I'm in Oregon now, free wifi at my hotel - wa-hoo!

I need to catch you up on my Michigan adventure. First the Detroit airport. Which I love

because they have one of those cool colorful tunnels that connects the consourses

and it changes color

a lot!

Connecting through Detroit always means a trip to Sora, in terminal A, near gate 36

for sushi and miso soup.

The Michigan SCBWI conference was wonderful; extremely friendly (God, I love Midwesterners) and upbeat. Big thanks to rj_anderson (aka She Who Helped With the Myspace Mess In August) for making the drive from Canada, and the conference organizers, and all of the attenders who made me feel right at home.

And there was a real-live reader there! Meet my new friend, Eliza Webb, whose mom was at the conference and who totally made my day by coming over to talk to me.

Along with giving speeches and critiquing manuscripts and meeting kindred spirits, I snuck in a run on a beautiful autumn day. But truly, the highlight of the visit for me was this: Jello salad with Mystery Bits in it. This is a staple at United Methodist dinners, which were a staple of my childhood. If you read CATALYST and wondered about the Jello salad, this is what I was talking about. It's green, it wiggles, and it might be an ingredient in embalming fluid. But damn, it tastes good.

So now I am in Oregon and I have been awake for a million hours. I am at the coolest hotel I have ever stayed at, and I had a great dinner with librarians, and a Famous Author wandered by, and I even worked for a couple hours on my revisions, but all those details will have to wait until after I get some sleep!

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

Copyedited manuscript of Independent Dames sent off. check.
Critiques printed out out and packed. check.
Opening conference speech written & printed. check.
Revision speech written & printed. check.
Revision hand-outs assembled. check.
Revision hand-outs copied - not yet! Must drop off on the way to the hairdressers!
Portland speeches written. check.
Portland speeches printed - not yet! Need to look over one more time.
First half of revision of historical submitted. le grand sigh. Nope.
All tomatoes roasted. check!!!

So - things are a little busy 'round here today. I leave veeeeeeery early tomorrow for an SCBWI conference in Michigan. From there I fly to sunny Portland Oregon for Teen Read Week festivities.

Last night BH came up with a great addition to our Life Is Too Short List: "Life is too short to eat burnt popcorn." Which I was about to do because I am obsessively frugal sometimes. He threw it out and popped me another bag.

Rest of today's to-do list:
Empty email box.
Go to bank.
Pay bills.
Hang out with my parents and help them with a couple of things.
Get hair cut.
Pack suitcase and backpack.
...sneak in a little revision time...
Read.
Chill with husband and dog.

I leave you with some photos from the last couple of weeks.

SCBWI Fall Philly Phriends.

Speaking of fall, this is outside the living room window.

My Beloved Husband interacting with Chris Crutcher.

Me, acting much more civilized with His Chrisness.

It's Monday morning, but my head is already focused on Friday, when I fly to Michigan for their SCBWI Fall Conference. I'll spend Sunday on airplanes and in airports hopscotching across to Portland, Oregon.

You can catch me a week from today kicking off Teen Read Week by delivering the 2007 Teen Author Lecture, courtesy of the Multnomah County Library System in Portland. Tuesday I will be speaking at Parkrose High School (event closed to the public, sorry), and Wednesday will be spent knitting and/or scribbling on airplanes as I head back to the East Coast.

Along with the finishing touches on those speeches, I need to get a big hunk of the revised historical off to my editor, finish going through the copyedited manuscript of next year's non-fiction historical picture book (I can't WAIT to show you the art!!!) and answer a bunch of email relating to NCTE that piled up when our computers were sick. Oh, and work on my new YA.

I am already tired.

If you are interested in writing and publishing books for kids and teens, go to WGTD and poke around until you find the archive interview from this morning with Putnam editor Tim Travaglini. Be patient when you listen. The first gentleman interviewed, John Stewig, talks for a bit about the upcoming workshop at the Carthage Center for Children's Literature in Kenosha, WI. John's voice reminded me so much of Mr. Rogers (I miss him!) that I found myself reaching for graham crackers and milk.

