I’m going to KidLitCon 2009!
Ever since I participated in Mother Reader’s 48-Hour Reading Challenge, I’ve been meaning to do more blogging on this blog, and not only post reviews. However, I’ve got this consistent stack of 20-21 books that I’ve read that are just waiting to be reviewed. I’m shooting for a review a day, and my theory is that if I hit that goal eventually I will catch up. But then I get slowed down by one thing or another. Getting sick with a cold or headache is worst, since I tend to step up my reading at the same time that I am writing less reviews.
Anyway, today I got an e-mail from Mother Reader, who is organizing the Kidlitosphere Conference (for Kidlit bloggers), and she says I can post the KidLitCon badge you can see at the top of this post. So of course if I post the badge, it’s best to explain it, right?
Okay, I guess I’m prattling on. I tend to do most of my blogging about life on my other blog, www.sonderbooks.com/sonderjourneys including things about my spiritual journey. But when it comes to blogging about life as a reader and a librarian and a writer and a blogger, this seems like a good place.
I’m excited about going to KidLitCon 09. It’s October 17, and it’s in Washington DC, so I can do it cheaply and won’t even need a hotel or plane fare. I’m only just becoming aware of the community of Kidlit bloggers. I feel like a little kid on the playground and I want to play, too!
I began Sonderbooks back in 2000, before I had even heard of blogs. I started it as an e-mail newsletter about all the good books I’d read lately, and eventually decided to turn it into a website. For a long time, I kept it as “issues,” where I posted reviews of about ten books at a time, and e-mailed my subscriber list with all the reviews. It took me some time to figure out this really fit the blog format, so after I got my library degree and moved back to America, I switched it to a blog, though I still like the way the website organizes the reviews, so I’m keeping that as well.
Anyway, I never really read other book blogs, because I have plenty of books to keep up with just with what passes by at the library. However, I’m finding it’s fun to read what other people think, too… So now I’ll get to meet some of those people, and I think it’s going to be fun! Do you think they’ll let me into the club?
What’s more, this week is the National Book Festival in Washington DC. I went last year and it was something of a fiasco for me. We got rained on. I spent lots of money and waited in long lines buying people’s books, but then my son wasn’t happy to wait in more long lines to get them signed. And they were out of the books I most wanted.
This year, I’m going to try for one author signing: Shannon Hale. I will bring my own copy of Forest Born, though I’ll also try to snag a couple copies for gifts. Other than that, I will focus on hearing the authors speak, particularly Jon Scieszka (who was a riot last year) and Mo Willems and Kate DiCamillo and Sharon Creech and Judy Blume and David Shannon and… Get the idea? Okay, I probably won’t be able to resist buying a few more books while I’m there and trying for a few more signings. But we’ll see. I am going to try to make hearing authors speak my priority.
I also plan to arrive early and drive myself and hope that gets me a parking spot. And keeps me from starting the day carsick from the Metro.
And I’m excited about it all! Books and Blogging and Writing and Good Stuff! Since my husband left me, in so many ways I’m forced to redefine myself and figure out who I am and what I’m all about. I became a librarian and I’m a writer and a book lover and a book reviewer and blogger. And all those things tie together, and they are represented by these conferences. Woo-hoo! I’m excited!
Mind you, the Math part of me is alive and well. I’m sure of that because I find myself just delighted when my son asks me questions about his Trig homework. I find myself wishing it were ethical to do it for him, just because it would be so much fun. Needless to say, he finds that highly annoying.
Maybe I’ll find someone who’s written a book about Math.