I'm back in the Atlanta airport, waiting, this time, for the plane that will take me to Lima, Peru. No, this is not part of the book tour. I am going to Lima to speak at an American School there, the same way that I went to Warsaw, Poland in 2007.

Many people have written to ask if I'll be going to Machu Picchu. Sadly, the answer is no. I get altitude sickness easily and I have wicked asthma - the combination of the two makes it unsafe for me to travel to altitude alone. But I hope I can come back with the Beloved Husband one day. He will take many photos of me wheezing or passed out amongst breath-taking scenery.

I am under strict orders from BH to avoid wheatgrass, btw. He would be happiest if I abstained from all adventurous eating on this trip. Not sure I'll be able to comply fully (I'm going to PERU, for crying out loud. Must try new food!!!) But no wheatgrass. Never, ever, ever, ever again. And no llama beans, thunderchiken. No, thank you.

This weekend I will be absorbing a tiny bit of Lima courtesy of the peripatetic Hoiseth family. Monday - Friday I'll be giving presentations about my books and writing workshops at the Colegio F. D. Roosevelt. Late Friday night I start the long journey home. I would have loved to schedule some vacation time, but the next week I head to California for the LA Book Festival, and shortly after that is the International Reading Association Conference in MN.

At this point, being able to wake up in my own bed for a week running will feel like a vacation.

I am not sure if I'll be able to blog or tweet from Peru. So I will post a bunch of links right now to keep you busy while I'm gone:

1. Publisher's Weekly has a nice article (with photos!) about how I used Twitter on the book tour. Hello new media! You can read my Twitter stream here, if you want.

2. The YAthenaeum has posted a terrific recap of the poetry slam, Time Warp, and my time at Books & Books, complete with video. Booksellers - if you're looking for a model of how to run a teen book club, here it is.

3.

Watch my Q & A session from my book tour stop at Kepler's in Menlo Park, CA. Really there was a BUNCH of people there, but no one wanted to sit up front. They had no doubt heard out my tendency to foam at the mouth and spit (unintentionally, of course) when I get on a rant.

And spitting brings us, at llong llast, to llamas. I have been assured that I won't see any llamas in LLima, but I might get llucky. I am llonging for a llama encounter. I am playing with all kinds of multi-llingual puns along of the lines of "Como se llama, llama?"

(If you were walking with your dog and you saw a llama who resembled Perry Como, you might ask your dog, "Perro, como se llama llama?" And then, if LLorenzo LLamas joined you....)

I definitely need to get more sleep.

I'll be back here sooner, hopefully than llater.

I'm about halfway packed for Peru and halfway caught up on business stuff, so I think I deserve a little break to fill you in on the second half of the WINTERGIRLS tour.


This sums it up nicely. (One of the lovely things given to me by a reader while I was on the road.)

The last time I posted anything of significance, I was in Salt Lake City. From there, I went to Phoenix, then Houston, then Austin, then Oxford, MS, one of my favorite little towns in the South. Paid homage to Mr. Faulkner by visiting his house and

his grave.

There was one minor hitch in Oxford. I drank wheatgrass juice. Why? Because everyone said how healthy and wonderful it was. (Can you hear my grandmothers asking me if I'd go over Niagara Falls in a barrel if everyone said how healthy and wonderful it was?)

Wheatgrass is healthy for some. Cows for example. And goats. Maybe pigs.

Not me.

I am deathly allergic to mold. The mold that grows on wheatgrass (not visible, btw) does not hurt cows, goats, pigs or most people. It made me into one very sick author. Combine 48 hours of food poisoning with a severe asthmatic reaction and you'll get the picture. It wasn't pretty.

But the worst of it occurred in the airport and hotel room, and I was able to (ahem) gut out all of my events and interviews. Two days later, I was perfectly fine. I bet William Faulkner and my grandmothers had a big old laugh.

After MS came St. Louis, and after St. Louis, several days of speaking at a conference, schools, bookstores

and going on television. "Good Morning, Atlanta" to be precise. With massive amounts of make-up on. The woman who interviewed me couldn't remember how to pronounce my name and became so flustered I felt really bad for her, which was good because I totally forgot to be nervous.

A great tee-shirt spotted at the conference. The phrase originated in a conversation I had with Gail Giles at an ALA cocktail party one year. Librarians are always listening, don't you know.

