The Sunday Salon: From the Road

Writing my Sunday report here on this Saturday night. 

Outside my window: Dark, clear and a bit chilly.

I am listening to: Shrek is on the TV down very very low.

Song of the week: We Are Young by Fun has been stuck in our heads all day long!

TV Talk: I have nothing regarding TV this week. Nothing is really standing out these days! Same old same old, you know?

READING REPORT:
Books Finished:  Nothing this week. But I'm very very close to finishing Froi of the Exiles, in fact, I think right now I'll go finish that!
Books Started: Just the Froi book.

Books Up Next: With me, I have Before I Go to Sleep. Hoping to get to it. Also, Watership Down.

I am thinking: Why am I so tired? I mean, driving through the Grand Canyon shouldn't exhaust me THAT bad, should it? But I do know one thing, the Grand Canyon takes my breath away. 

This isn't the Grand Canyon.... it's Glen Canyon Dam you see.

I'm grateful for: cars, beautiful scenery and nice hotels.

Around the house: let's hope the kids remember to feed the bird!

Recipe of the Week: I can't really remember cooking this past week.... hmmm.

Favorite things of the week: I can't even remember what happened this past week except that it was busy busy busy. What did I even do? Sheesh, I hate it when that happens. Crazy. 

Least favorite thing: failing electronic batteries! Gah, this makes me crazy. Oh, and when I order a MEDIUM Frosty at Wendy's and they give me a teeny tiny junior one instead. Five bites of a Frosty just doesn't cut it for me dudes.

Family Matters: We are all scattered all over the place this week... including one kid in Japan! How about that?

The coming week: There are lots of adventures yet in store for us this week, and I look forward to them all!

Blog Report: It was a bit quiet on the blog this past week. I needed a break after Bloggiesta I suppose, which was a blast though, by the way! But I did do a post about the blogger panels I was on, which was pretty fun to write. 

Well, that's a pretty boring Sunday report, but I just thought I'd check in since I've been a bit blog quiet this week. I'm here! And I hope to be around this week, traveling or not.

Oh, wait, is it Easter tomorrow (today?) Happy Easter for those celebrating! I almost forgot!

In Which I Talk About Blogging... Publicly!

Not only was last weekend Bloggiesta, but the two days before that I was on two different blogging panels, one on Wednesday evening, and one on Thursday. Can you say blogging overload??? I swear, I felt like I've never talked about myself and my crazy hobby more in my life than I did last week! It was fun, but crazy. And strange I must say. Very very strange.

Strange because it feels like not so long ago I was scared (well let's say bashful, leery perhaps, not so much embarrassed, but you know a little hesitant) to tell people in "real life" about my blog. It felt (feels?) so very self promoting. It felt like I was confessing to a fanaticism that I wasn't sure people would understand.

And many probably didn't. But things seem to have changed over the years and now people WANT to know about it! And suddenly I find myself sitting at a table in front of people talking about blogging.

Did I say how strange that was? Strange I tell you!

But since it was quite the moment in my blogging "career" I feel the need to report even just a little about the experience!

The first panel was for a college class on publishing for kids. I was there with three of my blogging buddies Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books, Emily from Emily's Reading Room and Penelope from The Reading Fever. And it was actually set up by a member of the class and another fellow blogger, Diana from Diana's Amazing Book Adventures. So the discussion that night was, for the most part, about book blogging in particular and the publishing industry in general and the audience was very into those subjects. In fact, we found out that perusing our blogs beforehand was their actual homework! Gah, strange!

I was of course very nervous. (You do know about the shy thing, right?) But since I knew my fellow panelists, I was confident things would go smoothly and that in fact, I would probably not have to talk too very much! I felt like this experience was a sort of dress rehearsal for the following evening where I knew not what to expect at all!

So for two hours or more we told them about our blogs, how we got started, how Twitter is a big thing and how to use it, if we read ebooks and what we think of the future of publishing, why we aren't too keen on reviewing self published books, and etc. And what else? Of course I can't remember. But it was all very fun. Enna Isilee has promised a transcript of this event, and despite my better judgement, I plan to link to it as soon as that goes live.

