Look what I did to myself on Monday night:

If you can’t tell, my pinky toe is swollen and purple. Yup. It’s broked. And it hurts like hell. (I didn’t know cutting parsley is a dangerous activity, but apparently it is.) Thankfully, I only fractured it near the top, so I’m not stuck in a walking boot. I do have a nice limp, though. And my running regimen? Snort. At least it’s only for a couple of weeks.

In other news, the August Estella’s Revenge is up. It’s a small issue (it is August, after all!), but, like usual, there’s some good stuff. For more pictures of me (albeit when I was a kid), check out my essay on why I like children’s books. (There’s also my review of Wendy Shalit’s new book. And I really enjoyed Nancy’s interview with Colleen Gleason.)

And don’t forget the Bookworm Carnival’s August deadline is quickly approaching. For more details, check reading is my superpower (she’s hosting, after all).

Try not to break your toe doing it. 🙂

And the latest issue of Estella is up online. It’s a great one — devoted to YA books (Not that I’m biased about the greatness of YA books or anything). My contributions (it’s my blog, so I can plug my stuff, right?) are a review of a not-so-good book (though I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that I seem to be the only one out there who doesn’t like it!), and a really good book. Interestingly, I found it more difficult to write a review of the good book — only because I wanted to do it justice, and I’m not sure I did. And the author of the good book graciously let me interview him… I think I need to do more interviews with people overseas. It was really quite neat sending off an email at 10 p.m. and having a response waiting for me the next morning.

There’s lots of other really good stuff in this issue, too. Go and enjoy.

The June issue of Estella’s Revenge is up, and it’s, um, hot. *grin*

As for my contributions, there’s my (very gushing) review of Austenland, an interview with (the very fun and down-to-earth) Shannon Hale, and an article about why we all love Jane Austen (which took me a lot longer to write than I thought it would).

Go. Read. Enjoy. (Come back with ego-stroking words of praise. *grin again* Can you tell I’m proud of/excited about this issue?)

What the book scene is like here in Wichita, right?

You ask, I deliver. Check out the interview with Sarah Bagby, too (She’s the manager of a local indie bookstore). That was an interesting experience (though it was very trying for my babysitter; dear little K doesn’t like it when Mommy’s away). Thankfully, I didn’t come off like a complete bumbling fool.

Oh, and while you’re there, check out the other stuff in the issue. It’s a good one.

So, a while back, Leila posted about Shannon Hale’s new book, Austenland, which isn’t due out until June. And while I wasn’t exactly green with envy, I was just a little bit jealous. Then I got to thinking: hey, I write for Estella’s Revenge. I wonder, if I contacted Shannon Hale’s people, if I could get a copy of the book, too. And, so I did. And ta-da! I have in my grubby little hands, an advance review copy of Austenland. (does a little happy dance)

Y’all will just have to wait on what I think of it, though. I’ve got an interview and review lined up for the June issue, to coincide with the pub date.

In other news, I’ve got Rick Riordan’s latest, Titan’s Curse, coming, too. M is REALLY happy about that one.

I think I like this book reviewing thing. (grin)

The April issue of Estella is up! And if you’re interested, this is what I thought of the Super Mom books by Melanie Hauser. I also have an interview with the author, too. (Though I think my opening paragraph is lame. Need to work on that.) There’s good stuff in the issue. Go. Enjoy.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who just knew that she wanted to be a Sports Reporter when she grew up. She was on her high school yearbook and newspaper staffs, and even had a subscription to Sports Illustrated. Then she got to college. She decided, fairly early on, that what she really wanted to be was Music and Art Critic. She took numerous music, art, theater and dance classes and worked for the campus newspaper. But never on the lifestyle desk. After a while, she decided what she really wanted to be was a Newspaper Photographer. But while that was a lot of fun, it was a short-lived dream.

After graduation, she decided that she’d had enough of Journalism (this decision was spurred on by her husband getting an arts reviewing job for the local paper), and thought she’d try Graduate School. She even took the GRE. And didn’t do so well. So much for that decision.

They move to Washington, DC, and the girl decided that she liked Writing, but since she wasn’t good at it, maybe she could be an Editor. But the competition was tough. Really tough. She didn’t get any of the jobs she applied for. She bailed and took a job at a little company which allowed her to read most of the time (while she waited for there to be work for her to do). A Reviewer was born (though she didn’t know it yet). Because she read so much, she started keeping track of all the books, writing little reviews of them.

She left the cushy job after three years, and became a Nanny. She realized very quickly that while she loved and enjoyed her children, taking care of other people’s kids was a headache and a chore.

She moved from Washington, DC (sigh), and spent the next five years in small towns in the South and Midwest. She helped out in her daughter’s kindergarten class, and thought being a Pre-School Teacher might be fun. But, after thinking about it some, realized it wasn’t that much fun. She thought she might be a Children’s Book Writer, and even took a class, but discovered that while they said she had talent, without the class she had no drive (or creativity) to write stories. She moved again — this time to a bigger city in Kansas — and thought she might want to be a Cake Decorator or Baker. Then she discovered that she liked eating the cake and frosting too much. Working around food is not a healthy option.

Then Heather posted that the editors of Estella’s Revenge were retooling the webzine to be a book publication. And they were looking for contributors. Ah, the girl (woman, now, I guess) thought, this is what I want to do. I want to read books and write about them. But wait, her husband said. That’s what you’re already doing! And she realized he was right. She’d been a book reviewer for over two years now, gathering a small but fairly faithful audience. And it’s been fun. So, she took a leap and branched out, sending in a contribution to the March issue of Estella’s Revenge. And while it’s not a brilliant piece of work, it’s a start. She’s even got an author interview lined up for (hopefully) the April issue.

So, I guess this story has a happy ending. She found out what she wants to do when she grew up, and is actually doing it. I like stories with happy endings, don’t you?