David Lubar's Blog, page 12

Snow way

I'm heading out to Morris Plains this morning. We had to bump the visit from Thursday, due to a bit of snow, but everyone was flexible and this will count as the next step in the travel challenge.

On Twitter (where I can be found under the cryptic name @davidlubar), I asked people to fill in the blank: "Snow is the new ____." The best answer I got came from Kelly D. (Since I didn't ask her whether I could quote her here, I'll leave it with an initial until I hear otherwise.) Her suggestion: "Snow is the new Mel Gibson. Everyone hates it."

Remember, BSP never spilled any oil

With an exciting book launch slated for May 24th, I find myself thinking about all aspects of blatant self promotion. I know some writers use their book cover for their user pic on blogs. That seems reasonable to me. But I wonder how other people view that. Cool? Tacky? Okay in small doese? Okay when blogging about the book? Fine all the time? I love the new cover. Thoughts?

For those of you who are following the 2011 travel challenge, I have school visits on Tuesday and Thursday. The current forecast calls for the next storm to hit on Wednesday. (Someone out there has some amazing weather mojo.) If all works well, nothing will get cancelled or rescheduled.

Downingtown, PA signing

If you live near Downingtown, PA (or know someone who does), I'll be signing books at the Downingtown Wegmans from 1:00 to 3:00 PM on Saturday, Jan. 22nd.

When I posted the 2011 travel challenge the other day, I listed the wrong date for my first event. It was actually on Tuesday. Happily, it was in the region of the storm that got rain but no ice or snow. So the charity total has doubled to $2.00.

The awesome promotional thingees have been sent out, so I should be able to share a picture soon. Since I'm already dangling teasers, I might as well add that I'll have some very exciting book news in a couple weeks.

The Return of the Travel Challenge

Back in 2009, faced with the horrifying prospect of flying nine times during the winter, I created the travel challenge. It worked. The powers of nature were no match for the powers of blog readers. Together, we raised a nice bit of money for good causes. Speaking of good causes, Allentown Morning Call columnist Bill White raises bundles of money each winter in conjunction with a Christmas Lights tour. This year, he brought in about $15,330. That money will be converted into 137,900 pounds of food via whatever magic Second Harvest Food Bank uses to work their wonders. A couple weeks ago, I sent him an email congratulating him on his latest successful fund drive. In his reply, he asked if I was going to do another travel challenge. I hadn't thought about it, since I'm not flying to any schools until the spring. But I realized I'll be driving all over the place. While I won't be facing the horror of being trapped in an airport or losing a bunch of school visits because my flight was cancelled, I will be dealing other potential travel nightmares and missed visits. So I decided it was time to rekindle the travel challenge. I'm heading off to Absecon, NJ this afternoon. I have my first winter visit scheduled for tomorrow. There is some bad weather coming, but as of now it looks like that area will miss out on the freezing rain. If you want to participate, here are the details of the 2011 travel challenge.

What comes after flabbergasted?

I have never doubted that my publisher, Tor/Starscape, loves me. Given their list of superstar authors and best-seller-list denizens, among whom I try to wedge a modest shoulder or other body part, I am especially grateful for all that they do for me. I have never lacked for cool promotional items. I've had bookmarks aplenty, buttons, posters, flyers, study guides, and even seed packs.




And let's not forget the infamous Book Expo weenie costume.


Until now, I thought nothing would trump the seeds. But I just got a package in the mail that blew everything else away. I am, dare I say it, Weeniegasted. The item, created to promote Attack of the Vampire Weenies and Other Warped and Creepy Tales (May, 2011), is one of only fifty. These thingees (thingee being the universally understood version of tchotchke) are not only awesome, they are hand made. I would love to share a picture right now, but I don't want to spoil the surpise for the folks who will be receiving one. So the picture will have to wait. After I know the thingees have been distributed, I'll share a photo. In lieu of that, here's the cover, which also thrilled me:

Random stuff

Hooray for April Henry! (Given the rhythm of that sentence, it took a lot of effort on my part not to spin it into a parody of "Hooray for Captain Spalding." But I digress.) I noticed that Girl Stolen (I love novels about German pasrty) made both Quick Picks and the award formerly known as BBYA. I had the thrill of doing that with Hidden Talents. Since that was my first experience with those lists, I naively assumed every one of my books would repeat the trick. Nope. Not even close. It's a rare achievement. So, yay for April, who is both a wonderful writer and a very nice person.

