Back from the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) conference in Boston, I am refreshed, rejuvenated and basking in the afterglow of connecting with the warmest, kindest, most giving people. What a gift to spend time with a community that is working hard everyday to offer much needed stories for our young people. I met inspiring educators, librarians, editors, publishers, and fellow creatives and am in awe of their hard work and dedication.
This is my second NCTE conference and oh my goodness, it did not disappoint. I learned a few things from the one I attended last year, and put some of them into practice.
There are so many sessions that you’ll want to go to. Don’t overextend. I made time to just hang out on the exhibit floor which led to bumping into old friends and making new ones. I checked out the new books releasing this year and next, and checked in with my publishers. These are just some of the beautiful books I got. They will make wonderful holiday gifts for the young people in your lives.
Schedule meetings with kidlit friends ahead of time - get together for that coffee, snack, lunch! I did better at organizing this time and these meetings filled my well.
Attend the keynotes if you can. Inspirational.
Connect with your peeps - the NCTE Asian American Caucus Gathering was a blast and the desi writers’ meetup was delightful.
Submit a proposal to present. It’s a lot of work to put together but totally worth it. I was lucky to present on three different topics with brilliant writer friends. Educators walked away with concrete activities and resources they could use in their classrooms, which I know they appreciated because they told us so :) Thank you teachers!
Join me this Sunday at 11:30 am for the launch of LOVE IS HERE WITH YOU. If you don’t have a little one, consider donating your copy for the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. If you can’t make it to the launch, make a note in your pre-order. I’ll be gathering all the books on Sunday.
Show note: At the launch, I’ll be singing the Malayalam lullaby that inspired this book and Vedika, my daughter, will be accompanying me on the flute. There’ll be laddoos (Ganesha’s favorite treat!) and coloring pages by Nabi Ali, the illustrator, for littles to color.
I can’t wait to connect with you there!
If you have read my books and like them, do take a minute to review them on Amazon and/or request them for your local public library or school library. Authors need all the help they can get to spread the word and that Amazon algorithm needs the reviews to make us pop up on searches!
Want me to visit your school, library, museum, or festival? Contact me.
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