The next night, I was at the library where I work, sitting on a panel with a well known mommy/food blogger Jaime from Sophistimom and fellow library staff member Chris who writes this blog, Gumshoe Arcana, about accordions! Can you see the difference between the two nights already? :) We were three very diverse bloggers with completely different approaches, goals and experiences. I thought that was awesome! The audience this time asked us questions about how to start a blog, how to monetize, how to find other bloggers like yours,  how to check your stats, if we get nervous about sharing ourselves with the world, what some of our best blogging moments have been, how often do we post, where we get ideas, how much time do we spend doing it and what our inspiration is. That last one is a great question, yes? How would you answer it on the spot!??

Both panels asked if any of us are writers, not just of the blog. I felt very strange in both settings because I was the only one shaking my head no. Should I be writing something else? I thought about it once upon a time, but have decided.. not my thing. Hmmm....

Anyway, this second time around I did talk a little bit more. I felt myself shouting the praises of how fun blogging is, how I never seem to run out of things to write, that other bloggers, cool authors and awesome books are my inspiration, that my reward and goal is the connection I have with other book loving fanatics,  and that I do it for fun and don't see that fun ending anytime soon.

I think they thought I was weird, but you know, that's beside the point!

One of the audience members wrote up a little report in her blog here. Very nice recap, don't you think? She is my newest blogging friend! Speaking of blogging friends, not only was my husband there to support me and silently cheer me on at both of these events, so was my awesome first, IRL friend, now also blogging friend, Jenny from Alternate Readality. Thank you!

Anyway, I was glad when it was over because it's an understatement to say this got me out of my comfort zone, but they do say, that sort of thing is good for a person. And if talking to an audience about blogging is  my hard thing... I'm good with that!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books to Read in a Day

Here's a few books I that I would recommend sitting down and reading in a day. By definition, I've picked books that are short (mostly) and very engaging...and of course, books I've loved! Do you agree with me? What would you add to the list?

Top Ten Books To Read in a Day

1. Skellig by David Almond
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
4. Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen
5. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
6. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
7. The Giver by Lois Lowry
8. Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak
9. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
10. May B. by Caroline Starr Rose

This list prompt brought to you today by The Broke and the Bookish, who continue to come up with fun list ideas week after week after week! Come on over and join us!

I'm In the Spotlight!

Hey everyone! I'm being spotlighted today over at Ann's Cozy in Texas blog. Do click on over and see what I have to say and if you'll learn something about me you don't already know! :) And say hi to Ann and take a peek at her very cozy blog. Please? Thanks to you all!

March Reading Recap

The month wasn't bad considering I haven't read at all this past week, and barely at all the week before! Way to go me! Here's the list of what I managed to fit in this past month of March:

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose: A short play about jurors arguing whether or not a young boy is guilty of killing his dad.

The Savage Grace by Bree Despain: More adventures of Grace and Daniel as they come to terms with their new life leading the wolf pack.

Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler: A letter written by a girl who is breaking up with a boy she thought was  her everything.

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley: A coming of age story starring a young kid who is faced with a terrible tragedy.

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks: A compilation of several strange and bizarre neurological case studies.

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen: An awesome twist on the familiar Robin Hood story.

The Hollow City by Dan Wells: In which we get into the head of a schizophrenic guy and so, along with him, we the readers do not know what is real and what is not. (Review to come later closer to it's release date in July!)

Promises by Carolyn Twede Frank: A year in the life a 12 year old pioneer girl living in a small town on the edge of Bryce Canyon, Utah.

My favorites of the month? Scarlet, The Hollow City and..... hmmm.... Where Things Come Back, too, I think.

Plans for April:

• read Return to Exile by E.J. Patten for a blog tour
• finish Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta before it's due back to the library.
• find The House at Tynford and join a read along
• Watership Down for book club
• read a classic, maybe A Tale of Two Cities? A re-read.
• finish Supernaturally, which I have down on the treadmill
• maybe finish Old Man's War, or maybe take it back to the library unread, dang.
• read something fun, fluffy and frivolous while on our spring break trip!

How'd you all do this month?