Tim talks about the requirements of being an editor ("take a vow of poverty... be a masochist") as well as many of the practical business aspects of publishing. After the interview with John and Tim, the station replays an interview from 2005 with Jonathan Stroud, author of The Bartimaeus Trilogy.

If you need a boost of inspiration after listening to that dose of reality, read about Christopher Paul Curtis talking about his new book.

The subject line comes from an awesome PR campaign by the public libraries of Wyoming. It is the perfect kick-off for this week because......

HAPPY BANNED BOOKS WEEK!!! Celebrate that most treasured of our freedoms - the freedom to think and read what you want - by reading a banned book. Choose one of mine. Or one of Chris Crutcher's or one that made the Top Ten List last year.

Do you think we have come so far in America we don't have to worry about banned books? Then read this gay-bashing, librarian loathing, freedom crushing article.

Speaking of Crutcher..... we have an Amazing Author Alert: Chris Crutcher is coming to Syracuse. THIS WEEK! Come out on Wednesday night to hear Crutcher talk about "Turning Real Life into Fiction" at the Onondaga County Public Library. BH and I will be there. If you see us, please say hello. Chris is one of the most important YA writers of our generation and a great speaker - this is a terrific opportunity. He will also be signing books and reading from his newest book, Deadline, at the Dewitt Barnes & Noble on Tuesday night at 7:30pm (thanks for the heads-up, ShelfLife.)

Many thanks to all the conference-goers who came out to the SCBWI Fall Philly on Saturday. Special thanks to kellyrfineman for driving me to and fro (w/ great tunes playing) and former regional RA Laurie Krause Kiernan for passing on five boxes of unloved canning jars that I will now attempt to fill with applesauce. I really appreciated all of the kind things and the stories that people told me over the course of the day. Allow me to reiterate what I said in my speech - turn off the Internet and go work on your book now. Then go for a walk or a run!

Had a great time with two of our daughters, their beloveds, and various friends at the PA Renaissance Festival on Sunday. We got to hear the Tartan Terrors again. I think I might have to become a groupie. Photos of all the festivities as soon as we get our Internet and server problems solved. At the rate it's going, it may be a month or so.

I have SO MUCH WRITING to do it isn't even funny, but it doesn't matter because it is October and October is the best month.

Dang, that was good. ALA was absofreakinglutley astounding. How to best describe this???

Imagine the thing you care about most in the world (besides the people that you love). In my case, this is books. Specifically, books for kids and teenagers. OK, now, take thousands of people who work in the field that you love. These people have devoted their lives to your passion and care about it every bit as much as you do. Maybe even more. And get this - they are nice people; not jerks or chuckleheads. They are smart and funny and it lifts up your heart to be in their presence.

That's what this year's ALA conference was like for me. My only regret is that it did not last for an entire month.

I took some pictures.

The first big event was a reunion of the Printz Class of 2000. From the left: Ellen Wittlinger, Walter Dean Myers, me, and David Almond.

Ellen and me hamming it up. She has a new book coming out next month, Parrotfish, that sounds amazing. David looks a little nonplussed here. He is a very sweet man with an adorable accent. I overheard librarians begging him to read the phone book.

A standing-room-only crowd came out to hear us talk about the impact the Printz has had on our work and on YA literature. It was an incredible evening for me, especially listening to Walter's comments.

At the party afterwards, I ran into old friend Toni Buzzeo and new friend, Gail Giles, who needs to move to Central New York so we can hang out because she is a very funny lady.

The boys were back in town: Terry Trueman, Sweet Author Whose Name Has Completely Flown My Mind And I Feel Like A Jerk About It, and Chris Crutcher. (edited to add, thanks to input from David Lubar) The guy in the middle is Roland Smith.

