more important than yours. Reading is not a subject matter. It is a survival tool, the requirement of modern living. Libraries are not luxuries. Libraries are the lifeblood of our schools and the foundation of our culture."
I hope my words might help, a little.
One last conference note. The other banquet speaker was Charles R. Smith Jr. Do you know his work? Have you heard him speak? If not, go out RIGHT NOW and pick up some of his books. Then arrange to have him visit your school - he is the best speaker I have seen in a very long time.
 Charles and I sitting on chairs that look like thrones.... it was approaching midnight and we had just finished signing a kajillion books and so we look a bit tired. But how can you turn down the chance to be photographed in a chair that looks like a throne?
|
|
|
| LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|01:15 pm] |
The empire strikes backIn recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.
RSS feeds againIf you're addicted to , ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.
Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) c_s_i
If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.
Enveloped in postcardsLast week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.
Photos of the weekIf you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| Random thoughts, incl Guy Fawkes, Wintergirls & Neeko |
[Nov. 5th, 2009|07:22 am] |
- Do we teach about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in American schools? Should we?
Remember, remember the fifth of November, - The gunpowder treason and plot,
- I know of no reason
- Why the gunpowder treason
- Should ever be forgot.
And there is the great speech from V Is For Vendetta. My favorite quote, "Words will always retain their power."
LOOK! I buried the lead! WINTERGIRLS made the Publisher's Weekly Best Books of 2009 list!
And from the Misc. List, Bookavore has a great idea for how to get the books you really want.
And the Office Mouse sends us to this video, because even though I loathe baseball, I love Philadelphia, and the city needs some extra hugs today.
Any rap song that can work in a reference to "Benjamin Franklin, 1776" is a good thing.
|
|
|
| Blog appearing soon. |
[Nov. 4th, 2009|12:49 pm] |
Time has mysteriously condensed again.
I have been writing like, well, like a possessed crazy woman who lives in a forest. Tomorrow I hop a plane south so I can speak at the American Association of School Librarians in Charlotte, NC.
When I get back, I will have very happy news from overseas to share with you. Until then, keep writing, keep revising, keep scribbling!!!
|
|
|
| Happy Writing Month! |
[Nov. 1st, 2009|10:37 am] |
November is the month for words - the best one ever. That's why NaNoWriMo takes place starting today.
From their website:
"National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly. Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down."
I can't do NaNoWriMo this year. I'm doing "Finish These Revisions Before My Editor Kills Me." FiThReBeMiEdKiMe.
I did write a piece for the teen version of the NaNoWriMo site. I'll post the link when it goes live.
Scribble...scribble...scribble...
|
|
|
| Kristen Stewart Speaks, a bit |
[Oct. 31st, 2009|07:30 am] |
Thanks to everyone who voted for Zoe in the last couple of weeks, and to everyone who put up with me blathering on about voting for Zoe in the last couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure she didn't make the Top 5. We'll know for sure in January. It was a blast to have a book that was even considered breakfast food for the mind; I'm a happy camper.
A Facebook Friend (thanks Chris!) pointed me to this interview with Kristen Stewart for Irish television. She mentions playing the lead in the SPEAK movie around the 4:30 mark.
Here is a Public Service Announcement Kristen made about college campus security and high rate of sexual assault at colleges.
And because I promised someone, here is a shot from the filming of SPEAK. That's me in my world-famous role as "Lunch Lady." Kristen Stewart, as Melinda, is standing with her back to the camera, about to go through the line to get her lunch. This is where my highly acclaimed, tension-filled moment "serves mashed potatoes" occurs. Really, when you think about it, it was the climax to the whole film.
Good Samhain to all! Now our world slips into the dark half of the year. We light candles and tell tales around the fire.
|
|
|
| Network Maintenance - Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 04:00-05:00 GMT/UTC |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|05:17 pm] |
EDIT: If you're reading this, our maintenance is OVER! The problem was not found on our equipment, which means we'll have to work with our ISP to fix this small problem -- which also means another maintenance window in the future -- but at least we have eliminated our side.
Thank you everyone, and a special shout out to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rekoil for giving me a great suggestion AND also the opportunity to feel like I've just called in to a local radio station.
Have a great day, night or afternoon wherever you may be.
---
Hi everyone, sorry for the late notice but I'm going to have to do some testing on 1 of our 4 internet circuits TONIGHT; Friday night or Saturday morning depending on which time zone you're in.
