Such a beautiful Sunday morning here in the Haute and all I can think about is dusting off the passport and finding a way to get back to France. Or Asia. Just somewhere distant!

I’m heading to NCAAL in Cincinnati this week and to Indy the next to see my children. School’s about ready to start which means I need to get my old projects completed and new ones begun. For me this year, it will be about promoting the Teaching Materials Collection and connecting more with the College of Education. We’re implementing a discovery layer for searching and I’ll be creating better plans to teach students how to be literate when selecting, evaluating and using resources.

I’m working with the campus nutritionist to eat healthier but now, it’s time to get back to the gym. My garden is coming along and I’ve been told that it’s time to consider planting winter crops. I’ve also just found out that the high lead content in the water here is not only a consideration for drinking water, but also showering: it leads to hair loss. Not a pleasant thought at all!

If you’re like me, you often wonder what inspires an author to write. NPR recently gave us a peek inside the sounds that stay with and influence Benjamin Alire Saenz.

Looking for a simply and innovative way to promote new books? Check out Vine.

Did you read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half a Yellow Sun? I’ts been made into a move and will be released this fall.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I visited Indiana Black Expo. While at that event, I couldn’t help but notice the number of organizations present that were directed at school reform. I wondered if these groups ever communication with one another to share information or data. Just think of the total amount of time, resources and money spent by these agencies. And it gets worse. The larger more influential reform projects are controlled by a group of billionaires. While they’re reshaping public education, they’re largely ineffective.

The current edition of The Drum: A Literary Magazine for Your Ears features Mitali Perkins reading her article “Writing Race in Novels”. Perkins works from a list of 10 basic ideas to relate when race ethnicity should be developed in a story.

Last week, I blogged a bit about food competitions and how a person’s color may affect the outcome. Note I said *may. Our reaction to skin color is often quite subtle. How often you notice when an event is all one race?

David Anthony Durham discusses why readers shouldn’t be color blind.

Nancy Tolson reacted to PBS’ all white list of YA Speculative Fiction by creating this list on Pinterest.

Ed Spicer shared Michael Benava’s Traditional Cultures Project on the YALSA listserv.

It tells the story of a family of nomadic water buffalo herders on their spring migration into the Himalayas of north India – through a 3-D map interface. So readers travel virtually over the terrain, stopping at points along the migration route to read about – and see pictures of – what’s happening at each stage of the journey.  The people are truly amazing; their way of life is fascinating and surprising; and the challenges they confront as their traditional forest-dwelling culture collides with the modern world are troubling in a twisted, ironic kind of way. Here’s the link: Van Gujjar Migration

Sunday morning. Enjoy your reading!