Me fangeeking about Sherman Alexie, who was at the party, too.

Here I have somewhat recovered by composure. Somewhat.

The next night, I lost my composure again, because Eileen Kreit (from Penguin) and I got to have our picture taken with JUDY BLUME!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Sherman and I spoke on a panel with Cecily von Ziegesar (she writes the Gossip Girl series) and Alyson Noel (Kiss & Blog ) The room was small and crowded but my voice was powered by a venti coffee with a double-shot of espresso so it all worked out.

The next morning started with the YALSA breakfast. Think speeddating - 25 or so authors, 400 librarians. Many, many thanks to all the nice folks I met. I just wish we would have had more time!!! After the breakfast, they lined up the authors so the librarians could get photos of us all. This is what the wall of paparazzi librarians looked like to us. Ellen W and I called them the Bookarazzi.

Me and my little brother, aka M. T. Anderson. I was born first, and the first letter of my first name comes before his in the alphabet, so make sure my books are in front of his on the shelf. But also make sure that his books are faced out, because they rock the universe. Yes, Mom and Dad are proud.

And I have just realized I am an idiot. Because John Green and I hung out several times at the conference. We chilled in the hotel lobby, we shared cabs, we even spoke to a bunch of teens at lunch ::waves to all the teens who ate pizza with us and asked great questions:: And we talked a lot about YA literature and life, and I really, really like him. And he signed nice things in my books. But did I remember to take photos of any of this??? No, because I am an idiot. Sometimes. Maybe he has one. John? Anyone?

Catch more ALA stories and photos courtesy of Edwards Award winner Lois Lowry, Linda Sue Park (great Newbery dinner shots), David Lubar, Paul Acampora was there, thanks to Yum-Yum, and Miss Cecil Castellucci (who has pictures of Holly and Theo - more friends I forgot to photograph!. You can also listen to all kinds of cool people on YALSA podcasts (scroll down to find them.

Know of any other ALA blogs/photos out there? Tell me in Comments!

Storm clouds are rolling across the county, so our power should go out in a minute. Here's my update:

1. My revision is proceeding well, despite last week's chickenbutt moment. I won't get the manuscript turned in by ALA, which I had hoped, but it should be there by the end of the month.

2. Father's Day was great because I spent it with my Beloved Husband, my dad, my father-in-law, and I talked to my former husband (aka father of two of my kids). Got all the Dad-bases covered! The middle of June is the perfect time for Father's Day. Kudos to whomever thought that one up.

3. I am running and working out again. Stress level is plummeting!

4. I leave for ALA on Friday. Here is my schedule. (Will any of you be there?)

Friday, June 22
8-10 pm Booklist Forum: "The 2000 Printz: A Reunion" at the Renaissance Washington Hotel. I am SO looking forward to this!!!!!!

10pm YALSA's 50th Anniversary Reception, also at the Renaissance Washington Hotel. I will be the one asleep in the onion dip. I am an annoying perky morning person. I vote that the next time YALSA has a party, we make it a 5am pancake and French toast gig.

Saturday, June 23
10-11am Signing at the Penguin booth, #2710-2711

Spend an hour or two trying to get out of the convention center. (I remember the Washington Convention Center from BEA last year. It is a mammoth, ginormous building that self-replicates, adding on halls and floors every time you near an exit.)

1:30-3:30pm FOLUSA program "Teens Read!" This is where I get to meet Sherman Alexie!

4-4:40 Signing at the Simon & Schuster booth. #2111

6pm Penguin Young Readers Cocktail Party, Fairmont Hotel (I will probably not fall asleep in the onion dip. This is a good time for me, late evening.)

After the party, I'm going to have dinner with some awesome librarians. And coffee.

Sunday, June 24
8-10am YALSA Author Breakfast at the Renaissance Washington. Yes! A breakfast event!

