Wendelin Van Draanen's Blog, page 15

Justice Jack and Billy Pratt Come Alive

I know there are a lot of Sammy Keyes fans who visit this blog, so I have to share some photos from last week's visit to a middle school in Oklahoma.



The school's theme this year was "superheroes", and the whole student body and staff read Sammy Keyes and the Power of Justice Jack as a school-wide read.



That right there is amazing enough (and enough to make any author wildly happy), but these pictures will show you how over-the-top this school went and will say more than I could ever explain.



First up, the principal, dressed as Justice Jack (in the Golden Gloves of Justice!).







Suffice it to say I never had a principal like this! (And the VP was "the Duce"!) Together they MC'd part of the festivities during my visit. (Earlier in the year I was told that they made a big-splash (or crash?) entrance together during a school assembly on a tandem bike--their version of The Highroller).



Another "book excerpt" skit was done by a teacher (who played Elvis) and a student (who played Sammy). They did the scene from Justice Jack where Sammy goes into Maynard's Market and the Elvis impersonator (who only speaks in Elvis song titles) is working the register. (Some of you will recall this exact excerpt from the ARC giveaway contest we had last year.) (It's also the beginning of Chapter 24, in case none of this is bell-ringing in your brain.)



Anyway, this teacher-turned-Elvis had memorized the three pages of Elvis lines from the opening "Hey, little mama!" to the closing "Always stop, look, and listen!".  Incredible!







The kitchen crew also got into the act. They came out and did a crazy rap, with metal whisks banging against pots and pans. The guy in the middle was awesome-crazy! No dreaded "lunch ladies" at this school!












And I know some of you will love this next one (even though it's not the greatest image). It's Sammy and friends led by Casey through the graveyard on Halloween in Sammy Keyes & the Night of Skulls. The part where he's telling the Wild West tale...that just so happens to take place in Oklahoma. (There were tombstones and a whole graveyard set up, which doesn't show, but was way cool!)









In addition to the skits, the school's hallways were covered with Sammy Keyes art. I'm talking from floor to ceiling! It was crazy!  









They also had book cover place mats in the cafeteria...








...and a huge "standee" (made of plywood) of Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City. 







And for the students who participated in the skits and entertainment, the library hosted a luncheon where dessert was cupcake cakes in the shape of Sammy signature items--a skateboard and high-top!













I wish you could have all been there. I know you would have loved it too!

Answers

Last week's comments made me realize that my cast of readers has evolved. I guess that should be expected and obvious, but I like to think that the people who used to comment are still checking in, even if they're too busy to comment.



Like "Steffuny" -- it was great to see last week's comment--it's been a long time! (And the "Heather is great...you know, in a terrible way," was awesome!)



Then there was "RowAn" who was a first-time commenter last week...with a lot to say! (And ask!)



There were a lot of good questions in the comments and I've made notes from them about things to get to in the next few posts. Some of them I feel like I've already written about...but that might be years ago and some of you are new, so unless you went back to all the old posts, you wouldn't know. I'll have to investigate my own blog and figure out what I've already discussed and then link to it so I don't repeat myself to those of you who have been following for years.



What I think I'll do this week is answer my own 3 questions from last week (which, it turns out, will answer parts of several comment questions):



1) What I want me to blog about :-) : Basically, I don't want to toot my horn. I don't want these posts to feel like I promoting anything (except maybe the pursuit of your own dreams). I want to blog about things of interest to people who show up here week after week. My favorite posts are the ones I write about some little obscure thing that has nothing to do with my books, or even writing, but have something to do with life. I don't have a "dandelion moment" every week -- but those are my favorite sorts of posts. The ones that are about some small thing that means something much bigger to me.



