National Book Festival Is This Saturday, September 6

During the height of the pandemic, the National Book Festival was fully on-line, and I "attended" a few events. This was one of the pandemic activities that opened me up to the incredible possibilities for readers and writers on-line. Yes, I know I was just writing about this yesterday. It was life changing, okay?

This year's festival  is this Saturday, one day instead of three, as it was in 2020. During that one day you can still do some live streaming, and videos of all the speakers are supposed to be available after the festival is over. 

Oh, look! The videos from last year! If I had all the time in the world, I'd watch the one on the history of community cookbooks. Yes, seriously, I would.

Here is the list of authors' presenting. Children's writers are well represented. My favorite historian will be there. It appears that all authors have a resent book that is being featured, in case you see some favorite writers there and want to see what they're up to.

The Weekend Writer: Getting Ready for OUR School Year

September is upon us, the time of year when writers' organizations start running workshops.  During the pandemic years, some organizations ran virtual workshops, and when things became less dire, they moved to hybrid programs, an in-house workshop for the locals and a virtual one for me. 

How I love a virtual writers' workshop.

I've gone on here before about the benefits of virtual workshops: Less expense, less of a time commitment, less travel--none at all, in fact. So let's just take a look at what's being offered this year.

Your Choices Are:

Off Campus Writers' Workshop. The Off Campus Writers Workshop out of the Chicago area is my favorite workshop site. The organization is eighty years old and may be the oldest of its type in the U.S. They offer something every Thursday morning from September into May. That's Central Time, by the way. Is Thursday morning inconvenient for you? OCWW records all workshops and sends registrants a copy that they can access at their leisure for a week. This is your cheapest option, at least, the cheapest I've found. Workshops are $25 each for nonmembers, $10 for members. Membership is only $40 a year, with the year ending in the summer. Membership pays for itself in workshop discounts. I know. I'm a member. Workshop leaders are writers, most with some kind of teaching experience, many with academic teaching experience. I've seen some pretty big name people there. Want to stick to generative workshops, nothing lecture-like? They've got some.  This year's workshop schedule. 

Thurber House. I've also attended a couple of workshops through the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. These workshops are a little more expensive than OCWW's, and the prices vary. They are still a buy, especially when you consider many writers' workshops are through conferences, so you have to pay for a day or more of attendance, even if there's only one workshop you're interested in. This fall's workshop schedule. These are evening workshops at Eastern time

Pioneer Vally Writers' Workshop. The Pioneer Valley Writers' Workshop in Northampton, Massachusetts is totally new to me. I only just heard about it. (I already can't remember how, but I think BlueSky had something to do with it.) Their pricing is also higher than OCWW's, though, once again, a good buy. And get this...they offer gift cards. This fall's workshop schedule. Most of these are Saturday workshops at 1:00 PM, but check carefully. I hope to make it to Anna North's Friday evening essay workshop in December. I read her novel, Outlawed, this summer, and liked it a great deal. Again, Eastern Time.

Are There More Virtual Writers' Workshops Out There?

I'm guessing the answer to that question is "Yes." Which is too bad for me, because I have a ridiculously long list of workshops I want to attend this year just from these three organizations.

On-line Opportunities For Writers

Author Carolyn Bennett Fraiser has compiled an impressive list of on-line opportunities for writers over the next five months. 

Thanks to Nancy Tandon for this.

A Series Of Virtual Events

Author Kacen Callender has a whole series of virtual events coming up this month in support of their book Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution. Callender is a National Book Award winner, so I might have been expected to hear of them, but hadn't. I have now and will remember the name, because marketing, including virtual marketing, works. At least in terms of name recognition.

Here I Am Raving About Zoom Opportunities Again

I go everywhere from here.

This past week, I attended two Zoom events. Within 22 hours, in fact. The lead-up to how I attended them illustrates one of the terrific things about Zoom opportunities.

• Wednesday was a hiking day here. I got back to the house at 5, took a shower, tossed back some dinner, and sat down at 6 to watch children's literature historian Leonard Marcus's lecture on the history of Little Golden Books hosted by the Northern Illinois University art museum. It was excellent. And free, but that's not the point.
• On Thursday morning a family thing for that evening was cancelled. Part way through the day I realized that that freed me up to attend an agent panel on Zoom sponsored by the Society of Children's Book Writers for its members. It was also very good. And free to me, but, again, not the point.

