mary e. pearson

Mission Viejo Readers Festival
Saturday September 12


Ack--I know this is late notice if you live in, say New Jersey, but if you are in the Orange County area come by Mission Viejo's Reader's Festival tomorrow.  I will be on a panel, Teens and the Other Side of Reality,  with YA Authors, Alyson Noel, Jennifer Kogler, and Marlene Perez, aka marperez. Our panel is from 2:30-3:30 in the Jacaranda Room.  Details and directions are here.

And hey, the Bronze Fonz--oh, I mean, Henry Winkler will be there too.  Lisa, you have to come.  Wisconsin isn't that far.

It has been a crazy busy day here with at least a zillion things I have been trying to get out--I still haven't had breakfast or lunch--but I wanted to get this up because I hope we will see you there.

Food.  Food.  I think it is time . . .

I finally dug out the specifics for my panel at Comic Con.  Here they are:

FRIDAY, 12:30-1:30
Future Fond Memories— Narnia, Oz, Neverland—we all have our favorite memories of stories from our youth. How do today's authors create works that will be beloved by tomorrow's adults? Young adult authors Michael Spradlin (Keeper of the Grail: The Youngest Templar), Michael Reisman (Simon Bloom: The Octopus Effect), Sara Rees Brennan (The Demon's Lexicon), James Owen (The Indigo King), Mary Pearson (The Adoration Of Jenna Fox), P. J. Haarsma (The Softwire: Wormhole Pirates on Orbis 3), and Alyson Noel (Blue Moon: The Immortals) discuss their process and passion. Moderator: Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy.  Room 3

We all will sign immediately afterward from 1:30 to 2:30 in the Autographing Area.

And on Saturday at 3 pm, our own marperez  / Dead is So Last Year, will be speaking on a panel in Room 2, along with some other awesome authors, so stop by and see her too.

I hope I see you there!

What a fabulous weekend. It started at the Luxe Hotel in Bel Air, where the Nebula festivites began. Their rooms are beautiful. I love smaller boutique hotels.

My husband came along with me and was the "official" photgrapher of the weekend (thanks, honey.) Friday started out with a cocktail reception and presenting all the Nebula and Andre Norton nominees with certificates and Nebula pins. The only other Norton nominee who was present was Ingrid Law who was nominated for Savvy, and of course we immediately gravitated toward each other.

She is a lovely person and I am so glad we got to meet. The little Nebula pins we got are really cool too. It was a fun evening, and even though I am new to the SFWA community, they made me feel very welcome. The secretary of SFWA, Mary Robinette Kowal, walked me around and introduced me to so many people, I can't begin to remember all their names.
 
Here at the reception, left to right, are Mary Robinette Kowal, John Kessel (who won the Nebula for his novelette, Pride and Prometheus!) moi, a UFP (Unidentified Friendly Person), and Steven Silver who was wearing many hats that weekend. I also got to meet Janis Ian at the reception. Was I a bit excited? um . . . YES. She is a lovely lady (and short like me ; ) and very down-to-earth and easy to talk to.

The next day after a breakfast mixer at the hotel we were off to the LA Times Book Festival. I signed at The Mysterious Galaxy Booth. You can't read the whole thing on this gal's Tshirt but it says, EAT, SLEEP, READ. Works for me. I want one of those shirts.
 
The Mysterious Galaxy booth was hopping. The employees there are superstars. How they kept everything straight and moving along I don't know--because they had LOTS of authors signing. Here I am with the wonderful authors I signed with.
 
Right to Left, moi, Jerrilyn Farmer, Janis Ian, and Connie Willis with Cynthia Felice.  As you can see, Jerrilyn has a little tray of cream puffs in front of her, left by a previous author.  Besides the books, they were a big hit. 

After the signing it was back to the hotel to change for the Nebula banquet that night on the UCLA campus.  As we were walking in I saw Janis Ian again and asked if I could get a picture with her and she very graciously endured my fangirling.