1b) I've said before that I'm a reluctant blogger, and I am. I started blogging because of Exercise the Right to Read, and then when that initial year of the program wound down and I'd run the NYC marathon, I kinda quit blogging. And then there was a gap in the Sammy Keyes books (because it took me a long time to research and write The Running Dream), and I discovered that people on-line were wondering Is Wendelin dead? Is Sammy Keyes over? And I realized that I'd kind of dropped the ball and that frustrated readers were writing lots of fan-fic trying to bridge gaps. I remember the first time I saw the word "Cammy" online and I'm like, Who's that? Have I really been away so long that I don't know my own characters? And then, of course, it hit me that it was a hybrid of Casey and Sammy. Anyway, I recommitted to the blog so that people would know what was going on with the series (and that I wasn't dead). It also made me recommit to completing the series. I decided that I would not get "sidetracked" by a stand-alone story until I'd finished...and that's exactly what I've done.



2) Favorite Character? Who asked this ridiculous question? Okay, okay. I do love Billy, and that he's complex, despite the simplistic facade he presents. I love Holly, and think that in some ways she's better suited to be Sammy's best friend than Marissa. I always say I want to "be" Hudson when I get old. And I'm with Mikey in thinking that Justice Jack (the persona, not, necessarily, the man behind the mask) is awesome. But he's not a regular, so I shouldn't even list him.



3) Favorite Book. Okay, now you've gone to far, asking this question! It would be like me asking your mom who her favorite child is, okay? (Please don't tell me you're an only child...) But I do have favorite parts and a few of those include...The "fireball" description (and Madame Nashira in general) in Hotel Thief... when Sammy shows Heather her earrings in Skeleton Man...when Sammy crashes the motorhome in Sisters of Mercy...the graveyard scene in Runaway Elf...Lucinda and her pig in Moustache Mary...the awesome creepiness of  the end of Hollywood Mummy...the cement scene :-) in Snake Eyes (maybe my all time favorite 'capture'!)... Casey in Art of Deception...Sammy in the wrestling ring and, later, having a smack down with Heather in Psycho Kitty Queen...the dancing in Dead Giveaway...the whole canyon camp-out in Wild Things...the hilarity of Sammy scaring a man to death in Cold Hard Cash (okay--I thought it was funny...)... the "Cinderella" moment in Wedding Crasher...rescuing Dusty Mike in Night of Skulls (and everything Billy-related)..the three-page Elvis-title conversation in Justice Jack (and Billy becoming the Deuce)...the last scene (and the concept of Heather and Sammy together) in Sin City.



And that's all for this week. Know I appreciate you checking in, whether this is your first visit or if you've been following since I came back from the grave :-)



See you in the comments!

On The Road Again...

It's a travel day for me, so I won't have time to do a "real post" today. But if you have time to leave me a comment, I would love to know any or all of the following:



A) What you wish I'd /would like me to write a post about

B) Who your favorite Sammy Keyes World character is (aside from Sammy)

C) Which book in the series is your favorite to date. (Why would be interesting, but is optional. Sometimes we just have a favorite.)



Looking forward to what you have to say (and to returning home!).



See you in the comments!

Psycho Stalker

I forget sometimes that people might mistake me for a psycho stalker.



I am, I assure you, not a psycho stalker. I'm just, you know, me, and I have this thing about trying to spread a little happiness around. Which--who knew?--apparently can be a little scary.



Last week I flew to Arkansas to do school visits. It took four airports and an hour's drive in a car to get there. As you might deduce, two of the flights were little hoppers, with only 3 seats across. On one of them, I was pinned into my window seat by a man who didn't quite fit in the aisle seat beside me. (Good thing there were no refreshment carts on this flight, because if there were no one past seat 7B would have been refreshed.) In addition to breaching the invisible aisle barricade, this fella definitely spilled over into my personal space. The little arm rest between us could only do so much.



To his credit, he did his best not to impose. He kept his arms out in front of him (holding his book the whole flight), and he held remarkably still the entire hour we were in the air. But there had definitely been a meal involving garlic in his recent past, and with those extended arms...



It could be that my experience on that leg of the journey contributed to my next neighbor's suspicion that I was a psycho stalker. He had the aisle, I had the window. There was no possibility of him blocking the refreshment cart, and miraculously, on this  "completely full" plane, there was an empty middle seat between me and the new aisle guy.



I was overjoyed! And since he seemed like a somewhat weary traveler I said something about it being a long day of traveling and how this little stroke of empty-middle-seat luck was a very welcome thing.