On a darker note, let's play a hypothetical game. Let's say that some famous person -- let's call him Person A -- said, "I hope Person B has a heart attack." Now, imagine that the very next day, Person B has a heart attack. Let's also assume that Person B never even knew about the statement. Would we still, as a society, feel some sort of disdain for Person A? At the very least, most people would feel that Person A is not a very nice person. Now, we have Sarah Palin putting cross hairs on a person, chanting rhetoric like "RELOAD!" and then acting like a victim because people called her out on it when her wishes came true.

Another sign of the apocalypse -- the Today Show opted for Snookie (I'm not even going to bother seeing if that's the proper spelling) over the Newbery and Caldecott winners.

Blessed are the Cynners

Way cool writer/blogger/Austenite Cynthia Leitich Smith just released a book trailer for Blessed, her newest book.

I've been working on a trailer, myself, but the cats are giving me a hard time about the Weenie costumes. Maybe it's time to recruit some canine talent.

In other news -- I was all excited about the snow day, until I remembered that I work at home.

Well, I'll be praised

I'll have to admit, the headline of this blog caught my eye, and put a lump in my throat. (Happily, the lump turned out not to be a tumor.) Fostering Our Children's Literacy -- and Their Futures: A Thank You letter to David Lubar . Professional reviewer Paul Goat Allen took the time and effort to talk about how he feels my books make a difference. I'm tempted to quote the last three paragraphs in their entirety, since they say so many nice things about my writing, but I'll assume anyone who is interested will take the time to click the link.

This could obviously be a launching point for a rant about how funny books often don't get the respect they deserve. But you know what? Funny books get readers, and they get loyal fans, they get cherished and collected by awesome kids, they get used by teachers as a way to encourage reading, and they get appreciated by parents who see their kids unwilling to stop turning pages. That's good enough for me.

In other news, I was thrilled to see that Jordan Sonnenblick won the Schneider Family Award for After Ever After. The award is given by the American Library Association for the book with the most confusing title. (I can kid Jordan because I got up very early a couple months ago to smoke a several racks of ribs from him and his family. I'm glad I had a chance to invite him over for dinner before fame sweeps him away.) Last year, we traveled to Denver for a conference. If you ever get a chance to hear him talk, grab it. It was amazing hearing the story behind Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

Okay, that's enough about other writers. I'll get back to the topic of me in my next post.

Special public-service announcement for new authors

Those of you who are awaiting news of the Best Fiction list and other ALA/YALSA lists might not realize that some of the lists won't be released for a couple days. Things are still being compiled and decided. The first time I was a BBYA nominee, I assumed the information would follow immediately after the Newbery and Caldecott announcements. Nope. It takes time. Needless to say, I squandered a lot of time haunting the web, refreshing the ALA news-release page, waiting for the announcements. So find a productive way to kill time and distract yourself until the news comes out. Writing might do the trick. (Video games work even better, but I have to at least maintain the illusion that reading and writing are superior to all other forms of time killing. So let's just leave that topic for another day.) But, anyhow, back to the main point of this post -- I hope this helps spare some of you from spending too much time waiting for the news. And I hope, when the news comes, it makes your day. (Disclaimer -- it's entirely possible the whole systemn has changed, and the results were actually posted while you were wasting time reading my blog. You'd better go check that ALA site again right away, just in case.)

Contention Deficit Disorder

It is hard to explain the sheer bliss of knowing that every book of mine that was published in 2010 is totally free of even the slightest chance of winning any sort of award. I'm happily out of contention. Don't get me wrong -- I love awards and recognition. I covet circular seals of gold. I crave validation and inhale even the faintest whiff of praise that drifts my way. It's not a hypothetical lust. I've tasted the fringes of glory. I've received some wonderful state awards, and had several of my books on BBYA, Quick Picks, or other prestigious lists. But whenever one of my books had any sort of chance of getting a major award, or making an important national list, I spent far too much time waiting for the announcements. I've actually checked the schedules of ALA committee meetings to try to figure out when they'll be finished with their discussion and ready to release their lists. That's pathetic. And, as much as I recognize this behavior as a character flaw, I'm sure the next time I have a book that I feel is a contender, I'll fall back into my old habits. But, for now, I am blissfully detached. There have been years when I didn't have a book out. That brings its own sort of peace. But this is even better. I love drifting beneath the level of consideration. I love not trying to calculate what time the phone might ring, or repeatedly refreshing the web page for the major lists to see if the results have been posted. Though, if you're in contention for something, I hope you win. I really do.