Cindy Pon's Blog, page 9

DiYA in austin and chicago!

okay. i admit it. i've been mostly

lazy this week trying to recover from

the madness of tour. ha! and it felt good

to be lazy. now, i must prepare for anther

quick jaunt to nyc for SLJ Pre-BEA Day of

Dialog (panel at 9.15 and signing after) and

BEA tuesday (i sign at 10.30 at TABLE 1).

but before i start packing, let me share some

fotos from our radical (i've decided to use rad

instead of awesome at times to switch up the

lingo =) panels in austin and chicago!

*before our panel, guadalupe garcia mccall, varian johnson,

bethany hegedus, me, malinda and dia reeves and jo whittemore

flexing their muscles in front!

*the lovely chandler craig stopped by before another

social engagement. it was so lovely to finally meet her. we only

knew one another from online and she was one of the first to

interview me, way before i was published!

*i know steph and jen from twitter! they were very helpful

with sharing info for our austin stop and both book lovers.

thanks so much for stopping by and it was so great to meet you too!!

*katie is part of the mundie moms site which first started

as cassie clare fan site but has gone on to do so much to spread

YA novels book love. we were both happy to be dolled up in our

pretty clothes for the event (versus our usual more practical, less

pretty mom clothes. =)

*malinda, me and jenny moss (author of Winnie's War,

Shadow, and Taking Off). jenny has been a DEB

friend for years and it was so fantastic to finally meet her!

*okay, so meeting dia reeves was definitely a highlight

of the tour. it was the *first* author panel she'd participated

on and she didn't hesitate to say YES! when i asked.

no idea she'd have to fly to austin. so dia, thanks so much for coming

out and joining us. i'm looking forward to the end of traveling and

being able to settle down with my copy of Slice of Cherry which i know

will be awesome!

*we had yummy mexican (i had the delicious chicken quesadilla,

some of malinda's gaucamole, and a virgin pina colada, yum!) meal

after which was loads of fun! i love celebrating with food after a great

panel, hee!

*next up! check out ari's (reading in color) shirt!

we're in chicago, baby! i've known her for a couple of

years online and she is an absolute delight. i'm excited that

she is going off the college soon, the world is wide open for her!

*claudia guadalupe martinez, nnedi okorafor, me and malinda.

i'm so glad we added chicago as a stop. as a result, we were in

austin and chicago both for less than 24 hours, but it was a

fantastic signing and i got to fangirl nnedi (tho i respected her

no hugging thing–i still squished up against her, haha!) and i

look forward to reading claudia's debut, The Smell of Old Lady

Perfume. after, we had awesome indian food with

malinda's college friend adn we ordered way too much. whoops!

OKAY lovely readers!

i've chosen my two dresses for my second nyc

jaunt (i'll be the Lady in Red) so wish me luck and

perhaps i'll see some of you there? i'll be tweeting as

ever, addict that i am, over @cindypon so follow me if

you don't already.

zai jian for now!! xo

whirlwind wonder

i'm back, lovely readers! did you miss me?

what, you didn't notice? =p

i came back yesterday on a very nice delta flight

in which i totally lucked out and got an aisle exit row

and slept for most of the way. landed, then proceeded to

go immediately to chinese school with my bubs. no rest

for the wicked and what not. 8)

malinda and i were most definitely on Diversity Tour

Amazing Race and were just glad we survived and made

it to each event safely.

despite the frenetic madness and exhaustion, we are both

so pleased and proud for the turnouts at our tour stops.

great discussion, great readers and bloggers and writers

and friends all turned out to support us, all our authors

and some fantastic books. i estimate that we had over 300

peeps attend throughout the week, and that is simply

*tremendous*. thank you thank you thank you!

this saturday, i fly again to nyc for BEA. i'll be at the

SLJ Pre-BEA Day of Dialog (5/23). my panel is at 9.15am with

authors malinda lo, rita williams-garcia and paul griffin,

moderated by liz burns. then i'll be signing Fury on tuesday

(5/24) at 10.30pm. i'll be tweeting @cindypon so follow me

to keep posted! =D

now, without further prattle, let me share fotos from our

first kick off event at the san francisco public library. it

was such a fantastic and fun way to kick off the tour!!

*our awesome audience! people trickled in after event started

and they had to add four more rows of chairs to accommodate!

*one of the first friends i said hello to! sarina has been an

online friend for… a decade probably. but i only met her for

the first time in 2009 for my SF Silver Phoenix signing. she drove

in from sacramento again to attend our panel. it was lovely to see

you sarina (who is a YA novels fan! =).

