squeetus

A book for every kid

Many of you may have participated in our Writing for Charity event the past couple of years and know how awesome it is. This year it's even bigger and better! We'll have a morning workshop and an evening entertainment-filled event. Go to either one or both. I've been doctor-warned not to plan on anything from this time forward, so I can't say whether or not I'll be there. I'd love to if I can! But plenty of other amazing authors will attend. I don't have the author list yet, but if they live in Utah, they'll probably be there. Here's the details, taken from Kristyn Crow's website.

Readers and Writers….SAVE THE DATE!

August 21, 2010
The Waterford School
1700 East 9550 South
Sandy, UT 84093

The Children’s Literature Association of Utah (CLAU)

and

The ROCK CANYON CHILDRENS AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS of UTAH PRESENT:

A BOOK FOR EVERY CHILD

CHARITY EVENT

Help us put books in the hands of underprivileged kids in Utah!

DAYTIME WRITING WORKSHOP: (Pre-register by August 15 $60/Walk-in $70)
Love writing? Spend a fabulous day with award-winning Utah authors! Get hands-on writing advice and move your manuscript closer to publication! Author panel, critiques, and book signings. Lunch provided.
(For adults and children 12 and older.)

EVENING EXTRAVAGANZA: (Pre-register by Aug. 15- $10/Walk-in $15, Family price $25) Book-Lover but not a writer? Or, just looking for a fabulous night out? Come to an evening extravaganza with entertainment by singer Nancy Hanson, The Divine Comedy troupe, a celebrity author panel, and a raffle with prizes that will astound you! (Adults and children over 12.)

COMBINED PACKAGE:($65 Pre-registration by August 15 price)
Love BOTH reading and writing? Attend the workshop , followed by the evening event! Have an experience you won’t forget, and all in the name of literacy! Remember, your purchase benefits Utah kids!

ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARD PUTTING BOOKS IN THE HANDS OF UNDERPRIVILEGED UTAH KIDS.

TO REGISTER visit: www.writingforcharity.com.

Or mail a check to:

CLAU - Writing for Charity [Make checks out to CLAU]
P.O. Box 614
Layton, Utah 84041

Please include the following information: Names of all participants and whether they will attend the workshop or evening event, or both, and contact information including your address and a telephone number.

Hottest spring accessory: airline barf bag

Thanks, all, for the congrats as well as the bewilderment. I totally get bewilderment.

I'm back from Chicago and IRA. Here are a few crappy photos taken on phone cameras.

At TLA with the fabulous Karen Cushman! She authored two of my favs, The Midwife's Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy.I was so excited to meet her and literally devoured her latest, Alchemy and Meggy Swann. So much good reading lately, but more on that in another post.

 
With authors Robin Brande and Varian Johnson. We were at an authors and publishers reception and I'd snagged one of the room's only chairs, so when Robin and Varian came over to chat, they both kind of squatted on the floor before me. Someone thought it looked worshipful, so of course we played it up. Robin Brande was my first Squeetus Exclusive interview and Varian, it turns out, is a twin himself!

A wonderful event at Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL. Look at the gorgeous people. And I didn't throw up on any of them! A few ladies drove a couple of hours from Normal, IL, and introduced themselves as "your Normal fans." I knew I had some!

And with my grandma Edith on her 99th birthday, just 'cause. Isn't she gorgeous?

It's always so great to travel and meet everyone, partake of their passion for reading and for life. I am relieved that was my last planned trip. The flights were tough on sicko me. I was supposed to go to ALA in DC in June till I found out that at 24 weeks pregnant, I will measure the same size as a woman carrying one baby is at 40 weeks. Holy horses. Not surviving a 5 hour flight and a convention center in a muggy city in that condition. Doctor said no way, Josefina.

So I'm looking at that last photo and wondering if I should go back to bangs.

A skunk cabbage by any other name...

Tonight (Tuesday) I'll be emceeing Brandon Mull's Fablehaven 5 release party, 6:30 pm, Cottonwood High School, Salt Lake City, Ut. I've never seen book events like what Shadow Mountain does for Fablehaven. They're amazing. They fill up a 2-3 thousand seater auditorium, so come early if you want a seat. It's so fun to see huge crowds excited about books!

