Beyond THE FUTURE: Yes We Can

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Beyond THE FUTURE: Blog Action Day 2008

Thanks so much to Tara over at Paris Parfait for posting a link to Blog Action Day 2008. The topic this year is poverty, and I’ve just registered to join more than 900 bloggers from around the world as they explore this critical topic on October 15. Join up at BlogActionDay.org.

Photo © Alan Chin/Gamma from GlobalRights.org.

Beyond FUN: Carleen Brice Book Club Visit

Denver novelist Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint & Honey (and editor of Age Ain’t Nothin’ but a Number), visited with my neighborhood book club last night at a nifty restaurant in the south suburbs. The evening flew by thanks to the terrific company, service, food, and maybe one or two glasses of wine (woohoo!). The event was attended by ten of my book-lovin’ neighbors, two of their moms, my old buddy Donna, and Lisa of Eudamonia fame. Thanks to everyone who attended and thanks again to Carleen for making our special summer edition book club meeting so memorable!

Prior to dinner, Lisa, Carleen, and I celebrated the long-awaited release of Amy Mackinnon’s Tethered by posing for a photo at a new (I love those purple walls) Borders. Amy’s launch party was probably in full swing back in MA when we took this photo; from today’s report at The Writers’ Group blog, that event was a ton of fun, too. Congratulations, Amy!

Beyond FANTASTIC: ONE SISTER’S SONG to become an RFB&D Audio Book!!

A post about Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), “the only nonprofit organization in the country recording textbooks for students of all ages who are blind, print-impaired, or physically challenged,” is filed in my September 2006 archive. While I’m happy to return as a volunteer in the Rocky Mountain Unit of RFB&D’s fourth annual Colorado Authors’ Day next month, I’m also THRILLED to be an author of one of the books the unit has selected to read and record during this year’s event.

Bob Janowski, Production Director of the Rocky Mountain Unit (and one of my new favorite people in Denver along with Betsy Boudreau, Executive Director, who originally contacted me about RFB&D a while back) explained this honor in a recent e-mail:

“Guest readers and our experienced volunteers will produce an audio version of your book, which will then become a part of the national RFB&D catalog. This means your work will be among approximately 120,000 current titles available to almost a quarter million members with print disabilities.”

WOW. As I wrote in my earlier post about RFB&D, “Success in so many areas depends greatly on the simple ability to read, and so often we take that ability for granted. Imagine being a fourth-grader who struggles in school not because she doesn’t want to learn, but because words on a page simply don’t make sense.” RFB&D helps fill a critical need, and now One Sister’s Song will be part of its important catalog. Talk about news that made my day!