How's that for an excuse? He also ate the last five blog entries. I think I can write an entire book faster than a blog entry. Seriously. I've also been a little busy traveling to schools this year to...see the pictures of my hotel room keys as proof! Oh, I was supposed to return those? Oops!

I’ve never come across schools so full of kids who love to read. Everyone outdid themselves with such creative projects. I’ll certainly never forget the hula-hoop dance that two eighth-graders did in front of a packed auditorium. It was exactly like the scene in Jeremy Fink & the Meaning of Life—complete with grass skirt, orange soda, banana, and “You spin me right round baby right round like a record baby right round round round!” I honestly laughed so hard I cried. And then I had to talk for 50 minutes! Or the Scrabble board has the names of my books all interlocking cleverly (compliments of Jeremy Fink's biggest fan, Greg Armamentos and his amazing 3/4th grade classes at Whiteley School outside Chicago), or the little pots with apple seeds like the ones Amanda and Leo make in 11 BIRTHDAYS. I've heard songs based on the books, seen videos of hilarious skits, played a Jeopardy Game with questions based on the characters, seen amazing artwork including hand-decorated boxes with each kid's own "meaning of life" inside... ... and eaten a lot of candy! (i think my favorite dessert was an enormous Rice Krispie Treat dyed pink, in the shape of a giant key!) Truly, I'm so touched by the efforts, and i love meeting all the kids who never cease to amaze me and who really "get" how fun reading is.

To everyone who has emailed me over the year, thank you for understanding that I can't write back individually, but i'll be sending you an email soon with some really fun updates. If you're writing a book or author report, please do check the Resources and About Me sections of my web site for interviews and FAQ's (frequently asked questions)--you should find everything you need there. In fact, i'll go update it now to make sure.

But before I go...i'm thrilled to share the cover of my next book, THE CANDYMAKERS. It used to be called The Candymaker's Son, but the other characters were like, "Hey, we're just as important as the Candymaker's son! WE should be in the title, too!" When your characters start yelling at you, you've got no choice but to listen. I hope you guys like reading long books, because it's over 450 pages! It hits the shelves in early fall, or you can pre-order it on Amazon at a great discount.

In my next entry (I know, don't hold your breath), I'll spill some fun news about another Willow Falls book as a follow-up to 11 BIRTHDAYS and FINALLY (which, if you haven't seen it yet, came out in March and is the "companion" to 11 Birthdays--you can see the cover in the previous blog).

Then comes my first venture into science fiction/fantasy in a wacky adventure where the 12-year old son of the Overlord of the Universe has a week to re-create planet Earth, which had been plucked out of space and time due to a mix-up over a pie. I told you it was wacky! And last but not least...the long awaited return of the Twice Upon a Time series. Hurrah!!

till then, happy Spring and happy reading!!
xo

...and not everything that counts can be counted. Albert Einstein said so, and I'm inclined to believe anything he says.

Sad to say that i started writing this blog over a month ago! So let's all pretend it's still the end of July and still raining every day or else the beginning won't make sense! :o)

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are. We’re lining up the animals two by two here. If I ever see that giant yellow ball of hydrogen and helium in the sky again, I may not recognize it.

So here are some random things I thought I’d share:

That musical of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life? It apparently didn’t work out this year. I heard some of the music from it and it was very cool. Hopefully it will happen next year. Fingers crossed. But the planetarium show based on Every Soul a Star was really great. Below is a picture from the event. The folks in the photo below were all really helpful as I was writing the book—Nancy Tuttle is an accomplished eclipse chaser, Gordon Powers runs the observatory in Ogdensburg, NJ where I spent many a summer’s night learning about the stars, and the planetarium director, John Scala, who not only put this whole show together--based on the book--but checked all my astronomy facts in my first draft. He’s wearing a yellow t-shirt that says, “Moon Shadow Campground, Ask Us Anything,” just like the characters in the book. He surprised me with my own shirt. So sweet!

If you’re interested in mixing books and cookies (and who isn’t?) check out http://cookiebooky.blogspot.com. It’s a one stop shop for book clubs who want to add new (and tasty!) dimensions to their meetings. They made super cool (and delicious) crescent-moon shaped cookies for their discussion of Every Soul a Star. Book reviews and decorations and recipes included!

This has been a year full of AMAZING school visit experiences. I’ve really been touched and humbled by the effort and thoughtfulness that the staff and students put into their preparations. The visits kicked off in early September at Blake Middle School in Medfield, MA, where the whole school had been “Fink-ified!” Over the summer all the students read Jeremy Fink & the M.O.L., and then when school started, each class had “Fink-related” activities—even gym class! The librarian in charge of the visit, Mr. H., recently sent me a really cool gift after he read Every soul a Star—a stuffed animal ladybug that shines the constellations on your ceiling! Love it!

