I'm taking a break from tilling the garden with a potato fork (it actually works pretty well on a small plot and you don't have to use a gas tiller, though on anything like the 1/2 acre garden we had when I was growing up that would be torture--thank heavens my dad used a tractor, then a tiller, for that one!) and waiting on the cable guy to show up for the second time in two days (the guy yesterday hooked up our internet but complet
ely unhooked the cable in two bedrooms) to bring you this entry about last week's International Reading Association conference. We had a brand new booth this year (if you've seen it in previous years, it looks very similar, with some tweaks like carved dragon heads on the bookshelves) and we really looked forward to meeting all the teachers who come to this conference. Normally, they say, attendance is in the 20,000 to 30,000 range. I'm not sure of this year's exact number, but I think I met every single one of those 20-30,000 teachers over the course of the three days I worked the booth! 
I got to do the window displays in the booth this year--it was so much fun making it all pretty. The end result is a booth that looks very cozy, much like a cross between a Victorian bookshop and, as one teacher pointed out, a pub.
When I checked into the hotel in Atlanta, I was surprised to find a pretty fancy room--a balcony with a view of the pool (for which I'd forgotten my swimsuit, and it was great swimming weather), an iPod alarm clock (I need to get me one of these--I love that I can wake up to a playlist or play my iPod any time--right now I just use my computer for that), and weirdest of all, my bathroom towels decoratively folded. A flower for the washcloth under the soap dish, and a little shirt for the bath mat. I checked with my coworkers, and I seem to be the only one who had something quite that fancy. Apparently my housekeeper was on the creative side--but only for that first day, so I'm glad I got a shot of it before I used the bath mat! That was balanced out by how housekeeping kept moving my things around--even putting my toothbrush, which I'd left out to dry, into its travel case, and lining up all my allergy meds in a neat row. There's service, and then there's invasiveness. That was plain odd.
Please excuse the dark exposure. I'm a little too lazy today to do any Photoshopping.
soap dish
Bath mat
ipod alarm clock
The view
me, taking in the view
This year authors Candice Ransom and D.L. Garfinkle were on site signing their books--the Time Spies series for Candice and the new Supernatural Rubber Chicken for
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dlgarfinkle . We had some rubber chickens on hand to promote the debut of the Ed, the Supernatural Rubber Chicken, so they played a few antics on us, trying to take over the booth. 
I also got to meet Lisa Yee (
lisayee ), a blog friend for a while but the first time we met in person--and of course, Peepy.
Lisa is the author of several hilarious books. Check out her Millicent Min, Girl Genius, Stanford Wong Flunks Big Time, and So Totally Emily Ebers.
And had ice cream with blog friend and fellow editor Alvina and her coworker Joe.
More pictures later. That's enough for one entry!
Well, till I got coffee spilled on me at dinner, but hopefully it'll wash out. There have been a few weird moments like that this week, but never all that bad--don't worry, the coffee wasn't too hot and things happen. I just hope my favorite shirt won't be stained!
I've been meaning to post all week, because we've had some very photo-worthy moments--housekeeping in my hotel folded my bathmat like a little shirt, for example--but I have just been so exhausted! Who knew there were so many teachers?
So it's been a great show, and I'll post pictures soon.
Meanwhile, it's a little late for this, but make sure to catch the second half of my guest appearance on Writing Excuses, where we talk about submitting to editors and they ask me about Hallowmere and other great projects I'm working on.
- Music:It's a Beautiful Day, U2
Here's the signing schedule:
Monday, May 5
Time Spies author Candice Ransom signing in booth #721
10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Candice Ransom presentation and reception
Hyatt Regency Spring Room 6 p.m.
Enjoy a glass of wine and a light snack with acclaimed children’s book author Candice Ransom for a very special presentation on Sending Them Back to the Past to Help Reach the Future: Using the Time Spies Series to Guide Transitional Readers.
Tuesday, May 6
Supernatural Rubber Chicken author D.L. Garfinkle signing in booth #721
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Candice Ransom signing in booth #721
3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
D.L. Garfinkle presentation and reception
Hyatt Regency Spring Room 6 p.m.
Sit back with a glass of wine and a light snack and meet acclaimed author and humorist, D.L. Garfinkle as she discusses Laughing and Literacy: Using Humorous Books to Turn Reluctant Readers into Eager Readers.