Thursday, March 25, Dean, Nate, and I will be signing at the Orem Barnes & Noble, our first Utah Valley event for calamity jack! This may be the last joint event the three of us do, so come get a coveted triple-signed book. Please note that due to time constraints, there will be some signing limits. Dean, Nate, and I will happily sign and personalize all your copies of rapunzel's revenge and calamity jack. I will also sign all my other novels, but I will only personalize those books purchased that evening. I'm sorry to have to make that exception, but it is necessary this time.

Several commenters from the last post wanted to know about when I rename characters. I do it all the time. Often in my outlines, I won't even name characters, giving them designations like MC (main character) or F (friend), etc. When writing a first draft, I give characters the first name that pops into my head. I don't like to slow down the writing process name shopping for too long. Sometimes I'll keep that first name for the first draft, or several drafts, or forever. But other times, the name just doesn't feel right, and I'll do a search and replace.

Some examples:

Ani/Isi in goose girl was originally Talianna-Kiladra Anidori Isilee, and she went by Talia. When I renamed Selia, I liked her name so much I switched Ani's name around.

goose girl had lots of changes, but it wasn't until a few drafts in I decided to consult a medieval Germanic name list. Geric was originally named Wilder. I'm reusing the name Wilder currently in Daisy Danger Brown. Enna was Peta (reused that name in RS) and Razo was Rin (reused that too!). Rinna was Birch in river secrets until near the final draft. I liked Birch, but someone else didn't, I think my editor, so I went back to her brother's original name, which I'd liked so well but just hadn't fit him. I like that z in Razo.

Becky Jack had many different names. She was Jenny for awhile, and her husband Mike was Dave. Most of the names in the actor and the housewife changed. I used placeholder names until near the final draft, when I went through and somewhat randomly changed all the characters to names of my relatives. That was fun to do, though I still can't remember some of the characters' names because I sometimes still think of them by their originals. This book was my most extreme case of name changing.

I used placeholder names for all of princess academy until a few drafts in when I renamed them all using a list of old Scandinavian names. Except for Miri. I'd grown too attached to her name. To justify that she didn't have a traditional Scandinavian name, I said she was named after a flower, which I was able to develop into a nice metaphor for her. Change brings serendipity brings meaning!

I think my tendency to name change is ust indicative of how much I change when I write, and how I don't let myself get too attached to the way anything is in a first draft. I work in clay, not marble. Nothing that happens in my first drafts are inevitable. I wish they were! It'd make things a lot easier.

Calamity Jack party: a GRAPHIC account!

Here are some (shocking!) photos from our (alarming!) King's English launch party for (earth shattering!) calamity jack. Intrigued...? I thought so.

Dean, Nate, and I talked about making the book. Blah, blah, blah. Why does my husband's shirt have a bloody hand print? Because it's his Intermural Zombie Hunting League team shirt. Obviously.

 
Nate's awesome presentation on the making of a graphic novel. The cutie kids sat on the floor. Where they could better put their hands in front of the projector. Obviously. Nate made a graphical homage to this moment on his blog.

 
More talking. Questions answered. Two super secret projects revealed. Does Nate look like he's keeping his distance? Almost as if...he doesn't trust us, for some reason? Weird.

Through Interpretive Movement, Dean and I explain the process of Collaboration.

With a big finish!

Look at these cutie kids! Rapunzel is decked out from head to foot. Awesome! And cowboy little brother was definitely smiling on the inside.

Two Rapunzels show the world how to whip evil! A shout out to Mindy Hale who knit this unbelievable wig for me at the Rapunzel launch. It appeared on the Today Show even, the most famous wig in America! I should have just worn this wig the entire time. My other hair looked awful. Just texted my hair dresser: emergency!

Check it out! Freddie came! I love costumes. I really do.

Thanks to the King's English and Anderson Library, and everyone who came out. We had a wonderful time. I found it interesting that for this book release, our audience was mostly adult women and young families. A really wonderful crowd! But I wondered, where are the teens? Are Saturdays just too busy? It is commonly acknowledged that picture book and middle grade events tend to be better attended than YA events, because teens just don't get out there much on their own. So teenagers, what gets you to a book event? What day/time, what incentives, what gets you to push pause on your busy lives and get to a bookstore?

Jack is back

It's calamity jack launch week! Which is a bit surreal, since Dean and I finished writing the script for it two and a half years ago. When we started, I was pregnant. And now that embryo is a three-year-old terror.

