Cindy Pon's Blog, page 5

sirens con fotos!

hello lovely readers!

had such a wonderful time at sirens con–

like i knew i would. intense and fabulous, with

great author speeches from nalo hopkinson and

malinda lo, interesting panels and roundtables, but

best of all, fantastic conversations with fellow attendees

late into the nights.

here is a slew of fotos from my weekend and

i hope you enjoy them!

*mette, me and malinda at Multnomah Falls

near Portland, OR.

*another view of the falls.

*the view from our Sirens Con Skamania Lodge!

*sarah rees brennan, nalo hopkinson, malinda lo

and kate elliott on “The Male Gaze” panel. a great discussion,

and srb sang a song about jacob’s abs!

*i bribed various attendees to brave the rain to

go walking with me each day i was there. it wasn’t

that cold and the air was so crisp and the surroundings

so beautiful. (pictured with andrea horbinski!)

*got my copy of The Salt Roads signed

by nalo.

*i talked srb, kate and rhiannon (not pictured)

to walk in the rain with me. at one point, we were

simply huddled under the two umbrellas animatedly

planning World Domination. ha!

*this tree really captured my imagination during

another walk around the lodge grounds.

*i was supposed to be little red riding hood but

didn’t have a peasant skirt so when i took the hood

off, i looked like an errant pirate. i blame The Puffy Shirt,

which i got a lot of compliments on. haha! (with andrea

horbinski and juliet grames.)

*more Sirens Masquerade Ball fun with marie

brennan and artemis grey.

*posing with janni lee simner, joy kim, shveta thkrar,

and rachel manija brown.

*the attending authors’ books for our Powell’s signing.

Diverse Energies, the anthology that both malinda and

i have a story in, hadn’t been put out yet. it had just arrived!

*was so happy to see lisa schroeder in the

audience. she stood and asked a writing question

on behalf of l. k. madigan, as they used to attend

these signings together. especially poignant as srb,

malinda and i are all part of the debs ‘09 group that l. k.

was in as well. i got a signed copy of lisa’s It’s Raining

Cupcakes for sweet pea and she loved it.

*was great to meet jenna for the first time as well.

thanks so much for coming to our signing!

and i have one more HUGE author event that i posted

about before: YA in the Sun, with 20 middle grade and

young adult authors attending. it’ll be a day of book talk

and huge bookish raffle giveaways. then i’m done for

2012! check out our YA in the Sun events page on facebook.

hope to see you there! =D

Diverse Energies Release!

hello lovely readers!

i’m so excited that Diverse Energies officially

released this week! even more amazingly, the

fabulous publisher Lee and Low was able to rush

finished copies to our post Sirens Con Powell’s signing

this past sunday. i hadn’t expected it, and it was the

first time i held the final finished hardcover in my hands.

the book is gorgeous, y’all.

and the stories within are pretty amazing

as well. the anthology received a very positive

review from Booklist, to be included in their 11/1 issue:

“In an afterword, coeditor Monti writes about a heated 2009 discussion (dubbed “RaceFail 09”) regarding race in fantasy and science fiction, and how his reaction was to put together a collection showcasing “this wonderful, blended, messed-up world.” Hence this book, which feels different than the usual fare—characters, settings, and authors come from all across the global spectrum—and, maybe more to the point, proves to be not that different at all. It starts off with a fabulous one-two punch: Ellen Oh’s devastating “The Last Day,” about a future global war and the horrific Hiroshima-like aftermath; then “Freshee’s Frogurt,” a wild, violent, and funny excerpt from Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse (2011). In general, the subsequent stories fall on the more thoughtful, brainy side of the sf spectrum. Two standouts are Paolo Bacigalupi’s “A Pocket Full of Dharma,” about the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama on a portable storage drive; and Cindy Pon’s “Blue Skies,” a wistful have/have-not tale from a smog-filthed future Taipei. A solid introduction to a number of highly talented writers.”

i was thrilled to get a nod in the review, for

obvious reasons, but also because “Blue Skies”

was the first short story i’d written in almost twenty

years. (i know!) beyond that, it was the first time i

had written in the first person narrative AND it was the

first time that i’d written with a more sci fi slant. many

multiple firsts for me. but i had such a good time writing

this story and i like it a lot–i hope you enjoy it too!

the story is set in a future taipei where the disparity

between the haves and have nots are wider than ever.

