Annie Cardi's Blog, page 22

Tonight’s the Night: Boston Teen Author Festival Sneak Preview!

I’m so psyched to join several other awesome YA/MG authors for tonight’s special Boston Teen Author Festival sneak preview! In addition to great conversation about the literary life, you’ll have the chance to win books and other swag by showing off all your bookish trivia knowledge. Between the trivia and the cupcakes, you cannot miss this.

The details:

BTAF Sneak Preview

Cambridge Public Library Teen Room

449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138

Thursday, May 7

7pm, followed by book signing

Come say hi, snag a cupcake, and win awesome book swag. See you tonight!

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s already the last Friday in April, and apparently it’s going to be in the 70s this weekend. Perfect time to grab a book and snag a spot in the sunshine, right? Until then, here’s a look at what I’ve been reading and writing in fifteen words or under:

Reading: Monstrous by MarcyKate Connolly

About grief, love, strength, fear, courage, and oh yeah there’s a dragon. So good!

Writing: “The first thing you feel when you turn is hungry.”

My latest short story is about vampires and up now at the Hanging Garden!

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor: BTAF Trivia Night!

Things I like: young adult literature and trivia competitions. Needless to say, I am super psyched about the upcoming Boston Teen Author Festival Trivia Night at the Cambridge Public Library!

Teams of 5 will compete in a YA/kidlit trivia challenge, win prizes, eat snacks, and get to hang out with YA and MG authors like Lori Goldstein, Jen Malone, MarcyKate Connelly, and me! The details:

BTAF Trivia Night

Cambridge Public Library Teen Room

449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138

Thursday, May 7

7pm, followed by book signing

Come on out for an awesome time and celebrate Children’s Book Week by proving you and your friends know the most about Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and more. Hope to see you there!

Guerrilla Marketing, Authenticity, and Daring to Disturb the Universe: the 2015 NESCBWI Conference

Last weekend, I got up at 5:30am, bought a giant coffee, and drove to Springfield, MA for the annual NESCBWI conference. Since my first time a few years ago, when I knew absolutely no one and spent breakfast thinking, Maybe if I tweet enough I’ll look popular, I’ve gotten to know so many wonderful writers and illustrators from the New England area, including my very own critique group. This year was a great combination of seeing friends, having thoughtful conversations, getting new ideas, learning about new resources, and generally feeling inspired.

Some favorite moments from the conference:

Being back together with the full critique group, including two members who have moved to other time zones over the last year. (Guys, anytime you want to move back to New England, you’ve got a spot in group.)
Wearing t-shirts to promote crit group member AC Gaughen’s upcoming book, Lion Heart, and getting major props from other conference members. (We even got a shoutout during Jen Malone’s marketing workshop as an example of cool, alternative marketing.)
Great conversations about writing diversity, including an excellent workshop with Mitali Perkins about writing diverse lives and asking the important questions, another with Ellen Wittlinger about LGBTQ YA books, and a dynamic panel including 2015 author Cindy L. Rodriguez. Favorite panel quote by Justina Ireland: “How good are the characters on your page already if you can’t write a diverse character?”
Learning about picture book structure and how to use line breaks and page turns to build tension/build a joke.
Listening to Newbery winner Kwame Alexander talk about the power of poetry.
A powerful keynote from Jo Knowles about a quote from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” books that can shed light on darkness, and her journey to writing YA novels about tough topics.
Seeing old friends, making new ones, and reminding myself of the awesomeness of the children’s literature community.

Major thanks to the NESCBWI conference organizers, volunteers, and faculty for their hard work in making this such a successful and inspiring weekend. See you all in Springfield in 2016!

Links Galore

Lots of good links to start your week:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tumblr is awesome for writers.
I’m all for ‘they’ as a singular pronoun.
Survey says authors like their publishers, wish they got more marketing.
So you want to be a writer...
As if I didn’t already love London.
Security, fear, and a passage cut from A Wrinkle in Time.
These bookmarks are way cuter than the library receipts I usually end up using.
This year’s 2015 Teens’ Top Ten Nominees from ALA include ’14 debut author favorites Lies We Tell Ourselves and Midnight Thief.
Looking back on the illustrations of Margaret Bloy Graham.
A call for diverse children’s books on the international scale.
YA characters who love poetry.
“Libraries are the public institutions that exist to nurture cultural literacy, lifelong learning, and bringing its community together.” The Ferguson Library Director on the necessity of libraries in their communities.
Allusions to Milton and other ways to win a Pulitzer.
The Queer Young Adult Literature Conference sounds awesome.
And some under-the-radar LGBTQ YA reads.
Yes, adults can enjoy YA novels.
A conversation about writing and motherhood.
The Library of Congress is sharing a giant poetry reading archive.
Bringing books to incarcerated mothers and their babies.
I’m subscribing to all of these bookish podcasts.

 

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everybody! This weekend I’ll be at the NESCBWI conference, one of my favorite writing events of the year–inspiring keynotes, fun workshops, and lots of writerly bonding. Let’s get the weekend off to a literary start with a look at what I’ve been reading and writing in fifteen words or under.

Reading: Behind the Scenes by Dahlia Adler

The romance is swoony, but all the relationships (family and friends included) felt so real.

Writing: “The first thing you feel when you turn is hungry.”

A new story is in the works for the Hanging Garden on Monday! One hint: vampires.

 

Check It Out

Libraries are the best–free books, movies, games and music; cool events like readings and musical performances; helpful resources; free internet; meeting spaces; and more for patrons.

And of course, librarians are the coolest, like when they put together a fun Taylor Swift-inspired video all about how great libraries are. From the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library for National Library Week:

I already practically skip when I leave the library with an armful of books. Now I’m going to have to hold back from singing, “Check it out!”

A Poem for Runners

Today in the Boston area it’s Marathon Monday, my favorite day of the year. I’ve talked a little before about how I love cheering for all the runners and what the marathon means to me, so today I’ll just share a poem by Irving Feldman called “The Runners.” I especially like these last lines:

“…your hidden heart rejoicing that the quick heel

won’t soon, won’t ever, be overtaken,

although you, as you have longed to, suddenly

disburden yourself and follow follow.”

Click through to read the whole poem, and have a safe and happy Marathon Monday!

Friday Fifteen

Happy Friday, everyone! I’m especially psyched that it’s Friday because Monday is Patriot’s Day, aka Marathon Monday, and the Boston Marathon is my very favorite sports-related event. (Okay, pretty much the only sports event I care about.) Let’s get the weekend started with a little look at what I’ve been reading and writing in fifteen words or fewer.

Reading: Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang

Beautifully constructed look at a dark moment in Chinese history. Honest but hopeful.

Writing: “Do you think you could fight a coyote?” “What do I look like, a roadrunner?”

Things happen on a road trip.

Quote of the Day

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.”–William Faulkner

A little inspiration for anyone writing today, especially those of you participating in NaNoWriMo. Forget what anyone else is doing or has done–focus on what you’re doing right now.

(Photograph by Carl Van Vechten, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Van Vechten Collection, reproduction number LOT 12735, no. 368.)