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BEA Fandango

Posted on by scott

So a mere two days after we arrived back Stateside, Justine and I threw ourselves into Book Expo America, a vast mass of parties, free books, and publishing schmooze.

The first thing you realize about BEA is that it is big. Thirty thousand people big. Here’s a photo of a tiny part of it:

Do you believe me now?

The first day at the S&S booth, Simon & Schuster staff were handing out sample books of Extras (not advanced readers’ copies, just the first three chapters. Scotty was late). They were being extremely good sports and wearing t-shirts declaring themselves to be uglies, pretties, specials, and extras.

That’s my jet-lag expression. Note dark circles under eyes.

On Saturday, I had a signing, where more sample books were passed out. Here’s the vast and intimidating autographing area where about 20 authors sign at the same time.

And here’s a view from backstage.

On the left you can see the hordes of people lining up in the maze of stanchions (reminding this Texan of a cattle yard). On the right, the boxes of books waiting to be signed. I’m pretty good with crowds by now, but passing through that curtain at the beginning of your signing is rather nervous-making.

Here’s me in action . . .

I signed about 200 sample books in my hour. The jet lag hit about halfway through, so apologies to friends I didn’t recognize, people I was weird to, and for all the misspelled names. And thanks for coming! You were all very sweet.

And suddenly it was over with five minutes to spare, so I put on an “I’m an Extra” shirt to pose with.

By the way, Simon & Schuster will be giving away loads of these shirts as October 2 comes closer! And I’ll be giving away any spare Extras sample books. Watch this blog for details.

Thanks to everyone at S&S for the posters, t-shirts, party invites, lunches, and other kindnesses that made BEA loads of fun.

So very soon I’ll be doing the following:
1) Trying to put up the videos I’ve been taking.
2) Put up promised pix of Singapore, etc.
3) Blog some of the books I swagged at BEA.

And don’t forget that you can pre-order Extras now.

The Crash of 2007

Posted on by scott

So last Thursday there’s me, sitting and doing the final rewrites of Extras. And I do mean final, because the manuscript is due to copyediting on Monday. (Yikes!)

Sitting with me is writing companion and corruptor of youth Maureen Johnson. We have a conversation that goes like this:

Scott: Dang! My computer is acting funny. I better reboot.

Maureen: Yeah, mine was acting funny before. This is the evil computer table.

Scott: Heh, heh. Hmm, this is taking awhile . . .

Ten minutes pass.

Maureen: Still spinning?

Scott: Yeah. You know what? I’m just going to go for a walk. You mind texting me when it’s done rebooting?

Maureen: Sure.

Scott walks to Broadway Panhandler. Looks at the coffee machines. Looks at the knives. Ten minutes on, a text from Maureen appears!

You now have a mouse pointer.

Yay, comes Scott’s reply.

He looks at the knives again. Wanders over to the Games Designers’ Workshop store and looks at tiny goblins with laser guns. Many more minutes slowly unfold.

You have a task bar, but no dock, comes fresh news.

I hate the earth, he replies.

Scott, you see, has not backed up the manuscript today. Yes, he is good and backed up last night. But the last two hours were smooth, flowing rewrites! And he doesn’t have time to piss around. This thing is due Monday!

More time passes. And endless non-time, a frozen hour, if you will.

Desktop icons are appearing!

Argh. On my way.

But not before looking at the knives at Broadway Panhandler again. Knives may be needed.

Scott returns to find his computer almost booted. He launches Mail, which takes another twenty minutes to grind into existence. Sends himself the all important Extras file.

Scott: I can’t tell you how much this sucks.

Maureen: I made you an appointment at the Apple Store.

Scott: You are like unto an angel.

They head to the Apple Store.

Genius-Bar Guy: Nothing can be done here. This hard drive is totally pooched.

Is this the end of Scooter?


Dark days for Scooter. And yes, my hard driver is named Scooter.

Genius-Bar Guy: But wait! Here comes TekServe to the rescue! (Or rather, they are a short cab ride from here.)

One new computer purchase and a short cab ride later.

Scott: Can you save Scooter, TekServe?

TekServe Woman: We don’t know. Your hard drive is pretty pooched.

Scott: *sadness*

TekServe Woman: *Smiles wisely, like a veternarian who has put down many a pet, and has seen sadness before.* Don’t worry. We’ll try. Are there any files in particular you need?

Scott: Hmm, maybe a . . . folder called “Extras.” (In which the manuscript has been saved every single day, showing the entire development of the work! Argh.)

TekServe Woman: Don’t you back up, dude?

