Wendelin Van Draanen's Blog, page 16

Happy B-Day to Me 'n' E

It's silly, but I must say...




Happy Birthday to Me!




Actually, I'm not a fan of my birthday. Well, I'm glad I was born and all of that, but the actual day comes at a bad time of year. Everyone's broke and burned out from the holidays and trying to get back into the routine of their lives, but then there's this other obligation cropping up that needs to be attended to. Really, do we have to? It's hard to get in the celebratory spirit after all that spirited celebrating in December!




But I must say, the celebratory spirit was sparked when a package arrived from Nancy. This was a total rogue-gift surprise as we're not in the habit of sending each other birthday presents. 




When I first unpacked it, I wasn't sure what it was...or, more specifically, said. And then, poof! There is was, popping out at me.




SAMMY KEYES.




I actually squealed.




I love how the "K" is a fire escape. 




I love that there are scrolls at the beginning and end--like bookmark "S"s.




I love how the angle of the streetlight is one you would see if you were jaywalking.




I love that the "Y" is a fork in the pathway...something Sammy faces in every adventure.




And I love that the whole thing is a little mystery, not obvious at first (especially in person vs the photo for some reason) and then you piece it together and go Ah-ha!




So mine turned out to be a fine (and fun) birthday, full of kind words and nice phone calls and surprises, but I know what you're more interested in is Elvis's birthday because that's when Showdown in Sin City comes out. So let's fast-forward to that!




Two days to go!




There's a plan in place at Random House for the release and wrap up of the Sammy Keyes series (which I'll tell you more about in a future post). First up, on Jan 8th, Random House is tweeting about the release of Sin City. To you tweeters, this is, I'm sure, not a big deal. But I'm not a tweeter. I don't twitter or Twitter. (And I'm never aflutter, and definitely don't flitter,okay?) And neither does Nancy. But she and I have to come up with this tweet so the RH's New Media Marketing people can send it out there to all the people following RH on Twitter (and there are a lot of them).




So here's what I've submitted to Nancy as a possibility: 





It’s Elvis’s b-day & the release of SAMMY KEYES & THE
SHOWDOWN IN SIN CITY, where Sammy stows away, storms Vegas, and finally meets
her dad.





140 characters exactly (which for you other non-tweeters is the max characters for a tweet).




I'd ask for suggestions, but you haven't read the book, so it would be kinda hard for you to give input. (But if you're the Twittering type and have input, let's hear it!)




That's it for tonight. After all, it is my birthday! Thank you for checking in and for being a part of my life. See you next Sunday!

Elvis Is In The Building!

It's a book!



I can't believe it's 9 days away from being in your hands, too. The big reveal. The big showdown. The big holy smokes of all Sammy's holy smokes!



And here's what I've got to say about this book:



NO SPOILERS!



I remember when my kids were younger and they were reading Harry Potter and my older son said to my younger son, "Have you gotten to the part where X dies?" My younger son gaped at him and said, "X DIES?" All my older son could say was, "Oops." My younger son threw the book down and never finished it.



So yeah,



NO SPOILERS.



The reviews so far have been very good (and have contained NO SPOILERS).



Which is nice. (Sometimes reviewers should be jailed, but so far, so good.)



I really, really hope you guys like the story, like the Heather subplot, like the Cammy stuff, and wish, like me, that you could be a stowaway in Sammy's suitcase.



Well, her backpack because, Sammy is, you know, impulsive and doesn't really take time to pack.



And who can blame her? She has no time to pack. She's in too big a hurry to stow away.



But, like I said, NO SPOILERS.



Anyway, thanks for riding along through 2012 with me. It's been wonderful to know you're out there, supporting me and loving Sammy. Happy 2013 to all of you, and I'll see you next year! On my birthday! (Really.) Which is two days before Elvis's birthday. Which is the day Sin City is released.



And on all these accounts, remember, NO SPOILERS!