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Free Your Mind

It’s about 7am. I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep (wonder why), so I spent an hour on the treadmill (one of the lovely things about hotels), showered and ate. I don’t get picked up for a couple hours so I am going to try and sneak in a little writing time.

If I can get my hands to stop shaking. Because I am, to put it mildly, wicked cranked up.

Because CHAINS is released today.

And I have finally solved the problem of how to inscribe it. I’ve never heard other authors fret about this, so maybe it’s one of my many quirks, but I like to have a special tag line for each book instead of just writing “Best Wishes” whenever I sign a book for a reader. And it always takes me a long time to find the right words. But I finally hit it for CHAINS.

Free your mind.

That’s what I’ll be writing countless times (fingers crossed) for the next month. It sums up the journey of Isabel, the main character, and the journey that I hope my readers will take, using books to open up their world and grow.

Have you ever had your name in soup? As of this morning, I have. A very cool experience, I must say. Thank you, Jama Rattigan, for the awesome CHAINS celebration shout-out and for putting my name in soup! (I wonder if that is the children’s literature equivalent of putting your name in lights?)

Today I visit St. Bernard’s School in St. Paul and Roseville Area Middle School in Little Canada. (Which in in America. Which is funny because I live in the town of Mexico, which is also in America. What a country!)

TONIGHT’S EVENT: 7:00 – 8:30pm : Barnes & Noble, Roseville, MN 651-639-9256

TOMORROW NIGHT’S EVENT: 6:00 pm at Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, MN 612-920-5005

Call your friends, wake the neighbors, alert all students that I am happy to write extra credit notes to anyone who comes out to my book signing! Let the games begin!

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Mad Woman Goes on Book Tour

If all goes well, I head to Minnesota in a few hours. I promise lots of pictures and tour details for the next month.

Before we get to the schedule, I’d like to puff out my chest and proudly point out that my daughter Bookavore (aka Stephanie) has some great quotes about economic sustainability and getting folks to shop locally.

And…. Brilliance Audio just released a wonderful audio version of CHAINS!! The reader, Madisun Leigh, does a wonderful job – so wonderful that I was in tears by the end of the first chapter. I can’t wait until I have time to listen to the whole thing!

And… not only did I buy The Dress for the fancy-pants National Book Award gala, but I took it to Mary Jean’s Alterations in Oswego and it will be ready when I get off the plane in a few weeks. BH ordered his tux there, too.

And… my absentee ballot arrived on time and I voted!!!!

And….. the book tour appearances below are my public gigs. On most days, I’ll be visiting schools during the day and then doing an evening appearance at most stores. I am really sorry I won’t be headed to the West Coast on this tour, but you can’t have everything, and my cup is totally overflowing right now, so I’m not going to make a fuss. (FYI – I’ll be going back out on tour in March. Keep your fingers crossed.)

CHAINS BOOK TOUR SCHEDULE: FREE YOUR MIND!!

MINNEAPOLIS
Tues, October 21 at 7:00 pm : Barnes & Noble, Roseville, MN 651-639-9256

Wed., October 22 at 6:00 pm: Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, MN 612-920-5005

DENVER
Thursday, October 23 (AKA MY BIRTHDAY) at 5:00 pm: Bookies, Denver, CO 303-759-1117

Friday, October 24 at 7:00 pm: Tattered Cover, Denver, East Colfax store 303-436-9219

CHICAGO area
Saturday, October 25 at 1:00 pm: The Bookstall of Chestnut Court, Winnetka 847-446-0882

Sunday, October 26 at 2:00 pm: Center for Teaching through Children’s Books, National-Louis University, Skokie. This is at 5202 Old Orchard Road – 3rd Floor Public Forum Room. Sorry, I don’t have a contact phone number, but I do know that lots of teachers and grad students are expected to attend. At least, I hope they do.

