Laura Wiess's Blog, page 4

See You There

So, how is your summer going so far?

Any good plans, or just hanging out?

If you're in the Tunkhannock or Wilkes-Barre area on Saturday, June 25th, why not stop in and say hi? I'll be at the Tunkhannock Founder's Day Festival on Saturday from 10 - noon, signing books and enjoying meeting everyone, and then I head over to the Barnes & Noble at Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre from 2 - 4 to sign Ordinary Beauty, and of course my other books. Plus, you can help support WVIA with every purchase. Head over to their site, print off the coupon and bring it with you. Always for a good cause.

I had a great time talking with two journalists recently: Stephanie DeBalko with the PA Weekender, and Chris Zawistowski of The East Brunswick Sentinel, and here are the interviews:

http://www.theweekender.com/books/Beguiling__rsquo_Beauty_rsquo__06-21-2011.html

and

http://ebs.gmnews.com/news/2011-06-23/Front_Page/Milltown_native_proves_shes_no_ordinary_author.html

I also spent some time yesterday with some wonderful friends and readers over at the Wyalusing Library, talking books and all sorts of things, and will be giving an author presentation at the Bradford County LIbrary on Tuesday, June 28th, from 7 - 9 pm. My books will be available for signing afterward, and I look forward to seeing everyone there!

And in the meantime, what's up with this crazy humidity?

What a Great Day

This Sunday the 12th was the Exton, PA Ordinary Beauty release and the Chester County SPCA Gala Forget-Me-Not Fundraiser, and oh, what fun!



Met some really nice people, signed books and then had to run to get ready for the CCSPCA event. I was scheduled to speak there, so I was going over what I wanted to say, trying to figure out if it was compelling enough or too long. Happily, it turned out fine.

The event was held at a gorgeous, historical property and we got there early to set up our table:


(The bandstand where I'm speaking from is waaaaay up front.



Fabulous food from some wonderful restaurants and bakeries. (All listed over on the ccspca.org site.) Notice the SPCA and the animals dancing around the edges?

 Ice sculpture. Gorgeous



The view from my table, which I loved. (Think dogs on both sides of me.




We were located between the U.S. Customs Agents and their cute little beagle, who were going to do a demonstration, and two gorgeous Search and Rescue German shepherds and their handlers, who were also going to do a demonstration. When i heard that S&R would need a volunteer to go get lost so they dogs could find them, I immediately volunteered to do it.
 


Oh yes. Love dogs.




They had adoptable dogs and cats there too, like this sweet, beautiful little Italian Greyhound named Izzy. I fell in love with her. She looks like a delicate little gray fawn. And those big, brown eyes. Melting. 






The carriage parade. Lovely.



The band, Younger Than Charlie, was very kind in helping me set up.



I wish I could remember why we're clapping.



The fabulous Rich Britton, Spokesman Extraordinaire for the CCSPCA and former Philly newsman, gave me a stellar intro and off I went! I'm so glad people were listening:



Rich and  after I got off the stage. Whew! Made it.



And then I got to go get lost for the S&R dogs, except that they didn't want to make me go into the woods in pantyhose and heels (even though I would have, without hesitation) so they sent me off to a recycling bin.



Ha, still running. In heels, across a pasture. God, I love my life!



And then, all too quickly, I'm found, darn it. Should have brought flats.



It was a wonderful event for an even better cause, and I'm so happy that I was invited to attend.

And this Saturday, at Borders in the Lycoming Mall in Muncy, PA, I'll be signing Ordinary Beauty.

Some new reviews:

http://www.sarahreadstoomuch.com/2011/06/ordinary-beauty-by-laura-wiess.html

http://actinupwithbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/ordinary-beauty-by-laura-wiess.html

http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot.com/2011/06/86-ordinary-beauty-by-laura-wiess.html

And I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful family on Ordinary Beauty Release Day!

Good Day, Sunshine

WOW.

What a day.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned -- only a thousand times --  that my new book Ordinary Beauty debuts on June 14th and as the release date approaches, these days are getting more and more exciting.

Today I did a couple of fun blog interviews and dicovered the most amazing 5 star Ordinary Beauty review here, at Bewitched Bookworms.  This line knocked me out: "This book read like a Smashing Pumpkins ballad with a Nine Inch Nails chorus and an Everclear encore. It sucks the reader in with its unforgettable characters, remarkable eye to detail, and original plot."

You bet I'll take that.