Attending these things was effortless. I didn't even have to preregister for them. I didn't even dry my hair before the Marcus lecture. When my head popped up in a box on my screen, I just ran to the bathroom next door and made a quick braid. There was no getting ready and driving somewhere. There was no having to plan my day around going to a lecture or a panel discussion in the evening. I got the benefit of  all this content at my convenience, tucked into a spot in my day.

What's more, the speakers and panelists clearly were taking part from all over the place. They hadn't had to plan for days that they were going to have to travel somewhere to speak for an hour and then get themselves back home. A 60- or 90-minute event truly was a 60- or 90-minute event for them. 

Margaret Atwood is speaking at my alma mater in Vermont next month. I'm registered to attend it virtually. Another freebie for me. Later today I'll be registering for my first workshop of the fall. I admit I'll have to pay a modest amount for that. But I'll be signing up for the virtual option, so I won't have to leave Connecticut to go to the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio to attend.

Digital events, often brought to us on Zoom, have the potential to bring so much into lives. I think some people may feel negatively about them, because they associate Zoom with the pandemic. But they are a positive the pandemic unintentionally brought us. It forced us to truly think outside the box and move forward technologically. 

Virtual Author Events For September

Central Connecticut is exploding with in-person author events over the next couple of weeks. You'd think it was 2019 or something. However, you can still find a few virtual appearances, mainly coming out of the Brookline Booksmith in Massachusetts, for those of you who like to get around without actually getting around. I will update over the course of the month, if I stumble upon anything. 

Monday, Sept. 12, Amy Sarig King, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT  5:30 PM ET 

Wednesday, Sept. 14, Courtney Summers & Sara Farizan, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 7:00 PM ET

Friday, Sept. 16, Alison Ames and Courtney Gould, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 7:00 PM ET  

Sunday, Sept. 25, Kacen Callender with Rebecca Kim Wells, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 11:00 AM ET 

Wednesday, Sept. 28, Jesse Q. Sutanto with Ali Hazelwood, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA 8:00 PM ET

Virtual Writing Class Opportunities

My Classroom

Both Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio and the Off Campus Writers' Workshop in Chicago, Illinois have announced their 2022-2023 writing class schedules. I have a list of two workshops with Thurber and seven with OCWW I'm interested in taking. Without leaving my desk in central Connecticut. 

I've taken classes with both organizations in the past, when they were fully remote. This year it appears that most of the classes will be some kind of  hybrid, so I have no experience to offer on how well that  works. But the prices ($25 to $50) and convenience make them well worth it to me to try some.

Benefits of Zoom Workshops

• You don't have to limit yourself to workshops in your geographic area, ones that you can actually get your body to. That opens up a great many more options.
• You don't have to commit time to travel.  
• You don't have to commit time to conferences, where many writers' workshops are found. I can't be the only person who doesn't want to spend an entire day at a conference in order to take the one workshop being offered that interests me.
• The workshops at Thurber and OCWW, whether Zoom or in-person, are far cheaper than many traditional workshops. With OCWW workshops, you can bring the price down even more by becoming a member.
• You may be able to experiment with a workshop on some type of writing you don't normally do because the time and financial commitment are so low.
• Many of the instructors are not just experienced writers but experienced writing teachers.

The Workshop Schedules

• Thurber House workshop offerings. 
• Off Campus Writers Workshop offerings.

While I won't be attending any of these workshops on-site, I have been to Thurber House. 

September Virtual Lectures By Leonard Marcus

The Northern Illinois University Art Museum  is offering a virtual children's book lecture series in September all led by children's book historian Leonard Marcus.  

He begins on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 5:00 PM Central Time with a talk on The Story of Little Golden Books.  

On Thursday, Sept. 15 at 5:00 PM Central Time he continues with Strong Women, Great Books: The Women Who Invented American Children's Book Publishing.

And on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2:00 PM Central Time he'll finish with Around the World in 80 Picture Books.

Leonard Marcus is a well-known writer and speaker in the childlit world. We certainly know him here in the New England childlit world. Back in 2008, I attended a lecture he gave at the Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut, where the Northeast Children's Literature Collection is located. I enjoyed his talk, though I didn't have a lot to say about it here. He's also done a lot of work on the history of Golden Books, which just happens to be the subject of one of next month's lectures, and the one I'm most interested in attending. 

Lots of good virtual stuff is coming up this fall. I'm getting excited.

Some Virtual Opportunities For June

As the Covid positivity rate went up and up across the country, I came across fewer and fewer virtual appearances for children's writers. That explains why I didn't do a Virtual Appearances For May post. I'm seeing more again for next month. 