Wednesday, May 7
D.L. Garfinkle signing in booth #721
11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Wherefore art thou, high speed rail?*
In other news, in the first week of May I'll be down in Atlanta for the International Reading Association annual conference. I really like this conference. I went for the first time last year when it was held in Toronto. I never need to take a whole lot with me for trade shows--unless we've forgotten something, but then we usually FedEx big boxes of stuff to the show floor--but I always end up bringing a suitcase full of books home with me. But not if I have to pay $25 for it.
*Well, that would only help me with about half the country. Seattle to Atlanta, for example, not so much.
So it was a very full, very exhausting weekend! It was fun to stay with a friend and catch up and play with her two-year-old daughter, too, and to see so many good friends, and sad that I didn't have enough time to catch up with everyone. I had a great time, and thanks to the con organizers who invited me!
I'm off tonight to the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City. I'm not sure if I'll be on any panels or not, but I am taking pitches there. So if you'll be there, say hi! If not, see you next week. I might blog from there, but it's looking to be a very busy weekend.
raisinfish to tackle an age-old question: will writing to the market give you a better chance to get published? I think this is a complicated question in children's literature, because there are competing interests that must be considered.
But it's an interesting topic to me, certainly.
What do you all think? If you were attending a conference to hear me talk, would this be of interest to you? Any suggestions on a snappier way of phrasing the title? (That particular phrasing was right off the top of my head--I know, it's SO clever!)
So what have I been doing recently? Well, I've got several books in the Hallowmere series in various stages of the editing process*, and I'm working on Bronze Dragon Codex, the followup to last month's release of Red Dragon Codex. (Late night post=no links, sorry. Google is your friend.) I've got a couple other things in the works that I'll be able to announce as soon as the ink is dry.
In the midst of all that, I try set aside time every week to respond to submissions, but as you can probably guess, that's not at the top of my priority list this month. But I promise, I'm working on it! It's definitely part of the plan.
Then at the end of March, I'll be in Salt Lake City for World Horror Convention to take pitch sessions, and then in June I'll be at BYU for the Writing for Young Readers conference. Whew! But that's waaay in the future. For now, I just have to go to bed so I can be clearer tomorrow than this sinus infection is letting me be right now. All I want for Christmas is my two frontal sinuses, please. Maxillary will do.
*Most recently, volume 5 of Hallowmere, Queen of the Masquerade, by Tiffany Trent and Amanda M. Jenkins. Tears! Tears for the beauty, I tell you! And before that, just finished off volume 4, Maiden of the Wolf by Tiffany Trent and Angelika Ranger (who is on LJ but again, late night, not clear, hopefully I'll remember in the morning). Ilona! Countess Bathory! Humiliations galore! (Okay, so maybe not humiliations galore, but I've always wanted to use that.)
Thought you all might like to know: I have just officially accepted an invitation to speak at the BYU Writing for Young Readers conference this June. Now I just have to figure out what I'll be talking about!
So, I made it to Philadelphia at the planned-for time, without clothes but the ones on my back. Good think I always bring my asthma medicine my carryon! But that meant I was able to make it to the Random House reception at which several Magic in the Mirrorstone authors and its editor, Steve Berman, were attending. (Thankfully, it was casual attire!)
Here's a picture of Steve Berman and Magic in the Mirrorstone authors Lawrence Shoen, Ann Zeddies, and Gregory Frost signing for quite a crowd of librarians and members of Friends of the Library, the hosts of the evening.
It was held at the Mummers Museum, which is known for its really Mardi Gras-esque events, and we were able to enjoy a flavor of that with some great music by a musical trio from the museum. Apparently the Mummers are known for their New Year's parade, which has been going on since before the American Revolution.
I still haven't gotten my checked luggage, so I'm off to see if I can find a place to get a new shirt or something before my first committee meeting this morning!
ETA: My clothes arrived! Yay! Now I don't have to look (or smell) like a college student bumming around Europe in the same clothes every day. :D
This weekend I'm off to Philadelphia for ALA Midwinter. I'm on the Publisher's Liaison Committee for YALSA, so I get to see the inner
workings of the committees this year and to go to some booksignings in the Random House booth for Magic in the Mirrorstone, the anthology of fantasy short stories we're releasing in February. It's edited by Steve Berman and features 15 wonderful stories by 15 amazing authors, like Holly Black, Gregory Frost, Tiffany Trent, Cecil Castellucci, Cassandra Clare, Jim C. Hines, and on and on. If you like short stories, check it out. Hey, even if you don't like short stories, there's plenty to love--Cecil Castellucci's first foray into fantasy, a "lost story" of Hallowmere, unicorns, frogs, a voodoo princess... and more, of course. (Twoo wuv, mawage...)
