Spring is Sprung

Here's my five year plan:

1. Become rich via librarianship (we're still working out the kinks on this one).
2. Visit every cool party involving children's literature around the country/world (depending on the level of "rich" we've achieved). This includes, but is not limited too, the TLA Conferences, the IRA Conference, and anything that occurs on the Pacific Northwest.

Why the Pacific Northwest in particular? Because they put on one heckuva show. Just recently the Western Washington chapter of SCBWI had a big author-laden shindig under the moniker Spring Inside Story. And because I have not yet completed Step One of my five-year plan I could not go. I mean just look at that line-up. I already know how much I loved Reality Leak, Violet Bing and the Grand House, The Snow Baby, and the darling Faeries of Dreamdark. Imagine how much I might have also loved the other books/authors who were present. Well played, Seattle. Well played indeed.

You can find further info at Brimstone Soup.

Kudos for Youdos

Wait wait! Before I begin let's just say that bloggers complimenting bloggers on bloggobial blogizness (I had to stretch with that last one there) is not, in fact, a form of navel gazing, self-aggrandizing back-patting. Got it? Good. Cause I love me my clever bloggers.

How clever, you ask? Well, for the 36th Annual Summer Conference of SCBWI, Little Willow, Kelly, Gina, and Sarah will be presenting. I know that Kelly, Gina, and Sarah will be doing The Blogging Community: A Network for Children’s Book Creators. I'm not sure what Little Willow will present.

And in other news, our very own Liz B. is on the Printz committee. Well done, Liz. Glad to hear it. Let's fill the committees to o'erflowing with bloggers.

2006 Golden Kite Winners

It looks as if the 2006 Golden Kite Award winners, as pronounced by SCBWI, have been announced. Cynsations has a great posting on who won what that I won't steal here. There were a couple of surprises here and there. I felt bad that I never saw Picture Book Illustration winner Not Afraid of Dogs by Susanna Pitzer last year. It looks charming. Plus, well done Alvina Ling for editing two of the winners. Not too shabby, m'dear.

Thanks to Cynsations for the link.

Matt Phelan Interview

Oh, this is neat. Anyone heard of A Thousand Times No before? It's a kind of podcast site that discusses a single topic; what happens when somebody receives a great big NO? Their February 4th production interview is with Matt Phelan.

Just this past Saturday I attended Book Fest at the Arts & Humanities Library (the one with the lions) here in NYC. And who should be seated behind me but none other than Mr. Phelan himself. Such a nice guy. Had I but known that the illustrator of the most recent Newbery winner was going to attend, I would have brought my copy for his signature. Ah well. Another year. In any case, we had a great bunch o' conversations. Amusingly enough we ended up at one point talking about Shaun Tan's work on The Rabbits... and then M.T. Anderson spoke not long thereafter and also mentioned The Rabbits... and then I went home and reviewed Tan's The Arrival. I love meaningless coincidence.

The Thousand Times No piece talks about how Matt wanted initially out of college to be a screenwriter. I love stories of how people came to their eventual calling in life. SCBWI fans will appreciate his repeated mentions of the organization. The interviewer also is good enough to have Matt walk listeners through the process one goes through when illustrating a children's book. And at one point Matt laments that there aren't enough kidlit cocktail parties out there. So maybe I'm filling a void here. Hrm....

Anywho, it's well worth checking out. Long long long, but worth it.

Thanks to Children's Illustration for the link.