I will add to this post over the month of June, if I come across more material

June 1 Nora Raleigh Baskin, Debbie Reed Fischer, Debra Green, Jonathan Rosen, Melissa Roske, Books & Books and Miami Book Fair, Miami, Florida 7:00 PM ET

June 8 Dan Abdo and Jason Paterson, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 5:30 PM ET

June 10 and 11, Various Writers, nErDcampCTJr,, CT  Association of School Librarians, Colchester, CT Various sessions between 9:00 AM and 2:45 PM ET Open to K-12 students and their families.

June 14 Livia Blackburne and Alexandra Monir, Once Upon a Time Bookstore, Montrose, California 4:30 PM PT, 7:30 PM ET

June 15 Lynette Noni and Alexandra Bracken, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 21 Marika McCoola and Aatmya Pandya, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For April

Books of Wonder still has a great many virtual author visits scheduled. Other bookstores, not so much. There's a definite shift back to live visits, which may be good for host bookstores. Readers attending virtual author talks may be buying their books anywhere or not at all. But when the end of virtual opportunities arrives, as it probably will, it will make the world seem smaller for readers, with fewer opportunities.

As usual, if I stumble upon anymore appearances this month, I'll post them here.

April 9 Carrie Tillotson and Estrela Lourenco, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 11:00 AM ET

April 19 Zibby Owens, Kerry Docherty, Karyn Parsons, Holly Hatam, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

April 25 Brady Smith, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

April 26 Cameron Chittock and Amanda Castillo, The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For March

As usual, I will update this list over the course of the month as new events come to my attention. And, once again, check out Books of Wonder's many upcoming virtual events.

March 1 Lincoln Peirce and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Marcy 2 Kelly Yang and Jerry Craft, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Austin, Texas 5:00 PM CST

March 2 Yamile Saied Mendez, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

March 7 Leslie Bulion and Becca Stadtlander, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

March 8 Jen Yen, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Austin, Texas 7:00 PM CST

March 8 Rebecca Podos and Katherine Locke, River Bend Bookshop, Glastonbury, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

March 8 Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET  

March 14 Crystal Maldonado, Anna Meriano, and Skye Quinlan, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET  

March 17 Renee Kurilla, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 1:30 PM ET

March 22 John Cho and Kal Penn, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET   

March 22 Andrea Wang and Jason Chin, Blue Willow Bookshop, Austin, Texas 5:00 PM CST

March 29 Eric Gapstur and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Bookstore, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET                  

Some Virtual Opportunities For February

Okay, now we're seeing events again.  Books of Wonder in New York City, for instance, has so many events planned just through February 15 that I didn't  try to list them. Scroll down for its array of children's book launches, panels, and group events. 

As always, I will update this list throughout the month as I stumble upon new virtual childlit author appearances. To catch anything new you can follow me on Twitter, where I tweet links to this post for each appearance as its date approaches.

Feb. 1 Greg Howard and Alan Gratz, Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe, Asheville, North Carolina 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 2 Greg Howard, Second Star to the Right Bookstore, Denver, Colorado 5:00 PM MST

Feb. 2 Haley Neil and Jean Meltzer, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 8:00 PM ET

Feb. 5 Greg Howard and Renee Ahdieh, Park Road Books, Charlotte, North Carolina 2:00 PM ET

Feb. 8 Nancy Tandon and Debbi Michiko Florence, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Feb 8 Mac Barnett and Carson Ellis, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET 

Feb. 8 Lisa Stringfellow and Tui T. Sutherland, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 9 Dori Hillestad Butler, Kevan Atteberry, and Nancy Meyers, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Feb. 9 E.B. Goodale, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 4:00 PM ET 

Feb. 10 Paddy Donnelly, Second Star to the Right Bookstore, Denver, Colorado 10:00 AM MST

Feb. 12 Racquel Marie, Chloe Gong, Tashie Bhuiyan, and Christina Li, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET 

Feb. 15 Tommy Greenwald, Harvard Club of Fairfield County, Westport, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET Fee for nonmembers. 

Feb. 22 Lisa Stringfellow, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Feb. 22 Michael D. Beil and Brittany Geragotelis, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET 

Feb. 24  Lesley Connor, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  6:30 PM ET

Feb. 24  John Patrick Green, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Feb. 27 Mariko Tamaki and Michael V. Smith, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 2:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For January

I didn't do a virtual opportunities post in December, because news of appearances were not cropping up in my social media. Author appearances pretty much disappeared in December back when I did the Connecticut Children's Literature Calendar pre-pandemic. While I'm seeing a little more action now on Facebook, events on bookstore calendars are sparse, and some bookstores that had been active last year have nothing at all scheduled right now. I don't know what's going on.