And of course, if you're going to BE at Midwinter, make sure to come looking for a signed copy of Magic in the Mirrorstone. Gregory Frost and Holly Black are having independent signings, and several others, including Ann Zeddes, Lawrence Schoen, and anthology editor Steve Berman (the reason the whole thing exists!) will be around signing stock, so you might just be able to get a copy with several authors' John Hancocks!
Mirrorstone does not have a booth at Midwinter this year, so go looking for copies at the Random House booth, #1231.
Here's the schedule:
11:00AM—12:00PM – Gregory Frost (Shadowbridge & Magic in the Mirrorstone) signs copies of his book in the RH Booth #1231
11:00AM—12:00PM – Holly Black (Magic in the Mirrorstone) signs copies of her book in the RH Booth # 1231
( On to the show! )
And you thought that was a lot of pictures? That's just the tip of the iceberg, and I'm not diving down into it to find more. But if you want to, you're welcome to see the whole sorry lot (including the sorry photos, which I forgot to delete), you can see them here. But this is all I'll organize!
Yesterday was the first truly HOT day of the summer here in Seattle--up to the mid 90s, they say--and today should be similar. I however am sitting in my over-airconditioned office with a cardigan on, considering popping downstairs for a hot chocolate. The reason is that part of the building has had unreliable air conditioning for a couple weeks now, which means our AC tends to overcompensate.
But I'm not complaining. No sir. Northwest summers are relatively cool and beautiful most of the time (at least on the coast--it's murder in the high desert) and relatively dry, too. The little-known secret about Seattle--known for it's "year-round" rain--is that it doesn't actually rain here from about late June through mid-October. My lawn is brittle and dead, just like any lawn in a desert area. Now, it'll come back to life as soon as the rain comes back in the fall, and it'll be green almost through the winter (thankfully, though, I won't have to mow it most of the winter!), but for the next few months we have some amazing biking, hiking, swimming, camping, and in general outdoorsy weather you could imagine, and not nearly as hot as pretty much any other place I've lived.
Except yesterday and today. Yesterday I thought of going for a run, but opted for ice cream instead. I rarely eat ice cream--it's just not something I think of first--but it's definitely ice cream weather.
But the real reason for this post is behind the cut. Finally, I've uploaded and am now sharing with you some highlights of my ALA trip!
That was all the first day, before the show actually began, when I had a few spare hours to see a little bit of the city.
Now, on to the actual show! That's in the next post. This one's has a lot of pictures already.
My first day at ALA was a day before everyone else, meeting Jeff ( maddrjeffe) and Eric of The Official Timewaster's Guide with Tiffany ( tltrent) to do a podcast interview. It went really well, and the interview is live here: http://www.timewastersguide.com/article/1
maddrjeffe) and Eric of The Official Timewaster's Guide with Tiffany ( tltrent) to do a podcast interview. It went really well, and the interview is live here: http://www.timewastersguide.com/article/1Tiffany and I then went to the ALA Library Champions reception, where we were introduced around to everyone there as the newest Library Champions and the corporate sponsors of Teen Read Week. Lots of good conversations, and a great view from the presidential suite of the Renaissance Hotel there in downtown D.C.
I can't say enough of how nice the YALSA and ALA people were to us. I even got to go on a staff-led tour of the Capitol because Molly, who is the sponsorship liaison, used to work for an Iowa representative and was able to invite some people to go. My tour was a few days later--with several librarians from the Seattle area, actually. Sadly, I had to be back to the booth and had to leave from my tour early, so I never got the names of those librarians, but I hope to be able to see them around at the library!
I can't say enough of how nice the YALSA and ALA people were to us. I even got to go on a staff-led tour of the Capitol because Molly, who is the sponsorship liaison, used to work for an Iowa representative and was able to invite some people to go. My tour was a few days later--with several librarians from the Seattle area, actually. Sadly, I had to be back to the booth and had to leave from my tour early, so I never got the names of those librarians, but I hope to be able to see them around at the library!
Jeff returned to the conference the next day and interviewed Candice Ransom, the author of Time Spies, which will go live in a couple of weeks. Tiffany and Mirrorstone senior editor Nina Hess were also interviewed for a web radio program, and I'll link that when it goes live.
