MotherReader

Community is the word of week. Certainly, it’s a concept that’s always there, but the talk around Google+ put it right out front. Who’s in your circle? And which circle? And why? Questions that can make a person think. That’s probably a good thing.

It’s also the week of the Summer Blog Blast Tour, where bloggers interview an array of authors and illustrators just because we can. I’ve missed the first two days with travel back home and recovering from said travel, but I can share the schedule for today:

• Sarah Stevenson at Chasing Ray
  
• Emily Howse at Bildungsroman
  
• Ashley Hope-Perez at The Happy Nappy Bookseller
  
• Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich at Hip Writer Mama

Over the week you’ll find the updated links, full schedule, and teaser quotes at Chasing Ray. I’ll be jumping in on Friday with my interview with middle-grade authors Matthew Cody and Aaron Starmer, so come on back now, y’hear?

In my day of Getting Things Done Again, I signed up for the fifth annual KidLitCon in Seattle. There was never a question of going, just of making the tiny effort to fill out the form. For folks who need a little incentive, let me point out the keynote speaker, Scott Westerfeld. Like, wow!

KidLitCon Seattle brings me back to the word of the week. Community. Because that’s what this conference is all about. I’ve been to all of four of them, hosted one in DC, and can testify that it is such an amazing experience to connect in person with your online community. The sessions inspire your blogging, but the connections infuse your spirit. I wouldn’t miss either, and neither should you.

Register for KidLitCon now and look forward to this feeling expressed in the perfect words of Amy Ludwig VanDerwater: “Ah… there was a whole VELVETEEN RABBIT feel to the whole kidlitcon day. Everyone is real at last!”