While in Atlanta, I spoke at the Georgia Center of the Book and got to see my friend Terra Elan McVoy whose new awesome book, PURE, was published this week. You should buy it right now.

A bunch of bloggers came out to my Alpharetta signing. Not surprisingly, they blogged about it!

After Atlanta came South Florida, including a memorable stop at Books & Books In Coral Gables, where I got to finally meet the YAthenaeum girls, who all came dressed in the their winter(girls) whites and were patient with me as we tried to do the Time Warp. In addition to our dancing, the store hosted a wonderful poetry slam with area teens!

In Raleigh, North Carolina, I did not get to see David Macinnis Gill, because he is a really good dad and needed to be at one of his kids' tournaments. His book, Soul Enchilada, came out this week, too. Please go buy that one ASAP and thank me when your ribs are aching from laughing.

However, I did get to meet the Eva Perry Mock Printz Book Club!!!! I LOVE these kids! I want to adopt them all. They won the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, so I'm hoping I'll get to hang out with them in Chicago at ALA this summer.

The crowd in NC was HUGE - the perfect way to cap off a spectacular tour. And then I got to fly home, where it was snowing sideways, but it didn't matter because my BH was waiting for me.

Thank you, thank you to everyone who came out to see me!! And everyone who has purchased WINTERGIRLS - I got word today that the book made the New York Times Bestseller List for the third week in a row.

Now I just have to figure out what to wear in Peru.....

I am home for a few days and not drowning in the backlog of mail, thanks to the gloriousness that is Queen Louise. Plus, she'll totally organized the office in my absence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Yes. I would take a bullet for La Queen.)

The, erm, somewhat frantic news is that I have to repack my suitcase because I leave again THIS FRIDAY, at 6am, for LIMA PERU.

Right.

Another country. Another continent.

Right. I should have my head examined. I think Queen Louise is organizing that.

So I am in triage mode, trying to make sure that the things which Absolutely Must Be Done get done by Thursday night. And there are a couple more interviews I have scheduled, not to mention an itty-bitty basketball game tonight.

(Which, btw, I can't lose. IF UNC wins, I'll be happy for Sarah Dessen and cheer on her boys. I already lost our bet, so what's another loss? If Michigan wins, I'll be even happier.)

If all the critical things can get done, I'll post a tour recap to the blog, and a couple of fun pictures. This was hands-down the most fun and the busiest tour I've ever had. Thanks a million to all who made it such an adventure!!!

And thanks to all for buying WINTERGIRLS - it has been on the New York Times Bestseller List for two weeks in a row!!!! W00T!!!!!!

HAPPY BLUR.

That's what the first week of the WINTERGIRLS tour has been. I apologize for not being more faithful with my blog posts, but seriously, the last part of the week was in hyperdrive, and everyone knows that the laws of physics prohibit blog postings while in hyperdrive.

I am in Austin, TX right now eagerly anticipating tonight's event at BookPeople at 7PM.

In the little bit of time I have, let's see if I can summarize the last few days of craziness.

San Francisco Day #2 was highlighted by time with Rakestraw Books, which - in total defiance of the state of the economy - is moving next week to a new store that is 50% larger!

Also, at my Vroman's event, I saw my first fangrrl poster, from the Casa Grande High School Book Club. Quite lovely! I had cilantro coleslaw for dinner at an Armenian restaurant and am now consumed with the need to find a good recipe for it. Do you know how to make it?

Seattle Day was filled with students, stock signings, and a terrific event at the library, hosted by Secret Garden Books. Every chair was filled, many with teachers and friends, like the Readergirlz Divas who managed a quick video Q&A with me. Thank you, everyone, who came out (especially you, Olive)!!

After Seattle, things got a little nutty. I woke the next morning at 3:30am so I could make my flight to Phoenix. Had awesome school events in Phoenix and ate lunch with another group of librarians. We ate OUTSIDE because the sun was shining and birds were singing. There was no snow. I think it was 85 degrees. The strange weather gave me the creeps, but the librarians were super nice and the food was yummy - prepared and served by the school's culinary arts students.

