Norton Win + Paris!

Posted on by scott

No, not me. Justine just won the second annual Andre Norton Award for Magic or Madness!

We weren’t in NYC at the time, so thanks to Eloise Flood (dear friend and editor to us both) for picking it up, and to fellow nominee Maureen Johnson for being the first to text us.

Amusing Story 1: The actual Norton Award object was somehow melted in transit. They had to give Eloise an old Grandmaster Award as a stand-in.

Amusing Story 2: Holly Black won the first one last year for Valiant, which we’d bet her she would. So she had to take us out for a hugely expensive meal. Absurdly expensive, it turned out. But now we owe her one. (drat)

Speaking of good food, the reason I haven’t been posting is that we’ve been here:

Amusing Story 3: I was trying to get my cool new camera (b’day pressie from Justine) on the right setting to shoot the Eiffel Tower. And it turned out that the setting for Big Buildings was indicated by an icon of the Eiffel Tower!

Ah, Paris. What an iconic city.

We were there to do press for Uglies, which came out last week in French. My adult sf is much more popular in France than the US, so I had tons of big papers inteviewing me: L’Express, Le Monde, Figaro, and a bunch of teen weeklies and monthlies.

Apparently, I am the Jerry Lewis of sf.

French interviewers are different from their English-language counterparts. More . . . philosophical. My favorite example:

What utopia would you fight for?

Gotta love the French. I said something like, “A chaotic utopia, with a thousand voices in tumult.” Because that’s what happens when I’m jetlagged and philosophical in France.

Especially enjoyable was being translated for six of the eleven interviews. It worked like this: The interviewer would ask something in French, Christian (my translator) would repeat it to me in English. Then I would waffle for a while, and Christian would translate my waffling back to the interviewer in French.

How Christian did this without head explodage is beyond me. A lot of my answers (and some of the questions) were a couple of minutes long. I can’t even repeat something of that length back in the same language, much less another one.

But it was way cool listening to my answers in French, trying to catch recognizable words flashing by. Christian and I got to know each other in a really interesting way. (That is, he saw me answer the same questions six different ways in some cases. This is something only Justine normally gets to do.)

I have a lengthy video of the process, which I’ll try to cut into uploadable form soon.

All in all, Paris was awesome. Great food, perfect weather, bars named after me, and everyone was supremely wonderful to us. A jolly birthday. (I’m 44! Ancient!)

Thanks to Christian, all the journalistes, and my Pocket publicist Christine.

More photos, etc., to come.

P.S. You can buy the Norton Award-winning Magic or Madness in fine bookshops everywhere or here.

116 thoughts on “Norton Win + Paris!”

  1. Looking for Alaska! That is my second-favorite book of ALL TIME! I read it in one day. I love it. Almost as much as So Yesterday. An Abundance of Katherines is also very good, and by John Green as well.

  2. yea thats on my booklist!!! but heyyy i have a life….jus like to read thats all:) read 59 this year!!and i know scott is busy with Extras and all….so ok we’ll jus keep commentin!!!

  3. I read over 68 books last year (32 in the summer). My friends think I’m insane for spending the summer reading, but really, what else is there to do? Nothing. Except make full-length movies with your friends. But even that leaves time for reading!

  4. yea i have a life but i dont really do much on weekend cuz i live like 30 min form everything and my mom is a beep so yea 🙂 but tahts when i just read and my friends are like wow i feel bad for you and yea but im kind of happy so yea i dont now how many books iv read but its a lot ill keep track next year 🙂

  5. I had a peep-dream too, Heather! Except I did eat people. But then the Night Watch caught me and I fought the worms.

  6. My friends think im crazy for reading too. But I don’t know why!! Most of them just say they’d blow their brains out before they read for fun!! But a small number of my friends do read like I do… we all read the same books!! It’s so cool, cause I’ll read a book, and if it’s good, we literally pass it around to people we know who love to read… and thats what we talk about sometimes. I know it sounds kinda weird we have nothing better to talk about, but trust me… there’s nothing else to talk about, since nothing goes on here!!! lol 🙂

  8. yea we have to keep track of how many books we read in school. we’re supposed to read 25 at least for the school year and im like way ahead of that wit mayb a few others. but this one girl, just during the skool year (not summer) she’s read 110 books!!!! now thats no life. but my friends hate the books i read. i try to suggest Scott’s but they’re like eww.

  9. EIGHT DAYS OF SKOOL LEFT! YA UR JELOUSE!! BOOOYAAHH!!! lolol! Math is probably my worst subject…like…ever…i mean i get the concept of how to do things, but i always make those stupid bogus errors and stuff…and i’m all ARG! I SAW PIRATES 3 LAST NIGHT (Thursday night) Teeheeeeeeee! it’s amazing!

  10. ps- half of my friends r readers and the other half think books r like…evil or somethin…its kinda funny cuz they’re always like “GEEZ STOP READING AND GET A LIFE!” and i’m like “DUDE! I SWIM!” lolol! we aren’t crazy, just…more old fashion…i guess…lolol!

  16. OMG….I can’t wait for the extras to come out! I have read the other 3 books! Also i feel that therre should me a movie on this trilogy…and the extras. Even if some scenes get cut out…it will still be exciting!

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