MotherReader

Ah, I feel like a person again. It takes me a whole day to recover from one of those camping trips. I realized today that it’s not just the lost sleep, but that it takes time to shake off the stress off being in charge. Being a supremely unorganized person, the lead-up to these Girl Scout Encampments is torture. Packing for me, my two daughters, and the troop — remembering the forms, maps, special activities, and supplies — is exhausting. Once we’re there, I have a great time and I’m laid back about whatever happens. Someone falls in the river? Huge spider inside the tent? Inadvertently inviting a large and somewhat odd troop to join our campfire? Hey, teens can change clothes, spiders can be swept out, and prankster girls who decide to scream “Vampire!” at a passing troop learn their lesson when that troop thinks that they yelled “Campfire!” and comes to join them. We all had a good time in spite of the rain, but it was good to see flush toilets again. Really good.

Now, I didn’t get back to the Summer Blog Blast Tour yesterday, so today I’ve got both schedules. Looks like I’ve got a lot of interview reading to do today.

Monday’s SBBT Schedule:

• Andrew Mueller at Chasing Ray
  
• Kekla Magoon at Fuse #8
  
• Carrie Jones at Writing & Ruminating
  
• Amber Benson at Bildungsroman
  
• Greg van Eekhout at Shaken & Stirred
  

Today’s SBBT Schedule:

• Maya Ganesan at Miss Erin
  
• Amber Benson at lectitans
  
• Carolyn Hennesy at Bildungsroman
  
• Jo Knowles at HipWriterMama
  
• Sherri Winston at Finding Wonderland
  

Tomorrow I’ll have my interview with Barbara O’Connor. At least one of my questions was close to that Chris Farley sketch: “You know how you write these amazing books about small towns without giving the characters all these bizarre traits and you make your endings so real and satisfying at the same time? That’s awesome.”