things I should have said last week
Mar. 10th, 2009 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ewein2412I am still having anxiety dreams about Sara's geography project, even though she turned it in two weeks ago. Incidentally, Sara's geography project is to blame for the lack of activity at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
simien_mtn_fox. All through February we were making Playmobil dioramas of Maltese history (they have got a Playmobil factory in Malta, which we visited. Like you do when you're in Malta. It was Mark, incidentally, who first told us about the Playmobil factory in Malta).
The Siege of Malta:
And my very favorite, Calypso finding Odysseus washed up on the shores of Gozo:
In other news, Sara has decided where she's going to high school. The most famous grad of the school she'll end up at is a big-name actor, which prompted the comment, "I'm going to the same school as Obi Wan Kenobi!" Hee hee hee. My daughter is going to Jedi school! "You have learned much, young one, but you are NOT A JEDI YET."
Motherhood! Nobody warns you. You do find yourself wondering, sometimes, "Why am I standing at the counter gluing split peas together?"
No, really, here I am GLUING SPLIT PEAS TOGETHER.
(They were props. Her class all dressed up as fairy tale characters for World Book Day/Literacy Week and she went as the Princess and the Pea.)
In honor of Literacy Week, I also went and did authorly presentations for Mark's class (primary 4) and for the two primary 6 classes. The kids were lovely. One of the P6 classes sent me a sheaf of thank-you letters:
"My favourite part was when you showed us the pictures of Ethiopia, they were all great and the hills were really nice and the people in them looked happy and cheerful. It made me think that Ethiopia isn't a bad place after all."
SCORE.
A lot of them decorated their letters with drawings of books and/or lions (and, quite curiously, quite a few stars evocative of The Mark of Solomon, though only one or two of them had read any of the books). I got one FAB drawing of the rock-cut church of St. George at Lalibela.
I held up the four most recent books and asked them which they'd be most likely to read based on the cover. Overwhelmingly, they picked The Empty Kingdom. When I asked them why, it turned out it had nothing to do with the picture; they liked the title. Hmmmm.
"I wish I had stayed the whole forty five minutes rather than going to the dentist."
-------------------------------------------
Sara: "Did you go out in the snow?"
E Wein: "No, Sara, it lasted about five minutes."
Sara: "It lasted twenty minutes at least!"
--------------------------------------------
In other news: OMG KITTYSPAM APPEARS ON MY BLOG. We have a kitten. He is ten weeks old and is called Hershi. He cried… I am not kidding, this cat CRIED for THREE SOLID DAYS after we brought him home. I would not necessarily post kittyspam here under normal circumstances, but that was before I lived in a house with a cat that yapped incessantly for THREE DAYS.
"We don't want a lullaby,
We prefer a DIN!
NOISY CATS ARE WHAT WE LIKE!
ALL JOIN IN!
MEOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!"
--Quentin Blake, All Join In, one of our very favourites from Sara's babyhood
Anyway, he (Hershi) seems to have adjusted and stopped now. He is still very chatty but at least he has stopped his infernal YAPPING. Apart from that he is extraordinarily cute and sweet and does goofy tricks like crawling up inside your sweater.
--------------------------------------------
Firebirds Soaring is out, edited by Sharyn November.
(available here)
This is my happiest news, as the short story that ate my soul ("Something Worth Doing") in 2003 is included in here. I particularly love the cover because it looks like an illustration for MY story, hee hee hee (yes, it includes a flaming aircraft falling through heavy cloud. No, Telemakos is not the pilot).
I am also very proud of myself because I have an article in the March/April 2009 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. I kind of feel like this is the kidlit equivalent of having a story in The New Yorker. Probably I'm fooling myself. They've included a link to their previous coverage of my books in their online notes for this issue (scroll down to "More Web Extras" if you're interested).
The Coyote Road (in which I've got another story) is now out in paperback at $10.99 "and available all over the place," according to Ellen Datlow, co-editor with Terri Windling; and finally, Demigods and Monsters was independently reissued by Benbella Books, so it's now universally available (not just in Borders). I have an essay in here on disability in the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. Seriously, all this stuff came to light last week.