The schools in Bardstown, Kentucky truly outdid themselves. Here are some pictures of the special things they did for an evening Community Event. They had used Jeremy Fink as their “Community Read” book, and I had the pleasure of meeting people of all ages who had read the book. They set up all these cool booths based on events from the story--hula hoop contests, mutant candy collections, and keys everywhere! I never thought I’d see any of my book titles spelled out in cupcakes, or my name in candy bar wrappers, but lo and behold! They also gave me these super cool gift baskets with products from their town (Bourbon-flavored fudge anyone?), earrings in the shape of keys, and more candy than three Halloweens put together! I wanted to take these people home with me! That candy really sustained me on the 13 hour drive home. I’m probably the only person I know who would drive from New Jersey to Kentucky to avoid flying. At least no one I know would agree to accompany me. They lost out on a lot of free candy!

Pitman Middle School in NJ decorated their school so completely, that I was just flabbergasted. The pictures don’t do it justice, but the walls and each door was transformed with artwork reflecting scenes in all my books. The kids did these amazing projects that would have taken me months to complete. They also pulled out their favorite lines from the books and made a huge display of them. Some of them I didn’t even remember writing! Bowls of candy were placed on each lunch table and one mom even made up Hershey Bar wrappers with pictures of the books on them. Truly a special group.

I did my first webcam visit with some schools in Florida, which was very fun and it forced me to clean my house since the kids would see it behind me! The webcam was part of a Read Aloud they were doing with Jeremy Fink, where each day a teacher or guest reader would read a section of the book to the whole school. They also did this amazing scavenger hunt for playing cards that the whole school got involved in. Check out the website they set up for that, along with the other creative activities they did: http://highlands.k12.fl.us/~hgm/web_pages/media%20center/jeremy_fink_activities.html

I love going back to a school I’ve already been to—it’s just such a comfy feeling. This spring I had my second visit to Park Middle School in Scotch Plains, NJ. They made these amazing biographical posters based on the lives of the characters from my different books. They cut out magazine pictures, glued real keys, wrote poems and even made me a notebook full of their thoughts on the books. They stuck these little envelopes inside the notebook and filled them with small pieces of colored paper. Each piece had a famous quote on it that they liked, and a few of those quotes are now going to end up being in The Candymaker’s Son. Ironically, it was my first visit to their school a few years ago which gave me the names of many of the candies used in that book. I hope they ask me back again soon, since otherwise I may not be able to finish writing it. (Note to my editor Alvina—Just kidding! I’ll still finish it. :o)

I’m looking forward to another upcoming year full of school visits. I'll be putting some more mileage on my car, and unfortunately, racking up some frequent flyer miles. (Can I drive to Chicago? Iowa? Florida? Sigh. Probably not.) Hey, here’s a tip for those of you who like the window seat when you fly, but don’t like it when the sun is in your face. On an east to west flight you want to sit on the right side. On a west to east flight, you want to sit on the left. On a north/south flight, the sun will be on the left only in the morning, so you will want to sit on the right. At other times of the day it won’t matter. This tip comes courtesy of Bob Berman’s Strange Universe. Thanks, Bob!

Let’s see…what’s happening book-wise. Still finishing up The Candymaker’s Son, which, as I figured, has changed a lot from the excerpt I wrote in a previous blog. Even the main character’s name has changed. Coming out this fall is the paperback version of Every Soul a Star, then Finally will be published next March. It takes place in the same town as 11 Birthdays, and the characters from that book make a few appearances here. The book is about a girl who turns 12 and can finally do all the things her parents have been promising. Needless to say, things don't always turn out like she'd planned. Below is a sneak peek of the fun and colorful cover.

Thank you so much to all of you who have written and emailed me over the last few years—I wish I could write back to everyone, but please know that I do read everything you send and it means a lot to me. In each blog I’ll answer a few of the questions that I get most often, so if you don’t see yours answered below (or in the FAQ section on my website, under the Resources Tab or the About Me tab), then keep checking back. For tips on writing (a lot of you love to write, which is GREAT), see the FAQ’s—there is also a lot of biographical info on there for people doing author reports. You should be able to find out all my deep dark secrets. (ok, so maybe they’re not too deep or dark, or even secrets, but you get the point!)

