Maggie Stiefvater's Blog: Maggie Stiefvater, page 393

Day 5-7 of FOREVER Tour: Three Impressive Canadian Things

So it is day seven of the FOREVER road trip tour (in case you're just tuning in, it is my 3,700 mile road trip book tour for FOREVER, and the places are here) and my co pilot (Tessa Gratton) and I have just gotten done with the Canadian leg of our journey. It began in Toronto and headed through Oshawa and London, with insanely huge and wonderful crowds at all of them.

So, there was a lot of the Canadian trip that was impressive to me (things like our hotel room having two bathrooms, Scholastic Canada being incredible, and Canadian fuel being more expensive than All The Things), but three things really stood out to me. First of all, they let me sign not only books, but walls:


That is the wall at Mabel's Fables. It was delightfully satisfying.

The second impressive thing is that they have strange road signs. Some of them are merely unusually regal.





Some, however, stood for things that Americans don't seem to encounter.



This sign means: TRUCKS WITH FAILED BRAKES AHEAD.



There were these signs everywhere. DANGER DUE TO OVERHEAD WIRES is what they say, but they didn't advise what I was supposed to do with this knowledge. Was this a recommendation to dodge or a warning to not fly my car in this area? Are many Canadians felled by high wires on the highway?



This sign helpfully pointed out where we could locate "overhead."



Do you see the pictogram on the far right? That means ALIEN ABDUCTION ZONE AHEAD.



DO NOT CROSS THE FILM STRIP.



QUILTING AREA AHEAD.



THIS SIGN IS NEW.



I . . . don't know.

Even the road cones were different in Canada. This cone represents how Tessa and I felt before we hit the traffic outside Toronto.



And this one represents how we felt after.



So, the final thing that impressed me about Canada? 



They let me park on the sidewalk.



Best country ever.



Tomorrow? Onto Chicago for an event tomorrow evening.

FOREVER TOUR: Into Every Life, a Little Construction Must Fall

Just in case you were wondering just what it was like to be in the Camaro during the FOREVER road trip tour.





ETA: Today is my last Canadian event, the final one to enter the raffle for the last Sharpie guitar:



The last event is at 2:00 p.m. in London, Ontario. Details here.

Day Three of the FOREVER tour: The Hammer & Tire Iron Edition

On Day Three, after a lovely event in Philly, Tessa and I made our way from our delightful haunted bed and breakfast (SEE OUR GHOST FOOTAGE HERE!) to the Ringing Rocks of Pennsylvania.



Then it was onward to Syracuse. Oh and that is a video all to itself.

Forever Tour, Day One, in Photos

So I have crashed for the evening after an incredible, incredible launch party in Tyson's Corner and I'm sort of so tired that Tessa (Gratton) and I just spent 40 minutes staring at the room service card trying to decide how to order eggs and a pot of tea in the morning, but the day was too cool not to share. But I have no more words, so photos will have to do.

Old Loki and BlueLoki. Old Loki is getting ready to be sold and BlueLoki is getting ready to be packed.



These things must all go into the car. Including that girl and that hammer.



People at the launch! They were fantastic (well, some of them were you reading this. you were fantastic).



More peoples at the event.



I gave away the Sharpie guitar to a lucky raffle winner!!



I am not good at looking professional when Tessa photographs me!



We gave away a lot of swag!



Sulaiman Azimi sang his version of "Summer Girl" for the crowd.






More to come, as always, including video hijinks. Tomorrow is Philly. Goal: Stop having traumatic flashbacks to Ferris Bueller's Day Off every time we have to valet park BlueLoki.

Thanks, guys, for making the launch such a memorable experience . . . what an amazing, amazing few years this has been.

Square Peg. Camaro-Shaped Hole.

I am packing for my tour tomorrow (all dates and locations HERE) and I am beginning to think I might have some problems.

It began on Friday, when this arrived from my crazy and wonderful Scholastic publicist:


And then the DHL man came and brought:


900 key chains

About the same number of This is Teen flash drives


And then the UPS man came later that day and brought yet more boxes which contained:

Tons of THE SCORPIO RACES post cards (which I'll be using a few of for Postcard to a Stranger on tour)


Some This is Teen post cards


Some stickers


Which wouldn't be a problem except I'm already bringing

a bunch of Linger tank tops to give away at the launch party in Tyson's Corner tomorrow.


A bunch of wolf cut outs from the FOREVER trailer to give away at the launch party.


Two Sharpie-d on guitars to give away, one at the launch party in Tyson's Corner, and one in Canada (for Canadians hoping to win the Sharpie guitar, you can enter to win it at all THREE Canadian locations, and they'll contact the winner after the events to give you the guitar)(seems fair, right?)