11:30-1pm Penguin Teen Luncheon with John Green and the BBYA teen readers. Not sure if John and I will have time to hang out before or after this event. Must write to him.

Fly home and put suitcase in the basement for 12 weeks.

Rest of the Summer
1. Finish revision.
2. Eat strawberries.
3. Start a new book.

1. Bandages are off! I woke up yesterday at 5:15 and had removed the blasted bandages by 5:20. The doc made 15 small incisions on The Leg and they're all healing nicely. I see him in a week and if there is any justice in the world I'll run after that.

2. The revision is going very well. I figured out yesterday that I need to completely disassemble the last quarter of the book, move stuff around, throw some stuff out and make some new stuff up, and reassemble. But I am not freaking because I am pretty sure I know what to do. That will be next week's job.

3. John Green and I have a coffee date for ALA!!! (He was very nice and wrote to me.) Remind me to post next week about the introductory message "This is not a book for children" that is in TWISTED.

4. I will get to meet Sherman Alexie at ALA too. ::fangeekfangeekfangeek::

5. I am off in a few hours for to speak at the SCBWI Mid-Hudson Conference. A friend has graciously offered to drive so I can rest The Leg and knit.

5a. I will be quite happy if I can live out the rest of my life without ever hearing the name "Paris Hilton" spoken again.

OK, OK, OK.... I am here and trying to catch up again.

The first news of the day is very sad: Lloyd Alexander died yesterday. School Library Journal and the Washington Post have obituaries. I wish someone in Philadelphia would kick the Inquirer (Lloyd's hometown paper) because they don't seem to have noticed the event yet.

On a happier note (which I think Lloyd would appreciate) the apple trees and lilacs up here are just about to explode into goodness and the hummingbirds are back. My daffodils have started to roll up their flags and go to sleep for another year. I find myself dreaming about fresh tomatoes, but it is still a little early to plant them.

Let's roll the tape on my totally excellent adventures of the past week.

First, the booksigning at Moravian Bookshop in Bethlehem, PA. This was the last TWISTED event on my calendar for a while and it was a delightful one because so many old friends came out. ( Click for tons of pictures, including me at IRA with The Stinky Cheese Man Himself! )

I was SUPPOSED to come home last night from IRA in Toronto.

But a monsoon hit the airport just before I was supposed to leave. They canceled all the flights.

So I made a lot of phone calls, got drenched waiting for the shuttle bus, walked into the hotel looking like something that just crawled out of the sewer, slept (sort of), woke up at 3:30am to catch the 4am shuttle to get the first morning flight out to a far-away city where I could finally get on an airplane that would take me home.

I am beyond cranky right now. But I will sleep tonight and after many, many errands tomorrow, I'll try and post a tale and photos of what were the totally excellent adventures of the last week... totally excellent, that is, up until the monsoon hit.

G'night.

Thanks to all the Michiganers who made my quick trip to the Mitten State fun and interesting. The conference was HUGE - more than 5000 attenders who had hundreds of workshops to choose from, and I was honored that so many folks came out to hear me mutter and rant.

I spent most of Saturday on planes or in airports. Here is the free Wifi score:

Syracuse airport - three stars - free wifi, plenty of seating
Chicago O'Hare - no stars - wifi connectivity cost $10/day. Boo-hiss. Get with the program, Chicago.
Grand Rapids airport - three stars - free wifi, very nice lady running coffee shop near gate B1

However, O'Hare gets a star for having my favorite airport bathroom.

Saturday night I enjoyed a fabulous tapas dinner with some teacher and librarian friends. After dinner I was interviewed by YA-lit guru and teen-reader advocate Ed Spicer for his teen book group. Ed had a large handful of reader reviews for TWISTED. They liked the book. They really liked it. Yep, I glowed.

The good news about my hotel room was that I was upgraded to a suite because the hotel was overbooked. The bad news was that it was a suite where smoking had been allowed. (Ack. Puke. Ick.) BH wisely suggested I brew a pot of coffee to help with the stench. Great idea, but the management had removed the coffeemakers from all of the rooms in an effort to get guests to spend more money in the coffee shop.