In the booth, we got a lot of amazing feedback on Hallowmere. Several times a girl would walk in because she loved our booth (everyone loves our booth—it’s a great draw, with its comfy couches and cozy medieval bookstore feel), but then she’d see the high fantasy stuff, and I'd get the feeling she was thinking, “not for me.” And then I’d hand her Hallowmere and she’d light up and say, “this is just what I’m looking for!" And it wasn't just those girls--it was librarians of both genders that loved all our books, our reluctant reader kits, and our cozy booth, and it felt really good to be able to hand them good books that I'm proud to have worked on--including some good high fantasy too!
During one of Tiffany’s signings in the booth, a librarian came up to Tiffany and said “Tiffany Trent? Hallowmere? This is the book that my friend said I absolutely must have for my high school library!” Now that's a good feeling! She signed many, many ARCs, including 240 at the Random House signing alone. She must have felt like her arm was going to fall off.
blackhollydropped by the booth with castellucci and a few others, and it was so nice to catch up with all of them. She was also kind enough to come to Tiffany's reading at the Live @ Your Library stage, so I got to chat with her and theoblack for a little while. Theo designed Tiffany's website, among many others. Earlier in the week, Theo had been passing around a petition for Tiffany, which was both funny and touching. castellucciread right before Tiffany did, and I have pictures of what a great entertainer she is, which will end up in my next post. Her new graphic novel, The Plain Janes, just came out from Minx, and as you can imagine, reading a graphic novel out loud can be a challenge! So she recruited several members of the audience to each be a Jane, and they each read a part. Cecil herself did Theater Jane, and I think that was the perfect part for her. :) You'll see when you see the pictures. Also got the chance to meet
melissa_writing (congrats on the NYT!) and her son, and Sarah Beth Durst, both also blogfriends. I have now finally picked up real copies of both their books, too--I've already read Wicked Lovely in ARC, but never was able to find an ARC of Into the Wild. Debby Garfinkle ( dlgarfinkle), author of the Supernatural Rubber Chicken series slated with us for next year, was at the conference for her current books, and so I was finally able to meet this LJ friend too. Debby writes amazingly funny books. We got the chance to sit down with a few librarians each night to get to know them better and to introduce them to our authors. I've seen Alvina's description of Little, Brown's fiction dinner, and though ours isn't quite so large or formal, it's the same idea--one night, we featured Candice, and the next, we featured Tiffany.
We also went to the Teen Read Week Launch Breakfast one morning, at which both Candice and Tiffany got the chance to meet the state YALSA leadership members. At that, we also announced our Teen Read Week contest, in which librarians can get a group of teens together in their library to participate and win a Wii for their library. More details will be coming at http://ww2.wizards.com/books/mirrorstone/T
Overall impression: It was a very positive show, with a lot of energy (and a lot of people—record-breaking attendance numbers upwards of 28,000). I was so glad to see all of you who were there!
Pictures to come tomorrow or Saturday. If not tonight.
tltrent has summed it up already from her perspective. I'll just follow that up with pictures, as soon as I've had the chance to process them. There are many--my camera was on the multiple-shot setting, which tripled the number of shots to go through!--so it might not be till later this weekend. I'm thinking a nap is in order before I do that!While at ALA, Tiffany Trent
tltrent) and I were interviewed for the inauguration of a podcast series over at The Official Time-waster's Guide, a game/book/movie review site that really loves things of a fantastic nature. That interview is now up. If you like what you hear, you can go discuss it on their forums. The folks at TWG also interviewed Candice Ransom on another day, which will go up as the second of the series, I believe--though there may be another episode between then that will have other content. I'll keep you updated.Today was the busiest day of the conference for us at Mirrorstone, though the initial crush of weekend attendees has slowed a bit (we've been told that this conference's attendance broke the record set in Chicago two years ago through the roof, as the highest attendance ever at an ALA convention).
Highlights of my day (pictures to come later):
Seeing the line crook around the corner for Tiffany Trent's ARC signing in the Random House booth (they're our distributor, and I must say they're all fabulous people).
Seeing Cecil Castellucci reading at the Live @ Your Library stage and recruiting several librarian attendees to be the Janes in her new graphic novel P.L.A.I.N. Janes. Very inventive way to make a visual medium translate as much visually as auditorily (is that a word?).
Seeing Tiffany Trent read at the Live @ Your Library stage, the first time I've heard Hallowmere read aloud. And more librarians excited for Hallowmere.