I posted a calamity jack section on my site. The reviews have been great, though I cringe each time we get one, knowing that they read the black and white advance copies instead of the full color, rich paper, snazzy copies. It makes a huge difference in the reading experience. For the sake of Nathan Hale, who worked 17 hour days/7 days a week for months on this baby, if you read the b&w ARCs, please, PLEASE read the final too! Please? Borrow it from someone, get it from the library? The ARCs will give you the gist of the story, but won't let you get lost in the story.

Utahns, the full Hale team will be making appearances the next two Saturdays. See my events page for details. Californians, we'll be in southern CA February 20-23, and possibly brief stops in other Western states. Those are all the details I have at the moment. (But I'm sure we'll visit Whale of a Tale.)

Now scoot your fine selves over to Nate's blog, because he's posting new outfits for the Rapunzel paper dolls in celebration of CJ's release. I requested a Regency gown for Punzie, and it's awesome! He'll be giving them away this Saturday at the release party. He's also offering to draw avatars for everyone who emails him a photo of themselves with their copy of calamity jack. Not 10-foot blue guys with tails, but a professionally drawn avatar of YOU. (I'm totally going to take him up on it.)

OOH, also, did you hear? The new US ambassador of children's literature, taking Jon Scieska's place, is....Katherine Paterson! I'm so excited! She's fabulous in every way. All hail the ambassador, long may she reign.

Shannon takes the East Coast (sort of)

Back! Good trip! Exhausted. But good. Once again I was a lame-o and forgot most of the time to take photos. Recapping book tour is so hard. A million things happen and picking out significant moments seems impossible and arbitrary too, and I always worry that anyone I don't mention will feel like I consider them less significant, which isn't true! So here are my few photos (mostly phone photos and so not top quality) and a few details.

In Baltimore I spoke at some schools and signed at the Children's Book Store. I've said it before, but I notice a difference in all-girl schools. In general the girls there are more confident and thoughtful, willing to venture and even make mistakes. Why do boys make us stupid?

At Politics & Prose in Washington D.C. I met this cute girl. Her awesome mom got her up at 5 am and they drove 6 hours so she could come get her books signed on her birthday.

More awesome school visits in Philadelphia. If you're part of a school and hosting an author visit, the more prep you do, the more the kids will get out of it. I notice HUGE (and i mean H-U-G-E) differences in the visits between schools that prepped their kids beforehand and those who just threw me at them. Most students in a school won't know the author who is coming, and therefore won't care. At Bala Cynwyd, the librarians there did a ton of stuff with all the classes attending, such as presenting the reader's theater of rapunzel's revenge, handing out the Rapunzel paperdolls to color and cut, arranging times in class for kids to explore my site, etc. And it was one of the best assemblies I've ever been a part of. The kids obviously cared, were interested, asked great questions. It was a pleasure to present to them.

At the Baldwin School, one of the things they did was hold a contest for the biggest Shannon Hale fan. They picked two winners from the essay entries, and these girls got prizes as well as introduced me for the assembly. What a great idea!

Here's an awesome photo--I'd finished my chat and was starting to sign books at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA, and I snapped a photo. Look at those sweet faces! Aren't they gorgeous? Moments like this, looking at all those awesome people, I just can't believe how lucky I am to be doing this job.

This sweetie pie showed me a photo of her goose girl Halloween costume, renewing my desire for a character costume contest next year. What fun!

And here's one of them grassroots fans I was very happy to meet. I love you, Little Redders!

Really, what's better than a cozy, local children's bookstore? Children's Book World has been around for 20 years, and I was ruminating on all the good they've done in that time, all the readers they've matched to the right books, and all those books that helped those readers through tough spots. It's so encouraging. Here are some of those booksellers: Heather, Sarah, Hannah, and Hannah's sister...(sorry, forgot your name)

I don't have any photos of my visits with Barnes & Noble in Fairless Hills, though I met many wonderful people. I was so happy to see the boys from St. Andrew come to the store, and even more Little Redders. One little girl stands out, a smart whipper snapper of about 9 years who asked me 25 very intelligent questions, including, "Why does Princess Academy have a Newbery Honor sticker and your other ones don't?" A very valid question indeed!

I had the great fortune to attend a lunch with Baker & Taylor, hosting many librarians, and those of you who know me know my keen affection for librarians. I like them an awful lot. We got to have a good laugh. Here I am spying the Baker & TAylor staff, "pretending" to be bored and confused as they read Forest Born. I'm sure they're just pretending...