*teri is also an online friend, a writing one, who drove in

from sacramento. yay, it was so good to see you again, teri!

*author of Butterfly Swords, jeannie lin, was able to come

too! it was such a lovely surprise. if you're looking for a fantastic

adventure and romance set in the tang dynasty, read Butterfly Swords!

*and cheryl, author of Breathing, was able to take time

out of a busy saturday to come! she's a deb and we've all

been through so much together. it's hard to believe it's only

been two years or so that we've known each other!

*how cool is andrea's shirt? i met andrea at the sirens

con last october and was so happy she could come in from

studies in berkeley!

*the entire panel (jon yang, malinda lo, me and gene yang) with

julia, actual teen! =) she made me laugh because the first thing

she said to me was "you're a mom right? you're a pretty cool mom

for reading that passage." haha! i had read one from zhong ye's

narrative near the beginning of Fury of the Phoenix.

*our san francisco panel was the only one that had official

sponsors! jon yang, ellen from Kearny St. Workshop, malinda lo,

betsy from San Francisco Public Library, me, gene yang and claire

from the Carl Brandon Society.

after the awesome event, we went to have dinner at LuLu's. it was

delicious and so fun to unwind and celebrate a successful panel!

*jeannie lin and i shared this fresh made gnnochi (delicious).

*and also these chicken meatballs which were so yum too.

now i'm hungry!

*and finally, the always lovely martha flynn and i pose with

her very jiggly panna cotta (i'm sorry, but it was super jiggly).

sorry my post is totally superficial and mainly fotos (per usual, ha!)

but i'm functioning on two brain cells at the moment. =) for some

great posts about the san francisco diversity stop:

awesome recap by anne nesbet at Enchanted Inkpot

sarah stevenson, author of The Latte Rebellion, also shares

a fantastic recap at Finding Wonderland

malinda lo also posts with a wrap up over at DiYA blog!

that is all for now, darling readers. i hope to do another blog

post before i leave for nyc again this saturday, but can make no

promises. zai jian for now!!

and so it begins…

after over half a year of planning, i'll finally

be leaving tonight to san francisco to start

the Diversity Tour! our signing is at SFPL tomorrow

at 3pm! for your convenience, here are all the

events and authors attending in the coming week:

San Francisco, California

Saturday, May 7 at 3 p.m.

San Francisco Public Library (Main Library)

Latino-Hispanic Room

100 Larkin St.

San Francisco, CA 94102

Highlighting Asian American YA books with authors Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, Gene Luen Yang, and J.A. Yang

Presented by the Kearny St. Workshop and the SFPL Main Teen Center. Sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, with community partners Oakland Asian Cultural Center and the Philippine American Writers Association. Books available for sale from Eastwind Books.

Austin, Texas

Monday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.

BookPeople

603 N. Lamar

Austin TX 78703

With authors Bethany Hegedus, Malinda Lo, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Cindy Pon, Dia Reeves, and Jo Whittemore, and moderated by Varian Johnson

Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday, May 10 from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.

Barbara's Bookstore

1218 South Halsted Street

Chicago, IL 60607

With authors Malinda Lo, Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, Nnedi Okorafor, and Cindy Pon

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m.

Cambridge Public Library (Main Library)

Lecture Hall

449 Broadway

Cambridge, MA 02138

With authors Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Deva Fagan, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and Francisco X. Stork, and moderated by Roger Sutton. Books available for sale from Porter Square Books.

New York, New York

Friday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center

208 West 13th Street

New York, NY 10011

Highlighting LGBT YA books with authors Cris Beam, David Levithan, Malinda Lo, and Jacqueline Woodson. Books available for sale from Mobile Libris.

Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m.

Books of Wonder

18 West 18th Street

New York, NY 10011

With authors Matt de la Peña, Malinda Lo, Kekla Magoon, Neesha Meminger, Cindy Pon, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Jacqueline Woodson, and moderated by Cheryl Klein

hope to see many of you there! i won't be blogging but

i'll be on twitter, reporting! =D

also, check out malinda's awesome vlog below on the

TOP FIVE REASONS you should come to the Diversity Tour,

including a sneak peek on the awesome novel we are

co-writing together!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1yonaMTgMs

my signing at LA Times Festival of Books…

or Why Does Los Angeles Hate Me?

so. i decided to head up to the LATFoB mainly because

i wanted to see megan. she had been shortlisted for

the LA Times book prize in young adult for A Conspiracy of Kings–

and WON! congrats, megan, so well deserved!!

so despite the fact that the diversity tour starts

the following weekend and i'd be gone for three weekends

in a row (with BEA thrown in!) i simply had to go up to say

HI to megan.

