My Blog
by Shaina Lu, Author and Illustrator of Puppets
May 19th , 2008
Monday
Dear Friends,
A lot has been happening since my last update! For clarity, I'll put little subheadings before every new topic.
Angelique
YouthInkwell Publishing has a new assistant, and her name is Angelique. She's very cool, and you can read about her in the 'About Us' page once I get her bio.
LA Times Festival of Books
So, earlier this month, YouthInkwell participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 26-27, Saturday and Sunday. It was scorching hot, so we sold YouthInkwell bottles filled with ice-cold water. That actually made money. And to the delight of all the Youth Board kids, especially Hunter and AJ--we were right next to Mr. Toast!
Big News
And...
We have a new website! Check it out at www.wishingwellproject.org. (Thanks, Michael Fiore.)
Now, we can potentially go international!
At the site, if you're a kid, you can do one of two options (or you can do both, if you're extra helpful): to "Make it Rain" or to create a "Wishing Well." To make it rain, all you have to do is go through a quick water quiz. For every kid that "makes it rain," a dollar is donated to The Well Project. You can also publish your own story to help the YouthInkwell effort. Click on "Publish a Story and Create a Wishing Well." Type in your info, create your own customized jug avatar, and publish your story...and wait for the donations to roll in.
(Adults: you can help out too... Under the heading "Big People," find the button that says DONATE, and donate!)
Youth Board
We have NEW cabinet members on the Youth Board. The Fabulous Matthew de la Peza is President, Steven Losorelli is Vice President, Ivy Miller is Secretary, and Billy Hawkins is Treasurer.
Prospective members can apply now, as we're losing four members this fall. Get an application from the center or email us! (Recommendations needed.)
We meet at:
YouthInkwell Publishing
155 S. El Molino Ave, Suite 102
Pasadena, CA 91101
Peace With Justice Center and Adidas Classic
Last Saturday, May 17th, Jennifer took me, Ivy Miller, Kevin, and Steven to Claremont for the Peace & Justice Center's meeting. We saw, Thirst, an informative documentary about the battle against water privitization. Afterwards, Ivy Miller and Steven delivered an awesome presentation about YouthInkwell and what it does.
The day after, Billy and Jennifer went to cheer on a 17-year-old Ethiopian runner!
And...
Come visit us at the Leimert Park Book Fair, May 31st, and the Feria del Libro, June 7th!
Without Wax,
Shaina
March 26 , 2008
Wednesday
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to announce that our new site is up and running!
A big thank you to Emilio and Benson for their help!
We have lot of exciting developments coming up soon!
Without Wax,
Shaina
March 11 , 2008
Tuesday
Dear Friends,
Last weekend, on March 8th, the Youth Board held a Garage Sale at Ivy Miller's house. They sold toys, books, clothes, and other random old things that they found in their houses. They collectively raised a little over 500 dollars that day!
Good job, Youth Board!
Also, the previous Sunday, on March 2nd, YouthInkwell participated in the LA Marathon! They wore pretty cool YouthInkwell LA Marathon shirts! Thanks, Ruben from Embroidme and Emilio for your help in putting those together!
The Publishing site is currently undergoing renovations, so I'll keep this update short...so I can get back to fixing things.
Quick overview: We'll be participating in the UCLA Festival of Books this April, and we'll hopefully be participating, if all goes well, at Comicon this July.
Me? I'm doing okay. I'm enjoying the month before my college letters come back.
Wish us luck for the upcoming year! Check back, and I'll keep you posted.
Without Wax,
Shaina
February 16, 2008
Friday
Dear Friends,
First, let me introduce myself.
My name is Shaina Lu, and I’m the author/illustrator of Puppets and the illustrator of The Painted Tea Set.
I’m a senior at San Marino High School. Now that I’m done with those fantastically fun college applications (I really miss them!) I realized that I really don’t have a whole lot to do anymore except play World of Warcraft and work here, so I have taken up the Herculean task of resurrecting this blog. Which will inform you of the various goings-on of YouthInkwell.
A whole BUNCH (for lack of a better word) of stuff (great vocabulary there) has happened in the past couple of months here at YouthInkwell Publishing!
The “Read and Black” Book Launch back in November of last year was a great success, and both books—Puppets and The Painted Tea Set—are doing really well.
We had a cross-continental event over on the East Coast, where the Applewild kids had their own Book Launch!
Anyway, I have some really fabulous news…!
YouthInkwell Publishing produced its second “Cool Kid!” Friday, February 1st, we were pleasantly shocked by a phone call from ABC that told us our Youth Board of Advisors’ President, Ivy Yang, was one of ABC’s “Cool Kids.” She’ll receive a scholarship of $1000 and has already gone on TV!
ABC interviewed her on Monday at YouthInkwell and filmed our Bowl-a-Thon fundraiser at the AMF Bahama Lanes on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008. (Yours truly hit an all-time low with a score of 28. Can you believe it? Eight gutter balls in a row…)
If you want to watch our fantastic Ivy in action, the “Cool Kids” program can be found here. You can see bits and pieces of the rest of us, too. (At 0:42 you can see Kevin’s chin, Gabby, Ivy Miller, and Cate! At 1:12 Hunter and I have an absolutely genuine-not-faked brainstorming meeting with Ivy.)
The Bowl-A-Thon was a success! So far, we’ve made a fairly decent amount, and money is still slowly trickling in. The highest-scoring kid that night was Kevin Lu, who is not actually related to me, followed by Hunter Morrow, who made the most money that night. Congrats to both of them! The lowest-scoring bowler was, ahem…
Anyway…thank you, sponsors!
We’re so excited that we’re literally bouncing off the walls. Our Youth Board is also participating in the LA Marathon on March 2 and (hopefully) in the UCLA Festival of Books in this coming April.
Secretary Matthew De La Peza and his underling Ivy Miller are currently badgering me to get addressess and contact information for them. So I guess I'll stop writing now.
A lot of big things are happening here in this little office! Just want to keep you up to date.
Without Wax,
Shaina
Thinking about becoming an illustrator for YouthInkwell? Want a chance to get your work published while helping others with your art? Download an application and mail it to:
YouthInkwell Publishing
RE: Teen Illustrator Submission
155 S. El Molino Ave., Suite 102
Pasadena, CA 91101