She was the toastmistess for the evening and also sang new lyrics she had written to the the tune of At Seventeen, to be auctioned later.  She received a much deserved standing ovation for her performance.

Before the banquet started there were cocktails out on the patio.  My awesome film agent, Jason Dravis of the Montiero-Rose-Dravis agency came for the festivities (and told me the screenplay for The Adoration of Jenna Fox is moving right along : )
Here I am with Jason, and superstar Macmillan rep, Lise Friedman, who made the whole weekend happen by making sure I got where I was supposed to and when I was supposed to.  Thank you, Lise!

The banquet was fun.  Chuck Lorre gave a terrific keynote speech, saying all the things he can't say on television (and what I won't say here) and there were many other funny, touching, and inspiring speeches, including a videotaped speech by Joss Whedon who was awarded the Bradbury Award.

The Norton went to Ysabeau S. Wilce for Flora's Dare! I didn't realize that Ysabeau had a blog right here on livejournal yswilce !  Many cheers and congratulations to you, Ysabeau!!  Locus Magazine has a list of the other Nebula winners for you here.

On Sunday, my husband and I slept in (we needed it!) and took a leisurely drive down to Malibu and then on down to Santa Monica for lunch before we finally headed home. 

Now it is back to reality and my very scary desk, and mailbox--so much to catch up on--the piles have even spilled out onto the floor of my office.  Lets' see what's hiding here . . .

But even with the piles I am still feeling amazingly mellow after such a great weekend.

Wow.  I had an amazing book club visit this past weekend.  It pretty much blew me away.  My wonderful hostess,
Vicki,

 

really went out of her way to make it an unforgettable day.  Besides a copy of The Adoration of Jenna Fox  for each guest, there were also blue butterfly tattoos for everyone (that's what's hiding inside that little blue card) and also a little box of chocolates!  Oh yeah, she knows the way to my heart.


There were about 25 guests who were greeted with this:

And this: (see the butterfly?)


and of course this:
 A lunch prepared by a 5 star chef (her son!) that included Pesto Pasta, grilled chicken breasts, an amazing variety of grilled vegetables, and a fennel bulb salad.  (hm, she knows the second way to my heart too)  Our chef received well-deserved applause from everyone there.

And the guests!  They were wonderful too. 


After we ate I gave a little talk and then answered questions--they had some great ones.  And since everyone had read the book, we could talk freely.  I love that.  This is an adult book club who had never read a YA book for their club before, but I hope JENNA won't be their last.  I mentioned a couple of others that they should check out.  

So many thanks to Vicki (wow, again!) for the really fun day!

Book Signing - Tomorrow!  I have my first book event of the year--a discussion and signing of The Adoration of Jenna Fox at the Carlsbad City Library, 1775 Dove Lane in southern Carlsbad, at 2 pm in the Gowland Meeting Room.  The book club that read my book invited me to come but the public is welcome and Borders will be selling books.   If you happen to be in that neck of the woods, stop by and say hi!

Movie Update - I've had a lot of people asking me about movie updates so here's the latest. I heard from my film agent that the script for AJF is nearly done.  The screenwriter, producer, and director are just putting on some final touches.  I can't wait to see it.  When I hear more I will let you know!

Locus List - And I saw this on melissa_writing 's blog yesterday: Locus Recommend Reading 2008   so like Melissa, I will chirp a little squeeeeee!

I've been wrestling with intermittent internet service all day--our power went out last night so I think that might have something to do with it--anyway, on the phone with the cable company all morning so getting a late start here on everything.  Technology is great and all but sometimes don't you wonder just how much time it really saves?

Hope your day is going a smoother than mine!