Seeing and/or meeting several LJ/blog friends who I only see at these kinds of conventions including Alvina, Sarah, Holly, Cecil, dlgarfinkle, and many many others which now that it's after midnight after several days on my feet, I'm remembering you but not. I will make amends at a time when I am thinking clearer and have time to go through my pictures.
Speaking of, pictures later. I was going to try to post them, but exhaustion has finally hit and I just need to go to bed if I'm going to make it to what should be my highlight of tomorrow: my tour of the Capitol! (First time to D.C., big history buff. Hey, I'm the kind of girl who will travel to Scotland to do family history. This is a really exciting thing for me.)
mistborn.I'm at ALA today, standing in our booth. It was during Candice Ransom's signing of her chapter book series Time Spies, and who do I see walking through our booth?
I leave it to Brandon to answer that with a shout.
p.s. Real recap of the show, including pictures, to come. But I've had some late nights and early mornings, so it's not happening tonight. Quick summary: it's really great! As usual, our booth is comfy and inviting, and people are liking our books. We've had some great chats with so many people. Tomorrow morning Candice and Tiffany Trent (
tltrent) will be at a breakfast, and then Tiffany is signing at the Random House booth and in the afternoon she's reading at the Live at Your Library stage in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be a very busy day.I leave tomorrow about noonish my time, so after that I'm pretty much going dark (not that this LJ hasn't been kind of dark already the last couple weeks--sorry about that. It's been a busy month; hopefully I'll get back to posting more regularly come next month!).
Note that the books/ARCs these authors will be signing will be FREE in limited quantities. Get there first!
If you’re attending ALA annual in Washington D.C., stop by Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast Booth # 2947. Pick up advance reading copies and discussion guides, meet many of our authors, and take a break on our comfortable couch (back due to popular demand)!
Signing Schedule
Saturday June 23rd
Tiffany Trent
In the Serpent’s Coils, Hallowmere Book 1
“A luscious read,” —Shannon Hale, author of Princess Academy
11:00 to 12:00 PM
Lisa Trumbauer
A Practical Guide to Dragons
“Filled with interesting and quirky details, this well-imagined manual is fun to browse.”—School Library Journal
1:00 to 2:00 PM
Shelly Mazzanoble
Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to Dungeons & Dragons
“Shelly Mazzanoble gives D&D the make-over it deserves—watch out Tyra!”
—J. Marin Younker, Teen Services and Fiction librarian, Seattle Public Library
3:00 to 4:00 PM
Sunday, June 24th
Candice Ransom
Time Spies series
“You absolutely have to have series books in your home and library? Well, bypass all the other books out there and take a turn with Time Spies.”—Betsy Bird, Fuse #8 Productions
11:00 to 12:00 PM
Tiffany Trent
In the Serpent’s Coils, Hallowmere Book 1
11:00 to12:00 PM
Monday, June 25th
Tiffany Trent
In the Serpent’s Coils, Hallowmere Book 1
[At our distribution partner Random House’s Booth #3107]
11:00 to 12:00 PM
Reading and Signing at the Live@Your Library Stage
1:30 to 2:00 PM
The next big event right now is ALA, which I'm very excited for on many levels. Most importantly, I'll finally get to meet Tiffany (
tltrent). We've worked together for two years now, and we haven't met yet! I'm so jealous that all my coworkers met her a couple weeks ago at BEA before I got to. I take comfort only in knowing that they missed me terribly.Second most importantly, I've never been to Our Nation's Capital before. Or the Capitol, for that matter. I'm excited to see what little I can squeeze in while the whirlwind of the conference is going on.
Second again most importantly (because it's just as important if not more so, and I'm just as excited, but for different reasons) is that I'll get to connect with librarians and teachers and all sorts of people connected with children's books again. I love going to shows like this. It's energizing (and exhausting).
So if you're going to ALA, look for the Mirrorstone/Wizards booth (note from Tiffany's pictures from BEA that the booth will again be that cool--it's a great landmark for meeting friends, I hear). Come meet Tiffany and get an ARC of In the Serpent's Coils. Meet Candice Ransom and investigate history with the Time Spies. Come explore the world of dragons and monsters with our Practical Guide signings--and ARCs of Red Dragon Codex, the cover of which is so beautiful that I must share it, but it's not completely final yet, so you'll be the first to get a sneak peek if you're at ALA! And as always, there will be other free stuff too.
I'll post the booth number next week when I know it!