Sunday, July 24, 2005

Memorable Firsts at VC (So Far)

Considering writing non-fiction;
Considering writing poetry;
Eating salad for lunch for five straight days;
Joking with an American Indian and an Indian American about Indian time;
Being away from G for more than four straight days;
Meeting a living legend in her bra and undies;
Hiding cheese in the waist line of my panties (long story).

Readings last night had a kismet-ish connection, especially EW's and RK's. In other news, I had a nice visit with EW afterward. Witty and whip smart. We've known each other for years online, and I've interviewed her for CLSCLR. But it was our first chance to really sit and talk.

Chatted at breakfast about the decline in multiculture pb in particular. Conclusions were that it was a combo of: (1) budget cuts in school/library market (traditional supporter); (2) decline in indie bookstores (ditto); (3) distrust/lack of awareness of related children's books by historically underrep'd communities; (4) impatience on the part of publishers; (5) larger market forces affecting all pbs. Hope is that at least some of these are cyclical.

Btw, did I mention how charming MC is?