Momentous Occasion

This week marks one of the most important anniversaries in American history, nay, in world history, nay again, in the history of our solar system. Of course I refer to the six month anniversary of the release of my debut novel, The Scar Boys.

What, you thought I was going to say the moon landing? Really? Okay, I’m kidding. The 45th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon IS the momentous occasion you should be celebrating. You should watch Apollo 13 (I did last night), you should go outside and look at the moon (preferably with a telescope), and you should eat moon pies (whatever the hell moon pies are). But don’t look to this blog for information on that momentous event; I was all of four years old when it happened. A quick Google Search on "Moon Landing", "Apollo 11," "Armstrong," or "Buzz," will tell you what you want to know. (I find it vexing that Buzzfeed now trumps Buzz Aldrin in search resutls. Ugh.).

While I’m not qualified to wax (or wane — a moon joke, get it?) on the Sea of Tranquility, I can talk all night about The Scar Boys. Fear not, I won’t. But six months (January 21 to July 21) is an interesting enough milestone to warrant a few words.

The lifecycle of a book is a weird thing. I spent the three months post-release visiting bookstores and high schools in support of The Scar Boys, and I loved every second of it. Now, the work of promoting the book is shifting to the festival-conference circuit. (I didn’t know such a circuit existed until recently, but it does.) I’m lucky enough to have received invitations to participate in no fewer than six festivals and cons this fall, and was foolish enough (I still have a day job and a family) to accept them all.

View from the stage at Houston TeenCon

I participated in one con this past spring, the Houston Teen Con, and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Not only did I spend the day with 1500 enthusiastic teen readers — that’s right America, 1500 teens gave up a beautiful Saturday afternoon to come hear a bunch of authors talk about books! — but I got to meet and socialize with other people dumb corageous silly enough to want to make a career writing teen novels. Seriously, it was my first experience as an active participant in the community of writers, and it was a highlight of my year.

Now I get to do it all over again, six times, this fall. The first two events — actually at the end of the summer — are right around the corner:

First up is the Decatur Book Festival. The part of the event aimed at kids is run by Diane Capriola, the wonderful owner of Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta). On Friday, August 29, the festival is sending the talented, funny, and sometimes incendieary Laurn Myracle and I on school visits. The following day Lauren and I are joined by Terra Elan McVoy for a panel discussion titled "Just Do It" (I hope we don’t have to sell sneakers or anything like that), and later that same day, I get to moderate a panel titled "Guys and Girls Like Us," featuring Geoff Herbach, Ellen Hopkins, Jandy Nelson, and Andrew Smith. Are you shitting me? I mean how cool is that?

One week and a couple of hundred miles later, I head to Winston-Salem for the Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors. (I love Wintson-Salem if for no other reason than it has a hyphenated name. It was like Winston and Salem got married and decided to combine names rather than simply take the name of the husband. Well done, W-S, well done.) The Assistant Director of the festival is one Jamie Rogers.

During my twenty year tenure at the American Booksellers Association, the trade group representing the interests of independently owned bookstores, I had the honor and pleasure of working with Jamie. I know her well enough to tell you that anything she touches turns to gold, including this event. The lineup is incredible. For my part, I’m on a bullying panel with Meg Medina (we are not bullying each other or the audience, but rather, talking about how our books and characters address bullying), I’m doing my own presentation, and I’m participating in a panel on the future of the book. Wow!

Between Decatur and Winston-Salem, I cannot think of a better way to end the summer, and to enter the second phase in the life of The Scar Boys. (Phase three comes in February with the release of the paperback, and phase four several months later with the sequel, Scar Girl.)

In the meantime, I will tear my eyes away from the moon long enough to wish Harry, Johnny, Cheyenne, and Richie — The Scar Boys — a happy anniversary. Like all six month olds, they allow me little sleep, they are always hungry to be fed, and they are full of promise. Thanks to everyone who has made the first half a year the incredible ride it has been.