well, it wound up being a FOUR hour drive up to usc

opposed to the two it was meant to be. augh. the fact of

the matter is, i'm horrifically directionally challenged

(in fact, i flunked the map reading portion of my proficiencies

in 8th grade) and i absolutely loathe driving in los angeles.

so not only did i get lost, my gps on my iphone refused to

find a signal, but i was stuck trying to get off the exit for

a good twenty minutes.

thankfully, i wasn't late to my signing! but i was late

to megan's 12.30 panel, and instead of being able to

hang out for an hour or so and catch up and argue and

gossip about novels like we like to do–i barely got to

see her for five minutes. wah! but i'm still glad i went.

me and megan!

i'm pretty sure she was as happy to see

me as i was to see her, despite the non-smile?

haha! either that or i smelled–it was a hot day.

(i'm wearing three inch wedges therefore the tallness.)

me and ai ling! =D

one of the first groups to show was ai ling and

her best friend catrina. i knew something was up

when catrina was very literally prodding ai ling in line

and saying "tell her!" (haha, don't you love best friends?)

and ai ing confessed they read my novels because she

shared the same name as my heroine. what fun! i also

remember catrina's husband (?) showing up at my OC

signing at BN and telling me the same, when he picked

up Silver Phoenix for ai ling. *waves*

the good news is, they actually love the books too.

woohoo!

(i'm made myself shorter for this foto. =)

i didn't realize until after i was able to get a

signing through the wonderful Mysterious Galaxy that

one of my favorite editors, juliet, would be there, along

with her author stuart neville (The Ghosts of Belfast and

Collusion). we were able to have a fantastic dinner together

and an adventure navigating the three miles from usc campus

to LA Live.

stuart: do the numbered streets run east west?

me: uh what? i have no idea. i'm just the driver.

juliet: there's a reason i'm sitting in the back seat.

stuart: being that i'm not even from this country, maybe

i should stop trying to direct you.

me: so how do we get there, stuart?

haha!

in the end, stuart, the author from ireland, DID manage

to get us there. hoorah! and stuart and i were blog buddies

from back before either of us even had agents, and we

blogged very consistently about our novel writing process.

it's been probably three years now and it's amazing how much

has happened to both of us in our writing careers. it was a

pleasure to finally meet him as he's super smart and nice

and we three had great discussions and laughs. =D

his novels are crime thrillers and critically acclaimed, so definitely

check them out!

and omg, the Diversity Tour kicks off in san francisco

this saturday. i can't believe it's finally here! (and it along

with many other things i've been wrangling with has been

the reason for my blog silence.) hope to see many of you

at our sf, austin, chicago, cambridge and nyc stops!

congrats to simone in austria who won the Supernaturally

and Misfit arcs!

also, check it this awesome Fury release giveaway entry

by the lovely alison–she is always so creative. this made

me smile and laugh!

will post one more time before i hit the road,

lovely readers! wish me luck–i'm so excited!!

currently reading:

Deerskin by robin mckinley

tgifbm! Misfit and Supernaturally arcs!

i'm very very excited to be giving away these

two arcs, dear readers. i really enjoyed Misfit and

am enjoying Supernaturally now. Paranormalcy

(the first in kiersten white's series) was such a

fun read. both these novels are originals, which is what

i love most about my young adult reads. kiersten's

evie has such a strong voice, with humor, sarcasm

and wit–not easy things to write (trust me) while

jon touches on all sorts of mythos and religions in

Misfit in a new and fascinating way.

also, they both have awesome covers. win win!

Jael Thompson has never really fit in. She's changed schools too many times to count. The only family she's ever known is her father, a bitter ex-priest who never lets her date and insists she attend the strictest Catholic school in Seattle. And her mother—well, she was a five thousand year old demon. That doesn't exactly help.

But on her sixteenth birthday, her father gives her a present that brings about some unexpected changes. Some of the changes, like strange and wonderful powers and the cute skater boy with a knack for science, are awesome. But others, like the homicidal demon seeking revenge on her family? Not so much.

Steeped in mythology, this is an epic tale of a heroine who balances old world with new, science with magic, and the terrifying depths of the underworld with the ordinary halls of high school.

A lot has changed in the six months since Evie escaped from the International Paranormal Containment Agency with her shape-shifter boyfriend, Lend. She finally has the blissfully normal life she's always dreamed of, including:

1) A real live high school

2) A perfectly ordinary after-school job

3) Her very own locker (and by the way, rusted metal is every bit as awesome as she imagined)

But Evie's not-so-normal past keeps creeping up on her…and things get pretty complicated when you factor in:

1) A centuries-old, seriously decaying vampire stalker

2) A crazy faerie ex-boyfriend who is the perpetual bearer of really bad news

3) A major battle brewing between the faerie courts where the prize in question happens to be…Evie herself.

