NESCBWI Conference

Over the past weekend I attended the New England SCBWI (that’s Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Conference, and while I learned a lot and met many fascinating people, I’ll be honest: I was really just in it for the cake:

Classy.

I kid, of course. The cake was nice, but it was only the cherry on top of a rich, flavorful sundae of booky goodness. Sara Zarr and Kate Messner both gave wonderful keynote speeches, Harry Bliss showed us slides of his hilarious New Yorker cartoons (some of which featured Grim Reapers–Harry, let’s do lunch!) and the panels I attended were all pretty fascinating. Especially the one about book design – Carol Goldenberg showed how a picture book goes from inspiration to a finished product, and I was RIVETED. She was funny, too: “If you can have a goat eat your barcode, that’s the best.” Which will now be my motto for life.

Of course, none of the workshops got anywhere near the sheer star power of the one I was in, titled What to Expect When You’re Expecting: A Panel Discussion About Seeing Your First Book Into The World. From left: Hilary Graham, me, Diana Renn, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Gina Rosati, and AC Gaughen.

No explanation for why I look like a tagalong five-year-old.

The panel went great, we got some excellent questions, and it was fun to just be able to blab all about our experiences and what sort of things might pop up and surprise a first-time author along the way. And when it was over, I inexplicably made this face:

“I will stab you with this Sharpie, don’t think I won’t.”

So there you have it. Before I go, a small public service announcement: the YAmazing Race with MGnificent Prizes is back! That’s a weeklong blog hop featuring over 50 debut YA authors and a giant pile of prizes. When we did this back in January it was a rousing success, so be sure to stop by the Apocalypsies website starting next Wednesday, May 2 to find out how to get in on the race. And I’ll be holding an extra bonus giveaway here on the ole blog for an extra chance to win a copy of Croak. I’m not saying you’ll be shivved with a Sharpie if you don’t join in, but…okay, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

Houston Teen Book Con, Part 2

The Houston Teen Book Convention is an amazing event wherein YA authors from all over the country convene in Houston to talk, at length, to teens. About books. How awesome is that?

Early Saturday, a team of insanely helpful volunteers willingly gave up their cars, time, and hearing to drive a whole bunch of chatty, overcaffeinated authors to the conference. The first order of the day was a big intro, in which a gigantic audience that looked like this:

Gulp.

…was introduced to all of us authors, who looked like this:

I really wanted to insist on starting a kickline, but I think we were pressed for time.

Orson Scott Card then gave his keynote speech – which was great and really hammered home the idea that people should never make kids feel bad about what they like to read. This is sentiment that I absolutely love, because you know what I read when I was a teen? The Babysitter’s Club. HARDCORE. Now you can’t make me feel bad, because Orson Scott Card said so.

Then it was off to our individual panels. I was on the “What’s Death Got To Do With It?” panel with the incomparable Marlene Perez, DJ MacHale, and Holly Black.

Here’s our motley death crew, along with the fabulous student volunteers who were tasked with wrangling our wild death throes.

The panels were a blast. The kids asked smart questions, we got into some great discussions, and I think at one point I said something really dirty like, “I like to have all my characters inside me.” I think it’s safe to say I won’t be invited back.

“Question for Gina Damico: why are you so gross?”

After that we all headed to a giant signing, where I signed many things including: books, posters, mousepads, hacky sacks, and a couple of girls’ sneakers, which amused me to no end. (More amusing: the idea that anyone who sees these shoes will be like, “Who the hell is Gina Damico?”)

Overall I have to say: this event was AMAZING. Everything was organized and went smoothly, the panels were wicked fun, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about the volunteers who ran the whole thing – they were the nicest people on the planet and really made us all feel welcome and loved.

Like Alice here, whose hat should win a Nobel Prize.

