Am I the World’s Most Inconsistent Blogger?  Well, I doubt it . . . but I’m not exactly lighting up the interwebs with my frequent communications.  Anyhow, I’ve made a resolution to be better, so we’ll see how it works out.  Maybe now that I’ve publicly announced this resolution, I’ll be shamed into writing more.  Shame is a powerful tool.

Rest assured, it’s not you, it’s me.

Anyhow, I wanted to officially announce that the sequel to The Otherworldlies is coming, sometime in 2011 (I think perhaps early next summer).  Which is very exciting (at least for me and Fern McAllister).  So when I have a solid date, I’ll let you know.  “You,” of course, being anyone who has stumbled across this blog.  Thank you to everyone who asked about it.

I’m also editing another manuscript and will pass along news about that as I get it.

Oh, and because someone asked recently what I’ve been listening to as I write/edit/daydream, this month, the answer is clear:  It’s been all Fanfarlo’s Reservoir, all the time.  A newish British band with lovely harmonies I find perfect to write to.

Happy Monday!

I just thought I’d let anyone know who wants to hear me prattle on mid-day next week in a serene setting . . . I’m going to be giving a talk at the Library of Congress in Washington DC as part of the LOC’s “What If” series.   It’s at noon on Wednesday.  If you scroll down on this page to “Lectures,” all the info is listed here:

http://www.loc.gov/loc/events/index.php?mode=detail&date=1249099200#eventlist14

Until then,

Jennie

I’ve been spending the summer in DC for an internship and I think I forgot how much I love this city.  Perhaps it’s the unusually cool summer we’re having, but I’ll be sad to leave.  Anyhow, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be at the Reader’s Festival in Mission Viejo, CA on September 12th and it looks like a great event (and I’m not even saying that because I’ll be there).  I mean, how can you beat The Fonz? 

Here’s the nifty website:

http://cityofmissionviejo.org/CityInfo.aspx?id=4586

Cheers,

Jennie

Long-time no blog.  I’m afraid that I’ve been swallowed by school . . . but I have been writing some, too and keeping busy.  

And thanks, everyone, who has emailed me and kept in touch and passed along such nice things . . .  

I should also let you know that I saw the one, the only, The Boss in San Jose yesterday.  It was, in a word, amazing.  They band played “Growin’ Up,” one of my all-time favorite songs, so I couldn’t have been happier.

Anyway, I just thought I’d check in, publicly, and say hello.

 Hello.  

I’ll update you (and by “you” I mean “this blog”) on what project is coming next for me so check back if you feel like it.  OR, at the very least . . . . keep in touch and keep reading,

JAK

Hello there!

After a short break, I was back on the road again.  Well, I don’t know how much the phrase “on the road” applies because I was back in my old stomping grounds . . . Orange County.  This past week I visited Teresa Stauffer and the whole of Talbert Middle School.  For the first time ever, I had one volunteer request that I teleport her to Rock Candy Mountain.  I have no idea where this place is, but it sounds pretty fun, no?  Anyway, it was a blast visiting (I especially loved the fact that the library was smack-dab in the middle of the school) and I will, at some point, catch you up on the other cities I’ve visited, not to worry.

In the meantime . . . Keep reading and keep in touch!

Jennie

Anyway, Tampa is a beautiful city and there is water and scenic bridges over this water wherever you look.  I began the week at Ben Hill Middle School with, perhaps, the most appropriately-named librarian/media specialist ever . . . Joann Koob.  Sure, it took someone else pointing out that her last name spelled backwards is BOOK.  But it’s a pretty great last name.  We tried to take Israel to Paris, but we failed.  And by “we” I of course mean “me.”

Then it was on to Williams IB Middle School, where Diane Jordan greeted me with a smile while standing in her wonderfully decorated library.  I had someone there give me a great idea — an 8th grader suggested my next book series should be about some vampire ninjas.  I mean, why not combine the awesomeness of vampires and the awesomeness of ninjas?  

My final stop was at Martinez Middle School.  I try to avoid generalizations, but I think it’s safe to say that the middle schoolers in Lutz, FL are mall-lovers.  Two of our three teleporters requested to go the mall.  Which I respect, certainly.  Anyhow, my time at Martinez made me realize that there’s organized and then there’s Jeanette Whitman, media specialist, the otherworldly of organized.  I begged her to go on the road with me, but apparently, she loves her students and her job and her home too much to leave.  In all seriousness, though, I had such a lovely lunch with Jeanette and reading specialist Bille Jean Fogle.  