My evening event was on a very tight schedule because of my need to get to the airplane on time. Unfortunately, there was some confusion about the time the event was due to start. Plenty of people turned out to hear me speak at 6pm, but another crowd turned up at 7, when I was scheduled to leave. I apologize again to anyone who got the wrong event info. And thank you to all who came out, including...

my friend (Professor) Jim Blasingame, who showed up on his gorgeous motorcycle. I was so bummed that I wasn't spending the night in Phoenix, because I really wanted a ride on the bike. (Jim and I and a couple of other bookish people are thinking about a serious motorcycle ride... probably in 2012, after I get my Harley.) My author nanny took me firmly in tow and delivered me to the airport, and yes, that was the night I ran through the terminal in my stocking feet so I didn't miss the plane.

I stumbled into bed, at midnight, in Salt Lake City, and woke up hours later for another round of schools and stores. But the weather in Salt Lake was much kinder to me; it was snowy.

And gorgeous.

After my school visits, I was interviewed by this fellow, Ori Hoffer, for his TV show "Mountain Views" in Park City, UT. As soon as I can figure out how to link to the interview, I will.

That night was an AWESOME event at a bookstore I've been wanting to visit for years: The King's English Bookshop, owned by one of the most convincing voices out there advocating for people to strengthen their communities by supporting local business; Betsy Burton. She wrote a great book, too.

It seemed like there were a million people in line; thank you so much to all. After signing everything, I had the chance for a short chat with the folks who hung around, most of them writers and bloggers. We had a great conversation; I am stunned (happily) by the increasing number of adults who are reading YA fiction. Never saw that one coming.

Like my friend, Sara Zarr.

Yesterday started with an early flight from Utah to Houston, Texas. They served us breakfast, in COACH, on the plane; cornflakes and bananas. Astounding.

In one of the best school visits ever, I returned to Hasting-Alief High School, and talked to a wonderful group of students who had all read WINTERGIRLS. I talked to students at the same school a couple of years ago and it was so cool so see some of them for the second time - they were all grown up!

I talked at the bookstore, Blue Willow, after the event (Thank you Kathy & tribe!!) and headed out to the airport - again - this time to head for Austin.

TONIGHT'S EVENT!!
7:00PM Book People
603 N. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX
Contact: Mandy Brooks
512-472-4288 x. 411

Early flight tomorrow, then a long drive from the airport to Oxford, Mississippi. HEY!!! I HAVE AN IDEA!!! How about EVERYBODY come down to Oxford Mississippi and join me! It is a very cool place; FAULKNER lived there, for crying out loud.

I CALL ROAD TRIP!!!

TOMORROW'S EVENT
3:00PM Square Books
160 Courthouse Square
Oxford, MS 38655
Contact: Jill
Phone: 662-236-2207

Monday = Brentwood, MO
Tuesday = Decatur, GA
Wednesday = Alpharetta, GA
Thursday = Coral Gables, FL
Friday = Raleigh, NC

My morning Chinatown walk was great, thanks, and I got back in time to watch the end of the Syracuse/Arizona game. S.U. won and is in the Sweet Sixteen!

It's tempting to post photo after photo of me standing in front of the groups I get to speak to this tour, but that would be dead boring for most of you, so I won't.

But I can't resist this one.

Lisa Yee came to the Vroman's event and sweettalked me into putting on this wig in honor of her new book, Absolutely Maybe. Do you think pink is my color? Lisa posted more pics on her blog, as well as a great shot of Neal Shusterman (who also came out, with Christine; thanks guys!). Neal looks good in pink, don't you think?

On a more serious note, a woman at the Vroman's event gave me a memorial ribbon that she had from a funeral earlier in the week; a funeral for a 42-year-old woman who died from complications of anorexia. It was a tear-filled moment for both of us.

Mrs. Nelson's Bookshop was filled with librarians, teachers, and a couple of pre-published writers. I also got to meet the latest Mr. Freeman, from SPEAK; a local teacher who is organizing the west coast premier stageplay adaptation of the book, and who is playing Mr. Freeman in the play. I am hoping I can make time to meet up with the cast when I am back in LA at the end of April.

A couple of quick shots from my morning stroll.

I paid homage to City Lights Bookstore (and picked up a volume of poetry by Nikki Giovanni.)

I had an excellent croissant and cappuccino in North Beach.

And best of all, I had Skype visits with my BH and the kids, and later with Queen Louise and her princes. Awesome start to the day!

TODAY'S EVENTS
3 PM Not Your Mother’s Book Club event hosted by Books Inc.
Bistro 9
1224 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122
This is a ticketed event, ticket price includes book, gift bag, food & drinks. I’m not sure if there are still tickets available – contact Books Inc. Laurel Village or Books Inc. Burlingame
(415) 221-3666 or (650) 685-4911 for more info.