A little update from the 105th birthday party yesterday: 

She was as lovely as ever.  Gorgeous in a sparkly dress and darling bobbed haircut.  Her heels were a bit lower this time, but still heels nonetheless, and she was walking around and mingling with the guests like she was 50.  Pamela asked yesterday what her secret was--oh, that we could bottle it--but I would have to say part of it is good genes, and the other part is zest for life.  She never slows down.  A couple years ago she went on a 66 day cruise to Antartica.  And just recently went on one to Iceland and Greenland.  She loves travel and meeting people and being in the middle of a party.  A couple of years ago we took her out to dinner to a Western restaurant and she got up and did a two step with the waiters and waitresses.   Seriously.  She reminds me of that quote:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, cigar in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO - What a ride!"

Except that she isn't worn out.  And I don't think she smokes cigars either.  But she sure can yell out, "what a ride!"

In other news, I have recently received quite a few paperback copies of  A Room on Lorelei Street



and I thought I would put them to good use, so if there is a high school librarian or teacher, or anyone else who has a high school age book club or reading group out there and would like a FREE set of 8-12 books, just email me at: maryp2000 AT aol.com.  I am saying high school age because AROLS is probably suited to a more mature audience.

And last but  not least, I will be at Barnes and Noble in Encinitas this Saturday from 2-4 for the La Costa Canyon High School Book Fair.  I will give a short talk and be signing books, so if you are in the area, come by!

Now off to practice my two-step--with martini and cigar in hand . . .

Back from San Francisco. I had a GREAT time. The schools were awesome. First stop was Capuchino High School. Librarian, Linda Henry, has an amazing book club there--around 70 students! I was WAY impressed. We're talking about 70 high schoolers in a high school that isn't that big, finding extra time for reading and books. And they were really excited about them too. They shared with me all the books they were reading and planning to read. They had TBR piles as high as mine! It was all very cool and energizing.


While I gave a talk, the president of the book club handled the techy power point stuff for me (thanks, Alex!) and then we had a long Q&A. It seems that part always gets cut short because of time and it is my favorite part of visiting schools. I love hearing what readers focus in on in stories. Everyone's perspective is so different.

Then I signed books! And I had a little surprise . . .


Some authors I knew were there! Sort of. See that spiral notebook just above my book? It was an autograph book that this student brought along for another student who couldn't make it. I briefly skimmed it and saw Jo Knowles (hi Jo!) and E. Lockhart (hi Emily!)--well, I saw their signatures at least--they were way more cool than mine. It was fun to "see" some friends there.

Thank you Linda and Capuchino High School book club for having me at your school!

Then it was off to Mountain View and the Girl's Middle School where librarian extraordinaire, Walter Mayes, presided.

Walter is a kick and he's great with the kids. And wow, what an intro he gave me--I wanted to just hand the floor over to him. But I didn't. The girls were terrific and so excited about books and reading. They have lots of authors who come to their school--sometimes one a week!--and that keeps the fires burning for sure. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Oh, and they were good sports when I got impatient with the computer and hit advance too many times (because I thought it wasn't working) and then the slides zipped by all at once. I can say that is officially the first time I did a song and dance in front of a group of students. (don't be so impatient, Mary!)


Anyway, I had a great time. Many thanks to Walter and Girl's Middle School!

Finally I was off to Books Inc in Palo Alto "home" of the famous literaticat . Thanks Jennifer and NYMBC!
The Palo Alto store is one of their newer locations--and dangerously close to an exquisite cupcake store. Luckily I was too stuffed from dinner to indulge. Next time. I was thrilled to see some LJ friends and authors at the signing! Thanks for coming d_michiko_f , seaheidi , beckylevine , and susanwrites and Cassie (her sweet dog who had to listen to me talk about books and writing! bah!) I got a picture with them and some new friends too, but one of the reasons we all have big smiles . . .


is that just before the picture above was taken, this one was taken . . .

Yep, originally Cassie and I were sitting together and just as the photo was taken she jumped up and laid a big one on me. I guess she liked my talk after all ; ) Yay, Cassie! I see a dog book in Cassie's future. Move over Carl . . .