This morning I did an Ordinary Beauty radio interview with the charming and talented Lisa Mazzarella of WVIA and if I can, I'll post when it airs.

And this interview was in The Daily Local newspaper this week, serving Chester County, PA:  http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/06/06/news/srv0000011945236.txt 

The first Ordinary Beauty book signing is coming up this weekend -- an early release! -- so if you're in the area on Sunday, June 12th between 12:30 - 2 pm, why not stop down at the Barnes & Noble in Exton, PA (more details on the Events/Media page of my website) and say hi.

Later that day from 5 - 8 in the evening, I'll be speaking at the Chester County SPCA's Gala Forget-Me-Not Fundraiser and Ordinary Beauty will be available there, too.

This day has been crazy good, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

In Your Neighborhood

Eleven days left till Ordinary Beauty is released, and nine days until the early release book signing at B&N in Exton, Pa on Sunday, June 12th from 12:30 -- 2 pm, and then I head over to the Chester County SPCA Gala Forget-Me-Not Fundraiser, which promises to be a blast, and for a good cause. (More info at http://www.ccspca.org) So if you're in the Philly area on the 12th, stop by the Exton BN or if you want to do a really good deed, get yourself a ticket to this fabulous CCSPCA fundraiser and let's have a picture taken together!

Here's some fun info on it: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/chester_county/123097591.html and I hope to see you there!

And because I'm feeling sentimental, this is a picture of G, the wonderful cat who was abandoned twice (I will never understand that) before we found each other when I first moved to Pennsylvania. He's funny and sassy and opinionated, and has been the best Welcome Wagon I could have ever asked for.



Beautiful boy. And I'm a lucky girl.

Coming Soon

I hope everyone had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Respect and heartfelt thanks go out to those who gave all, including dear ones I'm grateful I had the chance to know, and love.

My family came up on Sunday and it was the best day ever. We're loud and we all talk at once, and laugh and joke and help each other. They are definitely my heart, and I always miss them horribly when they go.

I've been busy writing and doing interviews for Ordinary Beauty's release which, I can't believe, is finally coming on June 14th! This is a crazy time and we're still setting up some book signing dates, but excitingly enough, someone sent me this today, taken at the Wilkes-Barre, PA Barnes& Noble:



Excellent! But before this event, there's the signing at the B&N in Exton, PA outside of Philly at 12:30 on June 12th, immediately followed by the Chester County SPCA Forget-Me-Not Gala fundraiser. The CCSPCA survives on donations, and the dedicated staff and volunteers work hard to rescue and rehome the wonderful cats and dogs they have for adoption. I'm very honored to have been invited to attend, and to sign books. It's my favorite worthy cause!

Lovely Day

Okay, so there are some new website photos.

I had to change them. I couldn't stand looking at snow for one more moment. Everything is finally green now, a color so rich and full of potential that if the ground wasn't so soggy from all of this rain, I would have been laying in the lush grass, soaking up some sun and hoping no ticks were crawling on me.

I love spring, and this year, with Ordinary Beauty being released in less than a month (June 14th), I am beside myself with delight.

A deep curtsy goes out to O'Dell at Book Twirps for reviewing Ordinary Beauty. Here's an excerpt of the review:

"Every once in a while a book comes along that hits me so hard it leaves me breathless. Laure Wiess' Ordinary Beauty is exactly that type of book. This book is extremely well-crafted, honest and gut-wrenching. I couldn't put it down, and it is one that I will more than likely pick up again. While heartbreaking and gritty, it is also a beautiful story of hope and forgiveness."

Today, I am smiling. How about you?

Hearts Wide Open

Want to see something totally exciting and absolutely gorgeous?

Here it is: http://www.ccspca.org/index.php/download_file/view/185/

I am so happy to be a part of the Chester County SPCA's 24th Annual Forget-Me-Not Gala fundraiser.

I've lived with cats and dogs my whole life, and can't imagine coming home to a house where no heart beats but mine. Shelter cats and dogs are waiting for love, for a home. 

One by one. We can make a difference.  

In Good Company

Yesterday was the Millbrook, NY Book Festival and what a great day.

I was scheduled to be on a panel discussing YA books at 3:30 but we headed out early and made it to the Author's tent for book signings by about 9:30.

Once there, we met up with Scott from Merritt Books who gave me the most wonderful surprise, ever: he'd obtained copies of Ordinary Beauty a month before the official release date, for me to sign! Talk about a thrill.


