Penny Blubaugh

I'll be on a panel at AWP called "How Far is Too Far? Facing Self-censors and Publishing Censors When Writing About Coming of Age for Young Adults" on Friday, March 2 from noon to 1:15 p.m. My co-presenters will be Ann Angel, author of the 2011 YALSA non-fiction award winner Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing; Ricki Thompson, author of City of Cannibals; and Daniel Krauss, ALA’s 2012 Odyssey winner for his novel Rotters. For a preview of what we'll be discussing, click the link on the right and go to Pirate Tree for some comments on censorship.

This is it! Your opportunity to promote reading and incredible books in your community for free!

World Book Night is based on a model that's been in place in Europe for several years and the idea is fantastic. Sign up to be a book giver (look at the link on the right) and give reading a boost. The titles you can pick from for your giveaway are all great. All you have to do it pick them up and hand them out on April 23rd.

Come on. You can do it!

Peter Salomon, in his blog Peter Adam Salomon: Keyboard and Camera, does snappy Wednesday author interviews. I'm excited to be the interviewee for the week of January 18th.

Look for Peter's first book, Henry Franks, due out from Flux in September of 2012.

Take a look at this how-could-you-not-love-it video. And at the end, where it says there's nothing like a real book, you'll know (if you didn't already) how true that is! Just click on the link on the right.

I know this is sort of old news, but it was new to me and absolutely fascinating. Someone or someones have left gorgeous, intricate paper sculptures scattered around libraries in Edinburgh. They all come with a variation on the phrase "this is for you in support of libraries, books and ideas."

Right now, with all the questions about where books are going; in the light of the ebook revolution; with all the cuts in libraries -- well, right now I find this appealing and mysterious and beautiful. Click on the link at the right to read the full story.

The Newbery and Caldecott Awards are top honors for those in the kidlit field, and the committee is winding up their voting. At 7:45 CST on Monday, January 23, 2012 the winners will be announced at the American Library's Midwinter Meeting. Check out the attached link to read a fascinating history of both awards.

I'm just back from two incredibly long and packed with authors and books and reading and all that stuff days at the ALAN Conference. It seemed like everyone involved in YA literature was there, and it was an amazing event. I have piles of books and I heard great talks and writing chats. I got to meet some of my favorite authors, and some of my agency-mates as well, who were there to speak and sign. Cynthia Levinson, Jennifer Nielsen and Trent Reedy, you know who you are! What a great event.

I'm thrilled to have Blood and Flowers be one of the nominees for the Mock Printz Award from Maricopa County, Arizona. The other nominees are all wonderful books and I'm honored to be a part of this list.

In the November/December issue of the Horn Book people from thepicturebook.com posted a Proclamation.

Here's what it says (in part and in synopsis):

The picture book isn't dead it just needs less imitation. It needs grown-up conversation, and the grown-ups creating these books need to know picture book history. Picture books are a form, not a genre. Good design fosters good reading. We need criticism to keep us original.

There are a number of other bulletpoints here -- you can see the whole thing at http://mosscovered.blogspot.com/. I think the most exciting aspect of all of this is that if you take out the words picture books and substitute children's books you have a perfect creed for what we, as authors of all ranges of children's literature, should be striving for.

Thank you to everyone at thepicturebook.com for keeping us honest.

Circuses are the next big thing!

Where else can a kid run away, change a name, become a completely different person -- and get to wear a costume?

Think circus as everything wonderful and strange -- jugglers, magicians, illusionists, puppets, automata, steampunk, wire walkers, flyers, silks and spanish webs, german wheels. Color and magic everywhere you look.

I'm working with a few other authors to make you believe in the circus again. Some of the books that come to mind are The Boneshaker by Kate Milford, The Ruby Notebook by Laura Resau and Circus Galacticus by Deva Fagan.

Check here again for more circus, fantasy and Faerie.