Sunday was a blur of meeting teachers, signing books, talking about books, signing more, and then schlepping back to the airport. I got a chance to hang with Betsy Partridge, which was nice, and to see Marissa Moss again and to meet Wendy Mass. And I ate a lot of bananas, and a sandwich that contained mysterious meat which I probably should have not consumed, given that I could not identify it, but it was on sunflower seed bread which was so good I inhaled it. And I didn't get sick. So sunflower seeds balance out strange meat products.

The day started with a very nice breakfast (it had real food and everything!) where I met Kristen, Jill, and all the other ladies.

I told everyone at the conference that I will be back in Michigan on book tour: Monday, March 26th, at the Southfield Public Library in Southfield (evening) and Tuesday, March 27th at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor (also in the evening). I hope everyone in the entire state turns out and they have to call the fire marshal. That would be a good signing.

Be sure to read this wonderful article about teens buying and reading books. (Thanks Shelflife and Bookshelves of Doom for the link.)

Packing and last prep for Michigan today. I am really looking forward to seeing Christopher Paul Curtis, Hope Vestergaard, Marissa Moss, Chris Rascha (can't find a website for him!), Elizabeth Partridge, David Wiesner, Wendy Mass, Gordon Korman, and Mem Fox.

if you are a teacher involved in teaching literacy, reading, writing, or literature to kids or teens, you really should scroll through the Michigan Reading Association conference offerings. There are hundreds of workshops. They do it up right in the Mitten State.

Thank you, Basketball Gods, for the sad defeat yesterday of Syracuse in the Big East tournament because now I don't have to freak out about a Syracuse vs. Georgetown game. Georgetown beat Villanova (ha! HA!) and plays Notre Dame tonight at 7pm. I will be glued to the screen.

We're home again after a weekend spent at the SCBWI Whispering Pines retreat in Rhode Island, sponsored by the New England regional chapter. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. BH got to go (which doesn't happen very often, sadly) and both of us snow-blinded, cabin-fevered kids had a blast.

( Lodge critiques, too much food, howling ice, and real-live editors! )

The American Library Association's annual conference is going on in New Orleans right now. (No, I'm not there. But I wish that I were.)

This is the first major convention to be held in New Orleans since hurricane Katrina devastated the city. I am not exactly what you call an insider, but from what I've heard the last few months, the leadership of ALA has been firm and committed about holding the convention there as a way to help the people of the region get back on there feet.

But that's not all.

Librarians are volunteering their time and energy while in New Orleans to help with the reconstruction. More info.

Librarians have demanding, underpaid jobs. They provide access to information, education, and opportunities for enlightenment for all Americans. And they catch a lot of flack for it from people who do not understand the principles of the Constitution. But you know what? Most of them see that as an opportunity to educate people and encourage more discussion. Librarians make this country a great place.

Is anyone blogging from the conference besides professornana andhornbookfeed, and this guy ?

EDITED TO ADD - thanks for the feedback - here is what you told me:
Sara Ryan sararyan
Nielsen Hayden
Sarah Dessen writergrl
The YALSA blog!
Librarian.Net

In other librarian news, would somebody who has a myspace account, please send a note to this wonderful librarian and tell her I say thanks for doing a great job with her book club? Thanks.

Let's say it all together: librarians rock!

So yeah, by the end of the dinner where I met (brace yourself, more sqweeing ahead) KATHERINE PATERSON, I was whooped. There were a couple of other parties to go to, but I had to speak early Friday morning, so I was a good girl and went to bed.

Woke up at an obscenely early hour on Friday and dressed with fear and trepidation. This was the day I had been dreading since December. I put on my magic bracelets and grabbed my speech.

