Q:What do introverts get for Christmas?
A:Violets!
Check out the Shrinking Violets “Twelve Days of Christmas, Introvert-Style.” Twelve days of fun giveaways, and reminders that it’s okay to take time outs, breathers, disappear and do what you need to, to save your sanity!
There’s all kinds of fun distracting stuff online today – but the most distracting thing for me is trying to finish a WIP while another story idea is edging around in my brain, waving its hand and asking to be written. WHY is it that every time the WIP gets tough, there’s another idea trying to flirt with me, waving its arms, winking, and leering at me from around the corner??? WHY!??!
Sigh.
My muse is occasionally a faithless pain in the behind.
Onward!
Via Buzz, Balls & Hype, NBC Nightly News reports that library usage is up 46%! Who knew — in tough times, there’s still a place you can get books for free! The report is a little cloying; a librarian says that sometimes things are a little wild with so many patrons. Says the voiceover: “‘Wild’ is not a word you normally associate with the library.” Um, obviously this person hasn’t been to a library lately. Try going over when school’s out, and there’s a bunch of kids needing homework help, or trying to find something halfway interesting for a book report. And the shallowness just keeps on coming. “There’s Wi-Fi, and movies!” Really? Duh. NBC News: you should get out more.
Congratulations to Lorie Ann Grover on her new board books! SO very cute! I knew Lorie Ann was a YA writer… how did I totally miss the artist thing?!
I had the most fun this weekend going through all of our blog posts for the last year! We chose one of our best (after much waffling) for the Blog Carnival at Jen’s place. Please go over and check out our favorite, as well as the favorites of a whole bunch of others, and definitely wish Jen a happy blogversary! We had so much fun interviewing Sherri L. Smith that we’re doing it again in February — more talk about race and writing YA literature. Definitely stay tuned for that, we had a great, engaging conversation last time.
Speaking of engaging conversations, there are some really great suggestions on revision going on — I’m taking notes, too!
Much to my shock, the word is that Ursula LeGuin is going to allow someone to film another one of her books!! After the SciFi Channel basically firebombed Earthsea and then spat on its remains, I’d be a bit wary, but …she’s apparently going to try again. And good luck to her. (Hat tip, Galleycat.)
I’d never heard of the Unesco Artists for Peace project, but UK author Lauren Child has traveled the world on their behalf in the last eighteen months, meeting kids everywhere, and basically doing school visits with them — in homeless shelters and orphanages. It’s a pretty neat project, really, to travel the world and tell stories.
Two more days ’til I get on a plane and go back to Sunny California — hah, hah! It’s now colder in my home state than it is in Glasgow!! What’s wrong with this picture!?!?
Back to work.
Ooohh! Lucky you! I hope the weather is fine and sunny all your days in CA. I also hope you get to eat all the fresh fruits and veggies you can. I imagine the pickings are slim in Glasgow right now.
It is FREEZING here, Tanita. But kind of cool to see snow on the hilltops.
Thanks for posting about the carnival!! And congratulations on winning those earplugs.
Actually, I like that library piece. Regardless of what the reporters’ personal experiences are, the piece is clearly aimed at people who *don’t* get out to the library. I am perpetually amazed by how many people come to my library for the first time in a (to me) horrifyingly long time and say, “Oh, wow, I didn’t know you had X, Y, and Z!” whether those things are programs, services, or materials. And those are the folks who actually make it here; I shudder to consider those who never do! The more the mass media spreads the word, the better.
I also appreciated that in spite of the repeated use of the word “free,” the report emphasized that libraries are not having an easy time of it right now. I hope that voters and governments around the nation will remember how much widespread value libraries provide in exchange for their expense.
These links are fantastic. I really enjoyed the library piece. And Ursula LeGuin is going to try again. Kudos to her. And it is currently single digits here.
Regarding library usage: I wonder, really, how much of that usage can be attributed to which factors. I mean, how much of it is due to unemployment, how much to feeling less inclined to spend money, etc.? I guess I’m wondering how much of it is due to not having money, and how much is not wanting to spend the money people do have.
I wonder, also, how poor Oregon is faring. Didn’t they go through a hideous series of library closures just recently?
So nice you are looking forward to CA sunshine! We have freezing rain here on the East Coast today and it is miserable.
I’ve thought back to that blog post with Sherri L. Smith so many times in the last 8 months. It’s a favorite of mine too. I am still wondering about whether I knew what I was talking about in the comments and if it is true. Very provocative conversation! Thanks for sharing it.