Sometime this weekend, I will blog about my time in Boston last week, where I got to visit my brother and ponder the difference between lakes and ponds.  I leave you, as always, with a sideways picture:One final thought:  If you had told me, when I was in middle school, that I would be on the big school sign in the front of a school someday, I would have told you that you were crazy.  And delusional.  It’s still always surreal when I see my name up there.  Ta-ta!

I kicked off my week there at Hill Country Middle School . . . a great school with great kids and a great media specialist, Heather Schubert and great aide Leslie Wilson.  Honestly, I am amazed at the art skills on display at many of the schools I go.   Ah, the wonder of butcher paper.  See below.

  Neat, huh?  Then I was onto West Ridge Middle School with Pat Martinez and her beautiful library.  We’re talking lamps and cozy corners and a pretty awesome u-shape.  It actually makes me want to be there right now just thinking about it.  There was a hilarious teleporter there who convinced even me that he had teleported, if only for a moment.  You never know.

I ended my week at the very literary-named O Henry Middle School.  The ebullient Sara Stevenson squired me around and also had enough enthusiasm to keep me energized even though it was Friday and I think I my sleep depravation finally caught up with me.  I’ve been bouncing back and forth, coast-to-coast so much that I think even my jet lag is jet lagged.  

I also got to visit one of my best friends who is at UT Law School, so all in all, a great week.  Tomorrow, I’ll tell you all about Tampa.  But you can move back from the edge of your seat . . . that can’t be comfortable.  g’night.

Last week, I was in San Antonio.  Which meant I got to stride along the River Walk and see the Alamo.

 Let me tell you the problem growing up fifteen minutes from Disneyland: I go to a really famous place, like the Alamo, and I immediately think it looks like Disneyland.  Every famous landmark now reminds me of Disneyland.  In truth, Disneyland is modeled to look like a bunch of ACTUAL famous places.  Like, as I was walking along the River Walk, I kept thinking that the it was actually where the Jungle Boat Ride meets New Orleans Square near Frontier Land.  But the River Walk was probably there before Disneyland.  

Anyway, my trip to San Antonio was great . . . and I did enjoy seeing the Alamo, but I imagined it to be bigger in my mind and also there was no basement that I could find, at least.  

I could not have started the week off at a better location – with Jamie Jennings and Shannon Sankey, the awesome, self-proclaimed “library chicks,” from Wood Middle School.   Then I was off to Eisenhower Middle School.  I was happy to have another presidentially-named middle school under my belt.  It has been a little while without.  Teresa Diaz had just moved to that media center and as far as I could tell, Eisenhower is very luck to have her.  

After that, it was on to Tejeda Middle School with Lydia Black taking care of all the details and keeping things in perfect order.  We had a couple teleporters there that got close, I promise.  Brandon and Andrew gave it a try, for sure.

I ended the week at Bradley Middle School.  They also had a new librarian, Terry Ramirez . . . not that you could tell.  Everything went off without a hitch and it was a perfect place to end my visit to San Antonio.  I left with the warmest of feelings.

Eisenhower and their staff of loyal voulunteers actually set up a little signing area of me.  Check it out:

I wonder what I’m laughing at.  I oftentimes crack myself up . . . so your guess is as good as mine.  

Random ending thought:  If anyone has any pictures of feral hogs they’d be willing to send me, I’d sure appreciate it.  I’ll explain later.  Like in my next blog.  Not to worry.  Until then . . . jak

Anyway, I finished up Atlanta in grand style.  I was at Dodgen Middle School, where Sue Klodnicki’s enthusiasm was only matched by her sense of humor.  In fact, I have a picture of her.  Are you ready?  

OMG.  Another sideways picture.  I know that you were beginning to miss them, weren’t you?  Right?  Anyway, That’s Media Specialist Sue Klodncki.  And that the cool mural in her library.  If she looks like she’s hilarious, it’s because she is!

I finished up the week at Autrey Middle School with Laura Hunter.  Autrey presented a special problem for me because it was Spirit Say.  Which sounded like a lot of fun (honestly, there were teachers running through the hallways with fairy wings and bug-eye masks on — we should all be so lucky to go to a school like that).  The problem came during my standard Q & A session.  My usual tools to signal to someone that I was calling on them didn’t work.  

“You in the red,” I’d say, calling on someone in a red shirt.  And then forty kids in red shirts would point to themselves because part of Spirit Day entailed wearing the same color.  Whoops.  

Anyway, I saw my first scorpion while running in a park near where I was staying.  It was kind of large and kind of scary.  I ran in the opposite direction, of course.  So my Flight or Fight instincts are totally intact.  But now I can check scorpions off my list of poisonous creatures left to see.  Which is something.  

On to THE ALAMO!