6:00 PM Kepler’s
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Contact: Lauren O’Niell
(650) 324-4321

MONDAY'S EVENTS

Morning & afternoon - School visits coordinated by Rakestraw, 409 Railroad Avenue, Danville, CA 94526, Contact: Mike Barnard, Phone: 925-837-7337. We're also supposed to have lunch with some area librarians - that will be fun!


7 PM Copperfields
140 Kentucky St
Petaluma, CA 94952
Contact: Patty Norman
707-762-0563


Tuesday... Seattle!

I have a couple of unforeseen free minutes and I am in San Francisco. Much as I love you guys, I really need a walk.

I'll try to sneak a blog update in when I get back. Promise.

The "Here and Now" NPR interview is up!! Have a listen and tell me what you think!


After a couple of radio interviews first thing in the morning, I set out on the great adventure. Had three wonderful school presentations, thanks to the coordination by Children's Book World.

Because this is LA, we were able to grab a fast lunch at an all-organic salad bar type place. There were a few things on the menu I hadn't seen before.


Like lychees and organic yogurt with chopped candied ginger.


Not to mention this.

In between exotic food and school visits, we dropped in on a couple of bookstores to sign stock, including the newest branch of Diesel in Brentwood.

Many thanks to all the people who came out to my afternoon event at the Santa Monica library, including buddy Sonya Sones. Before the event, I had a blast with the reporters from area high school newspapers at the press conference before my presentation.

Aren't they awesome?

There was one last event in the evening and then much sleeping.

TODAY'S EVENTS

12:00 PM Vroman’s
695 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Contact: Jen Ramos
626-449-5320


4:00 PM Mrs. Nelson’s
1030 Bonita Ave.
La Verne, CA 91750
Contact: Andrea Vuleta
Phone:
909-599-4558


Tomorrow’s Events:

3 PM Not Your Mother’s Book Club event hosted by Books Inc.
Bistro 9
1224 9th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94122
This is a ticketed event, ticket price includes book, gift bag, food & drinks. I’m not sure if there are still tickets available – contact Books Inc. Laurel Village or Books Inc. Burlingame
(415) 221-3666 or (650) 685-4911 for more info.


6:00 PM Kepler’s
1010 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Contact: Lauren O’Niell
(650) 324-4321



Monday…. Rakestraw in Danville, CA, and Copperfield’s in Walnut Creek, CA!!

Good Equinox, good peoples, especially those of you shivering on Brooklyn where it is snowing!

Here is a picture of what our forest looked like just as I was leaving yesterday.

The daffodils are up!

Yesterday's trip to LA was pretty smooth. The plane was over an hour late leaving Syracuse, so I had a fun sprint through the Detroit airport to make my connecting flight, but it all worked out in the end. My luggage even arrived on time! Did my March Madness brackets in the air. Felt pretty good when I saw that MD beat California.

(Of course, I prefer not to talk about all of the bad picks I made. There's not much fun in that!)

I've already started to get some nice email from readers of WINTERGIRLS saying how much they enjoyed the book. Thanks to everyone who took the time to write!

Bookavore pointed out to me that everyone can follow my daily peregrinations on tour by watching my Twitter feed and hitting refresh every once in a while. You do not have to sign up for Twitter to watch what I write there.


Today's Events
Early morning - a couple of radio interviews.

Late morning - a visit to the Archer School for Girls (not a public event).

Afternoon - a visit to Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica (not a public event).

Late afternoon - a press conference with high school students.

4:30 - 5:30pm Public Event at the Santa Monica Public Library (hosted by Children’s Book World)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Contact: Erica Cuyugan, young adult librarian
310-458-8600

7 pm Public Event at Barnes & Noble
3rd St. Promenade, 1201 3rd St
Santa Monica, CA
Contact: John Schatzel
Phone: (310) 260-9110

Saturday's Public Events: Come One, Come All!

12:00 PM Vroman’s
695 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Contact: Jen Ramos
626-449-5320


4:00 PM Mrs. Nelson’s
1030 Bonita Ave.
La Verne, CA 91750
Contact: Andrea Vuleta
Phone:
909-599-4558

It is finally here: publication day!

