Thursday, March 29, 2012

And the Winner is... Not My Basement

Remember how I had a contest last week? Or was it the week before? Geez. Well, this happened to my basement:

This isn't my basement. This is my living room with some of the contents of my basement bookshelves. The basement itself flooded after the second of our sump pumps died. Not that we even knew we had two of them. Handy, we are. Therefore, this past week has been full of moving and drying and smelling bad smells. I didn't even get a chance to blog about the fabulous time I had at LitWorks last weekend or announce the winner of the Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It contest. So here are the quickie versions of my missed blogs:

LitWorks= awesome. Great teen handlers and librarian planners, packed rooms for two out of my three sessions (hey, that's really good, considering my competition was Ellen Hopkins, Carl Deuker, Ann Angel, Ron Koertge, and Raina Telgemeier), and totally good pizza. Plus, it was wonderful meeting all of the authors. Raina and I need to find each other at another conference because we have way too many unfinished conversations. And how much do I love Carl Deuker? And Ann Angel. All of them, really. What a great time!

The contest! With a roll of an eight-sided die, the winner is...

Drum roll...

Kimberly!
I'll send you an email to confirm. Thanks to all who entered! Now back to the basement grind (which means leaving the house so I don't have to look at the basement or its barfed-out contents).

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

LitWorks This Saturday!

This Saturday I'll be speaking at LitWorks 2012: A Teen READ Workshop in Harwood Heights, IL. Here's the website and here's the schedule for the day. All are welcome! Events like this always make me nervous about one thing: what to wear? I am never formal (I suppose I would be at a formal event, but I don't know if I've ever attended an officially "formal" event. Does my wedding count?), and I usually end up in what makes me comfortable (jeans). But there is always the concern that it will be too warm, and who wants to watch an author with big sweat circles? I'm considering rush ordering this hotttt outfit (in Rose, naturally):


And these sizzling shoes to match (the ones with the jazzy details):

Oy.
The other authors at the event are super awesome: Ann Angel, Carl Deuker, Ellen Hopkins, Ron Koertge, and Raina Telgemeier. I'm supposed to have dinner with the lot on Friday night. Well, they'll be having dinner. Since it's scheduled for 8:00 pm, I'll just watch. I can't eat that late; I have bad night reflux. Do you think telling them that will make a cool first impression?

Monday, March 19, 2012

Did I Just Win An Award?

I received a lovely email this morning from a librarian at a South Carolina high school (I never know if I should share school names, just in case. In case what, I'm not sure) with this glorious picture attached:

Some students made it to promote my novel Into the Wild Nerd Yonder (obviously, although wouldn't it be funny if they made it to promote Get Well Soon?), which was one of the 2011-2012 South Carolina Book Award nominees. The students won second place in the state contest for the banner (what? They totally should have won first place, IMHO. I want this as my new paperback cover, it's so awesome!), and the librarian also mentioned that they were excited to win for the "statewide 2011-2012 Young Adult Book of the Year." That's what she said. And I checked the website, and it totally looks like I won. Did I win? The conference where the final decision went down was this past weekend, so maybe it's too soon to say. But it is on the website. But I don't want to say anything and sound like an idiot and be one of those pathetic people who stands up to receive an award when they really said, "Julie Halberg!" Uh oh. I'm standing up right now. Stay tuned. In the meantime, bask in the glow of the banner, as I shall be doing.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Forgive Me: A Contest

Sorry for the lack of bloggage lately. We've been out a babysitter for a while, and it seems like every time my daughter is supposed to have school there's either a day off or she's sick. Plus, I keep forgetting what I want to blog about, although there is a hilarious pants post that should be coming your way this spring. Anywho, there's a big box of books sitting in our front hall (there's ALWAYS a big box of books in our front hall), this time containing Matt's newest illustrator gig for Gail Carson Levine's genius of a poetry book Forgive Me, I Meant to Do It.

With at least one starred review (I can't keep track of Matt's starred reviews anymore, and we still have four more books to go this year! But keep the stars coming!) and recommendations from teachers galore as a great book to use in the classroom, this book is a winner. It also has seen reviews in some hoity-toity grown-up publications:
The New York Times
The Atlantic
Wall Street Journal
Egads! I'm running out of time on this post. Ice skating class! Why does it take so long to write one paragraph? So here's the way to win an illustrator-signed copy (which is very cool because Matt always draws a picture):
Comment on this post with your name, email address, and the name of your favorite poet. If you have one. I would be lying if I said I did. I am not well-versed in the world of verse. I'm classy that way. I would not question if you made up a hilarious poet name for your entry. In fact, I would welcome it. Contest is open to U.S. residents only because I am cheap and can't make it to the post office during normal business hours. You have until the end of the day next Wednesday, March 21. I will draw a name at random and send an email to the winner. Which is why I need your email address. Good luck!

Monday, March 05, 2012

Have a Nice Day ARC Swap

So, I have two Chicago blog reader-friends who have started a Have a Nice Day ARC tree (that means that the sequel to Get Well Soon, Have a Nice Day, which will be out in book stores on October 16, is already out as an Advanced Reader's Copy). I'm mailing the ARC out to friend #1 today (if I get to the post office. Why is that always so hard?), and once she's done, she'll pass it off to the next friend. Two other readers have expressed interest in reading the ARC, too, so here is what I propose: if you really, really, really cannot wait until October 16 (that's like seven months away!) to read about how Anna tries to get back to normal life when she just got out of a mental hospital, put your name on the ARC tree! Send me an email with the subject in CAPS: HAND ARC TREE. In the email, tell me your name and address. And say hi and be all nice and tell me why you must read HAND now. I'll keep a running list of names, so the ARC will be passed around in order. When the person who has it finishes it, they email me, and I'll send them the next address on my list. Then they ship it out. You can only participate if you promise me three things: 1) you will read the book as soon as you get it, to be fair to the other people waiting in line, 2) You WILL pass it on through the mail and not keep it for yourself in a sneaky sort of way, and 3) if you like the book (and I'm sure you will because it is HILARIOUS), you will either buy a copy for yourself, for a friend, or request that your local library buys a copy when it comes out. Sound good? Here's the cover, if you haven't seen it yet:

Now send me some love letters. I'm waiting... in line at the post office, that is! (Don't worry. The book is much funnier than that.)