Most of us shouldn't notice any impact, though there may be some slowness or lag when I switch traffic on to our other ISP circuits and then another hit when I stop the tests. If a page won't load or times out, try hitting refresh 1 or 2 times and it should load then. If it doesn't work at all... trust me, I'll be typing really really really fast to try to undo whatever I just did. Hopefully you'll have some Halloween candy (if you're in the USA and celebrate that kind of thing) nearby to take away the bitterness of a small site outage. :(
Here's the handy-dandy Website That I Always Use to get a feel for when the maintenance will start in your area. Our site traffic historically dips on Friday afternoons until Saturday morning which is why we tend to pick this time for maintenance work.
( tech details )
status.livejournal.org will, of course be updated before and after the maintenance window. Or else marta will get mad at me. :D
bt |
|
|
| LAST DAY FOR THE ZOE VOTE! |
[Oct. 30th, 2009|07:53 am] |
I'm waiting for my shuttle to the airport, so this is short and simple.
(I'll respond to several of YOUR responses to yesterday's health care debacle rant tomorrow.)
You only have until 11:59pm Central Time tonght to vote!!
2. In the bottom right corner, click on MORE BOOKS twice. (Yes, this is the tricky part. No, I don't know why Zoe is buried at the absolute back of the pack. Kind of makes you feel sorry for her, huh?) That will take you to ZOE.
3. Click on the yellow box that says VOTE!
4. Notify every person you have ever met in your entire life to PLEASE VOTE FOR ZOE. I seriously mean that.
5. Do this every day until 11:59 pm Central Time, October 30. It's almost over and then I will stop grovelling and pleading, I promise!
|
|
|
| LiveJournal Major Notes: Search super-tweak, postcards, and amazing user content! |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|10:53 am] |
In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join lj_releases.
Super-tweak for Yandex searchSome of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.
Postcards from the edgeSeveral years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.
Conquer Writer's BlockHere are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:
If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?- I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
- Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
- This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
- I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
- Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
- SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
- I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
- I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
- I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
- Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.
For more daily questions and user comments, join writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this!
Spotlight community of the weekWe can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.
halloween_fan
Photos of the weekWe received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our new lj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful!
CurtainsThanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week. |
|
|
| Ending with a bang and a rant |
[Oct. 29th, 2009|05:44 am] |
I'm pretty sure that tomorrow is the last day you can vote to put Zoe in a Cheerios box (until 11:59pm Central Time). It's not looking so good for our girl, but the whole thing has been a lot of fun. I realized yesterday that all this blogging and thinking about Zoe has led me to dream up a number of new story ideas for her, and that might be the best prize of all.
I leave in a little bit for the airport because I'll be speaking In Newark, DE tonight at 6pm. Can you come and see me?
If you can't, be sure to tune in to the streaming, live video feed of the event, courtesy of Penguin's Point Of View website!
I'll be talking about Wintergirls tonight (a BIG change from Zoe), which makes it appropriate to point out this Book Recommendation Theme I Never Considered for Wintergirls.
BIG CHANGE IN TOPIC
I haven't had a political rant in while, so I hope you'll indulge me.
There was a time in America when education was totally private: people who wanted their children to go to school paid for it. Eventually, Americans decided that public education was such an incredible public good, i.e., something everyone benefits from, that we moved to a taxpayer-funded system of education, open to all. And, of course, there are still private schools for families who want to make that choice.
There was a time in America when clean water and electricity were available only to the wealthy. The poor pulled up water from wells or dipped buckets into dirty rivers, and lit their homes with candles and lanterns because they had no choice. (My father-in-law, who died in July, did not have electricity on his street until he was 10 years old.)
Our fellow citizens argued and grumbled, but eventually decided that it was a benefit to the entire nation if all Americans had access to water and electricity. So programs were put in place, funded in part by taxpayers and in part by consumers, to make that happen.
Now the debate has turned to health insurance. My grandparents did not have it when they were young. In the middle of the last century, it became a widespread job benefit, and programs were put in place to insure the vulnerable; elderly, poor and disabled people.
There has been a shift. In the past three generations, insurance has moved from the privilege of the rich to something that most Americans consider a basic part of life, like education, electricity, and water.
(Please let me know if you disagree with that.)
But I am confused. Why is it proving so hard to craft and pass legislation that will accomplish this? I think it's because the chuckleheads in Congress - on both sides of the aisle - are puppets and the insurance companies are pulling the strings. Don't get me wrong - I am all about capitalism. I love capitalism. I am a small business owner and so is my husband and it's working for us. Almost.