Scott: Yes, every time before I travel. Well, except the last time. So, maybe last October? You see, I was waiting until the day we leave for Paris. Which is Monday. By the way, um, can you get this back to me by Monday?

TekServe Woman: *raises eyebrow* We shall try.

Scott heads home, saddened. At least he has a new 15″ G4! With a cool new remote control for playing music! (But he has no music, unless he rips all his CDs again.) And a great new version of Mail! (That doesn’t know his addresses, and has lost all of his spam teachings.) And wicked fast Wifi! (But Safari has none of his bookmarks . . . )

It is not the same. Scott works doggedly on the rewrite for Extras, but the larger keyboard is maddening! Key rewrite notes to himself are gone! It is a time of pain.

Then on Saturday, TekServe calls!

TekServe Guy: We have your computer. Your data has been rescued, and a new hard drive with that data installed!

Scott: The crops are saved! If by “crops,” I mean hours of hideous work!

Scott plunges back into the rewrites, full of joy. He is finished just in time to pack for Paris. The world is happy again.

Except . . . why are people banning Maureen? Stupid school boards who haven’t even read her book?

Don’t they know she made me an Extras-saving appointment at the Apple Store?

I am so calling TekServe about this crap. Maybe they can fix it.

First amendment good. Maureen’s book good. TekServe good.

Plus: Everyone go back up their computers. Now.

International Pixel-stained Technopeasant Day

Posted on by scott

In honor of pixel-stained technopeasant day, I’ve posted part of a never-to-be published novel of mine. I ghost-wrote it for a celebrity whose name I cannot divulge, but the deal fell apart. (Causing great poverty—for me, but alas not him.)

So without further ado, here are the first two chapters of Crossover Dreams.

Feel free to guess the celeb’s name—I will neither confirm nor deny . . .

Last 100 Hours

Posted on by scott

In one hundred hours, I have to turn in the first draft of Extras. In the unlikely event that this fact slips my mind, this piece of paper on my wall will remind me:

Note the word counts scrawled (by a madman, apparently) at the bottom of every day. As you can see, Extras has already surpassed Pretties (81,250 words) and Specials (77,500 words) in length. It may even reach the brick-like thickness of Uglies (87,625)!

But things are getting tight on the time front. For this reason, I have taken to writing in strange new environments. Including this hotel room:

Clockwise from far right: me, Lauren McLaughlin, Maureen Johnson, and John Green. Justine is being the hovercam.

Why this hotel? Well, a small collective of us have been writing together, I found a random deal on a suite, and decided that a new spot might be stimulating. The views were cool.

John Green, who makes a video for his brother every other day, documented the event. You can watch that here. It shows you exactly what a writer’s life is like. (No, really.)

For more evidence of my deadline insanity, here’s Maureen’s interview with me while I’m trying to write.

I think I’m the only one still writing. The others just blog about writing. It’s all very self-referential.

If you’ve written me fanmail in the last few months, this approaching deadline is why you haven’t heard anything. I’m sorry!

In 100 hours I will be free . . .

Foreign Friday

Posted on by scott

A couple of recently arrived foreign editions for your weekend delectation.

First, a radical interpretation of Uglies.

The covered face is really dystopian and dark, despite all the vibrant colors. The physical book has lots of shiny on the cover, with that classy trade paperback heft. (And note the locket she’s wearing.)

Here’s something that just occurred to me. Polish, like any other language with adjective/noun number agreement, has plural adjectives. So “brzydcy” is a normal Polish word in a way that “uglies” isn’t. And any translator who didn’t know the English title would reverse-translate “Brzydcy” into “The Ugly Ones.”

This means that all my words like “uglies” and “pretties” sound perfectly normal in Polish, not like future slang or even slightly odd. Obviously this goes for a ton of other languages—all those in which adjectives can be pluralized and used without nouns to mean “the x ones.”

Hmm. I wonder if it feels a bit less alien because of that.

Of course, Australians say “littlies” and “crumblies” anyway. (And “pressies” for “presents,” “Chrissie” for “Christmas,” “musos” for “musicians,” etc.)

Polish speakers can click here for more.

And now from Germany, an old-school sf rendition of Risen Empire.

Loving the title: WorldStorm! Perhaps more properly: Storm of the Worlds, but come on: WORLDSTORM!

An important note: Weltensturm puts Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds in one volume, like they’re supposed to be.

Thanks to Eduard for sending that.

Update: The cover of Extras will be posted here on Monday.

Magic’s Child Is Out!

Posted on by scott

The big news around Casa Larbfeld is that Magic’s Child, the third book in Justine‘s Magic or Madness trilogy, is out today!

At last, the adventures of Reason Cansino are complete. And with pretty-making covers, too . . .

Magic’s Child has already gotten tons of good reviews and blurbs, like:

“Full of unexpected turns and surprises. An amazing conclusion to a wonderful series.” —Holly Black

“[A] crackling blend of fantastic adventure and soap-opera angst with vivid splashes of Aussie and American slang. . . readers will be left pondering their own hard choices.” —Kirkus

“Magic’s Child is a thrilling, heartrending, and thoroughly satisfying conclusion to the best fantasy trilogy I’ve read in years.” —John Green

And there’s tons more.

In celebration, Penguin have made some excellent Magic’s Child screen savers. Click either mac or pc to get yours.

Have a good weekend! Ours is starting . . . now.

Update: Because so many of you have asked:

Book 1 is Magic or Madness, available in hardback or paper.
Book 2 is Magic Lessons, also available in hardback or paper.
And of course Magic’s Child is book 3, out now in hardback.

Humble Appearance

Posted on by scott

This Saturday Justine and I are headed to Humble, Texas for Teen Lit Fest! For all of you who live near Houston, please come and say hi.

We’ll be in the illustrious company of Chris Crutcher, Gail Giles, Benjamin Alíre Sáenz, and Chris Yambar. Chris is giving the keynote speech. We saw him in NYC last year, and he is nine kinds of awesome.

Here’s the facts:

Saturday, 24 February, 2007
Humble ISD Libraries’ Teen Lit Festival 07

Guests are: Chris Crutcher, Gail Giles,
Justine Larbalestier, Benjamin Alíre Sáenz,
Scott Westerfeld and Chris Yambar
Atascocita High School Campus
Humble, Texas

It starts at 8:30AM, Chris’s keynote is at 9:40, and Justine and I both have (separate) sessions at 10:45 and 12:15. All the authors will be signing books from about 1:00 to 2:00.

The event is open to the public and free of charge!

Instructions for getting there can be found here.

This appearance is the whole reason that Justine and I have faced the snowy northern hemisphere so early this year. My uncle is a principal at one of the Humble schools, and is retiring after 23 years. We just couldn’t say no.

But going to Houston after two decades in New York is very nervous-making. You see, being from Texas, it took me about ten years to start pronouncing the name of Houston Street six blocks from me in the NYC way, which is very different from the Texas way.

But that means that at some point this Saturday, I’m very likely to say, “Thanks for having me here in How-ston.”

And as a former Texan, that will be very, very bad.

Hope to see you there.

Update We’ll also be in Texas in mid-April. So we’ll probably do a signing in Austin and or San Antonio!

Appearance in Sydney

Posted on by scott

This coming Saturday, Justine and I will be doing an appearance at the wondrous Kinokuniya bookshop. Deb Abela and Michael Parker will also be there, and the four of us are going to have a long, meaningful debate about science fiction.

Or maybe a spitting contest.

Where:
Kinokuniya Books
Galeries Victoria
500 George St., Sydney

When:
Saturday, January 20, 2PM

Who: Deb Abela, Michael Parker, Justine Larbalestier, and Scott Westerfeld

Why:
To better the world.

Tale of Quasi-Woe

Posted on by scott

Hey, sorry I’ve been so lame posting this summer.* But I haven’t been totally lazy. I’ve been writing!

What, you may ask? Well, it’s a secret, and I can’t tell you any details about it yet.**

But here’s a funny thing that happened . . .

Quick note: This would be a good time for anyone who works for my publishers to stop reading. No really. Nothing to see, move it a long, because this is SO unrelated to delivery dates or professional issues of any kind. Okay?

Okay.

So, all you non-publishing types, there I was, 16,000 words (65 pages) into my shiny wonderful new book. Except it wasn’t wonderful; something was deeply, deeply wrong. The voice, the plot, the structure all seemed to be sucking! No matter how much I edited the writing, smoothed the transitions, caffeinated the plot, or voicified the characters, it all just came out flat.

The whole book gave me that icky feeling of inexcusable lameness, like when they rap on Sesame Street, or when my parents would say “The Led Zeppelin” and “Clash,” instead of the other way around. Or when politicians clap along with the musical act before their speeches. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

My novel was to a good book what this object is to a florescent light:

This was taken by me on a NYC street. Is not that the awesomest? What the heck stepped on that light bulb? Godzilla? Truckzilla?

Anyway, back to my tale of quasi-woe. The weird thing was, I was pretty sure that somewhere, maybe just next door to what I was writing about, something pretty cool was happening. The world of the novel was fascinating, but the novel wasn’t.

