100 Words a Day

My roommate Rose has been contributing to the blog 100 Words a Day. Check it out here. It's a cool idea and an interesting exercise; I think 100 words can sometimes last forever, and sometimes seem way too short. At any rate, I decided to make this post exactly 100 words to see how it feels. A bit weird, to be honest. Each word feels at risk of being wasted, but also feels worth something more.

I've been thinking about trying something new every day. This is one of my new things for today. My very first 100 word post.

How to get into publishing/editorial?

Check out my colleague T.S.'s new blogger blog, Must Love Books. He has a great post about getting into publishing, so check it out. Welcome to blogger, T.S.!

Editor Cheryl Klein also had a great post a while back about how to be an editor here.

Why do I blog?

In the comment section of my last post KT asked these questions:

I am curious. Why do you choose to blog? I am not a blogger, but I am a blog reader. I love your blog. I work alone and enjoy listening in - well, and procrastinating. Hoping this question doesn't stop your blog writing - but wondering, nevertheless - why aren't you writing that book?

This was actually supposed to be addressed in a discussion over at the Blue Rose Girls blog, but we never got our act together. So, well, here's how I started blogging, and why I blog still.

I had been aware of blogs for a while, although hadn't really been a reader of them. But I recommended blogging to my older brother a few years ago when he was casting around for how to get his thoughts/opinions out there. Although I’ve always kept a personal journal, I had never really thought about blogging myself. But about two years ago I was browsing friends’ blogs on myspace, and found a list meme and decided to fill it out, and that was my first blog post on both myspace and friendster. Then I thought, hmm. I don’t even ever really tell my friends about the books I work on, but I that’s the least I can do to help spread the word about these books. So I wrote a post about Flight of the Dodo by Peter Brown and have since written about other books I’ve worked on as well (see the sidebar for links).

Also, two years ago was a transitional period for me—I was starting a new chapter of my life, and wanted an outlet for my experiences, found it somewhat therapeutic to write, and having a blog gave me more incentive to write regularly. I also traveled a bunch that year and participated in a few “events” (skydiving, bike races, etc.) and I found it easier to post about each event, and then when friends asked me “how was your trip” or “how was skydiving?” I was able to just direct them to my blog. And also, since I’m not a writer or artist myself, it was nice to delve into the process of writing an “essay” of sorts, and writing something other than business correspondences or editorial letters.

The actual process of blogging felt very natural to me, as I've been in the habit of writing in a journal consistently since I was young, but realizing that people were actually reading what I was writing was harder to get used to. I eased into it by starting to blog in friendster where only my friends read it (and therefore those posts are a little more personal). But this year I made the jump to blogger, partially because some of my friends who weren't on friendster weren't able to comment or access it as easily, and partially because I was getting more used the the idea of having a public blog, and wanted others to read the posts about the books I've worked on, in the off chance that it might appeal to them and buy the books!

As most of you know, I've been struggling about how personal to be in this blog. Some of my friends have complained that I don't really talk about the "juicy" part of my life, which I interpret as the specifics of my personal life, dating, etc. Whereas other friends have praised me for being able to be so personal in this blog. I guess the basic feeling is that I don't feel comfortable giving too many details, because I don't know how the people involved would feel, and also a lot of people I don't personally know are reading the blog, and also a lot of children's book people. But it's my instinct to be very open and honest, and it feels unnatural censoring myself.

After realizing that people, including strangers, were actually reading my blog, another attraction to keeping writing was the whole "kindness of strangers" thing that made the marathon such a pleasure. I love communities, and strangers supporting strangers, and the idea that all of these people who I've never met were reading what I was writing and being supportive and kind, really appealed to me. I love being part of the online community.

In case anyone was curious, I do want to say that I've never had any intention to use my blog to solicit new talent for work, and I don't think I'll ever accept query letters via the blog. But I do want to be more "transparent" (the buzz word in my company right now)--to show people that "editors are people, too," to answer questions, to help people understand more what the industry is about (although these posts for the most part have been moved over the the Blue Rose Girls blog now).

And why am I not writing that book that I say I want to write? I know it's something I'd like to do someday, but to be honest, I don't think I have the true talent, drive, or the time right now. I know I could do it with hard work, but it would be a big commitment. I also think that the writing might detract from my editing right now, which is what I love and feel that I am equipped with the skills for. So for me, writing a book would be something I did after I retired, perhaps. Or if my company every decided to grant their employees a sabbatical or something. Or if I were in a different stage of my life.

Anyway, I thank you all for reading my blog and being so supportive. I don't have any intention to stop blogging any time soon. So keep reading!