Now, look, I wasn't being Chatty Cathy or anything. I was just having the standard back and forth conversation regarding destination and travel. But when it turned out he was traveling to a foreign country, I was like, whoa! Well, I'll stop feeling sorry for myself now 'cause I'm only going to Arkansas. So of course I asked him business or pleasure, and since it was business I asked how long he was going to be over there because you don't travel halfway (or more) across the earth for a morning meeting and then fly back. He said two months, and I'm like, wow, really? Who do you work for? and then I can see him getting all, hmmm, is she a psycho stalker? right before he gives me a real nebulous "the government." I laugh and I tell him, "Nice non-answer!" 'cause, c'mon--that covers half the jobs out there!



He turned it around after that and asked me what I did. So I told him, and since being a children's book author is about the most non-threatening profession there is, I just plowed ahead, blithely asking if he had kids. Which he did! So I asked for details...boys, girls, ages...the usual stuff parents like to talk about. And he did tell me, but he was strangely, I don't know, confused. Like he didn't know if his daughter was 10 or 11 or even what grades they were in.



Now, in my head, I'm figuring out which of my books I can send to his kids. Their dad's going to be gone for 2 months, the poor mom's got a part time job and him being gone is going to be hard on her...how fun would it be to get a surprise package from an author with a letter saying their dad misses them already and here are some books to help them pass (and laugh through) the time.



But in his head, I can tell--he's worried that I'm a psycho stalker.



So I tell him about my great plan to send books. (A psycho stalker would never send books, right?) All I need, I tell him, is an address and the names of his kids. And his wife. So I can send her a book, too.



He wants to believe me. So he writes down the names to inscribe the books to and an address. Only then he says that he's "just moved there" and not sure about the zip code. "That's okay," I tell him. "I'll double check it on the internet."



"No, no," he tells me. "This is right."



It seems marginally odd, but whatever. I do this almost every time I take a trip somewhere, and reactions vary. Often people are a little take aback. Like they can't quite believe I'm serious. So I just put aside the marginal oddness of it. I was just planning my package, happy thinking about making those kids (and the wife) happy.



After my 3 days in Arkansas, I flew back and unpacked and picked out some books and found a box and some bubble pack and started making a label. Only something about the way the guy had acted had been a little odd. And I didn't want to send a bunch of books to the wrong zip code.(USPS is not exactly agile in that regard.)



So I did go to the internet. And I did look up the address. And you know what it was for?



The FBI.



I thought about chucking the whole idea. I mean, clearly the guy was being cagey. So what would happen to my package? Would it ever even get to get to his kids before he returned? Did he warn his secretary to be on the lookout for a mysterious box from a psycho stalker? Would they blow my box of books up in the parking lot?



But realistically, paranoia about the safety of one's children has to be part of the territory of  working for "the government". Would I give some random stranger on a plane my address? No. (Which is why it's nice to have a PO box.) So, really, I couldn't blame him for not telling me the truth.



But geez. He should have just told me the truth! Or said, mail it to my secretary and she'll see that it gets delivered to my kids.



Anyway, after debating the pros and cons, I put the package together and wrote the letter and I'll take it to the post office tomorrow. I said I would, so I will.



I am not a psycho stalker.



Just someone trying to make the world a little happier.

Chortle!

Sorry I'm late--it's not diva behavior, I promise! Just spread too thin(ly)!



But now I will tell you about chortling. And how I've been doing it loudly. And with great joy.  Mark, you see, has received his first editorial letter.The one where the editor presents suggestions. You know, think about doing this. Will you please consider doing that? How about you have this happen instead?



Mark has witnessed the editorial process for all 30 of my published books (and Killer Cruise, which will pub in the Fall). So that's 31 times he's told me that the letter "isn't so bad" and that the corrections "will be easy" and that "adding a sentence or two would totally address that."



Now it's my turn! My turn to read the letter and say, Oh, this isn't so bad (it's only six single spaced pages of comments and suggestions, after all), and "Don't worry, that won't be hard," and "You know...just adding a sentence or two would totally take car of that!"