Also, I am going to pick up this from the airport in a few hours, and it has to fit in too.


That's Tessa Gratton, my co-pilot for the first half of the trip.

So, minus Tessa, two boxes of foreign editions of Shiver for giveaway, my 17 black tank tops and 6 pairs of jeans that is my wardrobe, and all of my camera equipment for the videos of alpacas and ringing rocks and hilarity I will be making, this is kind of what the pile looks like.


Well, not the dog. But everything else.

And it must fit into here.


Well, more precisely, here.



Oh, I can so make that work.

What to Expect When You're Expecting a Book Signing

It is only a few days before I head out on my Epic Road Trip FOREVER Tour, and I've been getting a lot of questions on Facebook and Twitter about what to expect at a book store event, how many books I'll be signing, etc., etc. So I have decided to do a blog post about what you can expect at one of my events. I expect there will be some variation at each store, but it'll look enough like this to be recognizable.

So, let us say that I am you. You will double check to make sure the event is when you think it is. Sometimes this means calling the store; sometimes this means checking their website. Note I said their website, not Maggie's. Because the store is the final answer on all event times and sometimes Maggie posts these things to her site very late and she is also slightly dyslexic.

Anyway, so you check the event and you arrive at the store a little early to get parking. No matter how early you are, someone will be earlier. There will be chairs in the event area and this early person will be sitting in one of them with lots of books and you will be friends. Look, there she is, your new friend.


You'll have a bit of time, so now would be a good time to buy at least one book from the store. The bookstores don't get paid anything to host author events and they are a lot of trouble, so I ask (nicely, now) that you pay them back for this by buying at least one book there. I'd prefer it was one of mine but if you have all of mine already, you can buy someone else's instead (some stores won't let you do this, but most do).

Sometime before the event, my best friend Tessa Gratton and I will pull up in this.


I mean, hopefully. It's possible it will have broken down and we won't appear until much later. Or it's possible we will show up in a tow truck or in a rented Honda Accord. But the plan is to show up in (Blue)Loki.

You will be able to recognize us when we come into the store because we will have bad, frizzy hair from having the windows down. Also, Tessa might be looking angrily at me because she didn't reckon on how loud Loki is as a form of transportation. Also she might be tired at eating at Chipotle, which is the only national chain without preservatives, which I'm allergic to. Also she might be tired of my taste in music, because most people can only listen to Que Onda Guero so many times through without puking. But I am not one of those people.


After the bookstore introduces me and everyone takes a seat, I will proceed to do this for about 15 minutes.



Then I'll open the floor for questions. I love this part the best. I tend to get side-tracked, easily, however, and may end up just telling stories about Bulgaria unless you are very stern with me.



I may or may not give away fun prizes at this point. If you're at one of the stores where we're giving away a guitar, this will be the point that that happens. This also may be the point where, if you are at the launch party, Sulaiman Azimi begins singing "Summer Girl." 

Then the bookstore will assemble everyone into a line. It may be quite long, and I'm sorry for that. I suggest you make more friends with the people to your front and rear.


People have asked about multiple books and yes, I'm okay with multiple books. I will sign the faerie books and ARCs and Nooks. But not body parts. Also, I will not sign other authors' books. Also, I will only sign clean clothing. People ask about wolf doodles, and I like doing them, but I can only do them if there's not a huge long line.

When you get to the front of the line and I'm smiling up at you with hope and anticipation, there tends to be an awkward pause where both of us forget how to speak. I always like to hear about which book is your favorite or which part you liked or didn't like, and if you have a question you didn't want to shout out, this is a good place to ask it. And if you could tell me who you want me to sign the book too, that helps too (often bookstores will have you jot your name down on a post-it note so I don't have to ask how to spell it). Also if you want to give me a mix CD, I love mix CDs.

And then, yes, you can do this!


I will ask that if you do want a photo with me, please turn the flash off. I don't mean to sound high maintenance, it's just that they've started triggering migraines after an hour of them or so. Those make me lay on my face, and I don't like laying on my face.

Anyway, that is it! Ultimately, you'll end up with a signed book, several new friends, and hopefully a few hours of laughing. I'm revoltingly excited to get started.

v

It is only a few days before I head out on my Epic Road Trip FOREVER Tour, and I've been getting a lot of questions on Facebook and Twitter about what to expect at a book store event, how many books I'll be signing, etc., etc. So I have decided to do a blog post about what you can expect at one of my events. I expect there will be some variation at each store, but it'll look enough like this to be recognizable.