Then off to NCTE, the annual conference for teachers of English. Great conference, though I was only there for about five hours. I spoke on a panel with Malinda Lo, Diane Zahler, and Suzanne Selfors about "fractured classics." I was the serious, erudite one.

And before going home, I did get to grab my first Philadelphia cheese stake sandwich! K, this photo isn't flattering of me, but I'm including it because I look as tired as I felt. I didn't get to sightsee or rest much, but I'm sure glad I went. Thanks to Bloomsbury and all you fabulous Easterners!

Typing as I run out the door...

I'll be on VoiceAmerica radio program Thursday. You can see the website for details. The program's theme is Strong Women Characters and the other guests are Meg Cabot, Kristin Cashore, and Diane Gabaldon. Meg has a great post about it--love her. And I agree that the host, Matthew Peterson, was super great.

Also, I've neglected to say that book of a thousand days is now out in paperback! (and has been for a  month...sorry) 

Three more weeks (I think) till I can reveal my super secret project...

A little bit of kindness

Friends of Lulu nominated rapunzel's revenge for two awards! There's online voting, if you go for that sort of thing.

I'll be attending the Costume Ball charity event for the South Jordan Community Theatre on Friday. This is a ticketed event to raise money for our local community theater. Tickets are still available, and there will be an auction, including (embarrassingly enough) lunch with...me. Yup. This was not my idea, obviously. There is no good outcome for me. Either it will be embarrassing when nobody bids, or it will be so uncomfortable if someone pays a lot for it and I know I can't possibly be entertaining enough to be worth that amount. So...what the hey, it's for a good cause. And I always say that one of the best exercises for becoming a professional writer is to expose yourself to public humiliation.

So after I lamented my lack of photos at the National Book Festival, kind reader Meredith emailed me some and then gave me her lovely sum-up of the event. With her permission, I'll quote parts:

"I laughed so hard at the Exquisite Corpse reading.  You were all so wonderful and funny-- it was one of the best talks I went to all day.  Was it the interaction between all of the authors on the stage?  Was it because you were all as sleep deprived and caffeine hyped as I was?  Or did you seem so funny because I was so sleep deprived and hyped on caffeine?  Or was it just the surreal wonderfulness of being surrounded by hundreds of people who loved books enough to brave the weather and connect with authors and other readers?  There was a very special energy in the air that day.  It seemed like the wonder had been awoken in everyone I looked at-- we were all looking around ourselves, a little amazed.  And once people started talking to other people there, sparks of static electricity bounced from tongues and minds.  The little zings connected us.  Maybe because in one way or another, every person there had been saved by books, the way Kate DiCamillo said that the library saved her.  The importance of stories lies in that desperate and beautiful rescue.  They restore us not just to safety, but to a place more wonderful than that."

Here's Megan McDonald, Steven Kellogg, Nikki Grimes, Kate DiCamillo, me, and Jon Scieska. I could not stop laughing between Jon and Kate there. And Megan, Steven, and Nikki were just as sweet and cool as you could want them to be.

By the way, Episdoes 1 & 2 are now up at read.gov. A new episode goes up every two weeks. Katherine Patterson is the latest. (The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is supported by the Library of Congress and the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and will feature the collaborative work 14 writers and 3 illustrators, including yours truly.)

Here's some more from Meredith:

"When I got in line to get my books signed, I loved how the people in line around me all became a sort of Sisterhood Of Shannon Hale Book Lovers over the hour or so that we stood waiting.  Age mattered not-- we were students, teachers, librarians, booksellers and moms all talking on exactly the same level.  I listened to a snowy-haired librarian soberly discussing what kind of a person a princess should be with thirteen-year-old girl she had met five minutes before.  They had very interesting and earnest ideas on the subject.  The members of our Sisterhood could be identified by the fact that they laughed and gushed, traded book recommendations and directions on how to get out of the city at the end of the day, discussed favorite books and most-loved characters, took pictures for each other, and carried bags and books for each other.  I used to run the Children's department at Barnes & Noble, and I'm used to being considered just a bit precious by my coworkers for making Kids Lit my field.  I wasn't precious in your line.  I was perfectly normal.  I loved every moment of it.