I hear these words come out of my mouth and then I chortle. (Ah, such a satisfying sound and feeling it is to chortle.)



For the past 31 books, Mark has also agreed a little too heartily and a little too often with the editorial quibbles on my multi-paged editorial letters.



Now, it's my turn!



(Chortle!)



Let me tell you, it is way more fun sitting at the chortle desk than being at the one where sweat pours and mutterings emanate



(Chortle!)



Hmm. Maybe I'm enjoying this a little too much.



(Chortle, chortle and a bwa-ha-ha!)



Moving on to things of a less chortling nature, I was hoping to have news for you regarding the new Sammy Keyes FaceBook page, but it's not quite ready. Fingers crossed for this coming week! You'll be the first to know!



Meanwhile, try to keep your chortling to yourself, would ya?



(Actually, it would be funny if everyone did a "Hey Mark!....Chortle!" comment this week. Tee-hee!)

Imperfectly

One of the questions I've gotten from adults over the years is How do/did you do it? How do you juggle a career and parenthood and also find the time to write?



The answer is simple: Imperfectly.



As evidence of that, I want to share with you a letter. Over the years I've kept copies of my correspondence with Nancy (my editor), and I happened upon this one tonight. I think it illustrates the struggles of a working mom who is also trying pursue a creative passion. Is was written somewhere in the early stages of the Sammy Keyes series. My sons Connor and Colton were about 6 and 8 years old.

-------------

Nancy,



I worry that you think I'm a callous brute of a mom. I recognize that on more than one occasion I've been seemingly insensitive to one of my kids while you and I were on the phone. And today one child was crying because I'd raised my voice at another. Sigh. You don't know that a banana cured the hysteria or that Colton wasn't upset at all that I'd been testy, because he'd (AGAIN) forgotten the book which he needs to complete his homework assignment. He knew he'd goofed up. (Although his report is on Louis Braille, sometimes I think he'd be more suited to report on a famous deaf person...)



Such things you've witnessed from afar: Crying kids and Barney. You probably don't remember suffering through the Barney theme song which I just HAD to sing with Colton at the end of that goofy dino's early morning show, but I do. What must she think? Me singing this damned song while she waits patiently to have a long-distance conversation with me. The fact of the matter is my kids have got to learn that I am not at their beck and call 24 hours a day. They CAN wait to have a snack, or show me just how big a poop they've produced. Yes, it will wait.



My conversations with you are very precious to me, although today Connor told me that they were complete "nothing nonsense." You see, he'd (for the first time for either of my kids) picked up the extension and listened to our "stupid" conversation. "You care more about Nancy than you do about Colton, Mom! I have to tell you something. I have to tell you something important. Mom. I LISTENED, and I KNOW that what you were talking about with her was NOTHING compared to what I'm going through here. I'm very upset Mom, and you have no idea how bad I feel!"



Guilt City.



But hey, there's Colton saying, "It's okay, Mom. I'm not upset. Connor just needs a banana."



Such is life in our household. Especially between 4-5:00 PM



So don't think I'm a brute, okay? I give so much of myself to my kids. Sometimes I think I love them so much my heart will positively break. I'd do anything for them, but they've got to learn that there are times they cannot demand my attention. I'm just sorry that you've been witness to my attempts at their re-education.



The fax has arrived. I'm looking forward to reading it after the kids are in bed. Meanwhile, there's homework to finish, and Colton's drying to de-throne me in foosball, so I've got to go defend my title.



Thanks for being you,

Wendelin

-----------------------

So take heart if you find yourself trying to juggle everything. It's not easy, even if a public persona makes it look like it is. We all make mistakes. Sometimes the answer's a banana. Sometimes it's a good night's sleep. But the key is to keep stumbling forward because eventually you will get there, and the only way you will get there is imperfectly.

Shower Singers

I want to thank those of you who took me up on last week's request for quotes. (Thank you!) 