And my personal favorite part of the whole thing: the kids were SO into it. None of them were forced into coming – every one of them wanted to be there, wanted to spend allll day long at a school, sitting in panels just like class, and hearing authors talk. I love that. Example: one kid came up to me at the beginning of the day and said. “I’ve already read two chapters of your book. I like it.” At the end of the day, he found me again and our conversation went like this:

Awesome Kid: “I really liked your book.”
Me, confused: “Wait, how far have you gotten?”
Awesome Kid: “I finished it.”
Me: *spit take*

And there you have it. Thanks once again to the grand poobah organizers, Lisa Stultz and Aria Tatelman, the staff at the adorable Blue Willow Bookshop, all of the amazing librarian volunteers (Texas is lucky to have you), the student volunteers, and everyone who attended. Oh, and to all of the authors I met who were just as cool as I’d imagined, and gracious enough to pretend that I belonged among their ranks.

It must be because I can jazz hand with the best of them.

***All photos courtesy of Lisa Stultz – to see more, click here.

Houston Teen Book Con, Part I

I was lucky enough (and I mean seriously lucky enough) to be invited to the Houston Teen Book Con this past weekend. As in, “Hey Gina, want to attend this unbelievably awesome event featuring a legion of teens who actually enjoy reading and a guest list of authors whom you would happily gouge out your right eye to even be in the same room as?”

And so my answer, as you can imagine, was “OMGBLWFFFFYES.”

The weekend began with a flight to Houston on the Friday before Massachsuetts kids’ spring break, so the airport pretty much looked like a war zone. I waited in line at Dunkin’ for longer than I waited at check-in and security combined. (And then they screwed up my coffee.) I boarded and sat in the very last row, sandwiched between a family of five who, thankfully, were quiet and civilized and didn’t inspire any thoughts of stabbing. (And a special shout-out to the13-year-old boy next to me who, instead of watching The Hangover 2 as the airline offered, watched Uncle Buck and Kindergarten Cop on his dad’s iPad. You’re cool, kid. We like you.)

I landed in Houston, crashed in the hotel room for a few hours, then met up with a few fellow Apocalypsies for drinks – Marissa Meyer (author of Cinder), Jessica Spotswood (author of Born Wicked), and Robin Mellom (author of Ditched) – all of whom I’ve met online but never in person, and I’m happy to report they are even lovelier in 3D than they are in 2D. More authors came and chilled with us, and then it was time to head to the author reception.

This was held at Blue Willow Bookshop, a positively delightful nook for books in Houston where authors are invited to sign their names on the wall  – which I did, using a ladder, because I’m two feet tall. I met tons of legendary authors, doing my very best not to faint or explode into a fangirly mess or accidentally kidnap anyone or cut off a lock of anyone’s hair so that I may sniff it creepily later that night. (To reiterate – I didn’t do any of these. This time.)

Authors!

And then oh holy hell, I got to chat with Maggie Stiefvater, somehow assembling a collection of sentence-like things that resulted in either a muddy declaration of how much I loved Scorpio Races, or a murder confession. I’m not sure; I was barely conscious at the time, due to all of the basking in adoration. I reminded her that I was the freak who sent her the photo of the dismembered kelpie, um, member, and to her credit, she did not pretend to suddenly remember she had a dentist appointment to slip away to. And then this happened, and now I can die happy:

Jazz hands alone cannot convey the explodeyness of my soul.

That’s volunteer librarian Karen Paulus with us, and I have to say that ALL of the volunteer librarians were so amazing, I wanted to take every one of them home with me – but sadly, only three fit in my luggage. The bookstore staff was amazing as well – big shoutouts to Cathy and Valerie, who are just badass.  And good lord, the authors – Lisa McMann, Holly Black, Holly BLack, Jesse Andrews, Tara Hudson, Megan Crewe, Inara Scott, Ruta Sepetys, and a gagillion more – all of whom only further proved to me that authors are COOL. And NICE. And also, the reception had these chocolate cookies that were TRANSCENDENTAL. And now I’ve gushed about everything for so long, it looks like I’m going to have to split this into two posts.  So stay tuned for Part 2 – the actual Houston Teen Book Con!

