E. Lockhart's Blog, page 16

Me and the awesome Melissa de La Cruz (author of Blue Bloods, The Ashleys, etc) -- at the ALAN conference cocktail party.  I own four gray cocktail dresses. Mel owns five pairs of white slacks. We are each wearing a sample. (Though you can't see pants, obvs.)

More from Mel's conference adventures, with lots of pics, on her blog (from which I swiped photo!) 

First, appearance notes:

I'll be at NCTE and at the opening night of the ALAN conference -- just Nov 20 (evening) and 21 (all day, and the ALAN cocktail party). Will you be there?  Please find me on the floor and come say hello.  

Also, stop by the Harper Collins booth, because rumor has it they'll have ARCs of my May 2011 middle grade title (first in a series):  INVISIBLE INKLING, published under Emily Jenkins.

Inkling has pictures by the extremely amusing Harry Bliss, NY Times bestselling illustrator of Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, A Fine Fine School etc.

"INVISIBLE INKLING is charming, fresh, and funny. Now I want an invisible friend of my own!"
                    — Sarah Pennypacker, author of the Clementine series  

Book Court:  Nov. 29th I'll be appearing with David Levithan, Rachel Cohn and Matt de la Pena at Book Court in Brooklyn. 6 PM.  Be there! On Court Street, between Dean and Pacific. 

Now some other stuff: 

I know you are already thinking about your holiday shopping, and I want to recommend Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, by Levithan and Cohn. I've been touring with them, and the book is very romantic and full of Christmassy, New York details. It has an adorable, holiday-ish jacket and is a perfect present for a guy or girl reader. 

And: I ran my school's bookfair last week, with the independent bookseller Word.  It was a big success, I think! Except for a couple naysayers. We started on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid laydown date, so I have this to say:

THANK YOU, JEFF KINNEY! 

Those things sold like hotcakes, especially the purple  one :). 

All right. I wanted to write a loooong post but really, I am out of ideas. And I have to pack for ALAN. I have a new cocktail dress! 

Allright. I have two. 

There was a sale.  Like, a really big sale. It was calling to me! 

Which one will I wear? I have packed them both. 

Off to Florida in the AM for family visits, then to the conference. Goodbye til' then!

xo

E

Thursday night (tomorrow!) me, Rachel Con and David Levithan at

The Bookmark Shoppe 8415 3rd Avenue Brooklyn, NY.
Come out and see us!

7pm

More tour dates, here.

Hey Dramarama folks: Look here at Broadway's brightest and best, promising "It Gets Better." A must for theater fans and any gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered or questioning teens.

November 1, Monday -- Children's Book World in Haverford, PA!

7 pm

Me, David Levithan, Rachel Cohn, Sarah Mlynowski and Matt de la Pena.
We are road-tripping up from NYC.  Come out and see us!  The only night of the whole tour we're all together. 

My dear pal Tanya Stone's new book is out: The Good, The Bad, and the Barbie. 

1) It is so pretty!

2) Stone won like every possible award in the nonfiction universe last year for Almost Astronauts, so you know she's a quality act

3) My 8 y.o kid read this cover to cover more than once and shared it with her friends. The only nonfiction book she's read voluntarily, unless you count The Secret Life of Mermaids, which I don't. 

4) It's a history of Barbie, plus all the controversies surrounding her.  Arguments both pro and con. 

5) So it seems to me a must-buy for libraries, for kids who play with Barbie, for kids who used to play with Barbie, for book clubs, esp mother-daughter ones.  

It is seriously a fantastic book and I think it will spark all kinds of great conversations.  

xo

E

 

The entries for the Real Live Boyfriends ARC contest were awesome. You guys are HILARIOUS. Plus very cynical about the opposite sex -- and able to snap the best comebacks ever. Beware, skeevy guys scoping ladies on the street!  We know what to say to you, now!

Anyway, thank you all for entering. It was great fun for me to read them all, and I'm so glad you're psyched for the book (which comes out Dec. 28 -- and make sure you've read Treasure Map of Boys before then!)

Click here to see  all the entries in the comments.  Lots of good stuff on Twitter too, not officially entered. 

And here are the winners!  There are ten, since that's how many ARCs my publisher has to send out. I am sorry to say that my they can't ship out of the USA, so alas, Canadian and UK entries, and any other foreign climes -- you could not be considered.  My error for not making that clear. 

WINNERS: 

Clever comebacks to catcalls:

Jen, for:
"Oh, I'm sorry but NEXT week is 'be nice to losers' week. Catch me then!" 

Tina for:
"Save your breath, you're going to need it to blow up your date." 

VLSimplicity for:
"I'm sorry, what? I was distracted by that mask you're wearing."

Sam M for:
He says: Hey Honey, how did a pretty thing like you break your ankle?
Answer: Kicking Dumbasses. You should leave before I break my other ankle 

Boy Speak:

Dea, for:
What he says: I like that shirt on you. 
What's understood: It makes me look thinner! 
He means: Your boobs are looking amazing!

MsMikado for:
He says: You are really funny. 
You Hear: I like you. 
He means: I date hotter girls. 

Makena for:
Boy: lets c where we r in a few months
Girl thinks: he still wants 2 date me!
Boy really means: not interested  

Sab H. for:
What he says: She's just a friend.
What is understood: He's lying. 
What he means: She's way out of my league, I tried.

RamblingQuasi/Rachel Stupendous for:
what he says: i've never met anyone who thinks the way you do.
what she thinks he means: he really understands me and loves me for who i am!what he means: this girl is CRAZY! maybe if i back away slowly she won't notice.... 