*i love this candid panel photo of all the authors

at our Powell’s signing. =D (L to R: sarah reesh brennan,

mette ivie harrison, malinda lo, me, and jannie lee simner.)

photo credit to kim kasch. thanks, kim!

you can purchase signed copies of Diverse Energies

(by malinda and me) from Powell’s directly. it is also

available for purchase from amazon (shipping soon!) and

can be downloaded onto your nook or kindle. and as

always, can be requested directly into your favorite indie

book store!

greg van eekhout and i will both be attending the

HUGE YA in the Sun event on saturday, 11/10 at the

Encinitas Library. and would be happy to sign copies of

Diverse Energies there as well. =D

there will be TWENTY amazing middle grade and young

adult authors there from southern california and you can

check out the author list as well as rsvp to come over at our

facebook events page. hope to see you there in a few weeks!

it’s gonna be rad!

where to, september?

ack!

how quickly time flies. september was an utter whirlwind.

not only did i have three (all fabulous!) author events, but

the bubs were back to school in full swing, requiring mountains

of paperwork to be filled (i’m sure filling back to school forms

is a level in hell), too many checks to be written, back to school

night to attend, and the excitement of munchkin deciding to

start taking clarinet in cadet band. (sweet pea continues with chorus!)

chinese school also started with full force. the bubs are

officially in 2nd grade level now. serious business with six

characters to learn and memorize each week. i like the new

teacher. she tries to make things fun and interesting yet at

the same time reinforcing the best ways to learn the language.

so in between all that, my first author event was a reading

and signing with malinda lo and roz kaveney. i have quite

a few friends (writing and non) in the bay area, and i have to

say, i felt very much loved indeed during the short jaunt up.

i am blessed for all the friends i have in my life.

*malinda and her partner were kind enough to

host me for one night in the bay area. and i requested

a hike on saturday morning. i can’t remember the last

time i went hiking! it was a lot of fun and beautiful but

i don’t think i could have done much more challenging. ha!

*was able to have a nice meal with author friends who

came to support us before our SF in SF event. clockwise

from bottom left: amy, malinda, me, cynthia, martha, heidi

and cheryl.

*the SF in SF event is in a great venue right in

downtown san francisco. the theatre is intimate but

still large enough to hold a sizable crowd. also, a great

bar to quench thirst of attendees! inexplicably, giant kung

fu panda was in the foyer, and we had to get a foto! =D

we were celebrating the release of malinda’s fantastic new

YA sci fi thriller ADAPTATION!

my second author event for the month was my first

skype meeting! david gill had graciously invited me to

speak to his YA writing class about Silver Phoenix. it was

my first time and really so much fun. although i was a bit

frightened when i realized i was being projected on the wall

like The Head of Oz. ha! but the time flew so fast and his students

asked really great questions. thank you so much for having

me david and YA writing class! =D

third but not least, joanna was kind enough to invite

me for a library visit as she had chosen Silver Phoenix

for a teen book club read. i did quite a few of these book

club meetings in 2009, when my book first came out, at

local libraries, and enjoyed them all.

*joanna went all out and had a delicious chinese

buffet for us! she said it was one of her highest attended

book clubs ever and we had a great discussion of many

different topics. joanna recounts the visit here.

