NCTE ALAN wrap up!
Back from San Antonio! And I have to say I LOVE that city! The weather is not unlike San Diego where I am from. In one day you can go from brrrrrr weather to warm and balmy. We had both while we were there. The Riverwalk is incredible. More like canals really, that meander just below street level and have gorgeous landscaping and tons of restaurants and shops alongside of it.
But if you walk far enough out, the busyness disappears. Hubby and I went for a long walk far beyond the restaurants and hotels and enjoyed the quiet and beauty of it all.
Oh! And then there are the restaurants. Being from San Diego, we have pretty high expectations for our salsa and Mexican food. When we travel we simply don't order it because it never measures up. Not in San Antonio! Wow! Salsa, tableside guacomole, and Prickly Pear Margarita's at Boudro's on the Riverwalk were so good we went there twice. Oh, but all those chips . . . good thing we did a lot of walking while we were there.
And then of course, there was the conference! (I really didn't just eat and walk the whole time!)
On Friday I spoke on a panel with the awesome and funny, Susan Beth Pfeffer, about the realities of survival. We had a nice crowd who asked a lot of great questions afterwards. My own talk had been about the relationships of all kinds that sustain us in our lives and make life worth living. Later, throughout the rest of the conference, I had teachers come up to me and share their thoughts about it all. It was nice to make that connection and share on a personal level.
After the panel I signed at the Holt booth. Just before I left for the conference I had learned that The Adoration of Jenna Fox had made both the Lone Star and the Tayshas reading lists and several Texas teachers came through my line who were excited about that. Well, partner, me too! Excited and honored.
On Sunday, the NCTE baton was passed to ALAN with the kickoff cocktail party. They gave the authors these cool red Author! Author! badges to wear. Nancy Werlin and I met up and I got to give her a big congratulatory hug on her recent wedding. Congrats again, Nancy!
Now fast forward through a lot more food, talking with teachers, librarians, meeting other authors, and catching up with the ones I know, and oh yes, walking, (I tell ya, the walking saved me after all the food I ate, but my stomach is definitely primed for Thanksgiving) and finally we arrive at Monday where the panels begin!
I love listening to these!
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the panel on Positive Portrayals of Sex in YA Lit, but the panelists, Tanya Lee Stone, Lara Zeises, Laura Ruby, and David Levithan had a lot of great things to say. There were times I just wanted to jump into the fray! My feeling is that as authors, we have stories to tell. Real and true ones that are honest. Not stories about how we would like the world to be or how we feel we should mold it, but the story that is true to that particular character. That's it. It is that simple. We are not there to teach or guide anyone. Just to share one character whose life may, or may not be like the one we know. If I start feeling like I am writing a guidebook for teens for how they should or shouldn't live their life--sheesh--talk about writer's block, but I digress. That is for another post. Back to the conference . . .
Many, many more great panels. I managed to snap a shot of this one with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Melissa Marr, and Rick Riordan, who talked about the mixed myths of urban fantasy. Meliisa Marr talked about how, according to her mother and grandmother, knowledge came at 40. Well, shoot, I missed that boat, didn't I?
And finally, at the end of the day, my panel came. God bless those teachers for hanging in there! I was on a panel with Amy Kathleen Ryan, whose debut book, Vibes, just came out this fall, and with PJ Haarsma who writes The Softwire Series. We talked about Slipstream fiction, which, before I was assigned this topic, had no clue what it was. I learned it was the "fiction of strangeness." This definition actually fits my next book even better than JENNA. But as I said in my talk, I wonder why *I* was chosen for the "strange" topic. hmm . . .
After our panel, I signed with the other authors in the back of the room while David Lubar entertained the crowd with his, "A Few Too Many Minutes with David Lubar." I couldn't catch most of his talk because I was so busy signing and the acoustics in the corner were bad, but I could sure hear the audience laughing! Maybe if we are lucky he will post it.
And last but not least, our own David Gill aka![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
thunderchikin did an outstanding job of running the whole show. Throughout the day we could see him in the back of the room making sure all the panels ran on time. Well done, David! And next year, I expect to see YOU on a panel for the fiction of strangeness! Soul Enchilada definitely fits the bill!