"There is something very special about book lovers who get together for an event such as that, but I think that there is something particularly special about people who love Children's books.  Some of the lines for other, "adult" authors seem to me competitive-- people defended their places in line and were jealous of how many books they could get signed, etc.  It wasn't that way at all in the Shannon Hale line.  We were all instantly friends, and friends don't quibble about places in line.  As a matter of fact, the little knot of de facto friends I was with encouraged a girl to dash off to the Jodi Picolt line just one over just as that line dwindled to its end so that she could get a book signed.  We cheered when the line managers let her get in line, and we not only held her place in the Shannon Hale line, but I think we held about half of her other books, as well.  The Shannon Hale line manager was amazed by us."

This is just so sweet. I've found it to be true as well that people who love children's books experience a kind of team loyalty. And nothing I find more flattering and honoring than to hear that people who like my books tend to be kind. Hooray indeed.

Girls, books, and cribless nights

I returned from tour Saturday and thanks to my generous husband fell into a nap, followed by an all-day stupor. Sunday I went to bed early and slept straight for 10 hours. It's Wednesday and I still haven't unpacked. I don't know where my make-up is. I can't seem to get a grip on the routine again. Vacations are often like this, but book tour is especially exhausting. So good, but draining too. I've been contemplating why this is. There are some obvious reasons, like 5 hotels in 9 days, getting up at 7 am and returning to the hotel at 11 pm, driving through eight states, not to mention traveling with a two-year-old! But it's more than that.

I'm not a very good saleswoman. I don't like "touting my wares," and I'm bad at it. So I don't try. I've gotten a little better than the first few years, when I wouldn't even mention my books when I gave talks. I've learned that people usually want to hear about them a little. But when I go to an author event, I don't want to hear someone read from their book. I want them. I want to feel like I know them, have a personal interaction, hear stories that make me laugh or think. So when I do events, I try to do that, give my energy to every person I meet. When I do one book event at home, by the time I'm done, I want to curl up and go to sleep. On tour, I usually do 3 per day. Somehow I keep going and going, but when I can, I crash. I still feel crashed now.

I often hesitate writing things like this, because I know it can sound complainy, and I don't mean that at all. I am so honored to get to tour, to have a publisher willing to invest in me, to get to go to these amazing bookstores and schools and libraries and meet readers (and potential readers!). But this blog is for honesty, and you should know, book tour is not glamorous.

Since I brought my two-year-old (out of necessity), I also brought my awesome neighborhood babysitter Kayla, age 15, whose amazing parents let her come along and miss school. Poor Kayla. I think she found firsthand that book tour isn't as glamorous as it might sound. She was so WONDERFUL! And kept Maggie in truly blessed spirits.

I need to finish my tour account! I'm sorry I don't have better photos. I hauled my huge ol' deluxe camera along and it stopped working, so I just managed to snap a few lame-o cell phone shots, and I kept forgetting to use it. So bummed I didn't get a photo with the Exquisite Corpse team. They were all so great. How fun is it to love Kate DiCamillo's books all this time and then discover that she is just as fabulous in person?

Wellesley Booksmith (MA) took me to this amazing all girl private school, grades 6-12, the older girls having the option to board. An idea that intrigues me to no end. A boarding school! How story-worthy! Awesome girls. I have noticed that girls at all-girl schools tend to be more confident in speaking out, asking and answering questions. What do boys do to us? Here's a photo of a display the bookstore had up. My publisher made these amazing pamplets about my books with a q&a and such, but they freak me out. They have my huge photo on the front! I had to get a picture because I find it so bizarre.

That evening I did a chat for Wellesley at the library. I met so many memorable readers but got a photo of this family. Awesome mom brought her five kids. The youngest (I wrote down their names somewhere so I wouldn't forget...then I forgot where I put it) rushed me and said, "I'm such a huge fan!" He was like one foot tall and had more energy and spunk that ten adults on their best day. His eight-year-old sister was equally zealous. She has read goose girl and princess academy 30 times each. This is what I'm talking about, people! How can you not love these kids! Even the toddler was chewing on books. Praise the mom.

Here's a photo of two lovely girls I met at the National Book Festival who came back for seconds in Boston! Lovely gals.

