Archives

More Fan Art

Posted on by scott

At our reading at Books Inc. tonight, we ran into more awesome fan art. Long-time commenter Liset came in with this retro Team David shirt:

teamdavid.JPG

And note the Midnighters-y line on the botttom: “With love for Flyboy too!”

On top of which, I scored this awesome piece of So Yesterday-themed art:

coolmaven.JPG

Thanks for all these little touches of sweetness to offset the rigors of touring.

Tomorrow is insane, between a school visit, a signing, and flying to Seattle, so there may well be no blogging. But don’t forget the last few dates of la tour:

Wednesday, Oct 10
3:00pm-4:30pm
Hicklebees
1378 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
School event followed by in-store reading/signing

Thursday, Oct 11
7:00pm
Shorecrest Performing Arts Center
15343 25th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
Books will be sold by Third Place Books
Public presentation and signing.

Friday, Oct 12
4:00pm
Edmonds Branch Library
650 Main St.
Edmonds, WA 98020
Books will be sold onsite by Barnes & Noble

Monday, Oct 15
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
Reading/Signing

Ciao for now.

Quick Note: If you’re commenting about the book Extras, please be kind to your fellow readers and use the Extras Spoiler Page.

Blog the Fog

Posted on by scott

Just got back from a signing at Copperfield’s Books that was unbelievably awesome. After our 7AM wake up call and three school appearances this morning, I thought I would be zombified by tonight. But the lovely, energetic crowd carried me through a really fun appearance.

Actually, all the signings have been so energy-making. Thanks for that.

And on the way out to Petaluma . . . the fog!

fog.jpg

Another lovely thing: at one of my school visits, these four students had made a giant, hand-drawn Uglies cover.

uglieshanddrawn.JPG

It reminds me of the days before cheap oversized printers, when record stores would hire artists to paint giant album covers for their windows.

Thanks to the artists: Emily, Olivia, Victoria, and Namitha!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) night’s appearance is a very special one. For the only time on this tour, Justine is making a special command appearance alongside me:

Books Inc.
Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102

Hope to see you there.

And for more amusing reflections on the Extras tour, check out Justine’s blog.

Alice, Michael, and Moi

Posted on by scott

Spent the morning at breakfast with Alice Walker! (Littlies: she wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Color Purple back in 1982.) Me, her, and the exceedingly charming Michael Hoeye were featured at a children’s author breakfast for the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.

Alice Walker, despite her vastly higher face rank, graciously spent much of her speech responding to what Michael and I had said. Regarding Uglies, she talked about being in South Korea recently, and being disturbed by how many women there were getting cosmetic surgery to make their eyes more western-looking.

Then she read from her new picture book, which was eloquent and beautifully illustrated. At the signing afterward, we swapped signed books!

I have proof:

Then Justine and I headed across the . . .

bridge.jpg

to San Francisco!

For a couple of earlier tour photos, check out this post on Justine’s blog, from one of our first events (in which I look like a dorky school teacher), and this one from a walk around Jack London Square (in which I look like a crazy person).

California!

Posted on by scott

Here we are in sunny Oakland, CA, ready for another round of appearances! The times and locations are listed below.

But first, here’s an unexpected interview with me from Borders. I’ve been so busy and insane lately that I can’t remember answering these questions. The answers do sound like me, though.

And here’s a picture of these shipping cranes we saw in Oakland, which are shaped oddly like horses:

As promised, here are my appearances this week in San Francisco:

Monday, Oct 8
7:00pm
Copperfield’s Books Petaluma
140 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA 94952
In-store reading & signing

Tuesday, Oct 9
7:00pm
Books Inc.
Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
In-store reading & signing with Justine.
The “Not Your Mother’s Book Club” will be attending!

Wednesday, Oct 10
3:00pm-4:30pm
Hicklebees
1378 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
School event followed by in-store reading/signing

In Seattle:

Thursday, Oct 11
7:00pm
Shorecrest Performing Arts Center
15343 25th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
Books will be sold by Third Place Books
Public presentation and signing.

Friday, Oct 12
4:00pm
Edmonds Branch Library
650 Main St.
Edmonds, WA 98020
Books will be sold onsite by Barnes & Noble

And next week in Lexington:

Monday, Oct 15
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
Reading/Signing

Note: I’ll be doing a few more than these, including one in NYC and one in Connecticut.

Update: By popular demand, Justine will be attending all events, pen in hand!

Dark-Thirty

Posted on by scott

The tour, she has begun!

Hey, did you guys know they have a six AM now? No one ever tells me anything. This is what it looks like:

Kind of spooky.

In case you can’t tell, I’m not a morning person. (This reason, and no other, is why I became a writer.) But while this tour was being scheduled, I read all these articles about how flights that are early in the day are delayed much less often. So rather than deal with that, many early flights were locked in.

So. Much. Early.

But after a post-flight nap, Justine and I are at a hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois, about to head off toward a banquet at the Great Lakes Booksellers Association. They’re feeding the authors at a special early dinner, so that we don’t even have to eat during the banquet.

Our job is but to charm.

Okay, I’ll try to blog every day or so, just to give you guys a sense of what book tours are like from the author’s perspective. This is my first real multi-city tour, so I’m looking forward to learning all the tricks.

Also, a few copies of Extras have been leaking out into the wild. That’s cool with me, but please no spoilers on this blog yet!

I’ll be setting up a spoiler zone this weekend.

Ciao for now!

Final Schedule

Posted on by scott

At long last, here are the public appearances I’ll be doing for the next three weeks.

Tuesday, Oct 2
7:00PM
Andersons
123 West Jefferson Ave
Naperville, IL 60540
In-store reading/signing

Wednesday, Oct 3
7:00pm
Barnes & Noble
55 Old Orchard Center
Skokie, IL 60077
In-store reading/signing

Thursday, Oct 4
7:00pm
Harry Schwartz Books
10976 North Port Washington Road
Mequon, WI 53092
In-store reading and signing

Monday, Oct 8
7:00pm
Copperfield’s Books Petaluma
140 Kentucky Street
Petaluma, CA 94952
In-store reading & signing

Tuesday, Oct 9
7:00pm
Books Inc.
Opera Plaza
601 Van Ness Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94102
In-store reading & signing with Justine.
The “Not Your Mother’s Book Club” will be attending!

Wednesday, Oct 10
3:00pm-4:30pm
Hicklebees
1378 Lincoln Ave
San Jose, CA 95125
School event followed by in-store reading/signing

Thursday, Oct 11
7:00pm
Shorecrest Performing Arts Center
15343 25th Avenue NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
Books will be sold by Third Place Books
Public presentation and signing.

Friday, Oct 12
4:00pm
Edmonds Branch Library
650 Main St.
Edmonds, WA 98020
Books will be sold onsite by Barnes & Noble

Monday, Oct 15
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Circle
Lexington, KY 40503
Reading/Signing

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it!

Update: There will be more appearances after these, mostly in the NYC area (as far away as Fairfield, CT). Watch this space for details!

DragonTrain!

Posted on by scott

We (being me, Justine, Maureen Johnson, Cassandra Clare, and Theo & Holly Black) just got back from Atlanta. We all took the train down there to DragonCon, a four-day sprawl of costumed mayhem and unashamed geekery.

Rather than issue separate reports, Maureen and I have pooled our video and stills of the event. On the train back, she swiftly and skillfully edited this embarrassment of riches (of embarrassment) down to Six Minutes that Will Change Your Brain:

Note the necessary greetings to absent writing partner John Green and his brother Hank.

There are a few more photos and scraps of video that I’ll be posting later, but quite frankly this is the definitive document. It was a fabulous four days (almost a week, including a day of the Cresent Line on either side). So thanks to my pals for letting me convince them to come.

And special thanks to the folk of the Con who make such fantastic and creative costumes, and to all the staff of the YA thread (Bev, Suzanne, Lydia, Karen, Heather, Tara, and Mary!) who invited us, squeed us, and showed us a great time.

And one more round of applause for Maureen for making the video happen . . . and for dressing up like Wonder Woman.

The Last Days in Paperback + DragonCon!

Posted on by scott

As mentioned earlier, Justine and I are headed to Atlanta next weekend for DragonCon. The schedule is below, but first something that I forgot to announce a few weeks ago . . .

The Last Days is at long last available in paperback! (And Amazon has a sweet two-for-one-price deal on Peeps and TLD. Own the whole duology for $17.98!)

Okay, here’s the schedule with Labor Day weekend. We’re not making any appearances outside DragonCon, because we’re lazy, plus I have tons of National Book Award reading still to do. But for those attending the con, either Justine or I are on the following panels:

FRIDAY 10PM
Blood and Fur
From Stephenie Meyer to Cassandra Clare, books about vampires and werewolves are enjoying a hair-raising resurgence in popularity. Join us as we discuss why they are resonating with readers and learn about some of the new blood in this growing genre.
Scott Westerfeld, Heidi Heiner, Cassandra Clare, Diana Gallagher, Diana Herald
Hilton, Gwinett

SATURDAY 4PM
New Voices in YA
Each year, new voices are emerging in YA literature. Join some of our most popular YA authors–Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson, Scott Westerfeld, and Justine Larbalestier–as they discuss their books and lives as YA authors.
Hanover CDE

SUNDAY 1PM
Chicks Rule
Some of the strongest female role models are today’s YA heroines; we have Hermione’s book-smarts, Lyra’s cunning, and Arya’s toughness. Let’s talk about our favorite heroines and how these characters guide us to persevere in extraordinary situations.
Josepha Sherman, Diana Gallagher, Maureen Johnson, Justine Larbalestier
Hilton, Gwinett

MONDAY 10AM
Utopias and Dystopias
In books like Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series, societies tightly governed by rules can create a perfect place–unless you break them. We’ll look at what makes the best possible worlds for YA authors—and how to function when all bets are off.
Scott Westerfeld, Diana Herald, Susan Fictelberg, Bonnie Kunzel, Tracy Akers
Hilton, Gwinett

I’ll try to do some blogging from the con, especially about the trip down there. We’re going down by train with Cassie Clare, Theo and Holly Black, and Maureen Johnson! DragonTrain!

Thanks for all your orders at Wearable Extras! Let me know how everything fits.

October Tour

Posted on by scott

Hey, everyone. Sorry I’ve been gone so long, but it’s, like, summertime and the living is easy. Plus, I’ve been reading for the National Book Awards, usually a book a day. Doesn’t always leave time for other stuff.

But the crack publicity team in charge of the Extras tour has not been resting! They’ve been planning many exciting appearances (and tedious flights) for the first half of October. The schedule looks something like this . . .

October 2-4: Chicago, IL
October 6-9: San Francisco, CA
October 11: Seattle, WA
October 14-15: Lexington, KY

Update: I will also be doing some stuff around NYC the week of October 22. I forgot to put that in the schedule because, you know, I live here half the year.

If no town near you is on the list, I sincerely apologize. Alas, that’s the way it is. The factors that go into a tour like this are many and arcane. Are there indie bookstores in a city? Trade shows? Librarian conferences happening?

It’s all very mysterious to me. I go where I’m told.

But I’m happy that I’ll be seeing at least four cities’ worth of you guys. This is my first real tour, and I’m both excited and nervous. Luckily, Justine has agreed to go along with me, so I won’t be lonely on all those airplanes.

Obviously, this is just a rough outline. I’ll post the actual appearance times and locations when they’re confirmed.

In the meantime, I’ll be posting more often for the rest of the summer. That snooze was enjoyable, but it’s all over now. And yes, the samplers giveaway will continue at some point, and other surprises as well.

Aya ASCI image courtesy of Text-Image.com.

1000 Sk8rs

Posted on by scott

Update: It’s the 4th of July, so I won’t be posting today. Relax. Go watch fireworks and quit hitting refresh!

A few post ago, I covered the crumbling building across the street. Well, as my pal Scalzi mentioned on his blog, earlier that afternoon a horde of skaters roared down my street as part of Go Skateboarding Day.

I took video of them, but I was lame back then and wasn’t into posting video. But I am no longer lame!

I’ve finally joined the 21st century (or at least the latter half of the first decade thereof) and am posting video of the event:

They filled the avenue, baffled traffic, and took about ten minutes to all go by. The roaring was audible way up here on the seventh floor through double-paned windows! Reader, it stirred the blood.

And after you watch the video: Be kind, rewind.