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Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2010 Starts Today!

September 13, 2010 by

If you are new to BBAW, you can check out the topic suggestions for the week.  I tend to pick and choose what topics I’m going to cover, and this year will be no different.  Rest assured, I will be sharing with you an interview with another blogger and the link to her interview with me on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

BBAW is a time to celebrate one another’s achievements and reading through discussion, features, fun activities, and even giveaways and awards.

What can you expect here on Savvy Verse & Wit?  Well, a celebration of poetry, a couple of reviews I had prescheduled, and some fun activities for you to participate in.

I hope everyone has a good time, and let’s check out the first fun activity I have for you.

Scholastic has this great little tool for kids to try their hand at several different forms of poems from haiku to free verse.  I think the site has a lot of other offerings to help kids learn about and enjoy poetry.

Now, I’d like all of you poets and non-poets out there to create your own poem using the Scholastic Poetry Idea Engine and share it in the comments.  It can be silly, intellectual, fun, or anything you want it to be.

Once you have your poem, please leave it in the comments, and I’ll select a winner or two for a gift card to Amazon.com for a U.S./Canada winner and a Better World Books gc for an overseas winner.

Have fun and read blogs!

Deadline for this giveaway, which is worldwide, is Sept. 19, 2010, at 11:59PM EST.

***Scroll down for today’s review***

Filed Under: BBAW, Events, giveaway

BBAW Short Lists Are Out

September 1, 2010 by

bbaw2010_poetrybbaw2010_authorinterviews

Can you believe I’ve been short listed in two categories? I can’t! I’ve been short listed alongside some of my favorite blogs and even some others I haven’t heard of.

For the best Poetry Blog category, I’m happy to share the short list nomination with Jeanne at Necromancy Never Pays!

In the Best Author Interviews category, I share the honor with some other great bloggers:

Presenting Lenore
Savvy Verse & Wit
Wicked Lil Pixie

I hope that everyone voting will be sure to check out the links above and make the best selection in each category.  These posts contain the submissions for their respective categories.

Good luck to everyone.  And thanks for the nomination and short list!  I appreciate it.

Stay tuned for giveaways here on the blog during BBAW.

Filed Under: announcements, BBAW, Events

Sept. 13-17 is Book Blogger Appreciation Week

June 17, 2010 by

During Book Blogger Appreciation Week, there will be fun events, introductions to bloggers you may have heard of or may be new to you, giveaways, and other activities.  There also are awards for Best YA, Kidlit, Eclectic, etc.

For information about the event, please visit the blog.  For information about the awards and nomination process, go here.

To register for BBAW, go this .

As part of BBAW, bloggers are asked to nominate their blogs in a niche category.  I’m going to nominate my blog in Best Poetry, Best Writing, and Best Author Interviews categories.

In accordance with those nominations, I must list 5 posts (3 of which must be reviews) for the judges and voters to check out.

Here’s are the posts for the Best Poetry category, though I would like to mention that my blog is home to the Virtual Poetry Circle every Saturday in which a new poem is posted and discussed weekly.

  1. Song of Napalm by Bruce Weigl (review)
  2. Full Moon Boat by Fred Marchant (review)
  3. Poetry Speaks Who I Am by Elise Paschen (review)
  4. Welcome to National Poetry Month
  5. Reviewing Poetry

Here are the 5 posts for the Best Writing category:

  1. Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran (review)
  2. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (review)
  3. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (review)
  4. Tim O’Brien Gets to the Emotional Core at Politics & Prose
  5. 2010 Split This Rock Poetry Festival WrapUp

Here are the 5 posts for Best Author Interviews:

  1. Interview with Frank Delaney
  2. Interview with Pam Jenoff
  3. Interview with Lisa See
  4. Interview with Abigail Reynolds
  5. Interview with George Bishop, Jr.

I hope everyone participates in BBAW.  It is always a fun time.

Filed Under: BBAW, Events

Bloggiesta Update! LOL

June 12, 2010 by

I hadn’t planned on updating, but I thought I would share photos from the line that began forming at least 30 minutes before the library sale started.