Here are two I get asked a lot:

1. Q: Will there be a sequel to Jeremy Fink, Every Soul a Star, or the two Twice Upon a Time Books?
A: I’m still working on an idea for a sequel to both Jeremy Fink and Every Soul a Star. Right now I’m thinking the JF sequel would be called Lizzy Muldoun and the Wonder Machine. And the sequel to Every Soul a Star would be called, And the Stars fell like Rain. I have to put official proposals together and then it’s in my publisher’s hands. Stay tuned. As for the Twice Upon a Time books, it doesn’t look like it’s in the cards. If that changes, you'll hear it here first!

2. Q. Will there be a movie made out of Jeremy Fink or A Mango-Shaped Space?

A: The option for Mango ran out, so it’s up for grabs again. Jeremy Fink is in negotiation, and hopefully it’ll happen. For those aspiring actors among you who have kindly volunteered to play the main characters, I wish I could help you out. If anything happens, I’ll let you know when the casting call will be held. :o)

Ok, onto more randomness:

I admit it, the Spelling Bee makes me cry. Every year I camp out in front of the TV at the end of June to watch the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee. I love these kids. I am in awe of them. I always wanted to write a book about it, but Myla Goldberg beat me to it with her brilliant BEE SEASON.

Did you ever notice how every time you spill something on your shirt--say, for instance ketchup because you were eating french fries in the car while listening to the audiobook of BREAKING DAWN and good lord the girl STILL hasn’t turned into a vampire yet! Anyway, how come every time you have this splotch on your (white!) shirt you are destined to run into everyone you know?

So my town has this great tradition of tossing candy to the crowd at the Memorial Day and July 4th parades. According to my family I crossed some sort of line when I darted in front of a four-year-old girl in pigtails to snatch a grape-flavored Blow Pop as it hit the ground. In my defense, it was at LEAST an inch closer to me than to her, and I probably saved her from choking. She should be THANKING me. I did actually learn something about myself a few minutes later though. I’d always wondered if I would, in fact, run into the middle of the road to pick up (and subsequently eat) a cherry-flavored Air Head taffy once it had been run over by a tractor (my town is pretty rural. We have tractors in our parade). The answer? Yes, yes I would. I also have to cop to a new obsession—pre-packaged Cotton Candy in a bag. Sadly, it’s even better than the REAL cotton candy from a fair. I blame my mother for this, since she started me on the habit by giving me a bag for my last birthday. Bad mommy!

My library (Sparta Public Library, recently voted #1 library in New Jersey!) rents out the Kindle and I brought it with me recently while staying overnight at a hotel before a school visit. I left my room for breakfast wishing I had a book with me, ordered The Graveyard Book while in the elevator, and started reading it as I sat down with my make-your-own waffle from the buffet. Pretty spiffy, this Kindle. Nothing can replace the feel of a real book in your hand of course, but as an alternative when the real thing isn’t around, it’s pretty nifty. (Let's hope the Authors' Guild doesn't kick me out for that!)

A few months ago I had my first experience seeing a young reader out in public with one of my books (a library copy of Every Soul a Star)—at a diner in Westfield, NJ. My mother-in-law threatened to approach her if I didn’t. Unsure which was more embarrassing; I wound up doing it myself. Awkward conversation ensues:
Me (pointing to the book on her table): Er, have you started that yet?
Her (startled): Yeah, it’s really good.
Me: Cool. I, um, wrote it.
Her: Really? Wow!
Her mom (leaning over): She reads ALL the time!
Me: Well, I just wanted to say hi. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Her (clutching the book now): Thanks!
Her Mom: Thanks for telling us!
Me (slinking away): Um, have a great day!
Real smooth, aren’t I? ;o)

Below is a picture of me and my editor from Little, Brown, Alvina Ling, at a book party for GEEKTASTIC, an anthology that just came out that you should totally be on the lookout for. A bunch of authors I love all wrote stories with characters involved in some “geeky” pursuit. My story is about two teens trying to complete the all-night Messier Marathon, which is an astronomy thing. Guess I hadn’t gotten it out of my system with Every Soul a Star. And yes, the party was at a bowling alley! A super cool bowling alley! As you can see on the cover of the book, each of the authors was made into an “avatar”. The avatars are a cross between what we look like, and the characters in our stories. For the big library conference this summer, the avatars were turned into giant Legos. Mine is to the left of the book cover. I figure being turned into a Lego is pretty much just one small step below an action figure! ;o)

View image

I tried to attach another picture of me and Alvina, but it's not coming through. We were snowshoeing at the Kindling Words conference in Vermont. Nothing like brainstorming a new book idea while trudging through four feet of snow in zero degrees. When we got back inside I was so sore I thought we’d been gone for hours, but it turned out to be only 20 minutes. I don’t think I’m meant for the wilderness. Next brainstorming session should be poolside.