It's like the day when your baby is born, except without quite so much screaming and no stitches.

BH is making me breakfast, then I have to throw the last minute things in the suitcase and head for the airport. Today is just a travel day. Getting from Syracuse to Los Angeles is an all-day affair. I am bringing all of my gardening catalogs on the plane, and my March Madness bracket, too.

(Yes, I watched Baylor beat Georgetown in the NIT last night. Don't rub it in.)

If you are near a radio at lunchtime, tune in to your local NPR station to listen to my interview on Here and Now. That is one of my favorite shows and it was an absolute thrill to be on it.


Tomorrow's events

Early morning - a couple of radio interviews.

Late morning - a visit to the Archer School for Girls (not a public event).

Afternoon - a visit to Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica (not a public event).

Late afternoon - a press conference with high school students.

4:30 - 5:30pm Public Event at the Santa Monica Public Library (hosted by Children’s Book World)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium
601 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Contact: Erica Cuyugan, young adult librarian
310-458-8600

7 pm Public Event at Barnes & Noble
3rd St. Promenade, 1201 3rd St
Santa Monica, CA
Contact: John Schatzel
Phone: (310) 260-9110

WINTERGIRLS and the 10th Anniversary edition of SPEAK officially debut tomorrow!

Be still my beating heart.

I have one hundred million things to do in the next twenty-four hours. If I show up at bookstore events with knots in my hair, you'll know I never made it to Item #37. Remember to pack brush.

I will be Twittering regularly on tour. You can follow me on Twitter by searching for my name, halseanderson. I think I have figured out how to post photos to my Twitterfeed, so it should be fun. Don't know what Twitter is? This will explain.

School Library Journal has a great summary of the release of the two books, plus all the magical things that have happened to me in the past six months.

Many thanks to Cecelia Goodnow for a wonderful interview last week that resulted in an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A little bird in Seattle told me that the article ran in the last day of the P-I's paper version. It has gone to an online only presence now.

Two good questions have come in recently:

When's Wintergirls due to be out in the UK?

The UK rights have not been sold yet, but I am told by my agent that negotiations are ongoing.

Who took the awesome picture on the cover of WINTERGIRLS?

That is the work of Canadian photographer Alexandre Denomay. I think he was 18 or 19 when he took the photo. He might be 20 years old by now.

Back to packing!

WINTERGIRLS and the 10th Anniversary edition of SPEAK officially debut tomorrow!

We have winners!!!!

Last night Queen Louise ordered her squires to participate in the Official Drawing of the Names. They dutifully complied.

drum roll........

The winners of custom WINTERGIRLS laptop (or phone) skins are:
Jennifer Forgotten!
Mindi Scott!
Tressa Korson!
Kara Huck!

You'll be receiving an email from Queen Louise with the details about what happens next so we can get the skin to you. Thanks to everyone for participating!!

Bob the Builder showed up to the cottage project yesterday.

He brought a very large machine.

He plucked out the tree stumps from the site, then added a couple tons of dirt and tamped it down. (Notice the last, lingering snowbank.) Next up: a mason comes next week to form up the forms (I think that's the right way to describe it) so the concrete slab can be poured.

I've been receiving early sightings of copies of WINTERGIRLS on sale already. Since I'm not J.K. Rowling, booksellers are not compelled to hold the book to the release date. If you see it, buy it!

If you see it, you could also take a picture of you standing in the store with the book. Send it to laurie AT writerlady DOT com.

March Madness News!!! Since my Georgetown Hoyas are not in the NCAA tournament this year, ::weeps::, I am supporting Syracuse University. For the third year running, Sarah Dessen and I have our bet going; if her team (North Carolina) goes farther than mine, I will send a signed copy of my new book to her public library. If my team goes farther, Sarah sends her book up here.

Haven't had time to do my brackets yet. I think I'll do that on the plane Thursday.

WINTERGIRLS comes out in 5 days....

So, what does an author do in the days before book tour?

This author has been very busy with interviews. I had a great one yesterday with a reporter from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and have a bunch more lined up for next week. Today I hope to finish the Keynote presentation I'll be taking on the road with me, and start packing. Am also busy emailing back and forth with the Web God as he puts the finishing touches on the WINTERGIRLS website.

While I've been crossing off things on my to-do list, work continues on the Cottage.

Our tree guy chopped down the dead 200-year-old maple and cleared out the smaller trees from the spot where we want to build.

