Friday, July 13, 2012

Books Boys Can’t Resist

I was honored to stumble onto the star-studded lineup of authors who presented at the weeklong 27th Annual Children’s Literature Conference at Shenandoah University in Virginia.

It was a stretch to tie my books Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman into the theme of “Books Boys Can’t Resist,” but I managed.

Author presentation slots were staggered so only a couple of us were on site on any given day. Mine was 6/28/12 but the fun began the night before when I had dinner with a lively group including our kind host Karen Huff and an author I’ve corresponded with but not met before: the inexhaustible and inspiring Phil Bildner.

A highlight: it was the first time I can recall that my name has been on a mug.

Two weeks earlier, my name had been on a T-shirt. I’m hoping bagel slicer is next.

The bathrooms were decked out with quotations from authors of books for young people.


They didn’t miss a spot.

In case you cant make out all the other names on the mug above, here is who besides Phil and me were down Shenandoah way to give a presentation at this well-run event:

Avi
Danny Brassell
Sneed Collard
Ralph Fletcher
Brian Floca
Daniel Kirk
Jarrett Krosoczka
Melinda Long
Gary Schmidt
Bob Shea
Charles Smith, Jr.
Dan Yaccarino





Each author was treated to a large and striking painting inspired by one of our books. Mine was soaring. I was stunned to learn that all of them were done by a single artist.


And they sold some serious book.






After, I was humbled to discover a blog post by an attendee; here’s an excerpt:

Today’s authors (I’m sure) will become two of my favorites. Marc Tyler Nobleman inspired me with his dedication and passion. His attention to detail and his desire to right the wrongs of the world (at least the world of Superman and Batman) are honorable and inspiring. I didn’t know there were people out there like him. Boys of Steel, a story about the creators of Superman will grab my boys! He gives me a great entry into interesting non-fiction. The story about Oregon in World War II, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon, has to be published. I am amazed that the story exists and we don’t know about it. That’s what I mean, his passion is contagious.

(Her next paragraph sings the praises of the other author, Phil Bildner.)

This is officially a Conference Authors Can’t Resist.

1 comment:

Michelle said...

WOW! Thank you for the link to my blog. I shared Boys of Steel with a student today and he loved it. He kept asking, "Did this really happen?" and "Is this true?" It was so much fun reading it with him.

Thank you again! Your comment means so much!!