It struck me that being asked for an "official quote" is probably like being asked to sing on TV when what you're used to is singing in the shower. When someone's excited about some discussion we're having here about Sammy, what appears in the comments is always so enthused and fresh and real. Like singing in the shower! Nobody cares about misspellings or syntax or structure. La-la-la! It just comes out!



But when I asked for something official, it seemed that for some you, nerves came into play. (Or maybe  self-consciousness, or the "importance" of it, or worrying about grammar, or all of those combined!)



So if you haven't sent something in yet (or want to send something else in), just write it like you're talking to your best friend. About Sammy, about Cammy, about the series, about whatever. Sing like you're singing in the shower! Don't worry about anything. Just let it out. And forget about the "one or two sentence" thing. If it's okay with you that I pull out (what I think are) the gems, write as much as you want! (Here's the e-mail where to send: mail@exercisetherighttoread.org )



Moving on down the line...



I had a conference call last week about Random House's upcoming Sammy Keyes Facebook page. And going into the call I was kind of bummed because sammykeyes.com was supposed to have been updated by the end of January and when I went there pre-phone call, it still said that Cold Hard Cash was the latest Sammy and...well, you get the picture.



But my mood did a quick U-turn when I found out that Random House has folded the content of the old sites (Shredderman, The Gecko & Sticky, etc.) into this one. There are still a few tweaks to be made (like the various other sites need to redirect to the new one, and some changes to my bio), but I think they've done a wonderful job so far!



There's also something really cool about your character being on a scrolling tab with characters from your own childhood.



Well, there's not image of Sammy--just her name in her font, but in a lot of ways I like that better.



So I hope you take a minute to check it out. I'll see you in the comments, where I hope you'll sing like you're in the shower!

Calling All Cammy Lovers

What is it you like so much about Casey + Sammy?



How are they different (better?) than other literary couples?



Can you come up with a sentence or two to sum it up?



I usually think of Sammy in terms of her skateboard and high-tops (and what they represent about her) and her keen observational skills (and its associated humor), but Showdown in Sin City takes place over Valentine's Day, and as part of the ramp up to the series wrap up campaign, there will be a Random House sponsored FaceBook page launching on Valentine's Day. So I was thinking it would be great to have you chime in on the page and state why you like the Sammy/Casey relationship.



Did I ever tell you that Casey--introduced in Moustache Mary--was only supposed to be a prominent character for that one book? But after Hollywood Mummy came out and I got so much mail saying WHERE'S CASEY!? I started rethinking. And the more he showed up, the more I liked him.



So, see?



I listen.



This may not always be immediately evident. Plus, sometimes I like to surprise you so it takes a while for you to know I listen, and by then you may have even forgotten what we discussed. But I haven't!



You will see evidence of that in Killer Cruise, I promise.



But ANYWAY!



The FB launch is still a couple of weeks away, so there's plenty of time to think about it, and here's something else to consider: I don't know exactly what's coming down the pike for the last 2 books, and I can't guarantee anything, but if you would like to send your "quote" about Cammy to me for consideration in future publicity, I will do my best to get it utilized. (In what I'm not sure! Promotional campaign materials? The website [which I'm promised will be updated!]? Future Sammy paperbacks?)



I'd say limit yourself to a sentence or two, send it to this e-mail address, include your first name, age, and the state you're from. For the e-mail's subject use: MY QUOTE. (And if you want to send more than one--or are more keen on saying something about the series as a whole instead of specifically Cammy--go ahead!)



So the body of your e-mail would look like:



"Your amazing quote!" Lidia, 72, Hawaii



(If you're not comfortable with the age thing, leave it out. I just think it's very cool that the range in age of people who read Sammy is so wide.)



(Also, I'm asking you to send your quote to the mailbox for your privacy and protection. If you want to post it publicly without the age and state info, wait for the Feb 14th Random House FB page launch and post it there.) (I'll keep you informed as the date gets closer.)



I like the idea of including my faithful blog readers in this ramp up to wrap up, and I hope you think it's fun to be part of it.



Thanks for giving it some thought. See you in the comments!

The Very Strange Thing

Last week I promised to explain the Very Strange Thing that happened as I began writing the final (sob) book in the Sammy Keyes series.