*i was even happier when lalitha, joanna and i could

go grab a delicious mexican dinner after. both women

are such fabulous librarians and advocates of reading

and books for youth–but i’ve never had the chance to sit down and

get to know them better. so this was really fantastic, we talked

about everything and laughed a lot as well.

definitely another highlight for me in september.

and now, we’re almost in mid-october and i can’t quite

believe it! i’ll be off to portland, oregon for sirens con this

thursday and am very excited to see all my author friends

and fellow book lovers. it really is such a fabulous con and

i recommend it for anyone who loves fantasy, especially strong

women in fantasy!

will update with sirens con fotos and gossip next week,

i hope! =D till the next, lovely readers!



currently reading:

The Savage Fortress by sarwat chadda

transformation themed TGIFBM! giveaway!

it’s been a looooong time since i’ve done

a Thank Goodness It’s Free Books Monday giveaway.

and it’s wednesday. but whatever, you’re okay with

that, right? =D

i recently read three ARCs that were all quite

original in their own ways, and wanted to share

the love. all great reads. now as i group them together,

i realize that the theme of transformation or transition

are in all of them. so enjoy! winner takes ALL!

*a SIGNED copy of Every Day arc by

david levithan.

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.

The lives and loves of a teenage transboy music geek

Gabe has always identified as a boy, but he was born with a girl’s body. With his new public access radio show gaining in popularity, Gabe struggles with romance, friendships, and parents–all while trying to come out as transgendered. An audition for a station in Minneapolis looks like his ticket to a better life in the big city. But his entire future is threatened when several violent guys find out Gabe the popular DJ is also Elizabeth from school.

A fiery and romantic adventure, perfect for fans of Grace Lin, Kristen Cashore, or Lisa See!

Jade Moon is a Fire Horse — the worst sign in the Chinese zodiac for girls, said to make them stubborn, willful, and far too imaginative. But while her family despairs of marrying her off, she has a passionate heart and powerful dreams, and wants only to find a way to make them come true.

Then a young man named Sterling Promise comes to their village to offer Jade Moon and her father a chance to go to America. While Sterling Promise’s smooth manners couldn’t be more different from her own impulsive nature, Jade Moon falls in love with him on the long voyage. But America in 1923 doesn’t want to admit many Chinese, and when they are detained at Angel Island, the “Ellis Island of the West,” she discovers a betrayal that destroys all her dreams. To get into America, much less survive there, Jade Moon will have to use all her stubbornness and will to break a new path . . . one as brave and dangerous as only a Fire Horse girl can imagine.

…

don’t they look fantastic?

it’s been a while so i’ll remind you of the

drill. please tweet, fb status, blog, etc. about

this contest with a link to this post. then be sure

to leave that link with your own comment here.

i’ll choose a random winner some time next friday,

august 31. this contest is open to US mailing

addresses only. good luck!

where in the world is cindy pon?

okay. maybe not in the world. as i’ve been staying

fairly local in the last month or so. but have been so

busy with various bookish and author events. all fun,

but leaving me little time or desire to update here. woe!

now the bubs are home with me full time after summer

camp has ended (right in time for a heat wave) so even

less time for me to dawdle on my blog. but as an apology,

i’ll give you a monster catch all catch up update with loads

of visuals! forgive me? =)

Comic-Con

*hard to believe this was my 4th time attending comic-con.

and i started it off right with a quiet and nice breakfast with

rae carson, paolo bacigalupi, and greg van eekhout!

*got to meet and hang out a bit with these rad authors!

sarah dennard whose debut Something Strange and Deadly

just released, lish mcbride (i’m eagerly awaiting her sequel,

Necromancing the Stone) and leigh bardugo, whose YA fantasy

debut Shadow and Bone hit the NYT list!

*i wasn’t able to attend barry lyga’s panel but

loved I Hunt Killers and absolutely *had* to stalk him

and tell him so in person. i also had to tell him i

appreciated the diversity he included in the story.

*after being online deb buddies since before our

debuts released, i was excited to find out that

aprilynne pike was at a signing upstairs after i visited

the harperteen booth on the convention floor. of course,

i ran up to meet her before going to pick the bubs up

from their summer camp.

*had a lovely lunch AWAY from the con with marie lu

and her man.

*a glimpse of our delicious and unhealthy meal

at Seersucker. highly recommended!

Author Signings & Stuff

*i did a great Oceanside library visit then signing

at the BN after with the fabulous kirsten hubbard.