Yes, it is this crowded every 2nd Saturday of the month, except August when there is no library sale.

So another thing crossed off the list!

***Sunday***

I’ve worked at total of 12 hours on my blogs.  Check out what tasks I’ve crossed off my list.

Filed Under: Bloggeista

Bloggiesta

June 11, 2010 by

Bloggiesta has started again.

Lets party with nachos, burritos, and WORLD CUP!

Ok, this is a digression, but I’ll be under the FIFA spell for the next month or so.  Yes, I will cheer on the U.S., but ultimately, my celebrations with focused on Portugal, my favorite national team and home team of my grandparents and my father. I’ve been a soccer (excuse me, futbol) junkie for a long time, so please bear with me. If you want to join my World Cup league on Yahoo, go here. Send me an email and I will get you login details.

I’ve signed up this go around, and I want to provide you with a to-do list, which I will cross out as I accomplish these goals:

1.  Draft at least 1 month of Virtual Poetry Circle posts

2.  Send out new email interviews to poets

3.  Draft a challenges update post

4.  Write up a Books We Love post for Book Chick City

5.  Write up a The Blogger’s Bookshelf post for Book Chick City

6.  Write up a Reading Challenge update post.

7.  Catch up on That’s How I Blog shows I’ve missed

8.  Catch up on reading Google reader

9.  Head off to the library sale on Sat. (that counts right?!)

10.  Write up a Mailbox Monday post

11.  Add reviews to the War Through the Generations blog

12. Write up a review of Inside the Vietnam War for the war blog.

13.  Schedule One Amazing Thing review.

14.  Schedule Confessions of Catherine de Medici review.

15.  Schedule Blogiversary post

I could be adding to this list as well as crossing out items I’ve completed.  We’ll see how far I get.  Thanks for hosting this, Natasha.

Filed Under: Bloggeista

New York City, the Last

June 4, 2010 by

First, since I take a ton of photos when I leave on trips, check out the slide show below:

Second, let’s talk about the panel I saw at BEA and then let’s talk Book Blogger Convention.  I had grand plans to sit down and take in the panels and speakers, but unfortunately, I only attended one panel — Copyright in Motion.

Christopher Kenneally, leader of Copyright Clearance Center, introduced himself and his ties to a copyright service firm before showing a slide show on copyright law and how many in Corporate America and elsewhere fail to understand the protections that copyrights provide.  Copyrights must be managed on a daily basis through every action, and copyrights are not global protections.

Recommendations entail getting permission anytime there is doubt about a copyright protection.  Anytime someone uses information from a magazine or other subscription service, they should check the licenses attached to those subscriptions and how material can be used.  Each subscription has different rights attached to it.  Moreover, translation rights and transforming works from one form — say a novel — into another form — like a screenplay — involve an additional set of permissions.

There is a movement in place to create a global copyright through the Berne Convention, but there also are organizations working on coordinating copyrights on a larger scale.

Unfortunately, this is the only panel I attended during BEA.  If you want to hear more about my misadventures in NYC with my partners in crime, visit Diary of an Eccentric.

I took a little video during Book Blogger Con of keynote speaker, Maureen Johnson, so check that out:

There were even funnier parts to this speech, but I ran out of room on the memory card; don’t you hate when you are so exhausted that you forget half of what you wanted to bring along to the conference?!

One of my favorite parts of the speech was when she discussed the penchant for crime shows on television to demonize the Internet and its capabilities; Johnson said they often refer to the “Tweet of Doom” and other horrible actions stemming from the Internet that will come to get us all.  Another of my favorite parts of the speech were when Johnson talked about her Catholic high school and the painting or mural image at the entrance of the school that depicted nuns being shoved into a mass grave by Nazis.

I’m not going to talk about the other panelists because I think Wendy at Caribousmom did an awesome job recapping the convention.  There is no way for me to top that one.  Also, if you are interested in the swag from BBC, please visit Ticket to Anywhere; she did a great job going through the entire bag.

