A Fuse 8 Production
READ BETSY BIRD’S BLOG ON SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL HERE
has served on Newbery, reviewed for Kirkus, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she’d love to tell you about but that she’s sure you’d find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Most recently she wrote —ADD NEW COPY HERE ABOUT POP— the middle grade novel LONG ROAD TO THE CIRCUS, with illustrations by Caldecott Award winning artist David Small.
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BETSY: THE LONG VERSION BIO
Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, undisputed center of the universe, I grew up and promptly left Michigan the moment my legs could propel me southward. I didn’t get far. I was an English/Fine Arts major at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana (home of recorded jazz, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) then set my sights on Portland, Oregon. When that didn’t pan out it was Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then New York, New York.
In the midst of all this I somehow managed to get a library degree and a job at New York Public Library, eventually becoming their Youth Media Specialist (a.k.a. the person who bought all the kids’ books for Manhattan, Staten Island, and the Bronx).
I created the children’s literary blog A Fuse #8 Production and schmoozed as no one had ever schmoozed before. The result? Books for kids and books for adults about children’s literature. I am now the Collection Development Manager of Evanston, IL. Stop by. We’ll have lunch. It’ll be nice.
WHY IS IT CALLED A FUSE #8 PRODUCTION?
Once upon a time my grandmother gave me her car. I was in college, broke, without any particular means of moving around, and that car gave me a bit of freedom and independence I had never known. It was also ugly as sin. The car, a 1989 Buick Century, had all the paint missing from its roof since it had spent the better part of its life sitting in the hot sun of my grandmother’s retirement community parking lot. I did not care. It was wheels and I was happy to have them.
During the summer after I graduated from college, I was spending the summer in my college town doing small jobs. One day I parked the car in front of my apartment, removed the key, and all of a sudden the electrical locks started going up and down, up and down, like the poor car was possessed. I screamed, exited the vehicle… then did absolutely nothing about it. The next morning the car battery was dead. It soon became clear that the electrical system was on the fritz. So, without a dime to my name, I took it to the mechanic.
The mechanic who saw me probably could tell at a glance that anyone driving a dilapidated 1989 Buick Century lacking in any and all paint on its roof probably wasn’t rolling in the dough. So, in a moment of mercy, he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out… Fuse #8 from the fuses in there. He told me in no uncertain terms that it controlled the radio, windshield wipers, turn signal, and electric locks. All I had to do was plug it in when I drove, and remove it when I parked. Easy peasy!
I drove that car for years and years. I drove it from southern Indiana to Portland, Oregon. I drove it years later from Portland, Oregon to Minneapolis, Minnesota. And there, in Minnesota, I met and married my husband. The car survived all of this.
My husband was a filmmaker at the time, and one day he happened to mention that he needed a good name for his production company. I suggested… A Fuse #8 Production. It just sounded like it should be the name of something. He didn’t go for it, but the name stuck in my mind. And when I decided, after reading an article in School Library Journal, to start a children’s literature blog of my own, that seemed like the perfect name.
It has everything to do with a janky 1989 Buick Century and nothing at all to do with children’s books. I do not care. The name? It is good.