So much for normal.

…

*awesome* right?

you know the drill! tweet, fb status, blog or

LJ and link to this giveaway post. then comment

with that link! i'll choose a winner randomly on

friday, 4/22. this giveaway is open internationally!

good luck!!

Fury of the Phoenix release party!

hello lovely readers! it was a challenging and

hectic week before my release party as it was also

spring break, and i had the bubs full time. there was

also mention of thunderstorms on the day of my

signing, and i fretted over that as well.

but in the end, i couldn't have asked for more gorgeous

weather, the Extraordinary Desserts delivered on time,

and so many of my wonderful friends (many fellow writers

and brush artists) came to celebrate with me. thank you!!

i had a fantastic time signing with nancy holder. her third

novel in the Possessions trilogy, The Screaming Season, is out

as well. i really loved The Evil Within, and definitely recommend

this series for those interested in a suspenseful, scary and

twisty read.

*nancy and me before the signing! she wore a gorgeous

jade necklace and i'm debuting the betsy jonhson dress

i love. (which kate at Mysterious Galaxy had to help zip

me up in as no one was at home to do that for me, ha!)

*the spread from Extraordinary Desserts. so yummy.

bernadette is actually a local teen fan! YAY! am always

so thrilled when actual teen readers show up at events.

*waves to bernadette* =D

*keri is a local san diegan writer. she also brought lessa's

gorgeous diorama so i could display it. everyone thought it

was so cool, and it is! wish you could have made it lessa!

*had the pleasure of meeting another fan, karaline. so happy

you could make it!

all in all, it was a wonderful happy day. i celebrated with my

family after with a delicious italian meal.

currently reading:

Supernaturally by kiersten white

Wherefore Fury?

hello lovely readers!

i just wanted to let fans know that it doesn't

seem like Fury has quite made it onto barnes and

noble shelves yet. BUT you can order a copy into your

nearest bn store or definitely support your indie and

order through them too.

for international fans, the book depository will ship

Fury to most countries without a shipping fee.

also, if you'd like a signed personalized copy, please

do order from my personal favorite indie, Mysterious

Galaxy! i'll be signing there with nancy holder this saturday

and the Extraordinary Desserts have been ordered!!

in other exciting news, malinda and i were able to add

chicago as a stop for our Diversity Tour signing. we are so

so thrilled! we'll be signing on Tuesday, 5/10 at 6pm at

Barbara's Bookstore at UIC and nnedi okorafor and claudia

guadalupe martinez will be joining us.

malinda and i have been working on this tour since early fall

and it's hard to believe that it's finally happening very soon!

tonight, i 'm attending holly black (Red Glove) and cassandra

clare's (City of Fallen Angels) midnight

release signing at Mysterious Galaxy. so excited!

Fury links of interest:

i blog about why Fury should be dedicated to jay chou. 8)

i talk eunuchs and concubines over at the DiYA blog!

Fury meets Mad Men!

hip hip hooray! the day is finally finally here!

my sequel to Silver Phoenix, Fury of the Phoenix

officially releases! and to celebrate, i'm holding a

Fury release contest, Mad Men style. 8)

The Contest

you may or may not already know, but i'm a huge

Mad Men fan. it's right there as a top favorite along

with Fringe. the show is about advertising agencies

on madison avenue back in the 1960s. so what do you

need to do to win? you need to help advertise Fury of

the Phoenix in some way, whether by writing a great

pitch, putting together a story board for a commercial,

shooting a vlog or whatever to win.

you will have had to READ Fury of the Phoenix before

entering. i guess you could cheat, but i really want this

contest to be open to Fury fans! (and know i may call your arse

out if i suspect you're cheating and haven't read Fury yet! =)

examples of pitches

Fury of the Phoenix: Eunuchs Need Love Too.

(i personally find this one very amusing. haha!)

or

Fury of the Phoenix: A Love Triangle Like You've Never Seen

(it's true. intriguing, yes?)

it can be as simple as that or more involved.

you know that i do love creativity!!

The Prizes

one of my original paintings! it could be…

Surly Cat!

Oriole Among Blossoms

Baby Panda! 8)

i don't know which painting exactly as i've

a show coming up in june and one or all of these

may sell. BUT you will receive an original painting

beautifully matted in a chinese border, possibly framed.

i may give away more than one painting, depending

on number and quality of entries received!

