Summer 2015 Update

Summer 2015 Update

Hi! Hope everyone is having good summer! I haven’t posted a “real” blog in a long time. Mainly because I tweet everything live @paulayoo. So I decided to do a “greatest hits” blog of my recent tweets. 🙂 Here’s my Summer 2015 Update blog to let everyone know what I’ve been up to lately! 

Awards Round-Up:  I’m honored that my latest book, TWENTY-TWO CENTS: MUHAMMAD YUNUS AND THE VILLAGE BANK (Illustrated by Jamel Akib, Lee & Low Books 2014)  has won many awards this past year. They include:

– 2015 South Asia Book Award (from the South Asia National Outreach Consortium to promote and create awareness of quality children’s books about the people, culture and heritage of South Asia for students, librarians and teachers. Link here: http://southasiabookaward.org/2015-award-books/)

– 2015 Skipping Stones Honor Award (from Skipping Stones Magazine, honoring 25 children’s books promoting an understanding of cul- tures, cultivate cooperation and encourage a deeper understanding of the world’s diversity and encouraging ecological richness, respect for multiple viewpoints and closer relationships within human societies. Link here: http://www.skippingstones.org/2015.BookAwardsPR.pdf)

2015 Notable Books for a Global Society – Children’s Literature & Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association

2015 Best Children’s Books of the Year – Bank Street College of Education

2015 Best Multicultural Books – Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Books

2014 Junior Library Guild Selection

2014 CCBC Choices Annual Best Children’s Books of the Year – Cooperative Children’s Book Center

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The summer also got off to a great start with a trip to sign books in San Francisco for the 2015 American Librarians Association conference. Here are some fun pics from my trip:

The Lee & Low Books booth signing schedule for the ALA Conference:

The Lee & Low Booth signing schedule for the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

The Lee & Low Booth signing schedule for the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

I was thrilled that Lee & Low Books illustrator and artist FRANK MORRISON not only signed his latest book, LITTLE MELBA AND HER BIG TROMBONE (Written by Katheryn Russell-Brown, Lee & Low Books 2014), but also drew me a picture, too!

Honored to meet artist & Lee & Low illustrator Frank Morrison at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Honored to meet artist & Lee & Low illustrator Frank Morrison at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Frank Morrison not only signed my copy of Little Melba and Her Big Trombone (written by Katheryn Russell-Brown) but also drew me a picture! Wow!

Frank Morrison not only signed my copy of Little Melba and Her Big Trombone (written by Katheryn Russell-Brown) but also drew me a picture! Wow!

I also met some kid lit author/artist pals, including Caldecott Medalist DAN SANTAT and awesome kid lit authors ANDREA BEATY and GREG NERI!

Me & Caldecott Medalist author/illustrator/awesome dude Dan Santat at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Me & Caldecott Medalist author/illustrator/awesome dude Dan Santat at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Me & kid lit author Andrea Beaty at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Me & kid lit author Andrea Beaty at the 2015 ALA Conference in San Francisco!

Caught up with kid lit author pal Greg Neri and honored to meet Charleston County Public Library librarian Andria Amaral who worked with librarian Cynthia Hurd

Caught up with kid lit author pal Greg Neri and honored to meet Charleston County Public Library librarian Andria Amaral who worked with librarian Cynthia Hurd

At the ALA Conference, I was honored to meet Charleston County Public Library librarian ANDRIA AMARAL who worked with librarian Cynthia Hurd. I donated my signed books to the Charleston library in memory of Cynthia Hurd, who devoted her life to promoting books and education for young people. Authors can also donate their books in honor of the Charleston Nine and Cynthia Hurd’s memory to: Andria L. Amaral Young Adult Services Manager, Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun St, Charleston, SC 29401 (843) 805-6880 If you would also like to make contribution now to help the families of the victims of the Charleston tragedy, go here: http://www.charleston-sc.gov/index.aspx?NID=1330 #BlackLivesMatter

After the ALA Conference, we stopped by the John Steinbeck house and museum in Salinas, CA on our way back home. I have lived in Los Angeles since 1995 and never visited this place. I realized as a writer, I should stop by!

I had a wonderful time. Here’s a picture of John Steinbeck’s house. I’m pointing to the top window because that is where he wrote many of his books, including THE RED PONY and TORTILLA FLAT! For more info on this house, go here: http://steinbeckhouse.com

This is John Steinbeck's house in Salinas, CA. I'm pointing to the window where he wrote!

This is John Steinbeck’s house in Salinas, CA. I’m pointing to the window where he wrote!

