photo by Jerry Bauer
Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 12:42PM ...and as an American, my favorite part of the opening ceremony, after of course Her Majesty and James Bond's encounter and the salute to the rich tradition of British children's literature, was the shoutout to the U.K.'s National Health Service. Medicare for all!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 01:17PM Questions and jokes that were considered appropriate when astronaut Sally Ride was preparing for her first shuttle flight:
Speaking to reporters before the first shuttle flight, Dr. Ride — chosen in part because she was known for keeping her cool under stress — politely endured a barrage of questions focused on her sex: Would spaceflight affect her reproductive organs? Did she plan to have children? Would she wear a bra or makeup in space? Did she cry on the job? How would she deal with menstruation in space?
The CBS News reporter Diane Sawyer asked her to demonstrate a newly installed privacy curtain around the shuttle’s toilet. On “The Tonight Show,” Johnny Carson joked that the shuttle flight would be delayed because Dr. Ride had to find a purse to match her shoes.
The rest of the New York Times obituary of this brave and accomplished woman here.
Monday, July 23, 2012 at 04:28PM A review of Earthseed was posted this spring at The Hub, the Web site of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), a branch of the American Library Association, and you can read it here. I'll be at YALSA's Young Adult Literature Symposium in St. Louis on November 2-4, 2012.
Saturday, July 14, 2012 at 10:22AM Some advice, for what it's worth, quoted from a recent speech of mine: "...just about everything I once knew about how to conduct a career as a professional writer has fallen by the wayside (I’m thinking of such pieces of advice as “always make sure you keep a carbon copy” and “don’t write without getting paid” – an online presence pretty much requires a lot of writing for free). About the only advice I give any aspiring writers now that has stood the test of time is “read as much and as widely as possible” and “make writing something every day a habit.”