See, I had been invited by the kind people at the Children's Booksellers and Publishers Committee to be one of the speakers at the opening Children's Breakfast. This was a huge honor and a big challenge. Would you want to speak to 850 tired, hungry, undercaffinated booksellers at the crack of dawn? Well, yes, if you're an author, of course you would. But what if they put you in the line-up with Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and Marc Brown?

gulp.

It helped that I was able to meet "the boys" before the event started. They were all very, very kind, and they signed all of the books that I had lugged with me. We trooped backstage and made our way to the breakfast (shades of that scene from Spinal Tap where the band gets lost behind the stage in Cleveland). The next few hours passed in a blur. I remember being on stage. I remember making the decision to skip page 3 of my speech (sure hope that worked out.)

But the best part was being able to share with booksellers the feedback that I get from my readers (some of it filters in here on the LJ). I told them that you guys love great books. I told them that books make a positive difference in your lives.... that is the interesting books; the ones you like and you actually read. Yes, I said that teaching the classics in high school is turning kids off to books. I imagine I will be yelled at for that, but so what? It's the truth.

Here is a much better summary of the whole morning.

And then it was over. I had a meeting with my agent, and not nearly enough time to walk the convention floor before I had to catch a cab to the airport and then the plane home. And who did I wind up sitting next to on the plane? That's right, the Ambassador to El Salvador. Turns out he knew my mother-in-law in Pulaski. Small world, eh?

Today I am writing with the music cranked loud. I also have to get to the email I just unearthed in my Junk mailbox. Spammers are evil.

( The rest of the photos )

(Pardon the crumbs, but I am inhaling a sandwich as I type this.)

From the glorious (and rather flat) state of Indiana, I flew into Washington, DC. Got in so early that my hotel room wasn't ready, which was fine with me because I needed a belt and (gasp!) stockings. Our hotel was at 23rd and M, which meant that Georgetown was a short walk away, so off I went.

(Nostalgia interlude: I graduated from Georgetown University, so the area was very familiar...but not. They have turned M Street into an upscale mall complete with Pottery Barn and overpriced EVERYTHING. Ack. I could only find one old stomping ground (i.e. bar): Mr. Smith's. Oh, Georgetown, what hath they done to thee? End of interlude.)

I finally stumbled into Urban Outfitters and then had to start muttering "belt, belt, belt, you can only buy a belt" under my breath because I wanted to buy much, much more. Bracelets, in particular, were calling my name. In fact, several of them had leapt onto my wrist when I looked up and saw Sarah Dessen, aka writergrl. That was a blast. We caught up with each other (hadn't seen each other since TLA in Austin the year before), and coordinated our dinner outfits.

OK - "coordinated our dinner outfits" is a phrase I never, ever thought I would type, unless someone was holding a gun to my head. This is the Power of Sarah - she makes females like me (i.e. rowdy tom-boy types) coordinate. And, heaven help me, I liked it. Amazing. (Here is Sarah's BEA entry).

I did buy a belt. I also bought a pair of kick-butt studded leather bracelets which sdn said reminded her of Wonder Woman. This thrilled me because I had a life-size poster of Wonder Woman on my closet door when I was a kid. Which completely explains why I adore Xena so.

Then I had to buy stockings, because I had to go to an auction and a dinner and I had to wear (sigh) a dress.

The silent auction was a fundraiser for the Association of Booksellers for Children, one the coolest groups on the planet. It was wicked, wicked crowded and LOUD, but I ran into all kinds of friends and made some new ones. (See photos.) ABC sponsored the dinners, too, where I was fortunate to be seated between two of my favorite booksellers in the country, Jewel Stoddard and Elizabeth Bluemle (who is also an author!). Jerry Pinckney and Eoin Colfer both spoke, but the highlight of the night for me was being present for the awards given to Anne Irish and Katherine Paterson (she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award).

But it got better.