We also visited the National Steinbeck Center which features documentary films and an incredible museum display about John Steinbeck’s life. As good luck would have it… the day we visited was the same day that performance artist TIM YOUD was in residence at the museum. He was spending the week at the museum, specifically inside the actual real-life trailer (on permanent display) that John Steinbeck used to travel and write TRAVELS WITH CHARLEY. Tim Youd is embarked on a ten-year performance art series in which he is re-typing 100 classic American novels by using the writers’ original typewriters and typing the books in the same places where these authors wrote. It was also an interactive art piece where museum visitors could ask questions. Tim answered many of my questions! It was so fascinating. I was tempted to ask him to re-type my novel GOOD ENOUGH (HarperCollins 2008) on my dining room table at my old condo… 🙂 It was very inspiring to watch this performance artist type away!

Performance artist TIM YOUD re-types "Travels With Charley" at the National Steinbeck Center. http://www.timyoud.com

Performance artist TIM YOUD re-types “Travels With Charley” at the National Steinbeck Center. http://www.timyoud.com

For more info on the museum, go here: http://www.steinbeck.org For more info on artist Tim Youd, go here: http://www.timyoud.com

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This summer, the third season of DEFIANCE is airing on SyFy right now. I had the privilege of working on this show this past year as Supervising Producer. My episode, “Where The Apples Fell” aired on July 10, 2015. (Link: http://www.syfy.com/defiance)

I was privileged to write for the show DEFIANCE on SyFy for its third season this year!

I was privileged to write for the show DEFIANCE on SyFy for its third season this year!

My episode #306 "Where The Apples Fell" of Defiance aired on SyFy July 10, 2015!

My episode #306 “Where The Apples Fell” of Defiance aired on SyFy July 10, 2015!

To celebrate the third season of SyFy’s DEFIANCE, I posted some solo violin versions of our awesome composer BEAR MCCREARY‘s score on youtube. He is an amazing musician and composer, and I had fun coming up with solo violin versions of what he composed for our show. You can find the links here:

Defiance Theme: My violin solo here: https://youtu.be/gY-gjDbaalo (Original theme here: https://youtu.be/FmxyNZBdwhE)

Defiance Wedding Song (aired Season 1): https://youtu.be/S2bztJMtsnM (Original version here: https://youtu.be/WiCbDn85QkU)

Defiance “Ooh Child” (vocals by Raya Yarbrough, aired Season 1): https://youtu.be/_RJjso45Dw0 (Original version here: https://youtu.be/9YRtVHwJNEs)

For more info on BEAR MCCREARY, go here: http://www.bearmccreary.com

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I had the privilege of working on the show Mozart in the Jungle on Amazon for its first season!

I was excited to see a billboard in my neighborhood for Amazon’s “MOZART IN THE JUNGLE”! (I wrote for its first season!)

Before joining DEFIANCE, I also had the privilege of working as a Supervising Producer on the Amazon series MOZART IN THE JUNGLE last year. It was exciting to see all the billboards everywhere when the show debuted Christmas 2014 on Amazon Prime. It was fun to combine my violin background while pitching ideas for this series based on the acclaimed memoir “Mozart in the Jungle” by the talented professional oboist Blair Tindall.

For more info on the show, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-HD/dp/B00I3NHQ5I

For more info on Blair Tindall and her memoir, go here: http://www.mozartinthejungle.com

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Speaking of the violin, I also played a few gigs with the 1960s influential psychedelic rock band LOVE (now known as LOVE REVISITED with original guitarist Johnny Echols). (I also played with the original LOVE WITH ARTHUR LEE band several years ago, too.)

Such an honor to play with the legendary original guitarist Johnny Echols of Love!

Such an honor to play with the legendary original guitarist Johnny Echols of Love!

If you’d like to see our performance of their classic song “Old Man” from the iconic album FOREVER CHANGES, go here: https://youtu.be/LaET1Dvmhc0

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Well, I think that about covers a lot of what I’ve been up to recently. Right now, I’m back in the Writing Batcave, working on some new ideas! But don’t worry, I’ve got my cats Oreo, Beethoven and Charlotte to take care of me!

My Summer Schedule: Write. Practice violin. Read. Play with cats. Lather, rinse, and repeat. :)

My Summer Schedule: Write. Practice violin. Read. Play with cats. Lather, rinse, and repeat. 🙂 (Beethoven is sniffing my violin but thankfully not scratching it!)

Charlotte helps me write in the Writing Batcave! :)

Charlotte helps me write in the Writing Batcave! 🙂

Oreo is a strict editor!

Oreo is a strict editor!

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SPECIAL NOTE: If you haven’t noticed yet, the COMMENTS section has been closed off for my blog. This is due to computer SPAM issues. I will re-open the COMMENTS section in early 2016 when we get closer to my annual NAPIBOWRIWEE (National Picture Book Writing Week) event May 1-7, 2016. (For more info on NAPIBOWRIWEE, go here: https://paulayoo.com/mark-your-calendars-next-years-napibowriwee-will-be-may-1-7-2016/)

In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter here: @paulayoo You can also follow my cat @oreothecatyoo 

Until next my next blog, HAPPY WRITING! As always, remember… WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT! 🙂

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