Black Friday Big Nate Contest!

I had a festive afternoon yesterday. I signed books at the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance's annual Holiday signing at the Portland Public Library.  My daughter, Julia, came with me. She went shopping downtown while I signed, and then we went to supper together and saw the tail end of the city tree lighting ceremony.  It was a beautiful way to kick off the holiday season.

It was the Portland Public Library's Open House. The next three photos are from their Facebook album of the event. It's a gorgeous library.

    

At the signing, I met some wonderful kids, including Gabriel and his dad from Waterville (whose school I'm visiting on Friday!), a teacher from Cumberland who told me how much her students love RULES and who snatched up TOUCH BLUE without even asking me what it was about. . .and several kids who told me they read RULES "ages ago" or "when I was little."  :-) 

Oh man, nothing like feeling old!  Though I must admit, the double-take that I see kids make when they see RULES' cover gives me a warm feeling inside. "I read that book!" I hear many times.  My state booksellers, teachers, and librarians have been very supportive of my books, and I am so grateful for that. 



I also saw some author friends and met some authors I hadn't met before, including New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Lincoln Peirce who is the creator of the wildly popular "Big Nate" series.

I signed a copy of Touch Blue for his daughter--so I met his family first!  Then during a lull, I went over and sat next to him to say hello.  Lincoln is such a nice person. He'd just come off a three-week tour, which sounded grueling to me (and I do a lot of travel!).  We had a great chat, and I bought two of his books for a contest on here.



Big Nate will certainly appeal to the legions of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" fans out there.  It has the same great mix of funny text and comic-inspired art. Nate is flawed and lovable and strikes a chord with anyone who remembers the frustrations and joys of being a kid.  

And not only did Lincoln sign them--look what he drew in each book. WOW!

 

To enter, all you have to do is tell me something funny one of your teachers used to say or do.  I remember Mr. Willard used to throw chalkboard erasers at us when someone said something dumb. 
I will randomly draw a name from the entries on Monday at noon (EST), and the winner will receive both books!