Bloggiesta: My Recap

Whew.

What a weekend! What a blast! I'm so glad we had so many participate in Bloggiesta! It was fun, was it not? I was able to visit a lot of people on Friday, work on my own blog a lot on Saturday, and then Sunday was a bust. I was pretty much away from the computer except for the morning chat, so that was sad, but still. I think I got some stuff done.

Here are my final Bloggista thoughts:

• Thank you to Jenni Elyse for giving me her code for my social media icons, which I just love. All I had to do was plug in my own link,  and paste the code. Now THAT I can handle! I think this is my most favorite thing I did on my blog this weekend. It's small, but it makes me happy.
• THREE Twitter chats, with bloggers all over the world! How cool is that??? Two I led (ish... they sort of lead themselves) and one Danielle led and I was there as myself. But that was really fun and we got lots of ideas for challenges for next Bloggiesta. I think the three days and the three times went over well... I hope.
• I think I added most of the participants to my Twitter follow list... that's  A LOT! (If I didn't add you and you want to be, you know where to find me! @SueySays) Twitter is a big part of the whole Bloggiesta experience, yes. I think it wouldn't work without it.
• Natasha, Bloggiesta's creator, joined in here and there too! Did you see her? Did you say hi? 
• I never did get to Google Reader or labels. I started trying to delete old email, but it freaks out the computer and I lose patience and then we both quit.
• I think I say this every Bloggiesta, but computering so very much does make my eyes burn and my shoulder/back/neck ache! 
• I've really missed reading this weekend... and the whole busy week before. I really miss it! I hope I can get back into it, but I still feel like I need to regroup and clean the house or something before I can relax and read.
• Making new bloggy friend connections is always fun, and it will be interesting to see which of the new "faces" I've met this past weekend stick around. Know what I mean? Will it be YOU? :) I hope so!
• Can I just say, the mini challenges and their hosts were AWESOME? I was totally blown away by them! Thank one and all for such a good job!
• Hosting has been fun and I can't wait to do it again in September (28-30)! And Danielle is the best hosting partner too! Wahoo! See you then! (Well, as I said above, I hope to see many of you around before then, but you know what I mean!

Bottom line: It was fun!

Bloggiesta: The Finish Line!

Hey everyone! Are we all still alive after blogging non-stop for three days? Have you learned a lot? Made a ton of new blogger friends? Fixed and changed and spruced and linked and added and subtracted all sorts of things on your blogs? I hope it’s been a blast and that you all feel the event was worth the time.

To end the party, we’d love for you to link up a summary post which can include any or all of the following:

• what you were able to get done
• how you feel the event went
• the best new thing you learned
• suggestions for mini challenges next time (and if you’d like to host one!)
• suggestions to make things run smoother
• Anything you want to tell us! Let us know!

We have two prize packs for which we’ll be drawing random winners taken from the list of summary links here on this post. If you want to be eligible to win one of these prizes, be sure to link up here! We are giving you the whole day Monday to get your post done and linked up. We’ll be picking a winner at midnight Eastern time on Monday night and the winner will be announced here on this post by Tuesday!


The prizes are as follows:

Candlewick Judy Moody Prize Pack (Includes all of the following):An extra-large Judy Moody T-shirt
A pink boa
Pink sunglasses
1 copy of Judy Moody: Twice as Moody (which includes book 1 & 2 in the Judy Moody series)
1 copy of book #9: Judy Moody Detective
Candlewick on Twitter, Facebook and Website


Walden Pond Press prize pack (Includes all of the following):Neversink by Barry Wolverton hardcover
The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander hardcover
The Fourth Stall, Part II by Chris Rylander hardcover
Juniper Berry by M.P. Kozlowsky hardcover
Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu hardcover
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy ARC
Walden Pond Press on Twitter, Facebook, Blog

And so that ends this episode of Bloggiesta! Do give us some feedback! We want to hear from you! And be sure to mark your calendars for the next installment:

September 28, 29 and 30!

Now don’t forget to link up your summary post with feedback for us. You have until midnight Monday night (Eastern time.) Thanks for hanging out and Bloggiesta-ing with us!