If you won, send your SNAIL MAIL address in an email to me at elockhart at earthlink.net.  If you are under 18, please ask your parents before doing this! Is not a good idea to send your info to strangers without checking with them, even benevolent un-crazy strangers like myself. 

I will forward your addy to my publicist, the charming Jessica, and she will send you an Advance Readers Copy!  Please do this by October 23!! So we can be organized.

Thanks again for entering. You guys are great. 

xxxxoo E. Lockhart

The Battle of the Children's Book Bands was really really fun.  As you know, if you've been reading the blog regularly, I got to be a 'celebrity' judge for this New York Public Library fundraiser event.  The judges were me, Ann Brashares, Maureen Johnson and Jennifer Belle.  

Basically, there are three bands made up of people from the children's book world.  These bands -- The Effin' Gs (a pun on what early reader copies of picture books are called:  F&Gs), Mr. MacGregor (named after Peter Rabbit's nemesis) and Tiger Beat (named after a magazine that had, like, fold-out posters of Scott Baio that you could put up on your wall, and  --

OH WAIT!

Tiger Beat still exists!!!  I had no idea. Why don't we ever promote books in there, you publishing people?

(On a side note, I am ALL OVER this month's issue of Justine magazine.  Ruby's advice column and a big photo of me and all the Roo books!) 

Ok.  Back to Tiger Beat! If you don't know who Scott Baio is/was, that doesn't matter. He was the Justin Bieber of his day. Or the Joe Jonas. You get the idea. 

Back to the BATTLE. Tiger Beat is named after the magazine.

Über Librarian Betsy Bird (AKA Fuse  No. 8) was our hostess.  In the green room beforehand, she provided M&Ms and sorted all the green ones into a bowl in case we wanted to make wishes or have any of the other experiences green M&Ms have to offer.  
I ate THE MOST OF ANYONE.  (I hadn't had dinner. Or sleep. Also, I am greedy.) 

It was great to meet Ann Brashares, whose Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants needs no introduction; and also Jennifer Belle, whose (decidedly adult) novel Going Down is a great read.  Maureen Johnson is always exciting in her own way, but I totally know her.  She was wearing fishnets! 

Also lounging were various band members, a four month old baby, a 9 year old girl, various and sundry librarians.  (Yes, I ate more M&Ms than all of them.)

Then we judges trooped out into the audience and the Effin' Gs came on stage. One important thing, though: we judges didn't really know what we were supposed to do!  We were supposed to be amusing in between sets, and then JUDGE.  That's all we knew.  My plan was to judge based on tightness of pants. If that judging system had prevailed, Tiger Beat would have won, because Libba Bray (Printz-winning author of Going Bovine and spangle-jacketed frontwoman) was wearing some seriously excellent and tight ones. 

Okay, The Effin' Gs were great. My favorite song was about "that guy at the party you really want to take home -- and then you realize, everyone else at the party wants to take him home too" -- a song called Randolph Caldecott.  Editor Namrata Tripathi was the frontwoman, and she is beyooootiful and great. Editor Lynne Polvino on bass and vocals,  John Adamo on drums (I think) and another guy who was also in Mr. MacGregor on guitar (but I don't know which one! See below.  Sorry, dude!)  

Then I got up and chatted with Betsy about the band, and how they reminded me a little of Veruca Salt, another band with a kid-lit referencing name. She quizzed me on the contents of my iPod, which are too embarassing to mention here. 

 

 [image error]

 

Up next, Mr. MacGregor. The dudes in the band were Dennis Shealey, Mo Botton and Jim Thomas, but they didn't introduce themselves and I couldn't figure out which was which. They had a much more thrash-metal sound (as Maureen said later, they were nice and screamy) -- but their lyrics were very YA.  "Are You There God? It's me, Margaret!" was my favorite, but they also did a great love song to Grilled Cheese. 

Last, Tiger Beat. I've seen these guys before. They are awesome:  Libba Bray on vocals; Natalie Standiford on bass (her new book is Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters); Daniel Ehrenhaft on guitar (my fave of his is Friend is Not a Verb); and Barnabas Miller on drums and  (author of Seven Souls and Break the Surface and apparently website-free). 

Libba is a great performer. She struts around and dances and banters -- she's just amazing.  She's also my friend, so it was really sweet to see her in this element. Her voice was especially awesome on the "soul medley" -- which included Wishing Well and Baby, I Love You and something else awesome I am forgetting right now.  Then at the end Miller came out from behind the drum kit and sang Purple Rain.  He totally rocked it. 

Belle and Brashares didn't chat as much as Maureen and I did, because there was no band changeover when they came up, but they were charming and then we went back to decide the WINNER.

Only, we realized:  our purpose in being there was to raise money for  the NYPL. Not to actually judge.  So we announced that our favors as judges could be bought -- and audience members should pony up cash for the band they thought should win.  All money went to the library (although some looked likely to disappear down MJ's bra...) and the Effin' Gs were declared winner.   

Then we stood around and schmoozed with the exceedingly well-dressed dudes who head up NYPL's teen programs, and MJ and I went out and ate avocado rolls.

I had so much fun. Sometimes I can't believe the awesomeness of my job. 

P.S. Feeling like supporting the NYPL now? Please do! 

 

 

Happy Halloween! (soon) This vid is research for me. I swear! I am not procrastinating when I'm supposed to be writing. I am writing about the pumpkins! For serious. (Hi, Donna.) Anyway, it was too awesome not to share.