So, let us say that I am you. You will double check to make sure the event is when you think it is. Sometimes this means calling the store; sometimes this means checking their website. Note I said their website, not Maggie's. Because the store is the final answer on all event times and sometimes Maggie posts these things to her site very late and she is also slightly dyslexic.

Anyway, so you check the event and you arrive at the store a little early to get parking. No matter how early you are, someone will be earlier. There will be chairs in the event area and this early person will be sitting in one of them with lots of books and you will be friends. Look, there she is, your new friend.


You'll have a bit of time, so now would be a good time to buy at least one book from the store. The bookstores don't get paid anything to host author events and they are a lot of trouble, so I ask (nicely, now) that you pay them back for this by buying at least one book there. I'd prefer it was one of mine but if you have all of mine already, you can buy someone else's instead (some stores won't let you do this, but most do).

Sometime before the event, my best friend Tessa Gratton and I will pull up in this.


I mean, hopefully. It's possible it will have broken down and we won't appear until much later. Or it's possible we will show up in a tow truck or in a rented Honda Accord. But the plan is to show up in (Blue)Loki.

You will be able to recognize us when we come into the store because we will have bad, frizzy hair from having the windows down. Also, Tessa might be looking angrily at me because she didn't reckon on how loud Loki is as a form of transportation. Also she might be tired at eating at Chipotle, which is the only national chain without preservatives, which I'm allergic to. Also she might be tired of my taste in music, because most people can only listen to Que Onda Guero so many times through without puking. But I am not one of those people.


After the bookstore introduces me and everyone takes a seat, I will proceed to do this for about 15 minutes.



Then I'll open the floor for questions. I love this part the best. I tend to get side-tracked, easily, however, and may end up just telling stories about Bulgaria unless you are very stern with me.



I may or may not give away fun prizes at this point. If you're at one of the stores where we're giving away a guitar, this will be the point that that happens. This also may be the point where, if you are at the launch party, Sulaiman Azimi begins singing "Summer Girl." 

Then the bookstore will assemble everyone into a line. It may be quite long, and I'm sorry for that. I suggest you make more friends with the people to your front and rear.


People have asked about multiple books and yes, I'm okay with multiple books. I will sign the faerie books and ARCs and Nooks. But not body parts. Also, I will not sign other people's books. Also, I will only sign clean clothing. People ask about wolf doodles, and I like doing them, but I can only do them if there's not a huge long line.

When you get to the front of the line and I'm smiling up at you with hope and anticipation, there tends to be an awkward pause where both of us forget how to speak. I always like to hear about which book is your favorite or which part you liked or didn't like, and if you have a question you didn't want to shout out, this is a good place to ask it. And if you could tell me who you want me to sign the book too, that helps too (often bookstores will have you jot your name down on a post-it note so I don't have to ask how to spell it). Also if you want to give me a mix CD, I love mix CDs.

And then, yes, you can do this!


I will ask that if you do want a photo with me, please turn the flash off. I don't mean to sound high maintenance, it's just that they've started triggering migraines after an hour of them or so. Those make me lay on my face, and I don't like laying on my face.

Anyway, that is it! Ultimately, you'll end up with a signed book, several new friends, and hopefully a few hours of laughing. I'm revoltingly excited to get started.

Things I Am Not Good At

I just looked down and realized that my workspace is very messy.




and though I must have been the one to perpetrate such madness on my desk, I don't understand how or why it happened. Like, why do I have more than one pen lying within my reach? Why do I need two Sharpies out of the pen can? Why is there an American Flag blanketing that Camaro? Also, are those my parking receipts I was looking for?


And yes, I did have to blur out MagicalNovel on the screen because it was TOTALLY LEGIBLE.

3 Book Recommendations: THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY

I hope everyone’s having a fantastic 4th. I’m about to head off to do the usual (grilling things, blowing things up, being American) but before I do, I wanted to post about three books that thrilled and delighted me while I was traveling in the last month. I would like to call them the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 

FLYAWAY, by Lucy Christopher
This one counts as the Good in my trio. It’s by the same author who wrote STOLEN (which you’ll recall that I adored). FLYAWAY is actually her first novel, published second in the states, and it’s a middle grade novel. Basically, it’s about a girl who becomes determined to reunite a lost swan with its flock after the girl’s father has a heart attack. Anyway, here are five reasons to read it:

1. It’s soft and sweet. The image of a feather comes to mind, even though this book is about a girl coping with the idea that her father and her new friend might die.

2. The imagery is, as always in Christopher’s books, beautiful. The setting is always another character.

3. There is something about Christopher’s prose across both her novels that makes me trust her as an author. She’s in control of these stories, and if you’re feeling something, it’s because she meant you to. It means that she pretty much has a free pass with me at the moment. I will pick up anything she writes.

