Some tidbits
book of a thousand days won the Utah Book Award for Young People's Literature this week. The other finalists were Jessica Day George (Dragon Slippers) and Sara Zarr (Story of a Girl). I doubt in many fields, the finalists all sit together in the audience and cheer for each other. YA lit really is literature paradise.
I did an interview over at Maw Books. Natasha was involved in Blogging for Darfur. Most of you are aware of the gut-wrenching atrocities committed in the name of war and ethnic cleasing. It's truly frightening. I was reading a Captain America omnibus recently and was telling Dean how much I wished Captain America really existed so we could send him to Darfur. On second thought, Wonder Woman would be even better. Alas. It's up to us. And making a difference starts with being aware.
I'll be in Austin this weekend for the Texas Book Festival. Saturday, November 1, 8:00 in the Austin Bat Cave (how cool is that?) for Not for Required Reading. Sunday, November 2, 3:00-3:45 in the Capitol Extension Room E2.010, I'll present on rapunzel's revenge. Monday, November 3 (probably at 7 pm) I'll do a talk/signing at BookPeople.
rapunzel's revenge has received three starred reviews! All the reviews have been so wonderful, it's extremely gratifying. Most recently from Horn Book:
"Readers familiar with graphic novels will feel at home...Newbies may not realize how particularly well-matched the Hales' gutsy tale is to its format, but this introduction--with its high action quotient, immediate sensory thrills, and wisecracking heroes--should win many converts. With such a successful debut, one hopes to see more graphic novels from this trio."
This fall, I'm on the most harrowing deadline of my career. the actor and the housewife final draft is due on Halloween. I've been working every spare moment these past few months, at night until I can't keep typing anymore, during the day when Maggie naps, and utilizing more babysitting help than ever in my life. As soon as I turn it in, I rush back to forest born, and I'll have another month and a half to see that all tidied up. I think I can do it, but it's tight. Really tight. I've been working on both of them for two and a half years, but writing calamity jack and having a certain baby girl created some havoc with the dates. I promise I won't get in this situation again. Seriously. Promise.