Monday, October 27: Barnes & Noble, Skokie (no public event, but will have signed books available) 847-676-2230

OMAHA
Tuesday, October 28 at 7:00 pm: Omaha Public Library, An all-city event in Centennial Hall at the Alumni House on the UNO Campus, 6705 Dodge St. 402-444-4800

BACK TO CHICAGO area
Wednesday, October 29 at 7:00 pm: Anderson’s, Naperville 630-355-2665

MILWAUKEE
Thursday, October 30 at 7:00 pm: Harry Schwartz Bookshop (Mequon store) 262-241-6220

DOVER, DE
Saturday, November 1: several appearances during the day: Delaware Book Festival

BALTIMORE
Monday, November 3: The Children’s Bookstore (no public event, but will have signed books available)

WASHINGTON, DC area
Monday, November 3 at 7:00 pm: Barnes & Noble, McLean, VA 703-506-2937

Tuesday, November 4: Politics & Prose, Wash. DC (drop-in booksigning at 12:30) 202-364-1919

NEW JERSEY
Wednesday, November 5: BookEnds, Ridgewood (no public event, but will have signed books available) 201-445-0726

NEW YORK
Thursday, November 6 at 6:45 pm: Merritt Bookstore, Millbrook, NY 845-677-5857

WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Friday, November 7: Odyssey Bookstore, South Hadley, MA (no public event, but will have signed books available) 413-534-7307

ATLANTA area
Monday, November 10 at 7:00 pm: Little Shop of Stories, Decatur 404-373-6300

Tuesday, November 11: The Reading Tree, Alpharetta (no public event, but will have signed books available) 770-740-7171

MIAMI
Wednesday, November 12 and Thursday, November 13: Miami Book Fair (school events only)

NEW ORLEANS
Friday, November 14 at 4:30 pm: Octavia Books 504-899-7323

Saturday, November 14 — Special school event only, sponsored by Octavia Books

NEW YORK CITY – NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FESTIVITIES
Tuesday, November 18 – Teen Press Conference

Tuesday, November 18, 7pm – All twenty of this year’s National Book Award Finalists will read from their books at New York City’ s New School

Wednesday, November 19, National Book Foundation Awards Dinner and Ceremony

SAN ANTONIO, TX
Friday, November 21 – Tuesday, November 25: National Council of Teachers of English annual conference and ALAN Workshop

CENTRAL NEW YORK
Thursday, December 4 at 6:00 pm: The River’s End Bookstore, Oswego 315-342-0077 (followed by a fundraising dinner for the Oswego Public Library!)

SE PENNSYLVANIA
Saturday, December 6 at 6pm: Moravian Bookshop, Bethlehem, PA 610-866-5481

And now I should probably try to sleep.
Yeah, right.

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real quick

The Dress Issue is SOLVED thanks to Lord & Taylor. Which is very, very punny if you think about it; given that I was invoking all of the gods in the hopes of finding a well-tailored gown.

It seems all I ever need to accomplish anything in life is a killer deadline.

More later.

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and now the author runs around like a crazy person

THANK YOU!

Thank you!

Thankyouthankyouthankyou to everyone for the kind wishes and congratulations sent about yesterday’s big, honking, life-altering news. I am still breaking out in random giggles. I have also watched the video of the nomination announcements about a dozen times to make sure this is all real. Not only is it real, but he said my name right. How cool is that?

And congratulations to my fellow finalists: Kathi Appelt, Judy Blundell, E. Lockhart, and Tim Tharp!

Now I have four days to pack for the tour, make sure all my bills and stuff are taken care of, take Mom to the doctor’s, unpack the suitcase because I am sure I have not packed properly, repack the suitcase, order the books of my fellow nominees (such a luxury to HAVE to read books!), figure out how to tote my projector across the country, pause every now and then to breathe into a brown paper bag, and oh yes –

– the hardest thing –

I have to find a dress.

This does not sound like a big deal, right? People, well, mostly women, buy dresses all the time. Some women, like Sarah Dessen, actually enjoy shopping for dresses. The OfficeMouse views shopping as a relaxation technique.

You have no earthly idea. The mall gives me hives. I would rather have root canal than step foot in a dressing room.

It’s not that I am opposed to the theory of a dress, not at all. Back in 1999, I actually found a dress that I liked (and if worse comes to worse, I will be wearing it again!) albeit after many shopping trips and after being locked in the dressing room by a friend who refused to let me leave the mall until we found something.

The dress makers of the world don’t think of me when they design their offerings. I’m tall, for one thing. My shoulders are broad enough to make me a passable middle linebacker (most of my shirts are men’s mediums), I have ungodly long arms, and despite my mother’s best efforts, I am not ladylike.

I need a dress that won’t rip a seam if I hug someone, won’t malfunction if I jump up and down, (here’s the tricky part) actually fits me, and is comfortable.

And since I’m dreaming, I want it to have pockets, too. And if it could be made of sweatshirt material, that would be just peachy.

I have four days.