Cheers all! And Happy Thanksgiving!
But if you walk far enough out, the busyness disappears. Hubby and I went for a long walk far beyond the restaurants and hotels and enjoyed the quiet and beauty of it all.
Oh! And then there are the restaurants. Being from San Diego, we have pretty high expectations for our salsa and Mexican food. When we travel we simply don't order it because it never measures up. Not in San Antonio! Wow! Salsa, tableside guacomole, and Prickly Pear Margarita's at Boudro's on the Riverwalk were so good we went there twice. Oh, but all those chips . . . good thing we did a lot of walking while we were there.
And then of course, there was the conference! (I really didn't just eat and walk the whole time!)
On Friday I spoke on a panel with the awesome and funny, Susan Beth Pfeffer, about the realities of survival. We had a nice crowd who asked a lot of great questions afterwards. My own talk had been about the relationships of all kinds that sustain us in our lives and make life worth living. Later, throughout the rest of the conference, I had teachers come up to me and share their thoughts about it all. It was nice to make that connection and share on a personal level.
After the panel I signed at the Holt booth. Just before I left for the conference I had learned that The Adoration of Jenna Fox had made both the Lone Star and the Tayshas reading lists and several Texas teachers came through my line who were excited about that. Well, partner, me too! Excited and honored.
On Sunday, the NCTE baton was passed to ALAN with the kickoff cocktail party. They gave the authors these cool red Author! Author! badges to wear. Nancy Werlin and I met up and I got to give her a big congratulatory hug on her recent wedding. Congrats again, Nancy!
Now fast forward through a lot more food, talking with teachers, librarians, meeting other authors, and catching up with the ones I know, and oh yes, walking, (I tell ya, the walking saved me after all the food I ate, but my stomach is definitely primed for Thanksgiving) and finally we arrive at Monday where the panels begin!
I love listening to these!
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the panel on Positive Portrayals of Sex in YA Lit, but the panelists, Tanya Lee Stone, Lara Zeises, Laura Ruby, and David Levithan had a lot of great things to say. There were times I just wanted to jump into the fray! My feeling is that as authors, we have stories to tell. Real and true ones that are honest. Not stories about how we would like the world to be or how we feel we should mold it, but the story that is true to that particular character. That's it. It is that simple. We are not there to teach or guide anyone. Just to share one character whose life may, or may not be like the one we know. If I start feeling like I am writing a guidebook for teens for how they should or shouldn't live their life--sheesh--talk about writer's block, but I digress. That is for another post. Back to the conference . . .
Many, many more great panels. I managed to snap a shot of this one with Cynthia Leitich Smith, Melissa Marr, and Rick Riordan, who talked about the mixed myths of urban fantasy. Meliisa Marr talked about how, according to her mother and grandmother, knowledge came at 40. Well, shoot, I missed that boat, didn't I?
And finally, at the end of the day, my panel came. God bless those teachers for hanging in there! I was on a panel with Amy Kathleen Ryan, whose debut book, Vibes, just came out this fall, and with PJ Haarsma who writes The Softwire Series. We talked about Slipstream fiction, which, before I was assigned this topic, had no clue what it was. I learned it was the "fiction of strangeness." This definition actually fits my next book even better than JENNA. But as I said in my talk, I wonder why *I* was chosen for the "strange" topic. hmm . . .
After our panel, I signed with the other authors in the back of the room while David Lubar entertained the crowd with his, "A Few Too Many Minutes with David Lubar." I couldn't catch most of his talk because I was so busy signing and the acoustics in the corner were bad, but I could sure hear the audience laughing! Maybe if we are lucky he will post it.
And last but not least, our own David Gill aka
thunderchikin did an outstanding job of running the whole show. Throughout the day we could see him in the back of the room making sure all the panels ran on time. Well done, David! And next year, I expect to see YOU on a panel for the fiction of strangeness! Soul Enchilada definitely fits the bill!Cheers all! And Happy Thanksgiving!