Moving on to Hartford, CT, I attended the NECBA dinner (New England Children's Booksellers Assoc). I love speaking to booksellers. Great senses of humor, great passion. I got to present with the likes of Shaun Tan (who I admire so much) and Mo Willems (who inspires me to do prat falls). I don't have any photos of this! I got to meet Mo's daughter Trixie again in DC. Cutie. Her mom told me she's read rapunzel's revenge about 75 times. (Mo said "80 cachillion.") Clearly a child with discerning taste! The next morning we took Maggie to Hartford's Science Museum, which is awesome.

On to Madison and the fabulous RJ Julia. I don't get to see many sights on tour, but I get to know bookstores, and such a great way to travel. R.J. Julia is a beautiful store where you just want to spend hours and hours. We drove to NYC that night and stayed at a JFK hotel before flying out the next morning. They were out of cribs so I had to put Maggie in a cot. Um...it went okay...you know, night crying, trying to keep her in bed and out of the bathroom, waking up to hear a thump on the floor and a cry of pain and bewilderment. But home again now! And she's safely back in her nighttime barred prison.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and all the wonderful bookstores. I'll be back on the road again in November, to Balitmore, DC, and Philidelphia. See you then! (and now back to working on my secret project...ooh, I am such a tease! I can reveal by the end of the month, I think.)

An abundance of Sharons

Hello from the road! Whew, it's been uber-busy, but of course really great. I started off at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. There was an author reception in the Jefferson Building. My first time in DC, and I was breath-taken. That building! Gorgeous! Amazing! And filled with 70 writers I love all eating highly intriguing finger food. I got to meet up with old favs like Holly Black, Toni DiTerrlizzi, Mo Willem and family. David Shannon pointed out that if we got married, I could be Shannon Shannon. I thanked him for his offer but told him I was happily married. His wife on the other side of the table waved pleasantly.

Saturday was the festival. Huge. Awesome. 130,000 people came. It was so well organized and everyone seemed ecstatic to be there. First I did a panel with some members of the Exquisite Corpse Adventure team. Jon Scieska and Kate DiCamillo sat on either side of me, and I could not stop laughing. I want to go back to school and sit in the back of the class with those two. It's so wonderful to love someone's books, then meet her and be able to report that she's just as fabulous, funny, clever, and subversive as you could hope. I'm speaking, of course, of Kate, because Jon is nothing but trouble and I resoundingly warn you all away. Far away. Okay, maybe not that far.

Nikki Grimes, Megan MacDonald, and Steven Kellogg rounded out our crew, and I

adore them all. The first episode of the Adventure is up now on read.gov, with a new episode going up every two weeks. We were asked to give hints about our episodes, and I told about writing a certain villain. When I was drafting my episode, I was writing with my five-year-old next to me, and I knew he was reading along as I typed, so I was trying to amuse him and described a villain as "his face was where his rear end should be and his rear end...spoke." or something like that. Max asked me what that meant, and I said, "Basically, he has a bum head." Max laughed and went off to draw that picture himself. He did a pretty good job. I'd planned to cut that obviously disgusting and highly morally objectionable detail later, but after Max got such a kick out of it, I just couldn't. Steven Kellogg drew some pictures from the Adventure for our audience, and he chose to do that one as well. So awesome.

Next I spent some time in the Utah tent and then on to do my own presentation,

followed by a signing. I was astounded when my one hour time slot spilled over into two so they didn't have to turn people away. It was raining! Pouring! And people still waited in line. Amazing, humbling, and so exciting too that there are thousands of people so passionate about books. Here's my awesome escort Amy, and Bloomsbury publicist Deb and I model our plastic bag wraps.

I was delighted to have my photo featured in the SLJ's write up of the festival, and even more delighted when I read the photo credits beneath my photo and the one of Jon Scieska and Nikki Grimes. I like to imagine the article was written by someone in love with a woman named Sharon, and he just can't get her out of his mind. Soon, every woman looks like her, sounds like her, his imagination filled with Sharon, Sharon, Sharon! [EDIT: looks like someone discovered the error and corrected it. Originally I was listed as Sharon Hale and Nikki Grimes was Sharon Grimes. I kinda miss that Sharon.]

The next morning we were supposed to fly from DC to Albany then drive to Vermont, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed our flight. So we had to rent a car and drive to Vermont. Did I mention I'm traveling with my two-year-old? We were in the car for 10 hours that day. She was so, so, SO good...for a two-year-old. I was only, oh, three and a half hours late to my event at Northshire Books. UGH! I'm so sorry, anyone who came by! By an amazing serendipity, a family that had driven over from Conneticut happened to come by the store again when I was there, so at least I could talk to those girls and sign their books. Northshire is an awesome book store.

