Remember:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Thank you, Margaret Mead.

Yes, we can.

Authors & Illustrators for Children voting for Obama . . . yes we CAN!

Some children's authors and illustrators -- some of them VERY big names -- are adding their names to a list to support Obama. If even a few teachers, librarians, parents, and readers stop and think about voting for Obama, it's worth it. Below is the info to add your name if you're a published author or illustrator. I've added mine but it takes a couple of days to show up on the list. We'll create a ripple . . . maybe it'll turn into a wave.


AIC (Authors & Illustrators for Children) can make a difference in this election but first we need YOUR NAME.
We want 500 authors in our ad. We have 74.
That means we need 426 more by the end of next week.

It’s time to act. If you want to be included in the AIC campaign to make Obama our next president, do the following:
If you are a published author and/or illustrator, send an email to CountMeIn@aiforc.org. The message body should simply be your name as you want it to appear in the ad.
Send this email to 20 authors and illustrators you know. It doesn’t matter if they might have received it from someone else. Get the word out!
That’s the most important part.

In a day or two, check the website to make sure your name is on the list and spelled correctly!: www.aiforc.org/obama/thelist.html.
A group of children's authors and illustrators -- some of them VERY big names in the children's lit world -- are
You can view the ad at: www.aiforc.org/obama

You can donate to our campaign (credit card, check or PayPal). We’re focusing on swing states, we’re creating printable materials that you can hand out, we’re booking online advertising, we’re producing a video. It all takes money. www.aiforc.org/donate.html

That’s it for now. Don’t let this sit in your mailbox. We need 500 authors and we need them now!
Yes we do.
Yes we can!
Bruce

Our 2008 Ad:
The characters we create inspire our readers.
The character he possesses will inspire a nation.
Join 500 Authors & Illustrators who care about your Children.
Vote for Barack Obama

"Eat Local!" Video

There are so many reasons to eat local foods -- ecologically, you're saving on transportation emissions and packagings (not to mention the cost of both); economically, you're helping those in your own back yard, especially small and family farms; and of course, you're getting the freshest, most vitamin packed foods.

Here's the link to a video contest our state put on, the challenge to eat local for a day. We did it! And it was delicious. And we'll be doing it most of the time now, too.

http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/vagrown-july/contest.shtml

The Election

This just seems like a good photo for the election . . . .

And as a thank you to KIMBERLY PAULEY . . .

Here's a canvas bag for carrying around all your fabulous books!! AND it's from the literacy site where, in 6 months, almost $12,000 from purchases has been earned to buy free books for kids in need. Even cooler, over $200,000 has been earned just by clicking here:

http://www.theliteracysite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=6

You can click every single day! It's that easy. Please go! Thanks!

BLOG PARTY!!

Thanks to Kimberly Pauley, author of SUCKS TO BE ME: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton Teen Vampire (Maybe), and the brain and energy behind yabookscentral.com, for having me at her blog party a few days ago!

Here's the link:

http://kimberlypauley.com/blog/

She was kind enough to celebrate QUAKING along with her own book -- come on by!

International Literacy Day

Here's a link to a great event tomorrow -- students in DC, Ghana and Nigeria sharing info about 2 award winning books they read: COPPER SUN by Sharon Draper and PURPLE HIBISCUS by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

http://www.reading.org/association/meetings/ILD_DC.html

The Miniature Earth Video (link below)

This is a great, updated, video to watch, even if you've seen it before (it's very short, and well worth it):
http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm

Good Reads

Does everyone know about Goodreads.com?  It's a great way to list the books you've read and those you want to read, review and rate them, and see what others are reading.  The photo shows a partial pile of this week's books borrowed from library and friends, which is pretty much a joke because my eyes are way bigger than my capacity to read.  I am NOT a fast reader, sadly.  Most of these will have to go back unread BUT I'll put them on my GoodReads.com "to be read" shelf so I don't forget them!

TRACKING DADDY DOWN

Here's the link to Marybeth Kelsey's blog and a chance to win the above book!  I LOVE the sound of this story and can't wait to read it!

http://marybethkelsey.livejournal.com/  Blog entry is copied below:

A GIVEAWAY

Aug. 23rd, 2008 | 06:49 am
mood:  excited

Whoohoo!

Guess who just blew into town?!?




and she's here 

to take care of a few things.


Billie Wisher's daddy isn't a no-good bank robber . . . is he?

Billie's daddy is on the run. If the police catch him, it's off to Pendleton Penitentiary for sure. And she just got him back, after he spent years away in California. She had big plans for the summer--plans that won't be any fun without Daddy.

It must all be a mistake. Daddy didn't mean to rob that bank. If Billie finds him before the cops do, she can help him put everything right. She has an idea where he might be holed up. But Mama keeps asking what she's up to, and BIllie's new stepfather, Daddy Joe, is always around, poking his nose in her business.

With her family at stake, Billie's determined to track Daddy down at all costs--but will anything turn out the way she expects?

Here's the box 

with the author copies.




I'd love to give a couple of signed copies away!

It's so simple!

1. Comment on this post and let me know you're in.
2. To get your name in twice, paste the link to this livejournal, or copy this post into you blog.
3. Wait until September 6th, when DS will draw the winners.

Thanks for playing along!

Thinking of those in Florida and flood areas . . .

Sign reads:  "Due to high seas road may be covered with water or debris.  Use at own risk."

It's in northern Canada but applies to southern U.S., too.

Wishing everyone well.

Laughter

This morning I was greeted in my kitchen by funny notes galore from my son --

on the kettle, "Caution:  hot!"

on the oven clock, "Can't tell the time,"

on the coffee pot, "Mom, you can wait,"

on the sugar bowl, "Dad, this is bad for you,"

on the utensil drawer, "Nope, you have to use your hands!"

inside drawers, inside the fridge ("Dad, don't even think of taking this for lunch!"), on the floor, dishwasher, you name it.

Having woken up with the ticker of chores running through my head, feeling overburdened, I needed this laugh.   I had to get past the notes on my laptop to post this, though:  

outside, "too much computer time today"

and inside, "I see you!" 

It was a great reminder that a little humor goes a long way.  Like this mailbox that cracks me up every time I drive by.  I finally had to take a picture.  Take time to enjoy the day and have a laugh. 

Strike a Woman, Strike a Rock -- Women's Day in South Africa

August 9th commemorates the women who spoke out against pass laws in South Africa over 50 years ago in 1956.  The pass laws, part of the apartheid regime, restricted movement by requiring blacks to have permission to be out and about anywhere.  Kudos to the brave women who stood rock hard in their protest over 50 years ago.  You were part of the driving force of change.  Thank you.

(The slogan, "strike a woman, strike a rock," comes from the song written and sung for the protest.)

How to Recycle and Make Music

Love this Leopard

Can you see me?

Can you see me now?

This is how I look when I'm stuck on a writing problem.  Like now.  I am the leopard.

Fortunately for me, a little spot of chocolate greatly improves my mood.  :o)

Great bookstore, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada

One year ago, almost to the day, I was at Granny Bates, a children's bookstore in Canada where I used to live.  Apart from being truly adorable (and well stocked), it carried my latest book!  I was so impressed!  Kudos to all the independent bookstores out there . . . it's not easy making a living competing with big box stores, Amazon and computer games.  Thank you for being there!

 

Free Books

Really.  It's the World Ebook Fair and you can download free books!  At least until tomorrow.  Check it out here:  

http://www.worldebookfair.org/

Gotta love that Project Gutenberg and others like them.  I know they have their critics, but at a very basic level they're getting literature out there that some might not be able to access otherwise.

Why we have the Olympics

Education.  Really.  Cultural education.  That's what the Olympics is all about.  I mean, I didn't even KNOW there was an Iranian women's rowing team (and they get lots of money and support, and they don't mind wearing a lot of clothing even though it's hot).  Or that one of Iran's top female competitors is in Taekwondo.  Cool!

Can we solve it?

July 19, 2008:  When exactly was it that the U.S. became a can't-do society?  Bob Herbert, NY Times. 

If that doesn't make you put down your coffee cup, stop Twittering, or mute the TV, it should. 

What Herbert is talking about is the reaction to Al Gore's challenge to free ourselves of fossil fuels within 10 years.  It's something Americans should be able to do.  It's something Americans have always been able to do.  But are we still capable of doing the seemingly impossible?  In short, have we lost our American persona?

Having lived overseas, I've seen how others see us.  It's not always pretty.  We're brash, pushy, ill-informed, self-centered.  In short, we're the world's teenager, with all the bad and good a teenager has to offer.  Here's the good:  we are (were?) energetic, creative, out of the box thinkers and risk-takers, and if someone said it couldn't be done, we'd say, "Oh, yeah?  Betcha we can do it!"  And we did.

The rest of the world cut us some slack because although we might have been arrogant and ignorant, they had to admire the way we actually got things done.  Some of them were particularly grateful.  When the Berlin wall went up, we flew food and supplies to the other side.  We helped free people from concentration camps and stopped wars.  Oh yeah, and we sent a man to the moon.  In less than 10 years.

But that was then.  Maybe we're growing out of that teenage phase and are becoming complacent old people -- just give us our remotes, our cells, our laptops, and let us sit on the couch.  Who wants to work that hard?  Who wants to take risks?  Just get the oil so we can have our power.  Cheap.  

If our President can feel comfortable staying in the box, why not us?  I just heard his response to the oil crisis.  Apparently there's deeply buried shale oil in Colorado, Nevada and Montana.  The teenager in me wants to say, "Dude!  What are you thinking?  Solar, wind, geothermal -- it's all out there and getting cheaper to use every day.  People are buying their own dang windmills -- after they get a lawyer to fight the system so they're allowed to put one up!"

Here's a question.

What did the rest of the world see in Al Gore and his ideas to award him a prize?  A Nobel Prize, no less.  A Nobel Peace Prize.  Well, if you don't need to invade other countries for their oil, that sure helps the peace process.  And if you stop being the world's largest carbon footprint that'd not only help the environment but also curtail resentment in the rest of the world.  Hmm, maybe the Nobel Committee knew what they were doing.

And here's a thought.

We brought 3 astronauts back from a failed mission when, by all logic, they should've been lost in space.  But we did it.  That Apollo 13 mission represents America at its best.  Americans doing the impossible.  The American heart, mind, and spirit at work.  It's unstoppable.  It gives me chills.

Right now, I'm sweating.

(If you haven't heard a snippet of Al Gore's speech, it's at www.wecansolveit.org.)

Angel of Learning

In my heart of hearts I'm a learner.  Constantly.  I think a lot of writers are.  There are so many fascinating things to learn about.  Aboriginal people, black holes, diseases, Winston Churchill, tomatoes, pirates, how the brain works, you name it.  A dear friend just gave me an "Angel of Learning" to add to the inspirational muses on my desk.  She's a writer, too, but not able to write much, given the many (very rough) things going on in her life right now -- and yet, she remains caring, loving, full of spirit.  That's something I haven't learned yet but maybe my new angel will help.    

Challenge:   Pick one random new thing to learn about today -- my suggestion, a country (other than your own).  And write one thing (other than a to-do list) -- another suggestion, a brief note to a person who means a lot to you.  

Wishing everyone inspiration in learning and writing today.