*holly black and cassandra clare were co-teaching at

clarion this summer–and holly invited me to talk to

the clarionites on writing diversity in spec fic. i had so

much fun! and also attended their author signings at mysterious

galaxy. here is holly with her fans! (note the cute shoes.)

*we had yummy taiwanese after and i shared a mango

chua bing (shaved ice) with holly. we didn’t make much of

a dent. and this isn’t even a big chau bing. ha!

*cassie didn’t think that many fans would show at

her signing. well, over 200 did, coming in from Texas

even. it was amazing and crazy!

*a foto with holly at cassie’s signing. (cassie, alas,

was signing for fans for over three hours. whew!)

SCBWI

*the first people i saw that i knew at the scbwi gala

were the lovely mandy morgan and suz young.

*my first foto alone with amaris, one of the most

original people i know!

*some of my rad SD writing posse! nikki, andrea,

matt, me and debra driza.

*hamming it up with cynthea liu and jo whittmore!

it was a hippie theme and i wore my lace betsey johnson

dress. any excuse to put it on–not hippie theme at all. ha!

*a reprisal of suz and mine original charlie’s

angels pose. with mandy added! hehe!

*had loads of fun carpooling back from the con

with jo. then a couple days later, jon yang and i helped

to celebrate jo’s release of her third middle grade

contemp novel, D is for Drama. we ate well and gabbed

and laughed. jo was kind enough to sign and give 3

of her books to sweet pea and she has read them all and

loved them!

so *that*, lovely readers, is what i’ve been up to.

now, a long weekend up in san francisco for a much

needed family holiday and seeing friends. it’s hard

to believe that summer is winding to an end!

enjoy the rest of it!

currently reading:

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

Diverse Energies jacket & ARC winner

*please click for full jacket image!

hello lovely readers! busy busy busy with

author events (my own and author friends’!) this

week and next. and then gearing up for SCBWI conference

in LA. will you be there?

i wanted to share the gorgeous full jacket of Diverse Energies

(please click on image above to see larger image) and announce

the winner of the ARC. it goes to david batista! congrats, david!

thanks to everyone who entered!

Diverse Energies cover reveal & giveaway!

hello lovely readers! i’m so excited to reveal the rad

final cover for Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian

published by Tu Books and out in October this year!

Tu Books Editorial Director Stacy Whitman talks about the

process of completing the cover image:

The hanging letters came first in the concepts. I had

already decided that the hanging letters were great, but

it took us a while to settle on just the right image. This

was a stock photo I happened across while looking for

scenes of urban blight.

you can read more about the cover creation and the

anthology on Lee & Low’s website here.

so in celebration of the cover reveal, i’ll be

giving away a signed copy of the Diverse Energies ARC!

this is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway and there are multiple

ways to enter. and yes, you can do all of these for

multiple entries.

1. by tweeting or retweeting this to me:

I want to win a Diverse Energies ARC! RT & comment to enter. http://bit.ly/NHbyP3 @cindypon

2. by adding Diverse Energies to your goodreads.

3. by adding cover image and blogging about ARC

giveaway, then linking back to this original post.

4. by adding this blog post link to your fb status.

PLEASE don’t forget to COMMENT in this post with your

link(s). each is a separate entry so you can have up to

four entries for this giveaway. i will choose a random

lucky winner some time on monday, 7/23. good luck!

classic chinese beauty: final!

lovely readers, after at least four months of

working on this particular chinese beauty (and

throwing away countless others) i’m finally *finally*

done with my very first pretty lady painting! =D

this painting was such a challenge because of all

the different components: lady, dress, bamboo, tree,

blossoms, fan, rock… all of these i stressed over and

it was anyone’s guess if i wouldn’t simply ruin it with

a single mistake.

as i’ve said before, chinese brush painting is a very

unforgiving medium. you screw up, unless you can put

a bug over it or something, that’s basically the end of it. ha!

looking at this final piece, i can see where i could have

done better, but i’m very very proud that i actually finished

one entire painting and *didn’t* screw up in any major fashion.

the rice paper hasn’t been mounted yet and i didn’t alter

the background in photoshop, but it is on white rice paper,

therefore some rippling in the painting.