Elizabeth was gracious enough to introduce me to Katherine Paterson. Katerine Paterson touched my hand. She smiled at me. She was the definition of graciousness. She had never heard of me, of course, but it didn't matter. IT WAS KATHERINE PATERSON. SQWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Honest, I did not make that noise in front of her. But I was making it in my head. I GOT TO TOUCH HER HAND!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!! drooldroolgrovelgrovel

::composes self:: Enough fangrlling.

( Let's see the photos )

When the sun came up this morning I staggered out of bed. Time has flown since Thursday. What, it's March? No way!

I took the long way to South Carolina, impeded by the snowstorms that affected Philly and Laguardia. Got in four hours late, but I made it and that was all that counted. I knew I was going to like the community when we passed a Mrs. Smith's pie factory on the way to the school. If I lived there, I would erect a house of worship next to it.

Mabry Jr. High was wonderful. The kids were very forgiving when I asked them to repeat things fifty times because my dumb Yankee ears struggled with their accents. I took a couple of photos and have stuck them behind the jump. Thank you to librarian Michelle Pope, asst. principal Crystal McSwain, Kelly Wright, and all of the teachers and kids who were so much fun. Friday night I went to a reception for Jamboread where I got to meet luminaries like Spartanburg's mayor, the library board, etc. I always feel awkward at events like that, but a number of librarians were there as Emergency Conversational Partners and that helped.

Saturday was Jamboread. "What is Jamboread?" you ask. It's an amazing book festival sponsored by the world-class Spartanburg, SC library system. Four authors, 6,000 book lovers, puppet shows, face painting, and a guy in a mouse costume. Along with Christopher Paul Curtis and me, readers got to listen to illustrator Janet Stevens and Andrew Clements.

I knew the day would rock when I walked into the teen section of the library and found the opening line of SPEAK painted on the wall, along with other notable quotes. Yeah, I puddled up. I wanted to throw myself on Susan, the YA librarian, and sob, but I didn't want to scare her. I ate breakfast with the winners of a poetry contest. Note to world: Spartanburg is the home to the poets of the next generation. These writers blew me away with their talent. The bagels were good, too. Many thanks to everyone who made the day fly, especially Leslie and Margo.

Random Spartanburg notes:
- The Miss South Carolina pagent was going on and all the participants were staying in my hotel. I saw Miss South Carolina, wearing her crown and surrounded by an adoring throng, getting out of an elevator. I do not understand pagents. Must explore this.
- Grits. Which I am strangely fond of.
- Did I mention who I had breakfast with yesterday?
- This country would be much better off if all mayors supported libraries as much as the Spartanburg mayor does.
- Back to the pagent thing. I lied, I do understand it. I want a crown.

( Photographic evidence )

Well, that "week" went fast. I leave again in a couple hours for South Carolina.

Let's hit the rewind button, shall we? Yesterday... yesterday was a bit of a fog. I planted my rear end in front of the computer from breakfast until 9:30pm. I ate in front of the computer. Drank coffee and tea there, too. Spend all that time doing one last pass through TWISTED, checking for loose ends, stray mistakes, creeping errors. Now it is DONE.... until I hear from the Editress who may want more revisions. Cross your fingers.

Tuesday was a school visit to the schools closest to my house, Mexico Academy Middle School and the High School, in snowy Mexico, NY. ( Rest of the week and my conference in Washington after the jump )

I spent all day Saturday at a local SCBWI (Society of Childrens' Book Writers and Illustrators) conference, which was very good for my heart and soul. If I can figure out how to download the pictures from my camera (help me, Mer!) I'll show you some of the neat people who were there. It felt amazing to get out of the house and be with other writers for a change. Yesterday was get ready for the week day, and movies with some of our kids. We saw King Kong (do not see it), which stank, but gave us plenty to critique (plot, pacing, character development, you name it). I spent all morning with my mom who had another nasty medical thingie to get through.

Happy Martin Luther King's birthday, everyone!

And now... back to work.