Bret Michaels...

Chose Jes!


Okay, now you all know I've been watching Rock of LOVE...


And yeah, maybe that's pathetic, but really... I think it's true love. I think it'll last.


Don't you?

Life...

...is interesting.


We may get our shot at dumb reality TV.


My hair is gone.


Mose is throwing up french fries, which is only what I deserve for feeding him crap.


Oh, and have you checked out THOTMARKET? Pretty fun!

It's TIME!!!

Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!! My first (full-length) book of poems is available today!


It has sharks and teacups and blackbirds and bake sales in it. But then, most things do...


Read a little more about the book here!


If you're a die-hard Amazon person, it'll be a few weeks before you can order it. It takes longer to get it into the Amazon system.


But in either case, maybe you'll think about buying one?


Pretty please?


(In case you can't tell,I'm very very excited)

Falling behind...

I'm behind on my blogging, and I apologize.


It's just this LIFE thing, you know?


But things are good here and I should report that the kids are awesome, bouncing off the walls and all smiles and giddy with summer. We made chili last night (Mose helped) and went to the zoo this week and had Rosh Hashanah with wonderful friends and Mose keeps bringing home "art projects" so that my fridge is crowded with fingerpaint. And Lewis is a gem, into that big sturdy phase of babyhood where you can snuggle them good and tight. Sleeping with him has become a pleasure.


Yes indeed. I am a real live mom.


Oh, and did I mention that I got the proofs for my book of poems???


And did I also mention that I have finished a first draft of my next kiddie-novel?


Yes indeed. Been busy.

BLOG! goes KtB...

The Buddha is dead. Long live the Buddha!


Killing the Buddha, the amazing religion webzine with which I am sometimes loosely affiliated (I'd be more affiliated if I weren't so lazy and lame) has gone bloggerific.


If you don't know the site by now, you should.

L'engle...

If it seemed odd that I didn't comment on the death of the incredible Madeleine L'engle...


that's because I did comment. I just did it over here, at Salon!


L'Engle once said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." And this line of hers, which has been taped above my desk ever since I decided to try to write for kids, still rings true. It shows such deep respect for children, and for the complicated means through which they approach the world. The difficult language children speak.

Emoticontent...

Okay, so I have to confess I ahve begun to use emoticons in the last year. Usually this one:
;)


Why? Well, that little wink can help a girl out of a lot of tricky situations. I have found that in any situation where you're being jokey/silly/light, you run the risk of being taken seriously via email. Sarcasm does NOT easily translate. So you can add one of these:
;)


And rest assured that nobody will miss your intention.


But today I found myself thinking about how abused this emoticon is. How ubiquitous. I found myself thinking about how automatic it has become for me to add it to an email. It wouldn't be impossible for me to tack it onto something without realizing...


And then I found myself thinking about how there are sentences this emoticon (we'll call him Winky) should not follow.


For instance:


Hey Mom. I just found out I have throat cancer.
;)


I don't love you anymore.
;)


It looks like there's a one in three chance your baby has spina bifida.
;)


You're fired.
;)


I went ahead with the abortion.
;)


And so on.


I know this sounds insane, but we live in a world where people break up over text message. Crazy, yo.
:)

No excuses...

(This guy rocks my world, evidently)


Okay, you now have absolutely no reason to avoid voting. Even the least informed, laziest bum should know what they think...


My new favorite site!


I am apparantly voting for Senator Mike Gravel in the primary... which is INSANE since he's a white man, yo. Doesn't he know it's time for the ladies to throw down with the African Americans? Yeesh! Does he even *have* a Myspace page?


Priorities, people...


Alaska? Where's *Alaska?*

This I like...

Bookslut's Heather Smith takes on Narnia-art, and hits the nail on the head.


Though honestly, I'd loooooove to see Hilary Knight take on "spooky bunny noir Watership Down".


Gotta love the Bookslut.

And a child shall lead them...

... with a wand.


Lumos!


Jesus Christ and the Deathly Hallows...


Potter as the messiah?


JK Rowling as CS Lewis?

Who knew...

Ecards could be so damn cool.


My new favorite site!


"When you care enough to hit send"

This week in Decatur...

In case you don't know, there's a massively huge monster of a book festival devouring Decatur GA this week. Last year was the first year for the festival, and 50,000 people turned out. Not sure how many there are this year, but I'm guessing more.


So far I've had a lot of fun, though with two babies in tow, I have to admit I haven't gotten to actually attend much. Took Mose to see Chris Raschka yesterday, and then ate a lot of fair food (I love fair food) while Mose ran around and yelled off his sugary goodness (funnel cake and lemonade anyone?). Then I split off from Mose and hubby and took Lewis by the literary conference to say hello to Amanda Stern. Then last night I did my panel at Wordsmith's, where I met all manner of nice folks, including Tim from Baby Got Books! The panel was a lot of fun, and Worsmith's is GREAT! After the panel I skipped the block to Twain's to see my friend Jamie and his band, the alt-rock bottom remainders (and drink beer) make the rock. Closed out the night by crashing the VIP event at the courthouse and chatting up some out of town authors.


Felt pretty rough when Mose woke up at FIVE THIRTY!!! But it was worth it. I don't get out and party often these days, and one late night lasts me a long time, fills me with just enough conversation and self loathing to keep me going another month or two...


I'm reading briefly today at the local-author stage at the festival. Five PM at Java Monkey. Swing by and say hi! Before that I'm going to look at a few houses in the neighborhood where Mose goes to preschool, and where a few of my friends live... I dream of walking to things-- to coffee and school and the park and food. In Atlanta that's not so easy to come by. We'll see what we see...