the color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey

I am desperately procrastinating this foggy day, and have been watching massive amounts of Waiting for God, cleaning the bathroom, and baking chocolate cake. Turns out Trader Joe’s box mix is tastier than whatever was on sale at [insert generic supermarket of your choice here] last time I felt the cake urge. Also, it makes a lot more cake.

...

About the Diversity in YA tour stop on May 12! I was there, with my squee and eyeliner on! I bumped into some people I knew from grad school and we had an excellent time talking our trade. The panel: Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Deva Fagan, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and Francisco X. Stork. Moderated by: the ever-fabulous be-bowtied Roger Sutton. Spotted in the audience: Leah Cypess, Kristin Cashore; assorted Academic Notables. I must drop the Cambridge Public Library a note congratulating them on their excellent running of the event.

It was fun and articulate evening, and it was nice to hear a variety of opinions. I always find Francisco X. Stork refreshing, in his quiet way, because he holds a position that is not so much unpopular as seldom-expressed among the circles of those who take children’s lit seriously: that children's lit can be literary, yes, and serious, but at the same time it can also be fun, and that being fun is a strength.

I got some books signed afterward, then doubled back and spotted Holly Black sitting with no line and a giant pile of rubber bracelets. So I scooted over to talk with her for a few minutes. She gave me a purple Dream worker bracelet, and I blathered about seeing her and Cassie Clare on their first joint tour back in 2007. (I was there getting stuff signed for snowqueenofhoth, “a long way away”.)

I issued a general invitation to stop by and sign stock, then meandered back towards the T and stopped for Berryline on a whim. I ate it slowly, lingering, when I was hailed by the non-local authors on their way back to wherever. Apparently they decided to stop by that night, since it was handy and all. I led them triumphantly in. On the way out, I showed them our now-infamous re-jacketing of Young Miles, which I thought they might enjoy, as there had been mention of cover drama as part of the Q&A. They took their leave as I stickered the signed copies. I hope they were half as tickled as I was.

...

I don’t recall, as a child, thinking about whether the characters I read about were like me or not. This is probably massive white privilege speaking--most of the characters were probably white, after all. Smart things were said by the panel about identifying with characters unlike oneself--of the opposite sex, for example--without even thinking about it, and about fantasy being a barrier-crosser.

But it occurred to me, especially after Deva Fagan mentioned how much it meant to her to see other female mathematicians, that part of the reason I was so excited to be there was that some of these people had a tremendous impact when I first encountered them--especially sarahtales and blackholly--because they were like me (young, female, full of enthusiasm and wonder) and talking about things that were important to me (children’s books, fantasy) in smart and interesting ways.

I am glad I had the chance, after the panel, to tell them so.

the color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey

I am desperately procrastinating this foggy day, and have been watching massive amounts of Waiting for God, cleaning the bathroom, and baking chocolate cake. Turns out Trader Joe’s box mix is tastier than whatever was on sale at [insert generic supermarket of your choice here] last time I felt the cake urge. Also, it makes a lot more cake.

...

About the Diversity in YA tour stop on May 12! I was there, with my squee and eyeliner on! I bumped into some people I knew from grad school and we had an excellent time talking our trade. The panel: Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Deva Fagan, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and Francisco X. Stork. Moderated by: the ever-fabulous be-bowtied Roger Sutton. Spotted in the audience: Leah Cypess, Kristin Cashore; assorted Academic Notables. I must drop the Cambridge Public Library a note congratulating them on their excellent running of the event.

It was fun and articulate evening, and it was nice to hear a variety of opinions. I always find Francisco X. Stork refreshing, in his quiet way, because he holds a position that is not so much unpopular as seldom-expressed among the circles of those who take children’s lit seriously: that children's lit can be literary, yes, and serious, but at the same time it can also be fun, and that being fun is a strength.

I got some books signed afterward, then doubled back and spotted Holly Black sitting with no line and a giant pile of rubber bracelets. So I scooted over to talk with her for a few minutes. She gave me a purple Dream worker bracelet, and I blathered about seeing her and Cassie Clare on their first joint tour back in 2007. (I was there getting stuff signed for snowqueenofhoth, “a long way away”.)

I issued a general invitation to stop by and sign stock, then meandered back towards the T and stopped for Berryline on a whim. I ate it slowly, lingering, when I was hailed by the non-local authors on their way back to wherever. Apparently they decided to stop by that night, since it was handy and all. I led them triumphantly in. On the way out, I showed them our now-infamous re-jacketing of Young Miles, which I thought they might enjoy, as there had been mention of cover drama as part of the Q&A. They took their leave as I stickered the signed copies. I hope they were half as tickled as I was.

...

I don’t recall, as a child, thinking about whether the characters I read about were like me or not. This is probably massive white privilege speaking--most of the characters were probably white, after all. Smart things were said by the panel about identifying with characters unlike oneself--of the opposite sex, for example--without even thinking about it, and about fantasy being a barrier-crosser.

But it occurred to me, especially after Deva Fagan mentioned how much it meant to her to see other female mathematicians, that part of the reason I was so excited to be there was that some of these people had a tremendous impact when I first encountered them--especially sarahtales and blackholly--because they were like me (young, female, full of enthusiasm and wonder) and talking about things that were important to me (children’s books, fantasy) in smart and interesting ways.

I am glad I had the chance, after the panel, to tell them so.