Lastly, I want to say that it was great to meet a number of the book bloggers I talk to online in person and to meet Caitlin Summie from Unbridled Books, Paul Samuelson from Sourcebooks, Allie Greenwald from Inkwell Management.  It was also great to see Hachette Book Group‘s Miriam Parker and Online Publicist Lisa Roe again.

I’ll be resuming normal book reviews and content next week.  Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences with me about your week and convention fun.

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With:

BEA vs. Book Festivals

June 3, 2010 by

Before leaving for Book Expo America, I received an email from Jill at Rhapsody in Books, who wanted to know about the differences between festivals like the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., and Book Expo America.

She’s full of great ideas, so I took her up on it.

BEA is a publishing industry-sponsored event to talk about the new fall releases, current releases, the state of the publishing industry, and an all around networking event for those in the publishing industry.

Local book festivals, like the one in D.C., are often supported through donations from organizations like newspapers, retailers, etc., and provide a venue through which people can hear authors talk about books, themselves, reading, etc.; meet their favorite authors; and buy books they normally would not have heard of whether new to the market or banging around bookstores for a few months.

I can’t tell you which event to attend or which event is right for you, but I can give you some guideline questions to answer and what I would recommend.

1. Do you want to meet the publicists, authors, publishers, etc., you’ve been working with?

BEA would be your best option for this because there are booths and you can set aside specific times to talk with these people and discuss books, upcoming releases, etc.  However, you can talk with authors for short spurts at book festivals as well, but if you want more one-on-one time, head to BEA.

2.  Interested in publishing trends on the horizon or learning more about e-readers, online publishing, e-publishing, etc.?

BEA will provide you with panels chock full of information, and in some cases, so much information that your head will hurt.  It depends on what you want out of your blog and where you see the future of your blog heading as to whether this information will be useful or important to you.

3.  Do you want to meet your favorite authors, chat with them, get signed books?

Either BEA or book festivals or even author signings can achieve these goals.  Just go with what suits you and your budget most.  If there are authors visiting your area that you love, see them.  If the authors you love don’t visit your area but go to BEA, get on a plane, train, or drive into NYC and see them.

4.  Are you going to get free books? (Someone had to ask it.)

In this case, you would want to attend BEA, rather than a book festival because more than likely you have to pay for the books.

5.  Want to meet with other book bloggers in real life?

Again, this depends on where you live and who you know that lives near you and blogs about books.  If you live in a well populated blogging community, your best option is to meet with them through a meet-up you agree to or at the local book festival because trying to find your blogging buddies in BEA without a plan is like looking for a contact lens beneath a million people’s shoes.

6.  Interested in what the publishing industry is really like?

You’re going to want to be at BEA, especially when tours of the offices are offered and you get to meet with publishing industry staffers to discuss how bloggers fit into the equation or how you can get a better working relationship with publishers.  However, if there is a large group touring these facilities, etc., it may be hard to glean out the information you are looking for specifically unless you have one-on-one time.

Regardless of what avenue you choose, just remember to make the most of these events for you and your blog.  I tend to be in awe of everything and do follow up emails with my questions.  Its good to remain in contact with everyone you meet, even if it is to just say how lovely it was to meet the person.

I attend both formats because I’m interested in the publishing industry and where its going, but I also like celebrating reading, which is what I believe book festivals focus on for the most part.

One drawback for me at BEA every year has been the lack of poetry discussion or promotion.  And since one of my goals for my blog is to raise interest in poetry, my job will be continuous until BEA starts talking poetry, though I was glad to see Graywolf Press in a booth this year and some of their poetry selections.

What are your thoughts on book festivals versus Book Expo America?

Filed Under: BEA, Events, National Book Festival Tagged With: ,

Author Signings at BEA

June 2, 2010 by

Author signings at Book Expo America almost always have really huge lines, and in some cases, attendees have to get up early to get free tickets to get books signed by certain, popular authors.  Tickets are given out each morning at 6:45 AM and many of them go quickly, especially for high profile and prolific authors like Joyce Carol Oates.