So let’s skip past many sleepless nights and screaming writing sessions to a day shortly before Christmas. Justine and I were walking to breakfast, and I finally realized the problem . . . I had the wrong point of view.

The main character, the one whose POV I was writing from, was too smug, too knowing, and generally non-likeable. A certain other person in the story was saying and doing much more interesting things. And worse, most of those cool things were being said and done when my POV person wasn’t around, which meant that the reader was only getting told about them.

Which sucked.

So I tossed those 16,000 words, and started over.

Now, I’d like to say this was easy. Like I’m a fearless and industrious perfectionist, who cares only about the final product. But no . . . it came in slow, reluctant stages.

First I said, “Well, we can keep most of this stuff, just change some pronouns and whatnot, and it’ll all seemlessly become Character B’s POV. Just start the story earlier!”

That, of course, failed to work. After all that smoothing and editing, lame Character A had saturated the prose. So I told myself, “Well, maybe we can have two points of view, and I can keep maybe four or five thousand words.”

And that worked even less. Character A dropped back into the story like a led zeppelin, possibly even the led zeppelin.

So after much toing and froing (mostly froing), only a tiny fraction of those lost 16,000 words have been rescued. And all have come at an editing cost roughly equal to writing them from scratch in the first place. Possibly more.

But I promise, the novel is much, much better, and I am a happier writer-person. More importantly, these next months of effort will be far more enjoyable, and the next forty years of having this book on my shelf much less embarrassing. Also, I got to keep 100% of the thinking I’ve already done, free of charge!

And all at the small cost of one month’s work.***

So my words of wisdom for today are:

“Sometimes tossing out vast quantities of words is better than letting a whole book bleed slowly to death. Don’t give up, just start over.”

Okay, maybe that’s not the feel-good story of the year. But these are:

1. The Last Days and Justine’s Magic Lessons have both been nominated for the Aurealis Awards! Yay to us and the other nominees:

Monster Blood Tattoo: Book One. Foundling by D.M. Cornish
The King’s Fool by Amanda Holohan
Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillie

2. After twenty-two months in print, Uglies has joined Pretties and Specials on the NY Times bestseller list. It’s wild for such an old book to appear for the first time on a bestseller list, and it can only mean that you guys are still talking it up to your friends. Yay to you.

3. Last July I blogged about some haiku I wrote for an issue of Subterranean Magazine. This issue can now be downloaded for free. Big yay to those publishers who realize that freely downloadable materials lead to more sales, not fewer.

*Southern hemisphere summer = December to February.
**Don’t even bother asking.
***Okay, maybe two months, if you include Thailand. But seriously, non-publishing dudes, I was chilling in Thailand.

Back at Last!

Posted on by scott

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post, but traveling is tiring. Except, of course, the part where I get to see you guys! You always bring much energy and fabulousness, which makes all the horrible flying totally worth it.

So here’s how the trip was:

We spent Wednesday and Thursday last week at the Archer School for Girls, which was tons of fun. There were many questions asked about how Justine and I write in the same house (and a few about how we met), all which were very amusing to answer.

Our hotel was close to the Getty Center, and so we tried to walk there. Oh, foolish New Yorkers, set a-stumbling across the blasted hellscape that is LA’s pedestrian margins. To make a long story short, we nearly died, then were rescued by a nice man in a car.

But the Getty’s incredible architecture, which was extra dramatic with the sun breaking through the pollution-fog, made it all worthwhile . . .

On Friday I did two presentations at WLMA up in Seattle, talking about my history as a science fiction reader and how I think sf readers are different from the reg’lar kind. Nothing beats an audience full of thoughtful librarians, let me say. Except maybe Courtney and Jordan, the two Applegate students who so charmingly introduced me.

Then on Saturday was the famous library event. Thanks to Topaz and Captain Cockateil for demanding it, and to Dawn, who lent me her library on short notice! It was great meeting all you Seattlite fans. I read from The Last Days and took questions for an hour, then had a whole hour of signing!

Here’s photographic proof!

On Sunday we flew home, then Monday night did a reading together at the Park Slope B&N. Thanks to Maria and Anjulee, and all the fexcellent Brooklyn fans who showed up!

As if this weren’t enough, we’re back in Manhattan tomorrow, reading at Kips Bay:

Borders Bookstore
Wednesday, October 18, 7:00PM
576 2nd Ave (at 32nd Street)

And that’s it! NO MORE! (Well, except for a secret trip to Indiana, and those ten days in London. Argh.)

Sorry if we’ve missed your town or ‘burb or city; it’s not that we don’t love you, just that you outnumber us.