I hope to be adding to this calendar later in the month.  

Jan. 11 Nancy Springer, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Noon GMT (I believe that is ET in the U.S.)

Jan 12 Michelle Coles, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 10:30 AM ET

Jan. 12 Emilie Boon and Jamie A. Swenson, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 4:00 PM ET

Jan. 12 J. Elle and Brigid Kemmerer, Blue Willow Bookshop, West Houston, Texas 7:00 PM Central Time

Jan. 18 Dayna Lorentz and Chris Tebbetts, Flying Pig Bookstore, Shelburne, Vermont 7:00 PM ET

Jan 22 Nancy Tandon, River Bend Book Bookshop, Glastonbury, Connecticut 3:15 PM ET (The sign-up is for an in-store event. Scroll down to get the virtual option. I did it. It works.)

Jan. 25 Jake Burt and James Ponti, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut   7:00 PM ET

Jan. 30 Alice Faye Duncan, Yolanda Gladden, Jamie Michalak, Debbi Michiko Florence, Karyn Parsons, Books of Wonder, New York, New York 1:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For November

  

Virtual author visits didn't seem to be falling in my lap for this month the way they did for earlier months, but, look, the post is beginning to fill up, after all. I will continue to add to it over the coming weeks as I see new opportunities. You can follow me on Twitter (@gail_gauthier) to see updates without having to keep coming back here. 

Nov. 3, Tracey Baptiste and Kelly Barnhill, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Nov. 4, Rachael Lippincott and Alex Richards, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 8 Melissa Stewart, The Writing Barn, Austin, Texas 6:00 PM CT

Nov. 9 Jennifer E. Smith and Leo Espinoza, Once Upon a Time Bookstore, Montrose, California 11:00 AM PT 

Nov. 9 Katherine Paterson, Christy Mihaly, Leda Schubert, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier, Vermont 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 10 Andrea Williams, Silver Unicorn Bookshop, Acton, Massachusetts 8:00 PM ET 

Nov. 13 Janet Lawler and Timothy Basil Ering, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 10:30 AM ET

Nov. 13 Stephanie Lucianovic and Anne Ursu, Linden Tree Books, Los Altos 11:00 AM PT

Nov. 18 Namina Forna, Pequot Library, Southport, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Nov. 20 Tricia Elam Walker, Silver Unicorn Bookshop, Acton, Massachusetts 11:00 AM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For October

As usual, I will be adding to this post over the course of the month.

Oct. 2 Chris Colfer, Book People, Austin, Texas  2:00 PM CT

Oct. 4 Victoria Kann, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 4:00 PM ET

Oct. 4 Henry Winkler, Lin Oliver, and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 4 Holly Jackson and Victoria Lee, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 5 Betsy Bird, The Book Stall, Winnetka, Illinois 6:30 PM CT

Oct. 6 Chris Negron, Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev, Christyne Morrell, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 6 Margaret Rogerson, Ayana Gray, and Chloe Gong, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 8:00 PM

Oct. 7 Victoria Kann, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 1:30 PM ET

Oct. 9 Rick Riordan, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET

Oct. 12 Rebecca Evans, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 11:00 AM ET 

Oct. 12 Dylan Dreyer and Jeff Kinney, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Oct. 13 Eugene Yelchin, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 10:00 AM ET

Oct. 13 Gayle Forman and Adam Gidwitz, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Oct. 18 Brendan Wenzel, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 5:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 19 Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler, Print, A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 7:00 PM ET 

Oct. 19 Barbara Dee, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Oct. 21 Shelli R. Johannes and Maddie Frost, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, Georgia 5:00 PM ET Facebook Live

Oct. 25 Ruth Freeman and Tricia Springstubb, Print, A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For September

Well, I thought I was going to see a decline in virtual author events at this point in time, but that is not the case. Check out, for instance, the large number of events sponsored by Books of Wonder in New York City, Brave + Kind Bookshop in Decatur, Georgia, and Brookline Booksmith in Brookline, Massachusetts this month. I didn't find out about those hot spots, or at least how extensive their programming is, until after posting when I had limited time to make additions to this post. 

As usual, the following list may be changing over the next few weeks. I tweet about each event on Twitter, so you can follow me there, if you'd like to keep up with any changes.