Book #18.



Eighteen!



Are you aware of what a wonderful number eighteen is?



It's two nines.



And, as you regulars may recall from a previous post, nines are amazing!



And eighteen is two  of them.



Sorry. I know. The Very Strange Thing, right?



But first, I couldn't have imagined a better reception for Showdown in Sin City. I loved all the jumping up and down and the sincere compliments about the plotting threads and the character development and people saying that it was the best book yet. The best book yet! People just don't say that about the 16th book in a series...but they did! It was wonderful and amazing and so...satisfying. It was a long, winding, skid-filled road to get to Sin City, but we arrived to a hero's welcome and it was awesome!



Speaking of winding and long roads, I know, I know. the Very Strange Thing.



Sorry!



Maybe I'm just trying to avoid talking about the Very Strange Thing because it's about the Very Last Sammy which is (sob!) the very last Sammy!



But, see, that's the Very Strange Thing--I was expecting to be a blubbering idiot. From the first sentence I just knew I was going to be all weepy faced and runny nosed and very, very hard to be around.



And then I got to page three, and that's where the Very Strange Thing happened:



I started laughing.



At first it was just a snicker. I was kinda...well...maybe afraid to laugh. I mean, how could I be laughing?



This was the very last (sob!) Sammy!



And the story was so serious.



But the more I wrote the funnier things seemed to get until...well, I got kinda hysterical.



Maybe it's just hysteria from not dealing with the Very Last Sammy (sob!) in the proper manner. Maybe I'll end up chucking it all and starting over.



Or maybe the entire series has been funny, and just because this last book is serious and designed to be different, well that doesn't mean humor isn't the proper vehicle to take us to The End.



Or maybe I'd just rather laugh my way to The End, than sob my way there!



And now you know--the Very Strange Thing that happened.



Laughter!



See you next week!

Unexpected & Awesome!

I want to thank everybody who read Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City this week. This book is a huge deal for me--the culmination of years and years of writing and plotting and planning and anticipating.



The thing about spending years and years writing and plotting and planning and anticipating is that the big deal you've blown a particular thing into may not be a big deal to anyone but you. I've learned that when the big day or event finally arrives, it's almost impossible for it to live up to the expectations you've put on it.



Critics can deflate you pretty quickly. "Really?" you think as you read. "You have a quibble over that?" As an author (or any creative person putting their work out there for the public to scrutinize) you have to develop a deflecting armor. You can't fire back--critics can say what they want and there's really nothing you can do about it--and you can't let those poisoned arrows pierce your heart. So if you're going to continue to be a creative person who puts their work out for the public to scrutinize, you have to tough it out through the jaded criticisms and believe that the people you work (or write) for (that's you), will collectively have a voice louder and with more sustain than paid-to-review critics.



Example: Someone sent me a post that a teacher had put on her blog about The Running Dream. She had quibbles. Whatever. But her students loved it--something she had trouble coming to grips with. Counter to where she chose to place the book, students kept shelving it back in her classroom's special MUST BE READ section--books students recommend to other students. With each new student who read the book, the enthusiasm for The Running Dream grew among the students until the teacher finally conceded that maybe they saw something she didn't.



Another example: There were critics who were lukewarm about Flipped.



Which sums up my point quit succinctly.



Anyway, I've developed armor and (especially necessary with a series, since, regardless of how substantive the books within it are, the titles get very limited literary respect) I've come to expect quibbles, or critics (professional or self-appointed) who just don't share the same sense of life I do and consequently don't "get" what I do.



So what was unexpected and awesome this week was the across-the-board positive reaction I received about Sin City. Obviously I loved the story and the plotting and the threads that have been weaving in my head for years, but  there was NO guarantee that other people would. So it made me so incredibly happy this week to read all the comments that came in (especially here, where it matters to me most). This was a "life's work" undertaking and to have it resonate with people who also feel very invested in Sammy Keyes...I can't even explain how wonderful it feels. So thank you for all your wonderful reactions--it really made my week!



Next week we move on to the VST (Very Strange Thing) that happened when I started writing the final Sammy. See you then!