Cool blog

I found this blog on Gothamist. Very creative. I think Linda would get a kick out of it. Heck, I think she's a RISD grad, so maybe they already know each other. I love the video of the subway swing, because it's so carefree, and also classic New York--most of the bystanders don't even flinch/react to such a strange occurence, and others immediately jump in and want to try. That's one of the things I love about New York.

I found the setting her hair free a little gross, though, although the spirit of it is nice, I guess. But ugg, imagine finding a braid of human hair attached to a deflated balloon on the ground?! Or what if you were swimming and your arm caught on it. Yuck! It reminds me of the story my friend once told me about a college boyfriend who gave her his chopped-off ponytail in a paper lunch bag for Christmas one year. What was sad is that he really thought it was a romantic gift, because he knew she never liked his ponytail. Again, nice sentiment, but *shudder*.

To meat or not to meat...

My friend Eveline moved to Beijing a few months ago, and started a blog a while ago to write of her adventures. It's quite entertaining--have you ever heard of the Mongolian spot? Want to see the cutest commercial ever?

But her most recent post beats them all. But as a warning: do not look at the pictures if you are squeamish or a dog lover. You'll be able to tell why once you see the title of the post.

Click here at your own risk.

Of course we've all heard about or joked about this before--Asians who eat dog. (Reminds me of Grace's post about wanting a cookbook to go with her book Year of the Dog.) When I was traveling in Canton, China 9 or so years ago, I saw a barbecued dog hanging in a store window. It looked just like one of those BBQed ducks, but its anatomy looked different...and upon closer examination we also noticed that the Chinese symbol for "dog" was printed on the window. But what's the difference, really, between eating different kinds of animals? One is not more or less wrong (morally) than the other, just because one animal we may consider a pet and the other a source of food, right? Although maybe there is a difference between eating fish versus birds versus reptiles versus mammals. Anyway, I've never been squeamish about meat. I eat meat on the bone, I eat whole fish, I've tried kangaroo, crocodile, rabbit, and deer. I think people who don't like to eat meat that looks like the animal it comes from are a bit hypocritical. But part of me wonders if vegetarianism will be the norm in the future. Part of me feels guilty for eating meat, mainly because I know I don't need to eat it. As I've mentioned before, I love tofu and vegetables and fruit and beans...I can go days without eating meat and not even notice. In fact, if I think back on the last two days, today I went without eating meat, and yesterday the only meat I had was shrimp. So yes--I could survive very happily as a vegetarian. But the thing is, every now and then I love a good burger, or fried chicken, or bacon. Mmm. Bacon. But maybe someday I'll make the plunge. I could live on cupcakes.

Oh, and Rita has a similar experience with Guinea Pigs in Peru.

After a long email campaign...

Jarrett has finally been named a Hot Man of Children's Literature by the esteemed Fuse #8.

I know this is vague...

I don't know where this came from, but I just found this on the Earl Pickens blog. So fricken cool. Check it out!

Chowder and Friends

My new favorite dog has a great website and a new blog. Check them out! The book is not officially pubbing until September, but I saw books in a bookstore already in MA when I was up there a few weeks ago. I also found Hippo! No, Rhino, so I was happy.

I want one of those

Just a quick post before doing yet more work--I'm back in NY! I had a fantastic time in LA and at the conference, but I'm totally exhausted, too, and work is bearing down on me, hence why I'm procrastinating. This week (what's left of it) is already totally packed, I'm hosting a baby shower at my apartment on Saturday (yay for Tanya!), and I'm feeling anxious about getting at least a 10 mile run in before the half marathon on the 27th. But I'll try not to think about that right now, and instead will share a quick funny story from the conference (and there are many--including one of Mo and Jarrett sitting on the toilet together on the bus).

Jarrett was showing me this great website made by some of his fans, and as he was scrolling down there was this picture of an adorable kid wearing an adorable My Buddy, Slug T-shirt.

me: "I want one of those!"
Jarrett: "Yeah, me, too--I can't wait to have kids."
me: "Uh, I was talking about the T-shirt."

Hahahahahaha.

Okay, more later if I can come up for air. I'm drowning!

No Blueberries for Al

So, we didn't go blueberry picking, but I didn't mind--and I had all the fruit I could eat: fresh strawberries, peaches, apples with cinnamon, bananas. The weekend in Boston was chock full of good food (mostly home-cooked, including a 6 hour brunch of fruit and riccota crepes, frittata, fruit, and more fruit), nice walks from Davis Square to Harvard Square, jogging around Jamaica Pond, and children's book talks with my fellow Blue Rose Girls. It was fun to be there with Sachin, too, and I only wish we had more time there.

One business thing that came out of the trip is a new blog that will focus on children's book publishing. We'll try to post something every day, so please visit us here! I'll still be posting my random musings here, too.