4. It’s got this slightest little hint of magical realism. I would’ve really loved this book as a ten year old.

5. It is precisely what it promises you. Sometimes I want to be shocked, yes, and sometimes I want twists, and sometimes I want to read about a very unexpected body in a closet. But this book promises that it is a certain sort of book on the first page, and then it gives you exactly that. Soft and sweet.

THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST, by Rick Yancey
This one counts as the Bad part of my trio, because it’s about a rather particular Monstrumologist and his apprentice chasing headless man-eating monsters across Victorian New England. Here are five reasons why you should read it:
1. These are proper monsters. They don’t want to make out with you or play you songs on their guitar while you snuggle on the sofa. They just want to eat you, except for when they want to insert their babies in your corpse so they have something to snack on as they incubate. Okay, it’s a little gross sometimes. I ought to say that up front.

2. The voice! The voice! Apart from the first and last chapters, which are introduced in modern times (and which I don’t care for), the entire novel is told from the point of view of Will Henry, the Monstrumologist’s pint sized apprentice. He is resolute but afraid, put upon but never whiny. I love the historical aspect. It’s all very gaslight and cobblestones and black cloaks and gasping behind hands.

3. The Monstromologist! He is so high-maintenance and flawed and persnickety. Basically, he is Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, if Howl never met Sophie. Oh, my love is undying. “WILL HENRY, SNAP TO!”

4. I wish I could just make you read this book now.

5. The beginning. Also, the middle. Also, the end. There is a character twist two thirds of the way through the book that I just did not see and I literally gasped on a plane. Then I was so delighted that a book had made me gasp on a plane that I punched Lover in the shoulder and made wild hand gestures. This book is put together like a puzzle box, and I will be taking it apart again sometime soon.

BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, by Ruta Sepatys
And this one counts as the Ugly part of my trio. Because even though I found this novel exceptionally well-written, it was not a pleasure to read. It’s about Lithuanians displaced to Siberian work camps during World War II. It was pretty unflinchingly brutal, but here’s why I think you ought to read it:
1. It is a side of World War II that you might not have seen before. I certainly hadn’t heard these stories of displaced Europeans, and I have to say, having been to Lithuania on tour last year, it made so much of what they said have deeper meaning. I found their fierce national pride lovely and charming when I was there; after this novel, it seems incredibly brave and honorable.

2. Mom. The mother is really the heroine of this story (and that is my one nitpick about this novel: the narrator has no arc and no agency — all of the action is carried by her mother and her sort-of-boyfriend). She has such an incredible flame and kindness in her. One of my favorite book moms.

3. Shades of gray. The title promises and the novel delivers. Characters we think are horrid actually do incredibly kind things, and character we regard as friends do awful ones.

4. If you combine 2 and 3, you get my favorite part, which is that it makes you look at people an entirely new way. I love books that stretch my brain, and this one sat with me for hours and hours.

5. Wonderful sense of place, even when the place isn’t so wonderful. Like Lucy Christopher, I trust the author to take me someplace different, and I’ll be picking up whatever she writes next.

Signed and Doodled in FOREVERs.

I cannot believe that it is less than two weeks until FOREVER comes out. CANNOT. BELIEVE.

I also cannot believe that it is less than two weeks until I trust my health and safety to my '73 Camaro as I set off on my 3,700 mile road trip book tour.

But believe it or not, it is happening.

So, I think this is getting to be the last time that I can say that if you are not near any one of these dots (each of which represent a future Maggie present in that place some time in 2011)


and you want to buy one of these


With a front page I have done THIS to


now is the time to order your copy of FOREVER from Fountain Bookstore, my favorite local independent bookstore.

Every pre-order from Fountain Bookstore will be signed in and doodled on (this goes for pre-orders of THE SCORPIO RACES, too, although that doesn't come out until November 18th). At the very latest, I will be signing and doodling the FOREVER shipment on the 11th of July (depending on when they get theirs in), which means that you will get your signed, doodled copy only a few days later than you could buy it ordinarily.

Why do I do this? Well, first of all, because I know I can't drive everywhere on my tour (because my car might die, for starters, and because I might die, for lasters) and I know that not everyone can drive 17 hours to the closest Maggie signing to get their book signed. And second of all, because it makes a big difference to an indie bookstore to have all these pre-orders go through their doors. And both of those things make me feel good.

So if you would like to pre-order, their website is here: http://www.fountainbookstore.com/autograph-maggie

And they will ship overseas, but you'll have to e-mail them for that, I believe.

ZOMG July. Is. This. Friday.