NCTE 2010 Pix

Orlando: A few hours on a plane and you're in a sunny warm place where trees have leaves and grass is green. I loved the silvery foliage of this tree in front of my building (hotel complex Coronado). And I took this palm tree photo from the balcony.

Now if you are someplace where the landscape is gray and brown, like the Northeast for example, you're probably thinking these photos are fake. The sky is too blue. The pool is too blue. But I took these with my tourist-y camera, no joke.

Now imagine that I have to tear myself away from all this beauty and sunshine to go into a convention center. I know! But it was a thrill to see a big group of English teachers eagerly waiting to talk about poetry. Sylvia Vardell started us off and we were all treated to readings by Lee Bennett Hopkins, Marilyn Singer and Pat Mora. They were all so gracious and made me feel welcome in the Poetry Club.

You probably can't see that this pyramid has water flowing down the steps, but it was a very soothing sound. A great spot to mellow out after my presentation.

Now, through the magic of technology, skip to the next night. The balmy Florida air. The music piped in around the gardens. Lots of walking across "campus."

Before the Random House dinner, I hung out with a few writers at the waterfront lounge, including 2k10 Classmate Janet Fox, author of Faithful and the forthcoming Forgiven (Spring 2011).

Then it was on to a nice meal with Random House folks and NCTE English teachers.

It was such a thrill to meet one of my heroes Kirby Larson, author of Hattie Big Sky, a work I consider to be one of the most perfect books ever written. Even better that it's historical fiction. Next to her, Lois Lowry, who I've had the good fortune to meet previously since she was one of the judges for the award 3RR received prior to publication. If you haven't listened to The Willoughbys on audio, do yourself a favor and find it. Artie Johnson was born to read this book. Genius meets genius.

Then here is Pat Mora in pink who participated in the poetry panel the day before. She read from Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love, which includes all relationships, not just romantic. I love how she thinks about expanding the audience for poetry, and about how educators should apply themselves to the craft of writing.
Here's Pat with panel organizer Sylvia Vardell of Texas Women's University and the blog Poetry for Children. And last, but not least, I grabbed a photo-op with the current crowned Newbery winner Rebecca Stead, author of When You Reach Me.

Well, one more last stop, I finally got a turn in one of those hammocks, and looked out at the lights and the water and said goodbye to Florida. Until we meet again, Orlando...