Sept. 7 Katherine Applegate and John Schu, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 6:00 PM ET

Sept. 7 Sarah Albee, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Sept. 8 Michael Ian Black and Debbie Redpath Ohi, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 9 Ryan T. Higgins, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 5:00 PM ET 

Sept. 9 Ash Van Otterloo,  Kim Ventrella, Lorien Lawrence, Adrianna Cuevas, and Josh Allen, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET 

Sept. 9 Kara Thomas, Courtney Summers, & Jessica Goodman, Brave +  Kind Bookshop, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 9 Yuyi Morales, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:00 PM ET

Sept. 10 Kaija Langley and Jacqueline Woodson, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 11 Rajani LaRocca and Melissa Stewart, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts 4:00 PM ET

Sept. 14 Janae Marks and Lisa Moore Ramae, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET 

Sept. 14 Max Brallier, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas  5:00 PM CT

Sept. 14 Amy Cherrix & Stacy McAnulty, Malaprop's Bookstore, Asheville, North Carolina 6:00 PM ET

Sept. 19 Tanita Davis & Janae Marks, Books of Wonder, New York, New York 1:00 PM ET

Sept. 21 Jessica Vitalis & Erin Entrada Kelly, Talking Leaves...Books, Buffalo, New York 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 21 Shelli R. Johannes & Maddie Frost, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 5:00 PM ET 

Sept. 21 Alex London, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

Sept. 21 Tanita Davis, Shanthi Sekaran, Saadia Faruqui, Brave +  Kind Bookshop, Decatur, Georgia 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 22 J. Albert Mann, Emma Kress, Crystal Maldonado, and Pamela N. Harris, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Sept 26 Kaija Langley, Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Massachusetts 10:30 AM ET

Sept. 28 Dan Abdo & Jason Patterson, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET 

Sept. 28 Nancy Tupper Ling and Janet Costa Bates, Blue Bunny Bookstore, Dedham, Massachusetts  7:00 PM ET

Sept. 28 Schele Williams and Tonya Engel, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 28 Brian Selznick, River Bend Bookshop, Glastonbury, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Sept. 30 Amy Timberlake & Adam Rex, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Sept. 30 R. J. Palacio & Josh Radnor, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 8:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For August

I'm getting the virtual opportunities post up first thing this month, because there are several multi-author events coming up in the next week. I'll be updating over the course of August. 

Aug. 3 Helen Rutter and Gordon Korman, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madision, Connecticut 5:00 PM ET

Aug. 5 Amitha Knight, Sandhya Prabhat, Livia Blackburne, Belmont Books, Massachusetts 6:30 PM ET

Aug. 5 Tehlor Kay Mejia, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

Aug. 7 & 8 Middle Ground Book Fest, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  Panels all weekend, ET

Aug. 7 Tehlor Kay Mejia and Nina Moreno, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 12:00 PM CT

Aug. 7 Britta Lunkin, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 3:00 PM ET

Aug. 14 & 15 Virtual Indie Book Fest, YA panel on the 14th, Starting at 10:00 AM ET each day.

Aug. 16 Deb Caletti, Morgan Matson, Nafiza Azad, and Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 6:00 PM CT

Aug. 23 Chandra Prasad, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For July

This month I'm including a writers' conference. (See July 30-31 below.) The Northwestern University Summer Writers' Conference is of particular interest because, not only is it virtual this year, you can also just register for the workshops you're interested in. They offer options for one, two, three workshops, or the whole conference.

This is a big deal to me. Sad to say, my interests appear to be pretty narrow. I'm hard put to find enough workshops offered at a conference that fit my work, either as it is now or I want it to be, to make it worth attending a one- day conference, forget about two. And I'm talking conferences just an hour or two from my home. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about the hanging around/networking thing. At least, I've heard about it. But if you've got only two one-hour workshops spread over even just a one-day conference that's a whole lot more hanging around/networking than I can tolerate. 

To be able to sign up for just one workshop, as I have for this NU program, and be able to attend it from my home--that is like a fantasy. On top of that, Northwestern is in Chicago. I am in southern New England. Yes, yes, we are talking a fantasy here. No, wait. We may be talking a futuristic sci-fi scenario.

UPDATE: I've added two more virtual opportunities for writers, these specifically for writers of children's books. See below.

As usual, as I hear about more virtual programs, I'll update this post. I tweet all the offerings so following me on Twitter would be a way to keep up with anything new that I find.