Okay, I warned you that I don't take just the usual tourist pictures.  We were walking down the "Greek" street in Paris and saw this ad:


Some words just don't abbreviate well, or that is some gyro.

ahem.  In more bookish news, I leave this weekend for San Francisco and  the NCIBA trade show where I will be signing at 1:00 pm on Sunday, October 5th.  Books will be $1 and that money will go to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.  So come say hi to me, get a great bargain on a book, and support ABFFE all in one day.

On Monday, October 6 I will be visiting a high school and a middle school in the area and that night--drumroll please--will be at the NYMBC in Palo Alto!  7pm!

If you live in the Palo Alto area (and even if you don't!) please come by!  Keep me company!  Ask me questions!  I will ask YOU questions!  I will share my biogel with you!  Or at least a super ass. gyro.

See you there!  (pleeze?  Nothing sadder than a lonely author ; )

I visited a book club yesterday at Valley Middle School who had read The Adoration of Jenna Fox It was fun to talk with them and hear their thoughts. One girl asked if Jenna could eat cold food. My mind immediately flashed to ice cream. No ice cream? Just can't let my mind go there. Anyway, it is always fun to see what things readers will focus in on.

I leave for BEA tomorrow. Lots of meetings (will get to see my agent and film agent!), dinners (good food and good talk!), and signings (there are a billion at least) that I'm looking forward to. If you are going be sure to stop by the Henry Holt booth. They are giving away free signed copies of The Adoration of Jenna Fox beginning on Friday, I believe. I will be signing more books on Saturday at 9:30, table 10 so please come and keep me company!

A lot of my pals will be there signing too.

Marlene Perez on Friday at 3:00
Debby Garfinkle on Saturday at 9:30 (same time as me--see you can get a 2fer!)
Debbi Michiko Florence on Sunday at 11:00
Nancy Werlin on Saturday at 4:00
Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer on Saturday at 11:00
Dave Barry on Friday at 2:00 (okay, he is not a pal, but he does crack me up.)

Here is the complete signing schedule of a gazillion authors.

See? I wasn't exaggerating.

Now here is something you never see in a California school . . .



Yep. That definitely caught my eye. Of course, you might see an earthquake drill sign in a CA school, or if you were a kid in the 60's like me, an air-raid drill sign, but a tornado sign is a new one for me.

In Kettering, Ohio, I met with juniors and seniors at Archbishop Alter High School in their library (very close to the middle stairwell, thank you : )


Again, lots of great questions, and considering we were on the eve of prom weekend and the end of the school year, I felt honored that their minds were there at all. Wonderful group of students.

Next I was off to the most ENORMOUS . . . ( Read more )

Hope you all had a great Mother's Day yesterday. My kid's made an awesome Sunday Brunch and we sat on our daughter's patio and watched enormous red tailed hawks gliding over the meadow behind her house, occasionally landing on a tree to survey the meadow for their own brunch. I don't think their brunch was nearly as yummy as mine--and I know it didn't include champagne!

I am getting ready to hit the road on the first of many stops on my book tour. The first stops are this afternoon and this evening in San Diego at:

College Rolando Library at 4pm
6600 Montezuma Rd, San Diego

Rancho Bernardo Library at 6pm
13330 Salmon River Rd, San Diego

Stop by if you're in San Diego!

Then tomorrow morning I am off to several cities in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio for various visits at bookstores and schools. My first visit is with a Mother-Daughter book club that I am really looking forward to. I will also be visiting several middle and high schools to talk about The Adoration of Jenna Fox I think it's going to be a lot of fun to hear teen's thoughts about this book.

The public visits on the tour are:

May 14, 7 pm
Harry Schwartz Bookstore
10976 N. Port Washington Rd.
Mequon, WI 53092

May 16, 7 pm
Books & Co
Dayton Town & Country Shopping Center
350 East Stroop Road
Dayton (Kettering), Ohio

So if you live anywhere nearby I hope you'll come. I'll post pictures when I return!

I had my book launch in my hometown for The Adoration of Jenna Fox this past weekend. It was wonderful to share the afternoon with friends, family, and neighbors. My sister took photos of the event including this one she artistically altered. Cool. I wish my book glowed on every table.


