March 2009 – Page 3 – Laurie Halse Anderson

March 19, 2009

WINTERGIRLS is waiting for you!

It is finally here: publication day!

It’s like the day when your baby is born, except without quite so much screaming and no stitches.

BH is making me breakfast, then I have to throw the last minute things in the suitcase and head for the airport. Today is just a travel day. Getting from Syracuse to Los Angeles is an all-day affair. I am bringing all of my gardening catalogs on the plane, and my March Madness bracket, too.

(Yes, I watched Baylor beat Georgetown in the NIT last night. Don’t rub it in.)

If you are near a radio at lunchtime, tune in to your local NPR station to listen to my interview on Here and Now. That is one of my favorite shows and it was an absolute thrill to be on it.

Tomorrow’s events

Early morning – a couple of radio interviews.

Late morning – a visit to the Archer School for Girls (not a public event).

Afternoon – a visit to Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica (not a public event).

Late afternoon – a press conference with high school students.

4:30 – 5:30pm Public Event at the Santa Monica Public Library (hosted by Children’s Book World)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Contact: Erica Cuyugan, young adult librarian
310-458-8600

7 pm Public Event at Barnes & Noble
3rd St. Promenade, 1201 3rd St
Santa Monica, CA
Contact: John Schatzel
Phone: (310) 260-9110

19 comments

March 18, 2009

CAKE FOR BREAKFAST!!!

I posted today’s first entry early, because I was up way before dawn getting ready for the trip. I was buzzing around the house, fretting, chewing my fingernails, trying to remember absolutely everything and wishing I could go to the airport 24 hours early.

Just before 8am, someone knocked on the door. It was a stranger bearing cake. Of course we let her in!

She didn’t stay a stranger for long. Meet Dawn, of MuchAdoAboutCake.com. She makes delicious custom cakes in Syracuse.

Uncle Penguin asked Dawn to bake a WINTERGIRLS cake for us. It was thoughtfully timed so that we could enjoy it for breakfast today AND tomorrow.

A bunch of our kids are coming home this weekend and we’ve promised to leave some for them.

But we didn’t say how much!

29 comments

March 18, 2009

Ready… Set…

WINTERGIRLS and the 10th Anniversary edition of SPEAK officially debut tomorrow!

Be still my beating heart.

I have one hundred million things to do in the next twenty-four hours. If I show up at bookstore events with knots in my hair, you’ll know I never made it to Item #37. Remember to pack brush.

I will be Twittering regularly on tour. You can follow me on Twitter by searching for my name, halseanderson. I think I have figured out how to post photos to my Twitterfeed, so it should be fun. Don’t know what Twitter is? This will explain.

School Library Journal has a great summary of the release of the two books, plus all the magical things that have happened to me in the past six months.

Many thanks to Cecelia Goodnow for a wonderful interview last week that resulted in an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A little bird in Seattle told me that the article ran in the last day of the P-I’s paper version. It has gone to an online only presence now.

Two good questions have come in recently:

When’s Wintergirls due to be out in the UK?

The UK rights have not been sold yet, but I am told by my agent that negotiations are ongoing.

Who took the awesome picture on the cover of WINTERGIRLS?

That is the work of Canadian photographer Alexandre Denomay. I think he was 18 or 19 when he took the photo. He might be 20 years old by now.

Back to packing!

WINTERGIRLS and the 10th Anniversary edition of SPEAK officially debut tomorrow!

3 comments

March 17, 2009

Contest winners & Bob the Builder

We have winners!!!!

Last night Queen Louise ordered her squires to participate in the Official Drawing of the Names. They dutifully complied.

drum roll……..

The winners of custom WINTERGIRLS laptop (or phone) skins are:
Jennifer Forgotten!
Mindi Scott!
Tressa Korson!
Kara Huck!

You’ll be receiving an email from Queen Louise with the details about what happens next so we can get the skin to you. Thanks to everyone for participating!!

Bob the Builder showed up to the cottage project yesterday.

He brought a very large machine.

He plucked out the tree stumps from the site, then added a couple tons of dirt and tamped it down. (Notice the last, lingering snowbank.) Next up: a mason comes next week to form up the forms (I think that’s the right way to describe it) so the concrete slab can be poured.

I’ve been receiving early sightings of copies of WINTERGIRLS on sale already. Since I’m not J.K. Rowling, booksellers are not compelled to hold the book to the release date. If you see it, buy it!

If you see it, you could also take a picture of you standing in the store with the book. Send it to laurie AT writerlady DOT com.

March Madness News!!! Since my Georgetown Hoyas are not in the NCAA tournament this year, ::weeps::, I am supporting Syracuse University. For the third year running, Sarah Dessen and I have our bet going; if her team (North Carolina) goes farther than mine, I will send a signed copy of my new book to her public library. If my team goes farther, Sarah sends her book up here.

Haven’t had time to do my brackets yet. I think I’ll do that on the plane Thursday.

12 comments

March 16, 2009

Three Days

Three days until WINTERGIRLS arrives…

The first fan video!

And the WINTERGIRLS website is up and running. I am waiting for a Family Support information sheet, being written by a woman whose daughter struggled with anorexia, and one of the professionals who worked with their family.

What else does the site need?

What should I remember to pack for the book tour?

Remember to enter the contest before noon (EST) today!

Three days until WINTERGIRLS arrives…

5 comments

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