The Fat Cats have made the playing field uneven. BH and I cannot join any kind of group insurance plan. (We've spent countless hours examining this.) We pay almost $20,000 a year in insurance premiums just for the two of us. I've thought about canceling the policy and setting that money aside for medical emergencies, but I'm a cancer survivor. If I had a recurrence of cancer without insurance, we would lose our house and retirement savings.
Am I pissed? Damn straight. One of my three adult kids doesn't have insurance. My friends who have been out of work for too long have no insurance. People who might take the plunge into small business ownership don't because they are afraid to leave their job and give up their health insurance. Americans die and suffer needlessly every day because health care in this country has become a trip to the roulette wheel.
The time has come for us to agree that all Americans deserve basic health care coverage - the same for all people in all states. If you want a fancier program with bells and whistles, you can pay extra. The insurance companies have to buck up. When your service is considered a public good - a public necessity - you have to trade in outrageous short-term profits for long-term secure cash flow.
If you have decent health coverage through your job, or your parents' or spouse's job, please stop and think. What would happen to your life if you had to pay 20 - 40% of your income for your insurance? How is that fair?
::wipes spittle from face:: I will rant about the evil doings of health insurance companies - denying coverage that people have paid for - another day.
What do you think about this? Is health care coverage the new rural electrification? Do we have a right to health care?
And now for the last beating of the drum to get Zoe in a Cheerios box:
You only have a day and a half or so to vote!!
2. In the bottom right corner, click on MORE BOOKS twice. (Yes, this is the tricky part. No, I don't know why Zoe is buried at the absolute back of the pack. Kind of makes you feel sorry for her, huh?) That will take you to ZOE.
3. Click on the yellow box that says VOTE!
4. Notify every person you have ever met in your entire life to PLEASE VOTE FOR ZOE. I seriously mean that.
5. Do this every day until 11:59 pm Central Time, October 30. It's almost over and then I will stop grovelling and pleading, I promise!
|
|
|
| TEACHER/LIBRARIAN ALERT & DETERMINATION |
[Oct. 28th, 2009|08:48 am] |
I am going to try and steal as much writing time as I can today, so this will be short and sweet.
Want to hang out with me? Meet me at 6pm tomorrow night (10/29) at the Border's in Newark, DE, where I'll be talking about Wintergirls, answering questions, and probably drinking hot tea.
You can't make it to Delaware? Have no fear. You can watch a live, streaming video of the occasion on the Penguin POV website. You can even send in a question for me to answer.
ZOE UPDATE & FREE FICTION!
Zoe is sad. Her hair droops and drizzles and trails behind her on the sidewalk. Her sad hair picks up fallen leaves and twigs and discarded acorn tops. Zoe's chances of making it inside a Cheerios box are grim; she has been bumped out of the top five. There are a couple of other books in the running that are friends of hers (ALL THE WORLD and T-REX IN THE LIBRARY), so that makes her feel better. A little better. Not much, honestly.
Zoe's hair snags on a tree root that has broken through the sidewalk. (you have to imagine the artwork, it's too early to wake up Ard and ask him to draw something.)
Zoe stops. Zoe stares.
Her hair twines around the root of the tree.
Zoe turns around. This tree - this magnificent, splendiferous, amazing tree, did not let a little thing like a concrete sidewalk keep it from reaching for the sky.
"We won't either!" Zoe shouts.
Zoe's hair bounces back. It curls, it swirls, it zooms!
Zoe decides that no matter how hard the fight, how high the odds, she will never give up.
You can't give up either. You only have TWO MORE DAYS to vote!! You can put Zoe back in the Cheerios box where she belongs!!
1. Copy and paste the suggestions and voting guidelines below and send them to everyone you know. Post a link to your Twitter. Put it in your Facebook and Myspace status lines. Tweet. Shout. Storm. Spread the news - only two more days to help our favorite redhead!
2. Become a fan of Zoe on Facebook.
3. Go to Zoe's website and play the Hair Basket Game while you are waiting for your friends to write back and thank you for sending them such an excellent suggestion.
AND, OF COURSE, VOTE!!
2. In the bottom right corner, click on MORE BOOKS twice. (Yes, this is the tricky part. No, I don't know why Zoe is buried at the absolute back of the pack. Kind of makes you feel sorry for her, huh?) That will take you to ZOE.
3. Click on the yellow box that says VOTE!
4. Notify every person you have ever met in your entire life to PLEASE VOTE FOR ZOE. I seriously mean that.
5. Do this every day until 11:59 pm Central Time, October 30. That is only a few more days!
|
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| |
|
|
