News on the blog front. I’m now running five websites completely related to reviews of children’s books. They are: gradereading.net, 
2ndgradereading.net, 3rdgradereading.net, 4thgradereading.net, and 5thgradereading.net. I hope to get 1stgradereading.net and 6thgradereading.net up and running soon, but I want to make sure I have all the kinks ironed out of the others first. And a lot of kinks there are, too. The focus is for librarians, teachers, and parents. We try to get at least one good nonfiction book highlighted each week on each site.
Just want to mention that we can still use reviewers and also your ARCs to get some reviews posted. I am starting to get books from publishers, but we can always use more.
As for this blog, I hope to post here at least a couple times a month with thoughts about writing in general and about my activities.
Since my last post here, I have had a novel’s-worth of activities related and unrelated to writing.
I spent July 30 to August 6 traveling to Los Angeles and attending the international conference of SCBWI. My co-regional advisor, Sue Peters, and I were busy making connections, learning, and helping out with the business of the conference. (Sue asked me at one point 
where the ocean was. So we did have to go view the Pacific.) We met RAs from as far away as India and Australia. I think I’ve said it before, but I love all these wonderful people. And I am so impressed with the organization itself. As for the conference, I recall the word “inspiring” being thrown about a lot. From the opening keynote by Laurie Halse Anderson to the autograph party on Sunday, the attendees were treated to some really powerful information. I even got to stand next to Bruce Degen at the autograph party. (Remember the fun illustrations of the Magic School Bus series? Apparently, a lot of people do, because he signed a lot of 
autographs.)
As soon as I got home, I began the process of buying the websites. As I said before, this involved a lot of details, which I’m still working out. I will try to share some of my inspiration and knowledge soon.
Meanwhile, we’re accepting registrations for our regional SCBWI conference September 21 and 22. With the registration process, making arrangements for our speakers, and general nonsense, that was pretty much the rest of my life in early August.
Guess what happened next. Ding! Ding! Ding! I got sick. And not just any sickness. I got the dreaded shingles. It seems to be a mild case, and I started an anti-viral right away, so I’m well on the road to recovery. Mostly, I was exhausted for a couple of weeks and my rear still has a few scabs on it. On the bright side, I have more fodder to use when I write about being sick.
The problem is I haven’t had much time for writing. I feel completely justified, with the shingles and such, but it’s not about feeling guilty. I miss this portion of my life and plan to rectify that ASAP.
Childish Nonsense 