TeenLibris, who publish Demigods and Monsters, are anxious to promote the series and their connected website, and are giving away copies of the new edition here; there are links to buy here and at amazon. Their books are aimed at kids rather than grown-ups, and with that in mind they've put up an educators site with lesson plans, SAT practice essays, discussion questions (also perfect for book clubs!), and other info here.
I think that's enough about me.
simien_mtn_fox. All through February we were making Playmobil dioramas of Maltese history (they have got a Playmobil factory in Malta, which we visited. Like you do when you're in Malta. It was Mark, incidentally, who first told us about the Playmobil factory in Malta).The Siege of Malta:
And my very favorite, Calypso finding Odysseus washed up on the shores of Gozo:
In other news, Sara has decided where she's going to high school. The most famous grad of the school she'll end up at is a big-name actor, which prompted the comment, "I'm going to the same school as Obi Wan Kenobi!" Hee hee hee. My daughter is going to Jedi school! "You have learned much, young one, but you are NOT A JEDI YET."
Motherhood! Nobody warns you. You do find yourself wondering, sometimes, "Why am I standing at the counter gluing split peas together?"
No, really, here I am GLUING SPLIT PEAS TOGETHER.
(They were props. Her class all dressed up as fairy tale characters for World Book Day/Literacy Week and she went as the Princess and the Pea.)
In honor of Literacy Week, I also went and did authorly presentations for Mark's class (primary 4) and for the two primary 6 classes. The kids were lovely. One of the P6 classes sent me a sheaf of thank-you letters:
"My favourite part was when you showed us the pictures of Ethiopia, they were all great and the hills were really nice and the people in them looked happy and cheerful. It made me think that Ethiopia isn't a bad place after all."
SCORE.
A lot of them decorated their letters with drawings of books and/or lions (and, quite curiously, quite a few stars evocative of The Mark of Solomon, though only one or two of them had read any of the books). I got one FAB drawing of the rock-cut church of St. George at Lalibela.
I held up the four most recent books and asked them which they'd be most likely to read based on the cover. Overwhelmingly, they picked The Empty Kingdom. When I asked them why, it turned out it had nothing to do with the picture; they liked the title. Hmmmm.
"I wish I had stayed the whole forty five minutes rather than going to the dentist."
-------------------------------------------
Sara: "Did you go out in the snow?"
E Wein: "No, Sara, it lasted about five minutes."
Sara: "It lasted twenty minutes at least!"
--------------------------------------------
In other news: OMG KITTYSPAM APPEARS ON MY BLOG. We have a kitten. He is ten weeks old and is called Hershi. He cried… I am not kidding, this cat CRIED for THREE SOLID DAYS after we brought him home. I would not necessarily post kittyspam here under normal circumstances, but that was before I lived in a house with a cat that yapped incessantly for THREE DAYS.
"We don't want a lullaby,
We prefer a DIN!
NOISY CATS ARE WHAT WE LIKE!
ALL JOIN IN!
MEOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!"
--Quentin Blake, All Join In, one of our very favourites from Sara's babyhood
Anyway, he (Hershi) seems to have adjusted and stopped now. He is still very chatty but at least he has stopped his infernal YAPPING. Apart from that he is extraordinarily cute and sweet and does goofy tricks like crawling up inside your sweater.
--------------------------------------------
Firebirds Soaring is out, edited by Sharyn November.
(available here)
This is my happiest news, as the short story that ate my soul ("Something Worth Doing") in 2003 is included in here. I particularly love the cover because it looks like an illustration for MY story, hee hee hee (yes, it includes a flaming aircraft falling through heavy cloud. No, Telemakos is not the pilot).
I am also very proud of myself because I have an article in the March/April 2009 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. I kind of feel like this is the kidlit equivalent of having a story in The New Yorker. Probably I'm fooling myself. They've included a link to their previous coverage of my books in their online notes for this issue (scroll down to "More Web Extras" if you're interested).
The Coyote Road (in which I've got another story) is now out in paperback at $10.99 "and available all over the place," according to Ellen Datlow, co-editor with Terri Windling; and finally, Demigods and Monsters was independently reissued by Benbella Books, so it's now universally available (not just in Borders). I have an essay in here on disability in the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. Seriously, all this stuff came to light last week.