The only author at the Expo that I wanted a ticket for was Oates because I’ve loved her writing ever since I was younger, and I grew to appreciate it even more in college.  I’d like to say I’m her biggest fan, and I do love hearing stories about her need to write and her eccentricities.

However, after getting up at 5 AM to get my ticket when I was on vacation and didn’t have to get up early for work, I was sorely disappointed after waiting in line for nearly 40 minutes to get Oates’ new book, Sourland, signed and to meet one of my all-time favorite authors.

We were told she was stuck in traffic and would be at Javits soon, but after 20 minutes more of waiting, they told us that they would hand out the books so we didn’t have to wait in line.  Authors are only given between 30 minutes and an hour to sign books, and ticketed authors don’t even guarantee that everyone with a ticket will get to meet the author or receive a signed book.

For me, waiting for my writing inspiration in line for more than 40 minutes only to find out that she couldn’t be bothered to show up at the appointed time was more than disappointing to me.  I had heard that she doesn’t like public functions and that she doesn’t like when fans talk to her in autographing lines, but I still wanted to meet her and have my book signed, but to me, her absence was a slap in the face.  I have vowed to meet her someday regardless of this incident.

I do want to share with you some photos of author signings for non-ticketed authors.  The Girl from Diary of an Eccentric got to meet R.L. Stine and I got to meet the poetic YA author, Beth Kephart, and The Lace Reader author Brunonia Barry.

What authors were you anxious to see? Tell me about your author signing experiences.

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With: ,

My First Publishing House Tour

June 2, 2010 by

Entering into the Scholastic building, the lobby has a number of classic icons from literature, including Harry Potter.  It was great to see some bloggers I’ve met before, but also to meet some new-to-me bloggers.

We were taken on a tour of the building, the offices, and the archives in the basement.  Diary of an Eccentric‘s daughter, known as The Girl, took over the camera for the bit in the archives and she took a number of photos, but I’ll only share one of them with you.  You should have known that she was going to take pictures of R.L. Stine books.  There are some other photos of Sweet Valley High and more “classics.”

The Girl also got to meet Rick Riordan and Ruth Ames, two great YA authors.  I let her take the photo of Riordan, while her mom took a shot of Ruth Ames, who also writes adult fiction under another name.  Check them out:

I’ve got a couple of group blogger shots.  One group shot was taken by The Girl, includes Kathy of Bermudaonion, Julie of Booking Mama, Laura of I’m Booking It, Pam of Bookalicious, and Swapna of S. Krishna’s Books.  The second shot was taken by the Scholastic staff.  Thanks to all of you.

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With: , ,

Food and NYC

June 1, 2010 by

Everyone will be talking about Book Expo America and Book Blogger Convention, but I wanted to start off my discussion with food.  I love food!  I love eating in new places, and I am growing to like trying new things.  Hot & Crusty is a great place for breakfast with yummy pastry and so-so coffee, though the hot chocolate rocked!

One of my goals last week was to eat from a street vendor’s truck, and I accomplished it by eating a hot dog, though I think that I was less thrilled with the actual hot dog than I thought I would be.  Rather, I would recommend eating at Gray’s Papaya in NYC, in which patrons can get 2 hot dogs and a smoothie for a mere $5.  I really loved the hot dog and the pina colada.

Here’s a couple photos of us (Anna and The Girl from Diary of an Eccentric and me) outside the great standing-room only place:


Junior’s was another great restaurant we tried, though I didn’t get to have any of their highly recommended cheesecake.  We couldn’t find the location in Times Square, but we did find a little version in Grand Central Station.  I had a great chicken Caesar salad, but the appetizers of pickled beets and pickles made my day!  They were delicious.  I’ve always loved beets for some reason, probably brings me back to my nana’s garden when I was younger.  Check out the beets and the cool chair with the silverware . . .

There are only two other meals I want to talk about and show you, bear with me.

Ted’s Montana Grill was one of the best places we ate in NYC, and it is the place I ventured farther from my norm — I had a bison burger.  I was so hungry that I forgot to take a photo of my burger and any of the other meals, but I did take a photo of the yummy homemade pickles and the dessert.