Also, if you’ve read down this far, I’m doing a talk and signing tonight at 7:00 at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington, MA, which is just north of Boston. Be there or be rhombus!

**All photos courtesy of Lisa Stultz. To see more photos of the reception, click here.

Uh oh, I went out in public.

Okay, so the blog has become a bit of a tumbleweed zone, I know. This is because I’ve been traveling around for the past couple of weeks, meeting new people, talking about Book Things, and making a goodly amount of weird faces while I did so.

For example: I was invited to participate in the New York Teen Author Festival in New York City. Which, in addition to being a really fun event (all organized by David Levithan, the Pied Piper of YA Novelry), was also a fabulous excuse for me to be able to grab lunches with CaptainAwesomeAgent Tina and SheiffSuperEditor Julie. OH, and I spotted a former Real World cast member at a Barnes and Noble! (And by the way, I’m really disappointed in all of my friends and loved ones for not even knowing or caring about this factoid. I refuse to believe that I was the only teenager on earth in the nineties who watched The Real World. I REFUSE.)

Anyway. I was also lucky enough to be selected for a panel called Death, Murder, and the YA Novel. (Or, as I preferred to call it, The Death Panel.) Here is a photo featuring: Barry Lyga, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, me, Kim Harrington, and moderator Marie Rutkoski:

I am listening to Barry Lyga, but I’m also secretly trying to figure out what I can say that won’t make me sound like a moron. Was I successful? Meh.

There was also a bigass book signing that Sunday at Books of Wonder. And before that, I had a lovely brunch with a bunch of other Apocalypsies, but I cannot prove this, as I do not have a picture. But someone took a picture, didn’t they? I remember smiling! Goofily!

The weekend after that, I visited my hometown of Syracuse, New York. I’ve already mentioned my jaunty appearance on the local morning news show Bridge Street, but in addition to that I did a signing at the Dewitt Barnes & Noble. And hot damn, that was fun. The staff was warm and welcoming, the event was publicized in every corner of the store (I didn’t check the bathrooms, but I’m sure there were giant posters of my head floating above the toilets), and the displays were just delightful:

Don’t look directly at them; their shininess will blind you.

And then I got up and talked for a bit. I’m told I did well, except for the fact that I kept hitting my own mouth with the microphone, because I am Deficient.

“And now for the ceremonial burning of the books. Step right up to the fancy fireplace, folks, that’s what it’s there for!”

People actually got in line and wanted me to sign their books:

I smiled and tried to act like a human:

And then my sister usurped my signing seat.

She was later hanged in the town square.

All in all, an exciting couple of weeks! And the fun still hasn’t ended – tomorrow I’m off to Houston for the Teen Book Convention! I’ve gushed elsewhere about the authors that will be in attendance (Maggie friggin Stiefvater!), but let me just reiterate: I am so excited. I’ll be on yet another death panel (heh), this one titled What’s Death Got To Do With It? with Holly Black, DJ MacHale, and Marlene Perez. Anyone want to take bets on how many times I’ll hit myself in the face with the microphone? I’ll say eleven!

We’ve Got an Emmy Winner Here, Folks

I was on TV last week. More specifically, I was on a local morning talk show called “Bridge Street”, which is basically Syracuse’s very own version of the Today show. My mouth was dry and I talked with my hands a lot, but as my sister said, “At least you didn’t embarrass the family.”

For some reason I can’t get the video to embed, but here’s the link. Enjoy.

YA Scavenger Hunt winners

*Drum roll*

The winner of a signed copy of Croak is…
Kaitlin Snider!

And the winners of a scythe pendant each are:
Dana C.
Christina
Samantha N.
Marissa
Danielle G.

All of whom should have already received an email from me. Thanks to all of you who participated in the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Also, if you’ll recall, I did a little survey regarding our favorite little felty friends. The most popular Muppets by far were Kermit and Miss Piggy, followed by Beaker, Animal, and Elmo, plus a little love for Oscar, Bert and Ernie, and the muppet Angel from Buffy. Yep. That.

