ABC news - video clip from the Baltimore Book Festival

Thanks to Kate at AK Press, I was finally able to get my hands on the ABC news video clip wherein my book is featured in a rather funny way by 'Maria in the Mix'. Watch it & maybe it'll crack you up, too! Just click on the title above & it will take you to the ABC news page, wait for it to load, then scroll down to the very bottom right corner and then click on Maria in the Mix: Bookfest. Total time for the clip is about 2 and a half minutes. The funny part is at the end, around the 2 minute mark.
Cheers,
Jessica.

http://www.abc2news.com/mediacenter/local.aspx

Baltimore Book Festival!

I'm headed out tomorrow, sans kids & permanent sweetheart. 3 nights in a city where two dear girlfriends live, one of them being China, with whom I will fully enjoy a rare weekend and again, share the mic with our books. If you're around, please do come on down!

From the Radical Book Pavilion at the 2008 Baltimore Book Festival schedlue of speakers: (Click on the title above, or paste this link into your browser - redemmas.org/bookfair/)

Check out the entire roster! (Looks like the place to be for me.)

3pm: China Martens (The Future Generation, Atomic Books) and Jessica Mills (My Mother Wears Combat Boots, AK Press) on alternative parenting

Social justice movements often challenge us to create personal and social change but often provide no support for parents, mothers especially, who try to do so. Let's learn how to work together in new ways. By valuing the involvement/work of parents and caretakers; and including the voices/needs of children we form a more vibrant culture of resistance as we work towards a more equitable future. Jessica Mills and China Martens read from their latest books, and facilitate a discussion on social justice and community support for families. Parents, non-parents, and children are all welcome, and encouraged to attend! Coloring book zines and crayons will be handed out! More info: My Mother Wears Combat Boots | The Future Generation

Brain, Child Magazine article

Check out this essay "Rock Steady" by Lindsay Maines wherein she talks about 3 different rocker mama books, one of them being mine :) For more from Lindsay, she blogs at rockandrollmama.com

And oh yeah, just to clarify a few inaccuracies in the essay:
1) I had Emma-Joy when I was 2 weeks shy of my 30th birthday, not at age 28.
2) I am not the singer for Citizen Fish; I play tenor sax.
3) We didn't move TO Florida. Rather, we moved from Gainesville to Hollywood, both in Florida, but separated by 329 miles.

http://www.brainchildmag.com/essays/fall2008_maines.asp

Thanks, Boing Boing!

Cory Doctorow did me right with this review of my book:

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/08/my-mother-wears-comb.html

Now the comments section is another story. I may go on and on another time about what my thoughts and feelings were while reading through them, but in a nutshell: it made me feel vulnerable, exposed, and wondering how so many perfect strangers who haven't read word one of my book could be so misinformed, mean and defensive. Hmmm...
I will say thank you to those who have read my book and responded accordingly, Thank You! And a huge Thank You to Cory, too! You rock :)

Looking for Submissions- Things Kids Learn Subversively At School

Clayton wrote, "I'm compiling a zine of things kids learn during school that fall outside the prescribed curriculum. What I mean is- paper footballs, how to pop a glue stick so it spins like a top, those crazy intricate folded note designs, etc. Basically the stuff kids do when they are bored in class. I just had a conversation with some teachers at a workshop and it was fascinating!! There are so many things out there!! If you're a teacher, have the kids write instructions on how to do them and send me a picture if that's possible too. If you remember ones from back in the day when you were in school, that counts too!! I'm looking for the best spitwad methods, the million and one things to do with the eraser of a pencil, etc."

"If I'm ambitious and have time, maybe I'll write some essay exploring the world of unapproved arts and crafts in school, but probably not, so if you want to write pieces that deal with this, that'd be awesome!!"

Send stuff to claytondewey@gmail.com

Last call for Submissions - My Baby Rides the Short Bus

The deadline for general submissions to My Baby Rides the Short Bus was July 1, 2008. We are really pleased with the strong and thought-provoking essays we have received and look forward to publishing an amazing anthology. To fill some holes we see, we will still be accepting a small number of submissions on the topics listed below. We are particularly interested in receiving submissions from dads, young parents, older parents and/or people of color. Also, we have a disproportionately high number of essays about autism, and while we will definitely consider more of those, we'd like to see contributions for parents dealing with other disabilities.
Topics:

*Working outside of the system--creating alternatives
*Living in an intentional community with a special needs kid
*Homeschooling or unschooling with special needs
*Alternative treatments
*Out of home placements
*Kids growing older
*Disability activism
*Influence of parenting a child with disabilities on intimate parental relationships/relationships with other family members

Please email shortbusbook@yahoo.com to discuss a deadline. Submission guidelines are available at www.shortbusbook.blogspot.com.

Sign the Petition to Protect Homebirths

Now is the time to support homebirths and professional midwives.
Sign this petition to tell your representatives that you want to be in control of how and where you give birth.
Click on the title of this post to link to the petition website:

www.ipetitions.com/petition/birthathome/index.html