now, i’m looking forward to painting lotus this month! =D

currently reading:

Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel

ALA Recap: Sunday

whew! so after that very very full saturday (i believe

we basically closed down Roy’s after 11pm), i had to

wake up earlyish on sunday to check out of the hotel

first thing. as there were again a bunch of signings i

wanted to hit to support as well as fangirl. 8)

the first thing i attended was the Alex Award panel.

i hadn’t been aware of this award before Erin Morgenstern

had told me about it. but it was perfect as it focused on

adult books that had a strong crossover to YA. i invited

Kendare Blake along (having just met her on our panel on

saturday–but am a huge fan of Anna Dressed in Blood) and

she was able to join me so we got to hang out a little, which

was great!

*it was lovely to finally meet Erin, who is just so

sweet and charming. we actually were online friends

when she was still writing The Night Circus. and it’s

been amazing to watch her fantastic journey for this

magical debut.

*a foto with Kendare (check out her cool frog tote!)

before we parted ways.

Girl of Nightmares on Goodreads

i wasn’t able to pick up Kendare’s sequel arc

but am looking forward to the read!

besides The Night Circus, I was able to pick up two

other books from Alex Award panelists that sound

like fascinating reads!

The Night Circus on Goodreads

New Kids on Goodreads

Big Girl Small on Goodreads

*immediately after the Alex Award panel, i ran

down to the exhibit floor to finally purchase my

copy of Jenn Reese’s beautiful debut, Above World, so

she could sign it for me. =D

Above World on Goodreads

*it was great to run into Kekla Magoon several

times on the exhibit floor and also to meet her

lovely mom. i met Kekla at the new york city

Diversity in YA stop and she’s the author of such

titles as Camo Girl and The Rock and the River.

i was excited to learn that she’s got a new YA novel

out titled 37 Things I love (in no particular order).

37 Things I Love on Goodreads

*then i went to Jacqueline Woodson’s signing, where

i bought a copy of Beneath a Meth Moon. Jacqueline is

another author i met because she was kind enough to sit

on our Diversity in YA panel in nyc. she also opened her home

to all of us after the panel and it was such a lovely way to end

the tour.

Beneath a Meth Moon on Goodreads

*while headed to queue up in Neal Shusterman’s

line for his Unwholly arc, i saw Laini Taylor’s unmistakeable

bright pink hair and had to stop by and introduce myself.

she had a huge line waiting already at Little, Brown for her

Days of Blood and Starlight arc. her super editor Alvina Ling

happened past and we took a foto together!

Days of Blood and Starlight on Goodreads

i wasn’t able to snag an arc of this, but isn’t that

cover gorgeous?

*then i rushed to Ruta’s signing. i’ve been

so out of it that i hadn’t realized that she has a

new YA historical out titled Out of the Easy and it looks

fantastic! Ruta is another friend i’ve know before either

of us were even published, i think. and i knew how much

she struggled to get Between Shades of Gray out to the

world. i literally teared up when i saw her, as i’m so

proud and happy for her!

Out of the Easy on Goodreads

*all during ALA weekend, i was tweeting like a mad fool.

cause you all know i’m addicted to twitter, right? ha!

so imagine my surprise when hannah tweeted me saying

she wanted to meet me if at all possible. of course! and

she actually found me waiting in Ruta’s line during her signing.

thanks for “stalking” me down, hannah! it was great chatting

with you!

Somewhere along the way, I found Mike Jung probably

hiding behind his ipad and told him i had seen Gene Yang

and showed Gene my rad arc of Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities.

and that Gene had said “Mike said he’d get me a copy of this!”

well, Mike? so Mike said he had grabbed one of the last arcs of

his own book and we wandered over to Artist Alley at ALA (which

i hadn’t known about till Gene told me) to deliver the arc. we

had a nice chat and laughed a lot. cause both Gene and Mike are

funny guys.

*Gene Luen Yang, me and Mike Jung.

does it look like we’re goosing each other in this foto?

cause we TOTALLY ARE! haha! also #cuteasianboys #yes

Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities on Goodreads

Avatar by Gene Yang on Goodreads

*sassy and chic librarians!

Sarah, me and Candice.

when i say i love librarians, i mean i love

librarians. haha! i have met so many enthusiastic

and passionate librarians who love books and

believe in getting books into the hands of the right

child or teen who will love them, to foster their love

of reading. i basically grew up in our local library

myself as a tween and teen, and checked out books

like a fiend. my Love Affair with reading is more

deeply rooted in the library than anywhere else.

can’t say enough about the importance of libraries

and librarians! THANK YOU for all that you do!

and this is really why i love ALA so much, to not only

see my writing friends and support them (nevermind be

super excited for their upcoming books) but to talk with

librarians and share the Book Love.

Highlights:

-meeting three youth librarians after the Alex Award panel

and having one of them say to me: We talked about eunuchs

the whole day after your panel. Who knew?

that really made me laugh. =D who knew indeed. ha

-waiting for almost an hour in Neal Shusterman’s line with

my Raddest Fan Ever Megan and when I was getting my Unwholly

arc signed, having Megan shout at Neal: HAVE YOU READ SILVER

PHOENIX? oh megan! haha! Neal said no but to please write down

the title for him.

Unwholly on Goodreads

-the casual social we had at Hyatt Regency with

librarians, writers, bloggers and friends sunday afternoon

before the Newbery Dinner. it was arranged by Sarah (pictured

above) and Lindsey Leavitt. i had a super cute foto of all of us

together but it was a casualty of my images lost. =( but the social

was a lot of fun!

Going Vintage on Goodreads.

wow, this post took me all week to finish.

but brings back such fun memories. hope you

enjoyed it!

cindy link:

nova ren suma was kind enough to interview me on

her blog about my major turning points as a writer.

comment by monday to get a chance to win a signed

copy of Silver Phoenix!

currently reading:

This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

ALA Recap: Friday & Saturday

oh fabulous readers, where do i start?

let’s start by saying that iphoto pooped out

on me while i was transferring fotos between

my sony digital camera and macbook. i always

opt to “delete originals” and this time, macbook

deleted them without having actually downloaded

the fotos. LESSON LEARNED! never again!

i was SO bummed! i took fotos both on iphone as

well as my digital camera, but hated to have lost the

great fotos from the latter. well. i used a free recovery

program so some of the fotos you see will have their

very ugly advertising on it. but i’m okay with that. =)

i got my fotos back!

on friday, i drove up to anaheim bright and early to

meet with juliet for lunch. juliet is a senior editor at

soho press, but we’ve known each other before i had

an agent. and first and foremost, she’s a fabulous friend

who offers so much encouragement to me as a writer! a

friend had recommended Brodard Chateau in Garden

Grove and it was *delicious* eats!!

*this was shrimp in little crepe cups that were

delicious!

*vegetarian spring rolls with avocado.

i’m salivating just thinking about these again. ha!

*my main entree was glass noodles with chicken and veggies.

i will say my chicken was a bit dry. should have opted for tofu.

*apologize for poor quality of recovered foto here.

juliet and i with a fantastic taro custard type of dessert

with shaved ice and coconut milk. YUM!

juliet was super busy helping to set up her booth so i felt

very fortunate i was able to whisk her away for a few hours

to eat and catch up!

that night, i was in the exhibit hall as soon as it opened

at 5.30 and headed to Lee & Low to sign Diverse Energies

arcs. i’m reading it now and loved ken liu, greg van eekhout

and ellen oh’s short stories in the anthology. cannot wait

to read the rest!

i visited the harpercollins children’s booth during rae

carson’s sequel signing for The Crown of Embers. huge lines!

and local southern cali libraians happened to stop by too.

i love these ladies! they are fun, dress sassy, talk smart,

and diversity in books mean as much to them as it does me!

thank you for all your support!!

*allison, lalitha, me, and joanna!