March Sharky Awards

In my ever-evolving quest to recognize the books that I read and enjoy (but without writing reviews (because I am terrible at that)), I give out awards that highlight some of my favorite things about the books I’ve read over the past month. (Except a couple of days late this time, due to the YA Scavenger Hunt over the weekend.) And since my bookmark is a shark – a bookshark, if you will – I call them the Sharkys. And because March was the release month of Croak, here is a shark being ridden by a top-hatted Captain America holding a scythe. Naturally.

I don’t know what’s going on here, but I fully support it.

On to the awards!
* denotes fellow Apocalypsies

Best Sidekick:
Zorro the raccoon, from Above World by Jenn Reese*
I would like to know when the Zorro line of critter gadgets goes on sale at the Apple store, because I want a pack of twelve. Not only is he furry and adorable, but he plugs in to various technology and can turn it on and do stuff to it! He’s basically the best pet ever, unlike my cat, who is not compatible with any gizmos and who instead just knocked over a plant. GOD.

The A Beautiful Mind Award for Making Me Want To Construct A Giant Corkboard To Keep Track Of The Clues and Suspects:
Slide, by Jill Hathaway*
See, I was in a murder mystery theater group in college, so I really, really wanted to solve this thing. So I came up with several fairly logical conjectures. Then an equal amount of wild, brain-damaged guesses. I started cooking up all kinds of conspiracy theories. I started to think that EVERY single character was a suspect. And even then, I only figured it out mere pages before the big reveal. Damn you Jill and your well-plotted web of lies!

Best Vacation:
Clarity, Kim Harrington
I went on a family vacation to Cape Cod once. (My mother gave it the seal of approval because it had mini golf, as she does not consider a location a viable travel option unless it has mini golf.) It was lovely. And this book brought it all right back – the food, the sights, the beach, the psychic families and the serial killers they hunt – wait, no. That was a welcome new addition, and it will probably soon be turned into a mini golf theme. Pirates can’t have all the fun, am I right?

Best Line:
Ditched, by Robin Mellom*
It’s hard – nay, impossible – to pick one favorite line out of this book, because the whole darn thing was hilarious. I started keeping track of the best ones and then gave up because it was a lost cause and I ended up guffawing on every page. That’s right. Guffawing. But oh man, something about this one really tickled me:

[in describing Gilda, the woman who works at 7-11]
She looks like she belongs in a music video for the country song playing over the speakers. Like she’d play the part of the consoling wise aunt who doles out good obvious advice: Stop drinkin’ and smokin’ and gettin’ so many abortions, honey!

Sage words.

Best Argument For A Cashless Society:
Fair Coin, by E.C. Myers*
Listen, if credit cards were the only method of payment in our world, we wouldn’t have cash. If we didn’t have cash, we couldn’t have spare change. And if we didn’t have spare change, there’s no way I could one day mistakenly accept a DEMON COIN into my life to take me on a rollercoaster ride of an adventure and screw up everything I ever held dear. But then again, in this proposed parallel universe of mine, this fun book wouldn’t exist. And that would be a bad thing.

Best Accidental Commercial For How Awesome The Future Will Be:
Starters, by Lissa Price*
According to this book, there are a lot of cool things awaiting us in the future – hologram movies, clothing that changes colors, something called air yogurt. But the scariest, of course, is the fact that the elderly will be able to take over the bodies of the young without consent. And that’s all well and horrifying, true…but guys, in the future, we’re going to be the old folks. Who cares about those whiny future kids? I personally can’t wait to take over the bodies of strapping young teenagers so that I may daub my bingo cards with vim and vigor.

Best Revisionist History:
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, by Barry Lyga
The main character in this book is kind of a jerk, but he’s a smart jerk, so when his history teacher asks him for the single cause of the Great Depression he tells her it was because of the Great Ecuadorian Tortoise Blight of 1928. And she believes him. And actually, I kind of wish it really were the cause of the Great Depression. Although, then that would mean lots of dead tortoises. Which is even more depressing.