Before the signing I gave my little spiel well planned talk, and shared a few insights about the book. There was also a photographer from the Union Tribune there and my sister told me he was on the other side of the bookcase behind me getting a picture of the back of my head. Certainly a much better viewpoint.


Then it was time to sign. See those flowers on the corner of the table? A very sweet young man (thanks Dan!) brought those to me.


And of course a picture with my sis who took all the pictures. And I swear we didn't color coordinate our outfits. There were LOTS of blue clothes that day.


When we got back to my house we celebrated and had a butterfly cake that my darling hubby ordered for me.


Oh! And the surprise at my signing!
Guess who came?! Richard Dreyfuss!

Well, not exactly. He was in the store at the time of my signing and then was an awfully good sport when one obnoxious author exuberant author interrupted his browsing and asked if she could have her picture taken with him. It was a fun "close encounter."

A day late for "May Day" here is a little glimpse of the flower fields near my home. They are in their full glory right now.

And this weekend I will be having my first "official" signings:

Saturday May 3 - Carlsbad, CA
Signing and Launch Party, Borders Books, 3-4 pm

Sunday May 4 - San Diego, CA
San Diego Children's Book Festival, signing 12-1

So if you are in the area, come by and say hi!

I will be signing at the 2008 LA Times Book Festival, this coming Sunday. If any of you are in the area I hope you will come by and say hi. I will be signing at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore booth at 1:00. Come!

And I finally got around to putting together my book tour schedule. Some of this will change, and a few places added but this is how it stands right now. I hope I will see you.

April 27 - Los Angeles, CA
LA Times Book Festival, Mysterious Galaxy booth, 1:00

* April 29 *
Official Publication of The Adoration of Jenna Fox!

May 3 - Carlsbad, CA
Signing and Launch Party, Borders Books, 3-4 pm

May 4 - La Jolla, CA
San Diego Children's Book Festival, signing 12-1

May 12 - San Diego, CA
College Rolando Library, 4pm

May 12 - Rancho Bernardo, CA
Rancho Bernardo Library, 6pm

May 13 - Skokie, IL
Skokie Public Library, 7-9 pm

May 14 - Milwaukee, WI
Harry Schwartz Bookstore, 7-8pm

May 15 - Downers Grove, IL
Anderson’s Bookstore, a.m. time TBA

May 16 - Dayton, OH
High School Visits

May 28 - Carlsbad, CA
Middle School Book Club

May 30 - June 1 - Los Angeles, CA - BEA
Signing on Saturday May 31, Table 10, at 9:30 am

June 3 - San Pasqual, CA
Middle School Author Visit

June 27-30 - Anaheim, CA - ALA
Signing on Saturday June 28, Henry Holt booth, 10 am

Voila!

The SCIBA (Southern California Independent Booksellers Association) Dinner at the Pasdena Hilton was fun, and Robin Preiss Glasser made it fancy schmancy. Oh how I coveted her sparkly tiara and glittery dress. Robin, of Fancy Nancy fame, was the master of ceremonies for the evening. She was a riot. And this wasn't the only fancy get up she wore. With each introduction her clothes got wackier and wackier fancier and more colorful. Wish I had taken more pictures, but after this first one I was too entranced and later too busy with signing and chatting with booksellers.

Oh, and the booksellers! Wow. Talk about energizing. It is truly amazing to have so many indies in one room. I had some really nice chats with the booksellers at Vromans, Mysterious Galaxy, Mrs. Nelson's Bookshop, Yellow Book Road, A Whale of a Tale, Once Upon a Time, and more. It really is a pleasure to talk to people who are passionate about books--and so knowledgeable about them too.

It was my very first time signing JENNA, and the very first book I signed was to another Mary, and even though it sounds like a common name, I really come across very few. Another first of the evening: For the first time ever, I screwed up as I was signing and had to get a fresh book. My perfect record is broken. sigh.