(isn’t that ad just *lovely*? ha!)

dinner was especially fun as i finally got to meet fellow

debs stacey jay, jackson pearce, kristin cron-mills and

jackson brought maggie stiefvater along too. alas, we

were rushed by the end of the meal having done so much

random talking during dinner, that i failed to take a foto. boo.

i had my ALA panel (a first for me!) bright and early at 8am

in the morning. i was nervous, as i am SO not a morning person.

anyone who follows me on twitter knows i’m randomly talking

to myself well past midnight each day. ha! so i feared i might

not be altogether coherent so early. but feedback was, i did okay.

(in fact, BRAG, kenneth oppel said i spoke eloquently!)

*early risers trickle in to sit in audience. thank

you for coming!

*our rad panel: kenneth oppel, kendare blake,

me, jackson pearce, and our moderator and librarian

that proposed the YALSA panel, angie manfredi!

without a doubt, this panel was the highlight of

my ALA weekend–and there are so many fantastic

highlights! i was able to finally meet jackson, as

well as kendare, and kenneth talking about his

young victor frankenstein novels (This Dark Endeavor,

Such Wicked Intent) sold me, yo. guess who was first

in line at his signing after the panel? *points both

thumbs at self* ha!

right after my panel, in which i was escorted out

by my genius editor, virginia, i ran immediately

to andrew smith’s Passenger arc signing. i’ve been

a huge smith fan ever since reading In the Path of

Falling Objects, and he blew me away with The Marbury

Lens as well. i’m happy he is a los angelino so i have

ample opportunities to stalk him. =)

*andrew and me!

then i ran off to E. M. Kokie’s arc signing for her

debut Personal Effects over at Candlewick. this is one

of the novels i’ve been anticipating The Most for ALA.

alas, i got there too late. =( i always planned on buying

the novel when it released–E’s been a friend to me since

i was a new debut author–so i’ll wait patiently. can’t tell

you *how* excited i am to read this one!

but! i was able to hang out with E. and other writing

friends after her signing. we headed to starbucks and

socialized while i made sure i ate before my 12.30pm

signing with Tahereh Mafi. the line at starbucks was *long*

but the wait went super fast while chattering with friends!

*me, Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus), Debra Driza

(hiding in the back, MILA 2.0), E. M. Kokie and

Deborah Gray (How to Import Wine: An Insider’s Guide).

then i was off to harpercollins to sign copies of Silver

Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix, both of which my

generous publisher was giving away for free! Tahereh was

signing her sequel arc Unravel Me. we’d been silly together

on twitter before but this was the first time we met. and we

didn’t get more time than just give a hug before we became

Authorly and started signing!

thank you to all of you who came to my panel and also

stood in line for the Phoenix books!

*me and tahereh.

*i also ran into my first and favorite teen reader

and fan, khyrnthia!

*then while waiting in line for Mike Jung’s Geeks, Girls

and Secret Identities signing at Scholastic, i ran into Robin

LaFevers (also waiting in line) and we got to catch up and chat

a bit. I have only heard amazing things about her YA historical

fantasy, Grave Mercy.

saturday night, there was a greenwillow books dinner at

Roy’s and it was SO delicious! i had a vegetarian bento.

*salad, tempura veggies, tofu & veggie roll. YUM.

*i had such fun eating fantastic food and chatting

with great company, all book lovers! (rae carson,

nancy, angie manfredi, shannan, david macinnis gill,

virginia, stacy and me!)

highlights from dinner included:

-my talking about how i read 9 1/2 Weeks

instead of 50 Shades and going into detail about

this bdsm novel. (my first. the physical stuff made

me cringe and uncomfortable, the emotional stuff?

it wrecked me a little.) and the look on poor martha’s

face. not her book so much. ha!

-angie explaining to me what a meme (pronounced

meem) is! i had always thought they were Me Me’s. dur.

by the by, angie is hilarious in person!

-talking to rae carson about her recently sold trilogy.

a historical fantasy during the gold rush era. SO excited

for this the more i talked to her about it!!

and that is it for days one and two. no wonder i’m

still recuperating! =D will post on sunday at ALA festivities

soon!

currently reading:

Diverse Energies, edited by Joe Monti & Tobias Buckell