The dark spots are rot. We could also see shadows where spiles had been inserted to tap the sap.

BH and a buddy of his have been busy on the magic window. They had to sand out every frame, patch and strengthen weak spots in the wood and start preparing thingies (have no idea what they are called) that will hold the glass. They found a mixture of wire nails and cut nails. The presence of cut nails confirms their suspicions that the window was buit in the late 1800s.

By Friday, the window was strong enough to be stood up. That's his buddy on the left, BH and me in the center, and Queen Louise to the right. The glass guy came to take a look at it and will soon give us the estimate for the cost of the glass. Fingers crossed about that. The plan is for the magic window to take up most of the south wall of the cottage.

I'll end with a couple of links for those of you who can only catch up with this blog on weekends.

Can you come and see me on book tour?

Have you entered the WINTERGIRLS contest yet?

Did you see the WINTERGIRLS book trailer?

How about the short video where I explain why I wrote the book?

WINTERGIRLS comes out in 5 days....

Six days until WINTERGIRLS comes out...

This one is self-explanatory.



Can you come and see me on book tour?"

Have you entered the WINTERGIRLS contest yet?

Eight Days until WINTERGIRLS comes out...

Today is a radio day. I've already taped an interview with Dr. Alvin Jones of WCBQ-WHNC-AM in North Carolina. In a little bit, I'll be chatting with a radio host out in Napa, CA, Jeff Schectman of KVON. BH has taken the Creature With Fangs out on his errands so my interviews are not compromised by 95-snarling pounds of German Shepherd.

This afternoon I'm headed down to Syracuse to tape an interview for the NPR show, "Here and Now." When I get air dates, I'll let you know.

In between the interviews, I'm working on my presentation for the book tour. I bring a digital projector with me, and I'll be showing a Keynote (Apple presentation software, much better than Powerpoint) show in many of the schools and libraries I'll be visiting.

We've had a new person working here in the Forest for a couple of weeks. Her name is Queen Louise and I can't figure out how I got along without her. Queen Louise is in charge of keeping me organized and helping me juggle. For example, she went in and created the Author Page on Goodreads for me. She coordinated with Theo the Web God to update my website. And she'll make sure I am ready on time for this afternoon's trip down to the radio station. With the Queen by my side, I'll have more time to write. After the tour.

All Hail Queen Louise!!

Can you come and see me when I'm on tour?

Have you entered the WINTERGIRLS contest yet?

Eight Days until WINTERGIRLS comes out...

Nine days until WINTERGIRLS is released...

We have the final tour schedule: I start on the West Coast, head South and loop around up to North Carolina. I apologize to the Mid-west! I spent a lot of time there on the CHAINS tour and suspect that my publisher didn't want me to revisit the area again so soon.

What you see below are only the public events. During the day, I'll be visiting schools and signing stock at bookstores. A bunch of nice people have written to me asking if I have time for a cup of coffee or dinner or a walk. I feel like a jerk turning down these kind offers, but I don't have a choice. Every day is jam-packed and I don't have any extra time, sadly.

If you work for a bookstore in one of the regions that I'm visiting and want us to try and schedule a stock signing when I'm in your neck of the woods, please send an email to Allison DOT Verost AT us DOT penguingroup DOT com.

Get out your notebooks, open your planners, fire up your email and spread the news far and wide!

THE LHA 2009 WINTERGIRLS TOUR

Friday, March 20, 2009
4:30PM Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica Public Library (hosted by Children’s Book World)

7 PM Santa Monica, CA
Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade


Saturday, March 21, 2009
12 PM Pasadena, CA
Vroman's Bookstore

4PM LaVerne, CA
Mrs. Nelson's Book Shop


Sunday, March 22, 2009
3 PM San Francisco, CA
Books Inc. Not Your Mother's Book Club Ticketed Event! You must purchase your ticket ahead of time for this one. All of the details about ticketing are here.

6 PM Menlo Park, CA
Kepler's (scroll down the page for event details)


Monday, March 23, 2009
7 PM Petaluma, CA
Copperfields


Tuesday, March 24, 2009
6:30 PM Seattle, WA
Seattle Public Library, Ballard Branch. Hosted by Secret Garden Bookshop


Wednesday, March 25, 2009
6 PM Tempe, AZ
Changing Hands Bookstore


Thursday, March 26, 2009
7 PM Salt Lake City, UT
The King's English Bookshop


Friday, March 27, 2009
4:30 PM Houston, TX
Blue Willow Bookshop


Saturday, March 28, 2009
5 PM Austin, TX
SCBWI Members only event

7 PM Austin, TX
Book People

Sunday, March 29, 2009
3 PM Oxford, MS
Square Books


Monday, March 30, 2009
3:15 PM Brentwood, MO (outside St. Louis)
Border's


Tuesday, March 31, 2009
During the day Kennesaw, GA
Kennesaw State Children's Literature Conference

7 PM Decatur, GA (outside Atlanta)
Decatur Public Library hosted by Little Shop of Stories (scroll down for details)


Wednesday, April 1, 2009
During the day Kennesaw, GA
Kennesaw State Children's Literature Conference

6:15 PM Alpharetta, GA (outside Atlanta)
Barnes & Noble, Mansell Crossings

Thursday, April 2, 2009
6 PM Coral Gables, FL
Books & Books

Friday, April 3, 2009
7:30 PM Raleigh, NC
Quail Ridge Books


And, several weeks later...

Sat & Sun, April 25 & 26, 2009
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Details to come.

Sunday May 3 - Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Minneapolis, MN
International Reading Association Conference. Details to come.

Friday, May 15, 2009
6 PM Oswego, NY
the river's end bookstore (scroll down for details)

Don't forget to enter the contest.

Nine days until WINTERGIRLS is released...

Loooong day yesterday, loooonger day ahead today so I can turn in some overdue work. I had to bow out of my writer's group meeting today to get everything done and that has me very cranky and peevish.

Sidebar. Peevish. Has a good ring to it. Could almost be a faux-curse word, don't you think?

Not much blogging time today, but I wanted to share a couple of quick things.

A teacher named Heather and her colleagues are looking for ideas and advice from other teachers about using TWISTED in the classroom. She has the discussion questions from my web site, but wondered if any of you have other ideas. Any suggestions?

Speaking of the website, Theo the Web God is finishing the last touches on a map for CHAINS and is putting together the WINTERGIRLS pages. In my spare time (peevishpeevishpeevish) I've been combing through the site to find the inconsistencies between the flash version and the lo-resolution version, and updating the content. I still need to work on the biography.

What else would you like to see on my website?

I do have a quick and dirty version of the rest of this year's schedule, including the cities I'll be hitting for the WINTERGIRLS book tour that starts in ...... dear God, that starts in six weeks (peeveeveeveeish!!!!!).

NOTE - on weekdays, I am generally visiting schools and/or libraries during the day, then doing a public bookstore or library appearance at night. The school and library visits are coordinated by the independent bookstores indicated in this calendar. If you want more information, please contact the store, not me, because this is all the information I have so far.

As soon as I have the firm and complete schedule with times and addresses, I will post it here and to the website.

Friday March 20: Los Angeles CA, courtesy of Children's Book World.

Saturday March 21: Los Angeles CA, courtesy of Vromans & Mrs. Nelsons

Sunday March 22: San Francisco CA, courtesy of Books Inc. & Kepler's

Monday March 23: San Francisco CA, courtesy of Rakestraw & Copperfields

Tuesday March 24: Seattle WA, courtesy of Third Place Books & Secret Garden

Wednesday March 25: Phoenix AZ, courtesy of Phoenix Book Company & Changing Hands

Thursday March 26: Salt Lake City UT, courtesy of King's English

Friday March 27: Houston TX, courtesy of Blue Willow

Saturday March 28: Austin TX, courtesy of Book People

Sunday March 29: Oxford MS, courtesy of Square Books

Monday March 30: St. Louis MO, courtesy of Booksource

Tuesday March 31: Atlanta GA, courtesy of Little Shop of Stories

Wednesday April 1: Atlanta GA, coutesy of the B&N in Alpharetta

NOTE: On both 3/31 and 4/1 I will be speaking at the Kennesaw State Literature Conference

Thursday April 2: Vero Beach FL/Miami FL, courtesy of Books & Books

Friday April 3: Raleigh NC, courtesy of Quail Ridge


Other Travel Dates

4/10 - 4/18 Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lima, Peru

4/24 - 4/26 Los Angeles Times Book Festival Los Angeles CA

5/3 - 5/6 International Reading Association Conference, Minneapolis, MN

5/15 River's End Bookstore, Oswego, NY

7/10 - 7/14 American Library Association Annual Convention, Chicago IL

8/3 Summer Writing Institute at SUNY Oswego (Oswego, NY), through the Reading and Writing Project of Teachers College, Columbia University