Another great thing about this restaurant is the care taken to remain earth-friendly from the recycled paper products to the differing flush control for liquid versus solid wastes.

We only got one dessert, a strawberry shortcake with homemade biscuits and freshly made vanilla ice cream that was smooth and very cold.  Can I just tell you that it was to die for.  Yes, we finished off the entire thing.

Finally, we had a great family-style dinner at Tony’s DiNapoli with a bunch of bloggers, including our table with Amanda from The Zen Leaf, Amy of Amy Reads, Natalie from In Spring it is the Dawn.  Talk about getting to know one another over dinner — what foods do you like to eat and more importantly what foods are you willing to share?!  LOL  We opted for an appetizer of fried zucchini and two pasta dishes — Alfredo Tortellini and Ravioli Bolognese.  All were delicious, and I really loved the white wine sangria.

I’ll leave you with these photos from dinner:

What kind of food did you eat in NYC? Or what kind of food is outside of your normal comfort zone?

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With: , ,

True Blue by David Baldacci

May 27, 2010 by

While I attend some great panels and meet some authors and publishers in New York City this week, I didn’t want to leave my readers high and dry for reviews. My mom, Pat, has supplied me with enough reviews to get you through until my return. Please give her a warm welcome.

True Blue by David Baldacci follows former Washington, D.C., cop Mace Perry and her sister Beth, who is the police chief.  Mace was kidnapped and framed for a crime, which she did not commit, and was sent to prison.  Mace spent two years in prison, lost her job, badge, and freedom.

Once released from prison, Mace sets off to right the wrong that had been done to her and find the true criminal who set her up and sent her to prison.  Beth introduces her sister to Roy Kingman, an attorney.  Together, Mace and Roy work to clear her name.  The bulk of the novel focuses on the nasty people they encounter and the people set in their path to derail the process of clearing Mace’s name.

Baldacci has written a fast-paced novel that will entice readers to keep turning the pages until the very end.  This is my first Baldacci book and would recommend this author to others.  Very enjoyable and suspenseful read.  Five stars.

Thanks to Hachette for sending along a free copy of True Blue for review.

I hope you enjoyed this latest Literary Road Trip with Vienna, Va., author David Baldacci and his Washington, D.C., cops.

Filed Under: fiction, Hachette Books, Pat review, review copy, The Literary Road Trip Tagged With: ,

NYC or Bust

May 20, 2010 by

Book Expo America and the Book Blogger Convention are around the corner, and I’ll more than likely be incommunicado for the next week as I have some fun in the city and at the conventions.

If you’ve missed my advice for your trek into the city, please check it out.  I hope you’ve all got your travel plans made and your comfortable shoes on your feet.  This week is going to be busy and fun, but tiring.  Don’t worry, you’ll be hearing all about it when I get back.

While I’m away, my mom, Pat, will have taken over the blog for the week beginning on Monday, May 24, to regale you with her reviews.  Please stop by and check them out, especially if you are looking for a new suspense or crime thriller.

Sights I hope to see:

  1. NYC Harbor and Statue of Liberty
  2. Madam Tussauds Wax Museum, with Edward!
  3. The Museum of Modern Art
  4. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
  5. Central Park
  6. Strawberry Fields
  7. Empire State Building
  8. Rockefeller Center

Events I hope to catch at BEA:

  1. Online Reader Community Building
  2. Copyright in Motion
  3. BEA Editors Buzz
  4. Brunonia Barry signing
  5. Joyce Carol Oates signing
  6. Dystopian Panel
  7. Richelle Mead signing vampire academy
  8. Champagne Toast to celebrate To Kill a Mockingbird 50th Anniversary
  9. Blogger Party at Algonquin with HarperCollins
  10. The Next Decade in Book Culture
  11. Beth Kephart signing
  12. Book Blogger Con Reception

There are many other items on my list, but I didn’t want to bore you with all those crazy details.   What are your plans for NYC?  If you’re interested in meeting up, contact me via email.  Have a great week everyone.

Stay tuned for my review of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman tomorrow.

Filed Under: BEA, Events Tagged With: