“This is why I’m glad my parents are not religious. We would skip the whole God thing and just go. That’s the way it should be. You religious people always have to pray first. It takes up valuable running away time.”
“It gets worse, doesn’t it?” asked Jack.
“Yeah,” I said. “It gets worse.”
Oh, yeah.
Colleen got a story published in STRANGE HORIZONS which is one of the story ‘zines I have delivered to my Reader each and every lovely Monday. I love the weird stories I read there, the reviews and the articles on speculative fiction, and Colleen’s October Country-type story included this week makes me both laugh (seriously: we religious types do tend to cut down our running away time. Maybe we should run and pray concurrently? Does prayer on the hoof show a galling lack of faith? Then again, how many haunted house movies have people praying in them at all? Oh, wait. The Exorcist… – I guess there were priests? Obviously, I’m not up on the haunted house/horror film thing…) and sigh in a bittersweet way. A haunted house story with a real-life twist.
You should read the story first (and ooh – there’s a place for comments! I never leave comments, but I think I just might), and then read Colleen’s backstory.
Did you know that Elaine Magliaro – of Blue Rose Girls and Wild Rose Reader fame – has another blog? Elaine’s Political Verses amuse me deeply – I love how she gets irritated and then bursts, not into diatribe, as so many do, but she bursts into poetry. I’m always tickled to read her snarky little takes on names we hear bandied about so often in the news.
(If you’ve never met Elaine, she’s a hoot, and you know her poetry might be an anger outlet, but it’s always funny. I had SO much fun meeting her at the ALA Convention in June!) This week, Elaine’s been invited to guest blog at a popular law blog! We kidlitosphere peeps, we totally get around.
Tech Boy got notes this week from two poor, sad little boys who said their mother abandoned them this weekend to go to some kind of blogging conference. On behalf of Charlotte’s pathetic, beleaguered children, I’m looking forward to Sarah’s post on the Kidlitosphere Conference 2010, so I can know their mother’s abandonment was not in vain. I’m already crossing my fingers that I can actually a.) be of some use and b.) actually manage to show up, for once, to Kidlitosphere Conference 2011. Hope springs eternal.
Almost November. Just doesn’t seem possible, does it? Enjoy your week!
Well, it wasn't in vain from my point of view–among other fine things, I got to meet Sarah! I'm going to try to swing Seattle too, but it might be pushing it….
If you go next year, I will have to go as well. At least I'll try really, really hard to get there.
Thanks for all these links!
Wasn't Colleen's story fantastic? I love it. Very excited to read the backstory, too–thanks for pointing that out.
Charlotte, it was great to meet you at the Kidlitcon! I hope you and Kelly F., and Tanita, can make it next year in Seattle. I'm tentatively in!
Thanks, T, for the kind words. They mean so so so much.
And I really hope all you guys will be at the con (in SEATTLE!) next year because I love you and want to see you!
Tanita,
I admit I haven't been writing too many political verses lately. And there most certainly is a LOT of material for humorous poetry considering all the crazies out this campaign season.
I'll be going down to Orlando for the NCTE Annual Convention in November. Two other kidlit bloggers (Tricia Stohr-Hunt and Sylvia Vardell) and I will be participating in a session on November 19th from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM. Our session is called Poets and Bloggers Unite: Using Technology to Connect Kids, Teachers, and Poetry. Poets Lee Bennett Hopkins, Pat Mora, Jame Richards, and Marilyn Singer will be joining us.
I hope we meet up with some of our fellow bloggers down in Florida.
BTW, It was such a pleasure meeting you at the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet in June! I had a blast that evening. It was fun meeting so many of my blogging friends in person.
Wah! Elaine, I wish I could go, but I'll definitely noise your presentation abroad.
I'm so glad that we're actually getting off-screen and meeting so many awesome people in the children's lit blogosphere.