TeenLibris, who publish Demigods and Monsters, are anxious to promote the series and their connected website, and are giving away copies of the new edition here; there are links to buy here and at amazon. Their books are aimed at kids rather than grown-ups, and with that in mind they've put up an educators site with lesson plans, SAT practice essays, discussion questions (also perfect for book clubs!), and other info here.
I think that's enough about me.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 01:53 pm (UTC)There's a Playmobile Factory in Malta? Why did they not tell us this when we were there with Ellen's parents last summer? Why did I waste my time on Grand Inquisitor's Palaces when I could have been watching people make Playmobile figures? I wasn't traveling with a kid, that's why. Next time, I'll have to borrow one.
Congratulations on the cute kitty (I hope you had earplugs for the crying) and all the publications. I'm especially happy about "Something Worth Doing," which is a story I love.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 02:17 pm (UTC)re Playmobil--unfortunately you don't get *inside* the factory... they have a "funpark" and cafe and playground on the premises. With LIFE SIZE Playmobil cows and horses. You can milk the cows (you fill them up with water first).
boggles the mind, doesn't it?
I overheard a Maltese mom singing the following to her toddler in the cafe, to the tune of "nanny nanny boo boo":
"Mommies are for kissing
Mommies are for hugging
kiss kiss
hug hug
we love Mommy"
I just love that.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 03:31 pm (UTC)Including the new kitting.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 04:35 pm (UTC)No, Telemakos is not the pilot
I enjoy that you have to specify this. :D
I think that's enough about me.
Pffft, no such thing.
And oooh, Coyote Road. *plots trip to bookstore*
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 05:19 pm (UTC)I know, I fail ultimately. I'm in college! Taking seven classes and working to pay for it all! I deserve some leniency!
*has shelved the Coyote Road book*
have I mentioned that my job is awesome? I love working in a bookstore. Except for dusting, secret shoppers, and customers who want to buy books that don't, to my knowledge, exist, yet they swear they 1) exist and 2) have to be on hand at our bookstore.
Sometimes, I wish I weren't allergic to cats.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 06:30 pm (UTC)But this is getting scarey.
The great cat of my life, and of my family's, was a grey tiger we named Hershey.
My brother Philip brought him home, a stray with clearly many battles behind him. What did we know? We thought all cats were female, referred to the newcomer as "she" a lot: "Do you think she wants more milk in her bowl?...." By the time we realized our mistake, we'd gotten so used to "her" and "she" that we made a virtue of necessity.
That was one magical cat. He was a big thug with a chewed-up ear who looked like he should have a cigar in his mouth. He would lie on anyone's chest or lap, and heard a lot of secrets. His purr was loud. I do have one good photo of him, which I should scan.
His Yiddish name, which my father sometimes used, was Herschl, diminutive, Hershele.
Ever since, I've been exceptionally partial to grey tigers. Yours is unbearably adorable!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 06:39 pm (UTC)we got the name from a Mad Lib. It came out "my cat Hershey" and we all exclaimed, "What a great name for a cat!" and vowed to name the next cat Hershey. Mark was the one who said we should spell it with an i (because Hershey was too girlie).
Now here's the REALLY WEIRD THING: we already do call him Herschl. Sara would probably spell it "Hershal." It is the personal form of "cattal," which is Sara's goony word for "cat."
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 06:40 pm (UTC)So glad you like the job. I worked in a bookstore for several years and I loved it. Except for those things.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 07:36 pm (UTC)Eep.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-10 08:52 pm (UTC)Btw, I was in editor Sharyn November's office today and she showed me the carton of the trade pb COYOTE ROAD that she will be mailing out shortly to the contributors! It looks smashing.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 02:19 pm (UTC)And aw man, I just got Coyote Road in hardback; if I'd known a paperback was out soon I'd have waited for that. Ah well.
Mmmm, shiny books.
I adore the Playmobile classics. =)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 02:24 pm (UTC)hmmm, maybe this will be my next big project.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 03:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-11 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-16 04:57 pm (UTC)