Oh! And there were very cool desserts in the signing area that I didn't get a chance to eat because I was so busy signing. Ack! Not even a picture! But they were these pretty little artsy things that looked almost too good to eat. More fancy schmancy stuff. I guess that was the theme of the evening.

Don't you love that quote from Alice Hoffman on the banner behind Robin? "Books may well be the only true magic."

So true. But between the booksellers and Robin and her wild gorgeous outfits, the evening had a bit of magic too.

I really am going to get one of those tiaras someday.
I think cynthialord knows where to get them . . .

I forgot to take my camera to ALA in Seattle so I had to use my cell phone camera and I finally got the pics off my cell phone and onto my computer. A little late but I thought I’d post a few.

Seattle is a wonderful town. I had a view of the Space Needle from my room. I ate lunch there once years ago, and the whole thing revolves at the top, so by the time you’ve finished your meal you’ve had a 360 degree view of the city. How cool is that?




My first night in Seattle I had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant, Tulio Ristorante, with my agent and several of her clients. I did not take this picture (which is obvious by the quality of it) Not a blink in the crowd. From left to right, standing, are authors, Amber Kizer, Lawrence Mckay, Jr., Marcia Vaughn, and Kent Mochizuki. Seated are Trudi Strain Trueit (her husband is the fabulous photographer), Moi, our fun and wonderful agent, Rosemary Stimola, and the amazing Liz Gallagher, aka lizgallagher who rode her motorcycle there–wearing high heels! I kid you not.




Okay, this may seem like a weird shot, but did you know that Seattle is home to the original Nordstrom? It is a whopper–FIVE stories tall. I did pop in and buy a box of four truffles when I was having a major chocolate attack. Their double chocolate truffles are the best.




And of course at the Convention Center Exhibit Hall, I happened to run into Good Dog Carl. His human, Alexandra Day, asked him to pose for me against a white table. And when she asked him to smile, he happily obliged. What a sport.




The conference was fun. I had time to catch up with friends and meet new ones. One night I had dinner with fellow authors, Nancy Werlin, Jane Kurtz, Linda Johns (who is also the YA librarian at Seattle Public Library), Heather Vogel Frederick, Sara Ryan, Andrea Beaty, and LJ’s bgliterary. We ate at Wild Ginger and the food was fabulous (thanks to Barry and Sara's great choices.)

The nice thing about ALA midwinter is that it is smaller so you have the opportunity to meet and chat with more people. I had the pleasure of finally meeting Liz Burns and breaking bread with her (well, pizza out of our laps) and we strolled the exhibits for a while getting a few arcs. She is as lovely in person as she seems on her blog. Oh! And I strolled for a bit with librarians Melissa and cedarlibrarian Watch out with those two! They have eagle eyes when it comes to arcs (I bet they are wicked good shoppers, too) and in two minutes with them I had more arcs than I could carry and had to run to Fed Ex to mail them home.

There are lots of lines at any conference and this one was no exception, but one thing I have learned is that you can meet interesting people waiting in lines. Waiting to mail ARCS at Fed Ex, I met Diana Tixler Herald; waiting in line at Starbucks I met librarian, Ashley Flagherty; and waiting in line to go to the awards ceremony, I met librarian Rollie Welch, and he shared some interesting things about A Room on Lorelei Street with me. There were sightings and near misses, but I never did run into professornana Darn. I guess we didn’t frequent the same long lines.

And of course, strolling through the exhibits, I ran into too many people to mention them all, but I met a zillion. Some were folks who I had “met” online but never in person, so it was like meeting old friends. It took us forever to walk down just one aisle because of all the stopping and yakking. Boy, you let authors out of their caves and that is all they want to do.

One of the very best things to do at midwinter is to go to the BBYA talks where real bonafide teens get the opportunity to talk about the books they love (and sometimes hate.) I love listening to their comments. It is amazing how insightful, articulate, and passionate they are about the books they read. If you could go and do nothing else but listen to these teens, it would be well worth it. Makes you want to get right back to your keyboard and write (which I did.)

And last but not least, I want to say that the conference ended for me on a exquisite note. When I saw that our own cynthialord won the Schneider Award and then a Newbery Honor I could hardly contain myself. I loved RULES and I was so thrilled to see it get the recognition it deserved. I’ve already sent Cindy private congrats, but I will wave and holler here for her one more time because she more than deserves it.

YAHOO, Cyn!!

Whew. It was a whirlwind that I ate my way through. Pittsburgh has great restaurants. Kaya in the strip district–hm hm–just to name one. And it’s a beautiful town. The Allegheny River runs right past the convention center which is where I took most of these pictures from. As you can see, they have several beautiful old bridges that cross the river.





This is a shot from my hotel window. I never did find out what this building was, but I assume it is a church? Pretty nice view from the William Penn hotel.


I had a great time at the conference and met a lot of people. It was absolutely wonderful to meet so many teachers who are so enthusiastic about YA literature. It really fills you up and gets you motivated to get home and write. After my panel with YA authors, Caroline Cooney, Carolyn MacCullough, Sharon Flake, and Fiona Rosenbloom, I signed books with Sharon and Carolyn:

In the background you get a glimpse of editor Deborah Brodie, and Walter Mayes, aka Walter the Giant. He always wears the greatest hawaiian shirts.

While I was signing, Cynthia came up to me and asked, are you Mary O? I was blank for a second, and then I got it. mary_ohhh! Yep. Cynthia, if you are reading this, what is your LJ name? I think I misheard you.

(added edit: I figured it out. It was cfaughnan )

No, I never did see a cardinal, but I guess that just means I will have to go back again. Pittsburgh was really a nice town, and they have the funniest, nicest cab drivers.

I got home late Tuesday night, cooked all day on Wednesday, and had a houseful for dinner on Thursday, so now I am officially wiped out and allowing the fog to keep me in my pajamas all day long. Oh, and I will probably curl up with one of the many YA books I brought home with me.
Bliss.

Hey! I mentioned a few days ago that A Room on Lorelei Street was a Richie’s Picks. Well, now the review is up at his website if you want to read it.

Oh! And here is a picture of Marlene and Debby at the launch party for their books. Marlene, see? There is a photo of you with your mouth closed.


You can read more about their successful launch on their blogs, marperez, and dlgarfinkle

Tonight I will be heading over to the YA Authors Café . There’s a great line up! Cynthia Leitich Smith, aka cynsations will be kicking off a discussion with other YA Authors, Nancy Werlin, , D.L. Garfinkle, and , Brian Yansky about gender and how it affects what we write. Can’t wait to hear what these authors think. I hope I see you there.

Now I'm off to get some words in the right order . . .

The ringing phone woke me at 5 am this morning. I think I was waiting for that ring all night long. A new baby girl has joined our family. My niece and baby are both healthy and doing well. After yakking with my sister-in-law about all the details I managed to get back to sleep for an hour or so. And then as if my day hadn’t already had enough good news, I woke for a second time to more! I had an email from a friend that she had sold her first book! I can’t give details because she hasn’t even announced it herself yet. But I will as soon as I can!

On the writing front, I learned unexpectedly that I will have an early signing of A ROOM ON LORELEI STREET!



My publisher has me scheduled to be on a YA panel next Tuesday! So, if you will be in the Huntington Beach, CA vicinity on April 19, come on by. The panel discussion will be at the Barnes & Noble at 7881 Edinger Avenue. I will be presenting with four other YA novelists with new books out: Jennifer Kogler, RUBY TUESDAY, Melissa de la Cruz, FRESH OFF THE BOAT, Evan Cooper, UM, LIKE... OM!: A GIRL GODDESS TO YOGA, and Natasha Friend, PERFECT. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. I love doing things with other writers.

I also found out that the Reading Group Guide for AROLS is now up and available at the Henry Holt website. Thanks, cawriter for telling me this!