9/13 Brooklyn Book Festival, Brooklyn NY

11/6 - 11/8 American Association of School Librarians Conference, Charlotte NC

11/20 - 11/24 National Council of Teachers of English Conference & ALAN Workshop, Philadelphia PA

For the record, 2009 is officially packed full and there is no way I can consider any new engagements. If you have something you'd like me to consider for 2010, 2011, or 2012, you need to talk to the publishers' contacts on this page (scroll down a bit).

Tomorrow: A few WINTERGIRLS tidbits and news of SPEAK's 10th anniversary edition
Friday: I do the 25 Random things that I am, apparently, the very last person on the planet to do.

And something nice to soothe my peevishness.

This is the gas station we stopped at in Vermont.

The last time you heard from me I posted a hasty note then dove into the depths of late last week. Now it's Week 4 and I'm writing this from my hotel room in Atlanta. Today and tomorrow are busy with schools and stock signings. Wednesday and Thursday will be slower paced as I participate in the Miami Book Festival, then it'll be off to New Orleans, which I am very excited about!

And next week will be even wilder, but I'll talk about that later.....

This BookPage interview with me explores the way I researched CHAINS.

I was interviewed at the DC-area public TV station for a website aimed at teachers and parents. When the tape goes live, I'll let you know.

Then it was off to Politics and Prose for a stock signing - they have an incredible selection of books and cool non-book items.

This is what the last three days of last week looked like: thousands of enthusiastic kids in cafetauriums and libraries. It was awesome.

My evening events were mostly attended by teachers and writers, including my friend Kimmie.

In South Hadley, MA, we had a library full of high school students listening to me in person, and another group participating via Skype connection on the computer. That was fun.

When I was signing stock at Odyssey Bookshop, one of their local authors wandered in - Leslea Newman.

Thank you, Rebecca of Odyssey for a tremendous day!

TONIGHT'S EVENT: Monday, November 10 at 7:00 pm: Little Shop of Stories, Decatur 404-373-6300

TOMORROW'S EVENT is not an event, but you can find my signed books at The Reading Tree, Alpharetta, 770-740-7171

I haven't had Internet access recently, hence the lack of posts. That, and by the end of today, I will have spoken to 3,000 students in 3 days. But they were nice kids and I had a blast. I'm just a little.... disoriented. Befuddled.

But not so confused that I can't remember good news!

CHAINS has been named one of Publisher's Weekly's Best Books of 2008.

CHAINS has also been named to the Amazon Top Ten of 2008 List.

This is the end of Week Three of the Tour and I need to do laundry. And I miss my husband. And, yes, the dog. So after my South Hadley, MA events today, I'll be driving home for a couple of days. I head back on the road Sunday evening. (I'll post the rest of this week's photos this weekend, I promise.)

Next week: THE SOUTH - Atlanta, Miami and New Orleans!

Apparently, the Creature With Fangs misses me, too, that's why she sent me this picture.

Yesterday was three interviews, six or seven stock signings (they started to blur together at the end) and an evening event where people from all different phases of my life showed up.

But I'd really rather talk about the election.

I voted for Barack Obama by absentee ballot before I left on this tour. It was my proudest moment as an American. I figured that my job was done at that point. Most people I've met on tour have been supporting Obama, except for a guy who worked for the McCain campaign I ran into in an elevator, who made the mistake of remarking that I must be pleased about McCain's choice of Palin as his running mate because I am a woman.

That was a fun conversation.

I figured that after yesterday's hectic schedule, I'd sleep like a rock. I did not factor in how much I am worried about America. I woke up about every half hour, praying for Obama's victory, for his health and safety and that of his family, and for the future of our country. I don't think I have ever prayed in my sleep before.




Back to the Tour Updates.... ( Photos of the Day )

TODAY'S EVENT: Not really an event, but you can catch me at my stock signing around 12:30 pm at Politics & Prose, Wash. DC, 202-364-1919

TOMORROW'S EVENT: Tomorrow is a school-visit day, but I'll sign stock at BookEnds, in Ridgewood, NJ, 201-445-0726