And now I'm off to the SCBWI Annual Summer meeting in LA. Two nights at my parents' house in Diamond Bar first, and then off to be surrounded by children's book professionals. Say hi to me if you see me, and come to my workshops!

Food adventures

I can tell that I've been devouring too much television/blogs/media when I start feeling like my real-life experiences are mimicking them. This weekend roadtrip to Western Mass for Julie and Jim's wedding felt very much like a Food Network show like Rachel Ray's $40 a Day, or even The Hungry Cabbie blog.

On our trip up, we decided to stop for lunch around 1 pm, and decided to exit the next time "food" was designated by the freeway sign. I thought it would be nice to try something local, non-chain fast food, and after passing this place:


we did a U-turn and went back to it. It was called Carville's Ranch House, and it looked great. Sachin and Dennis both got cheeseburgers, and I got a veggie grinder (we were in grinder country!) and fried clams. I can't say any of the food was the best I've ever had, but it was solid, and the place had a good vibe. As I was taking the picture, and older patron told me mid-chew that the place had been around for 60 years, and he used to come there as a kid over 40 years ago. He now lived in Florida, but decided to stop by while passing through. "But don't come here at night" he said, "this is a horrible neighborhood." Heh. Seemed okay to me.

Once in Deerfield, MA we passed a sign for "Bub's BBQ" off the 5/10, and so on Saturday we had some free time for lunch before the wedding and decided to check it out. It was 5 miles away in Sunderland, MA.














Yum! We decided to share a combo of spare ribs and pulled pork, which came with all-you-can eat cold and hot bars, so we were stuffed. The ribs and pork were delicious--great seasoning--but I think we were both taken by the sides of hickory smoked potatoes, orange glazed sweet mashed potatoes, dirty rice, collard greens, etc. etc. Sachin got a local beer: Berkeshire Brewing Company's Steel Rail, that was very flavorful and good. And only $3. The total bill came out to be about $25--maybe a bit pricey for lunch, but a ton of food and totally worth it.

After the wedding we dropped Dennis off in Flushing, and then since we had the car we took the opportunity to go to Sachin's favorite Falafel place, Naomi's Kosher Pizza, which is nowhere near a subway stop. Yeah, sounds weird (Kosher...pizza...Falafel?), but it was awesome. Sachin was disappointed I wasn't raving about the Falafel more at the time, but I was a bit nauseated from the car, and really, although I like Falafel, I generally don't find that one place is so different from another. But truly, they were great, and certainly worth trying--and actually different from other Falafel I've had. Not as crispy or hard as usual, a bit softer and with a nice smooth texture. The tahini and hot sauces there were excellent. The place was a total trip--pizza and Middle Eastern food on the menu, a very diverse clientele, and buzzing at 4 pm on a Sunday. Anyway, afterwards we went to Chinatown Flushing and walked around a bit, and then found a random teashop called Tong's or Tang's on Main Street where we got drinks (Watermelon Milk Shake for Sachin, Plum Red Tea for me) and a bowl of wonton noodle soup. Perfect.

I also bought a bundle of my favorite vegetable kong xin cai (water spinach--or literally translated as empty heart vegetable, as the stems are hollow) to cook when I got home, stir-fried it up with garlic and olive oil and ate it for both dinner that night and lunch the next day. The perfect finish to the perfect food weekend. And I didn't even mention the wedding food which was also excellent. Tuna shish-kebabs, noodles with peanut sauce, mahi mahi, and the desserts! Oh, the desserts. This was one of the cakes from that awesome dessert party:

When I was a kid, I remember reading about how in the future people will be nourished via pills, and I was horrified. I get so much enjoyment from eating. I look forward to each meal, each food adventure, and since I don't have picky taste buds, I tend to like almost everything I try.

I'm hungry now. What's for breakfast?

I'm famous!

Every now and then I think about writing about my career, but never get around to it. But I just did this lengthy interview that's up now on www.thecareercookbook.com, so read all about me if you want. Thanks to Jarrett for referring them to me.

Just got back from Julie and Jim's wedding in Deerfield, MA. It was an incredible time, so unique and perfect and fun, and full of this amazing couple's personality. It was great to see old friends, make some new ones, and just enjoy a weekend away from the city. I'm so honored that they included me in their special day. They had a zydeco band perform at the reception--months ago, when I heard that this was the plan and also heard about Jim's "No 80s music" rule, I was a little apprehensive. But I have to say, I didn't even miss the 80s music. High praise indeed, coming from me.

A few pics (had to throw in the one of the beautiful cakes from the dessert party on Friday night):

Testing...

I'm thinking about switching over to Blogger from friendster. To be continued...

Here's my friendster blog, where it all started...

my friendster blog