"Cutting libraries in a recession is like cutting hospitals in a plague."
Eleanor Crumblehulme
You know you want this on a tee-shirt. Buy one for your state’s governor and your school board president while you’re at it.
BEA (book expo) Vlog & FORGE signing
I spent Tuesday – Thursday of this week at BEA – the gigunda annual trade show for booksellers in New York City. It was crazy-intense and wonderful. I got to hear smart people talk, saw friends be honored, receive some nice recognition from independent booksellers for some of my work, sign LOTS of books, go to parties, hear the opening pages of Mockingjay (the 3rd Hunger Games book. No, they didn’t have any ARCs. It comes out on August 24th. Order your copy from an indie bookseller now.), and have great conversations with booksellers about how we authors can help them do what they do best; get books into the hands of readers.
And I brought my new camera so I could make a few videos for you!
Here is the first one. Mostly it shows the very patient booksellers who waited in line for hours for me to sign advanced copies of FORGE. Be sure to check the end of the clip to see the special guest appearance by His High Crankiness His High Bookishness, Former Children’s Literature Ambassador Jon Whathisname.
I’m taking the rest of the long weekend off from the Internet. Happy Memorial Day and see you Tuesday!
Brilliant Win of Kate Messner
I don’t have much time this morning, but I wanted to post a quick video from last night. This is for Kate Messner, who couldn’t be here at BEA because she is a dedicated teacher and she is teaching this week.
That did not stop her book, The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z, from winning a big honking award last night.
Chickens grow right in front of your eyes!
Our chickens are two weeks old and all seem very healthy. Incredibly healthy. In fact, I am wondering if our proximity to the nuclear power plant is influencing their stupendous growth rate.
BH has been slowly turning a pile of scrap lumber into the coop, but some recent chicken test flightsaccelerated the schedule. Below you’ll see a video of random clips filmed when we moved the chickens. The dog was very interested in the entire process.
(Note to chicken experts: this is only one part of the cop. Right now it is in our garage. When we move it outside, it will have roosts and a roof and a fenced-in yard that will be electrified (solar-powered!) to keep out hungry predators.)
If you are in the mood for a fix of fluff and feathers, enjoy.
Have I mentioned recently how much I love my job?
There is a kid in Oregon who loves CHAINS. He loves it so much that he wrote an original song about it and then made this video. Be sure to watch all the way to the end. There is a surprise there that might bring tears to your eyes. That’s what happened to me.