The Swag

*every* participant who enters will receive Fury Swag!

gorgeous postcards featuring ai ling and chen yong,

zhong ye and silver phoenix. also a bookmark featuring

my bamboo painting.

you can also receive swag by tweeting, blogging

or fb status to this contest post and helping me

spread the word! just email me the link and your

mailing address for goodies.

How to Enter

you can leave any entries (if just a simple text post)

here in comments or you can email them to me.

ALL ENTRIES subject to being shared here on my blog!

be sure to include a mailing address so i can send you

swag if you want it!

this contest is open internationally (i love my international

readers!) through tuesday, may 31. good luck!!!

a letter for ursula

an amazing thing happened today.

i received a hand written note from one of

my favorite authors and idol, ursula le guin.

!!!!! i'm sorry but i can't say this without erupting

into giddy fangirl exclamations and squealing!

i decided to write her awhile ago. i'm not even

sure what prompted me to do so. random surfing

online that led me to her webpage, which i'd visited

before. when her last novel, Lavinia, released, i really

truly wanted to fly up to portland for a book signing.

but the times weren't right, and i couldn't.

i simply wanted to let her know how much her books

meant to me, and how inspiring she was to me. so i sent

her a real fan letter. imagine my amazement tonight

(i was so busy i didn't check the mail until 7.30pm!)

when i saw her handwritten note.

ursula said to "keep writing and painting and having joy

in both your arts". i got teary. i am beside myself. i'm so

happy i took the time to write a fan letter to her. and how

incredible that she took the time to write back with these

words of encouragement.

Fury of the Phoenix releases next tuesday, in exactly a

week. i've been doing some blog interviews and one is quite

often asked: what is your favorite part of being an author?

it's hearing from or meeting fans. there is a lot of

up and down being a writer, and even more loop de loops

when you become published. and nothing makes me think,

this is why i write, as when i get an email from a fan or have

the pleasure of meeting one.

a few weekends back, i participated on three panels at the

local ConDor and had a fantastic time. that friday, a twitter

friend said she was driving from utah (last minute decision!)

to come to the con on saturday.

i got to meet megan before my first panel. and it

wasn't until we talked some more that i realized she

had come to the con especially to meet me! me!!

because she had just recently read Silver Phoenix and

enjoyed it. we got to chit chat a bit and talk books and

it was so much fun. thanks for driving so far, megan, and

i'm so glad we got a chance to meet! (also thanks to

mr. x for doing the actual driving! =)

speaking of being a fan and inspired by. i was

lucky enough to be on a panel with sherwood smith.

i had met sherwood at the sirens con in october but

didn't get enough of an opportunity to chat with her.

i'm so glad i got a little more time at the con. i also bought

her newest novel, Coronets and Steel, which looks fantastic.

can't wait to read it!

so why not take the time to write a real letter or an email

to an author whose book you've really enjoyed, had struck a

chord, inspired or moved you? i think you should! 8)

and for those who will actually read teasers, the first 70

pages of Fury of the Phoenix can be read online. enjoy!!

currently reading:

Water for Elephants by sara gruen

tgifbm! Nightspell and Fury!

A stand-alone companion novel to the much-acclaimed MISTWOOD. When Darri rides into Ghostland, a country where the living walk with the dead, she has only one goal: to rescue her younger sister Callie, who was sent to Ghostland as a hostage four years ago. But Callie has changed in those four years, and now has secrets of her own. In her quest to save her sister from herself, Darri will be forced to outmaneuver a handsome ghost prince, an ancient sorcerer, and a manipulative tribal warrior (who happens to be her brother). When Darri discovers the source of the spell that has kept the dead in Ghostland chained to this earth, she faces a decision that will force her to reexamine beliefs she has never before questioned – and lead her into the heart of a conspiracy that threatens the very balance of power between the living and the dead.

…

isn't that cover wonderful?

i really enjoyed Mistwood but i loved Nightspell

even more. leah has a wonderful way of weaving

intrigue and twists in her novels so deftly. i recommend

both Mistwood and Nightspell to fans of fantasy, especially

those who enjoy kristin cashore and megan whalen turner.

and since leah is a greenwillowite, i'm doing a giveaway

of a signed Fury of the Phoenix HARDCOVER as well!

with pretty swag! before they are released on 3/29!!

also, in surreal news, newbury medal winner robin

mckinley reads both Silver Phoenix and Fury and she

likes them! i'm *still* gobsmacked!

you know the drill! tweet, fb status, LJ or blog

about this contest and link to this post. then comment

with that link! i'll choose a random winner on wednesday,

march 23!

this contest is open international!

and congrats to JESSICA on winning the giveaway

with malinda lo and nnedi okorafor. enjoy!!