I had a great time meeting some very talented authors including my tablemate Jennifer Donnelly (just finished Revolution and loved it!), Tim Tocher, Joseph Bruchac and Sarah Smith, and later in the day we sat on the YA panel, where my enthusiasm got the better of me and I ended up revealing the climax to How It Ends, instead of teasing othe audience with clues but no pay-off. Sigh. Someday I will learn how to rein myself in. (Probably not, though.)



One of the coolest things about being there was the dogs. There were people with dogs everywhere, and I got to meet a gorgeous pack of beagles, a very large,old dog, and at least eight Jack Russells. Made my day, as did this lovely interview with John Davis of the Poughkeepsie Journal:

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20110514/NEWS01/105140340/Authors-share-words-wisdom-Millbrook-Book-Festival?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CPoughkeepsieJournal.com%7Cs 

So thank you, Millbrook, for hosting me. A deep curtsy goes out to Alexas and Tim and Scott for a wonderful event!

Book Fest

May is always a happy time for me -- my favorite season, my birthday month -- and this year, since my new book Ordinary Beauty comes out on June 14h, May, June and July are going to be busy months for me.

This Saturday, May 14th, we'll be up at the Millbrook Book Festival  in Millbrook, NY. I'll be there signing books and saying hi, and then at 3:30 I'm sitting on a young adult panel ready to answer your questions. And then afterward, more book signing! There are some stellar authors scheduled to be there, so come on out and enjoy.

See you soon!

Not Just Any Cat

Today has been a very sad day, and the only way to explain why is to tell you a story.

Before I left New Jersey, I lived in a house backed by woods near the NJ Turnpike and one afternoon while I was out in the garden, I noticed a little white and brown tabby face with big, scared eyes staring out at me from beneath a nearby rhododendron. It was a young, really thin cat, too frightened to come to me, so moving slowly, I stood up, went inside and got a dish of cat food. Went back out, put it down and walked a distance away.

The cat crept out from under the bush, and it was holding one back leg high, and kind of bunny-hopping to the plate, ravenous. I could see an open wound on his outer thigh, and how skinny he was, so I put food out again and again, and each time he would creep out to eat it. After a couple of days I could sit closer while he ate, talking in my nice voice but not trying to touch him, and he would stay a while after he was finished.

He had a funny face, this little cat, sort of long and rectangular, and a deep, penetrating gaze like he was listening to what I said, and could actually understand it. (The first time my sister met him, and talked to him, he listened so intently and stared so deeply into her eyes that she laughed, amazed, and said, "Who ARE you?" because he wasn't like any other cat we'd ever met.)

I gained his trust, and he let me pet him. I picked him up, put him in a carrier and took him to the vet. Had him treated, tested, neutered, given his shots and named him Bunny.



There was never any doubt that he would stay.



Bunny had a great sense of humor, and a kind heart. When Dexter, (an abandoned cat who showed up at my door in PA), joined the family, Bunny was the first to make friends with him and the two became lifelong best buddies, always hanging out, playing and sleeping together.
.


Although Bunny was a wiseacre, a lover and a sweetheart, he was never a completely healthy cat, and saw a multitude of vets. He still limped on occasion and suffered from stomatitus, which caused him a painful reaction to his own teeth. He would stop eating from the pain, go on antibiotics and I would syringe feed him until he felt good enough to eat on his own again. And then he would be bright and happy and back to his old, fun-loving ways.



He had several bouts in the last year, went to the vet and came through them all right but now I know that they were beginning to taking a toll on him.
.


Recently, he went off his feed again, and so we began the medicine and syringe feeding, mixing up rich, tempting concoctions and feeding him 8, 10, 12 times a day. It worked -- he started eating again on his own, and then he didn't, and then he did again. Hope rose and fell these past weeks, over and over, because this was Bunny and he always made it through, he always tried hard and matched our efforts, he was game as anything and we could make him healthy again if we tried hard enough. We would. We could.

We couldn't.

Today, Bunny went to the vet for the last time, weak and fragile and in the end stage of kidney failure. He fought a valiant fight, over and over again, this little cat who came from somewhere, and gazed so deeply and trustingly into my eyes.
.


He was a stray, semi-feral, lost and scared, and then he was found, and much beloved.
He was not just any cat, he was Bunny Wiess, and he was mine.
.


Go chase butterflies, Bunny. It's spring, and there's no limping over the bridge.