Strong At The Heart

Arrrgh! Blog spam got me!

A week ago, this site started getting nonsense posts from addresses at blader.com. Then the spam became these flattering little missives. “Great site. Wish mine was a good.” More blader.com addresses so I knew they weren’t for real. Now they are coming from yahoo and other addresses and advertising everything from investment to porn.

This is why the comments at this site are moderated, so you don’t have to wade through this kind of junk. But for now I’m turning off the “comments” capability until the spammers get tired of sending me their rubbish. If you want to communicate with me–or add a comment to the blog–email me from the contact page. If you indicate that you want to post, I’ll put your remarks on the blog.

Once it looks like the coast is clear, I’ll turn the comment capability back on. It’s all a learning experience.

Today is such a beautiful day on the Northcoast, our second day of sunshine and temperatures above 70 degrees–after weeks of endless fog. That’s right, while everyone else has been sweltering, we’ve been wearing sweaters here.

Right outside my window a man on a ladder is swinging a paintbrush. For the last six weeks I’ve been writing with hammering and belt sanding going on outside my window while our old Victorian gets repaired and prepped for painting. At least the paint is going on more quietly, but I still have interruptions a dozen times a day. Quarter round or cove molding on the trim? Rebuild or repair the cellar door? Then I’m back at the computer, trying to find the place where I left off writing.

Right now I am working on an article about the depiction of survivors of sexual abuse in young adult literature, so if you have books or ideas or responses you want to share, please let me know either by posting your comment here or emailing me.

two sites

Best Interests is a website for child advocates that has international news, articles, links, and recommended books. They’ve featured Strong at the Heart on their book pages. Thank you, Marcia.

There’s an interesting survivor site with blog and short video segments put up by Tim Fisher. Tim was raped by a priest as a child and now speaks out in support of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) in the Midwest.

Check this out: Cynthia Smith just posted an interview with me on her weblog Cynsations.

Cynthia is a wonderful interviewer. She asked the kind of questions that brought out stories about the book, the writing of it, and the responses of individual readers. It’s the best interview on the book yet.

If you are at all into books for young readers, her blog and website are well worth bookmarking. Cynthia puts up two or three author interviews each month and posts news and opinions about books for kids and young adults. Her website is full of goodies including an archive of her author interviews. I hope mine will be there soon, too.

She’s also a wonderful author herself and has written several books that circulate from my bookshelves and are listed in my bibliographies of recommended books.

kentucky bluegrass

To my absolute delight, Strong at the Heart has been listed for the 2007 Kentucky Bluegrass Award, Master List for grades 9-12. High school students throughout Kentucky will have the chance to read from this list of fifteen books and then vote for their favorite. Right now I have a very warm spot in my heart for Kentucky!