July 20 Alison Pearce Stevens, University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska 7:00 PM CT 

July 20 Meghan P. Browne, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

July 21 Max Brallier, Supriya Kelkar, Minh Le, Alicia D. Williams, Kate Milford, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut  7:00 PM ET 

July 21  Chris Tebbetts First of two-part webinar, The Writers' Loft, Sherborn, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

July 21 Diana Lopez, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT 

July 27 Erin Dionne First of a multi-part webinar, The Writers' Loft, Sherborn, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET

July 28 Emily Arsenault, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

July 30-31 Northwestern University Summer Writers' Conference, Chicago, Illinois  CT

July 31 Jerry Craft, R.J. Julia Booksellers and E. Scranton Memorial Library, Madison, CT 10:00 AM ET

Some Virtual Opportunities For June

I love virtual author appearances. Here are some I've stumbled upon. This post will be updated throughout the month as I stumble upon more.

June 1 Alicia D. Williams and April Harrison, Brave & Kind Books, Decatur, Georgia 12:00 PM ET 

June 2 Nick Bruel, Turning the Page, Monroe, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

June 2 Ann Hood, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 4 Sara Farizan, Charlie Jane Anders, A.S. King, Rebecca Kim Wells, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton, Massachusetts. 7:00 PM ET 

June 5 Debbi Michiko Florence and Josephine Cameron, Print A Bookstore, Portland, Maine 6:00 PM ET

June 5 Stephanie Sorkin, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 10:30 AM ET

June 10, J.C. Phillips, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 6:30 PM ET

June 10 Jamie Pacton and Becky Albertalli, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas  7:00 PM CT

June 14 Mary Alice Monroe, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, Connecticut 7:00 PM ET

June 15 Sarah Beth Durst and Jessica Day George, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT 

June 15 Shelli R. Johannes and Mike Moran, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT 4:00 PM

June 17 A.C. Wise, Space Cowboy Books, Joshua Tree, California 9:00 PM ET

June 22 Maddie Frost, Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Action, Massachusetts 7:00 PM ET 

June 23 Daniel Aleman and L.C. Rosen, R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT 7:00 PM ET

June 27 Jacqueline Woodson, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 4:00 PM CT

June 29 Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows, Brigid Kemmerer, R.J. Julia Booksellers,  Madison, CT 7:00 PM ET

June 30 Jennifer L. Holm, Savanna Ganucheau, Stephanie Cooke, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas 5:00 PM CT

Some Virtual Opportunities

Here are some opportunities to see a number of children's literature authors--sometimes more than one at a time--from the comfort of your home. Choose appropriate snacks for the time of day. NOTE: I will add additional May dates to this post, as I come upon them.

The Silver Unicorn Bookstore in Acton, Massachusetts is featuring the following events. All can be accessed at the store's event page. Scroll down to look for them. 

• Wed., May 12 Virtual Paperback Launch for Debbi Michiko Florence and Jo Knowles 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Thurs., May 13 Math-Joy Picture Book Spectacular. Rajani LaRocca, Sara Levine, and Carrie Finison 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Wed., May 19 Adventures in Middle-Grade Three-Author Event. Rebecca Caprara with Kaela Rivera and Sam Subity 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET
  
• Sat., May 22 Saturday Morning Story Time. Phaea Crede and Terry Runyan 10:00 to 11:00 AM ET
  
• Thurs., May 27 Middle-Grade Author Event: Jenn Bishop, Laurie Morrison, and Tanya Guerrero 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET

John Green Tour, various bookstore sponsors, ticketed event. Tour supports his new book of essays.

• May 17, Northeast Stop, 7:30 to 8:30 PM  ET
  
• May 18, Western Stop, 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM  ET
  
• May 19, Southern Stop, 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM  ET
  
• May 22, Midwest Stop, 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM  ET 

May 19 Alyson Gerber and Jarrett Lerner, Best of Books, Edmond, OK 7:00 PM CT

May 20 Stuart Gibbs, Children's Book World, Los Angeles, Calif., 10:00 AM presumably Pacific Time  Pre-purchase required for individual registration

May 22 The Peter Panel, Aiden Thomas, Kayla Ancrum, A.C. Wise, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Martha Brokenbrough 7:05 PM ET

May 24 The Renegades of Middle Grade: James Ponti, Janae Marks, Stuart Gibbs, Sarah Mlynowski, Karina Yan Glaser, R. J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT  7:00 PM

May 26 Abdul-Razak Zachariah, Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT 4 to 5 PM ET