Monday was the Flying Pig book shop. I love you, Josie and Elizabeth! I had two school event with the most awesome kids ever. One of them put together a video presentation on Rapunzel that I told them they must enter into the Rapunzel's Revenge Book Trailer Contest (notice how I put that all in caps to make it look official and title-y?). I'll link to their submission when I get it. Hooray for valiant librarians who find ways to connect the kids to books! Vermont is so beautiful, even in the constant rain. I swear, we had a cloud over our heads and couldn't escape the rain for two days straight.

On to Massachusetts the next day. I was looking forward to my first full night of sleep. I was getting pretty loopy at this point--late nights, early mornings, constant high energy. But at last, a chance to be in bed for eight hours straight! Then in the middle of the night, alarm goes off. I turn it off. Fall back asleep. It goes off again. I unplug it. Fall back asleep. It goes off again. I kid you not. There's no display, no power, and the alarm is going off! I discover a battery inside and dig it out. If it goes off again, there will be a reckoning.

In the Boston area, I do a wonderful event with Porter Square Books, and another at the Brookline Public Library with the Children's Book Shop. Such great readers everywhere! One six-year-old had a Rapunzel's Revenge for me to sign. I sign my name, and she asked, "Why did you just scribble in my book?"

Last night was a the flagship store for Barnes & Noble in Burlington. A brother and sister came from Montana. Hi Shiloh and sister! (sorry, forgot your name, Sister) Dee the event manager reminded me again of all the passionate, caring people in the book world. I love being part of this team.

I'll report more later. My little one is waking up and we're going to go walk out on the harbor. Boston rocks.

Forest Born crowning

the actor and the housewife won the City Weekly's Readers Choice award for best fiction book of the year. Thanks, City Weekly voters! I am so thrilled and honored. It makes me ridiculously happy when other people love Becky, Mike, and Felix too.

 I'll be at the King's English in Salt Lake City this Saturday at 2 pm for the forest born release party. It's been a really nice release week so far, with lovely reviews and happy responses from many of you. Thank you! I don't like to post full reviews on my blog or site for fear of spoilers, but I put up snippets of the reviews.

In honor of Rin this week, here's my favorite tree-related poem. (A little history--I first read this poem in the New Yorker and loved it so much I was going to memorize it, but I lost my copy and couldn't remember the title or poet. Then when I was reading Tithe by Holly Black, I saw that she quoted from this poem, and so I was reunited with the poem AND a week later met Holly for the first time! And I declare "Crown" one of my all time favorite poems and Holly one of my all time favorite people.)

CROWN
by Kay Ryan

Too much rain
loosens trees.
In the hills giant oaks
fall upon their knees.
You can touch parts
you have no right to—
places only birds
should fly to.

Aaah...I love that. I am stunned by her brevity, by her simple word choices. This could be the text for an early reader book, and yet she says things no one else has. This poem is like a buttermint on the tongue. I feel refreshed! And now back to daisy danger brown, and a different secret project that I may be able to talk about next month...

The coolest cabbie around

This week (and probably into next) I'm being interviewed on The Yellowbelly Show. Nathan Hale (no relation) does his fabulous weekday webcomics, and this week Yellowbelly has his own show. The cartoon version of me really is saying the lines I gave him. I have to say, it's not easy to respond to Yellowbelly's questions. The stutters and pauses are quite real. (And the "poo" line is a nod to Dean and my appearance on The Today Show.) Nate continues to astound. We got high res proffs of calamity jack this week and they are GORGEOUS! He is an artist to be reckoned with.

I have new events up on my events page. The tour dates and locations are missing times--more info to come. Two upcoming events I want to pimp: Writing for Charity, round 2! Those who went last year can attest, it was pretty cool. And we've learned stuff from last year's, so it should be smoother. Northern Utahns rejoice, it will be in Ogden this year at the Treehouse Museum. Come for a halfday writing workshop with some pretty amazing authors, and know your money all goes to the Treehouse Museum's awesome community outreach and literacy programs. Register here.

Also, I'll be at the Orem B&N on August 26, 7pm. Come throw breadcrumbs at me and laugh. Okay, I have to go to the airport now and pick up Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Robin Wasserman, and Jo Knowles. Was there a reason to say that? No, just wanted you to think I'm cool.