If you’ve ever been curious where writers do their stuff, check out Tony Abbott’s blog, where each week he brings in a fellow author to do a virtual tour of their workspace. Here’s mine. http://tonyabbottbooks.com/blog/?p=41. And let’s all congratulate Tony on winning an Edgar Alan Poe Award for The Postcard. Hurrah!!

Ok, better get back to work. Wishing everyone clear skies!

Continue reading "Not everything that can be counted counts..." »

Happy Spring everyone! I'm sitting at my local library right now, watching out the window as 50 caterpillars wiggle in this crazy dance trying to free themselves from this white mesh thing in the tree, and you know what? It is totally gross. I'm in the middle of writing this scene where the boy in the Candymaker book is taking notes on the joyful progress of his caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and this is one of those occasions where fiction does not reflect the reality of the author. Shudder.
ANYWAY. I've got a lot to catch you guys up on, and have to drive down to the Jersey Shore to give a speech today, so I'll have to write more later. Just wanted to get the word out about three fun events for anyone local to New Jersey.

May 11-12, 14
Planetarium Show based on Every Soul a Star
Lenape Valley Regional High School
28 Sparta Road, Stanhope, NJ
Info from the Planetarium: Show times are 6:45 and 8:00 all three nights. In addition, a 4 pm matinee will run on Thursday. To make a reservation, call (973) 347-7600 ext 165. Leave your name, phone number, date & time of the show you want to attend, and the total number of people in your party. Prices: Adults $5.00, Seniors (60+) $3.00, Children $2.00. Maximum fee for a family is $15.00. No one under age 6 years allowed. No one can be admitted once a program has begun. Payment can be made at the door.
I’ll have signed copies of Every Soul a Star for sale, and plan to attend the Tuesday and Thursday shows.

July 8
Presentation/Book signing
West Orange Public Library
46 Mount Pleasant Avenue,
West Orange, NJ 07052
not sure of time yet, but check website as gets closer

June 19-20 (Friday and Saturday)
Musical Adaptation of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life
Wanaque, NJ
Details to come

Can't wait to update you on some amazing experiences I've had doing school visits in the last few months. (Pitman, NJ and Bardstown, KY--you guys TOTALLY ROCK!)
More to come...

First I just want to say, if you’ve written to me and haven’t heard back yet, it haunts me. Unanswered emails keep me up at night. One of these days I’m going to take a week off from writing and just answer them. I will! Truly! There’s a New Year’s Resolution if ever I heard one! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’m not a vegetarian, but every year I feel terrible for all the poor turkeys. Why can’t carving say, a cake, be a Thanksgiving tradition instead of carving a turkey? Or better yet, Funnel Cake!! All in favor of funnel instead of fowl, say “aye!”

Speaking of fowl, any fellow Artemis Fowl fans out there? If you haven’t read these books by Eoin Colfer yet, what are you waiting for? SO funny and smart with page-turning action. Although when I read them I don’t actually turn any pages since I listen to them on CD instead. When Listening Library released the latest one in the series, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, with a different narrator than the others, you should have heard the outcry from the diehard fans. I admit, I was one of those fans. It’s as if Jim Dale suddenly stopped narrating the Harry Potter books in the middle of the series. Shudder! Fortunately for the sanity of the fans, the original narrator, Nathaniel Parker, DID eventually record the book too, and now I just need to find a way to get it from England. But get it I shall, because tracking it down is a perfect example of spending my time on something I shouldn’t be spending it on. I honestly need someone (or some thing) to lock me in a room and tell me I won’t be allowed to eat or sleep if I don’t turn out 10 pages a day.

One of my problems is I keep rewriting the beginning. Beginnings are hard for me. Endings are easy. Some wise person once told me to write the whole book, then take out the first chapter and start the book there. It’s an interesting theory, but I prefer to torture myself (and my editor) by obsessing over the best way to start the story. Is it on “the day that’s different?” The day before the day that’s different? Do you start with character, action, or setting? How do you make a reader care about a character so quickly that they want to keep reading? It’s a challenge, I tell you, a challenge. After I finish writing my current book, called FINALLY!, I have to revise THE CANDYMAKER’S SON. Here’s a sneak peak at the beginning. I’ll be curious myself to see how it changes before the final version.

Opening of THE CANDYMAKER’S SON, a work in progress. I will probably cringe a year from now when I look back on posting this.

Like his father before him, the Candymaker could tell if a vat of chocolate needed one more teaspoon of cocoa merely by glancing at it from across the room. The Candymaker’s son, not surprisingly, could do the same. But the Candymaker’s son could do something his father and grandfather could not. He could identify the color and variety of any kind of chocolate by feel alone. He discovered this talent just as you’d expect—by blindfolding himself and sticking one clean finger into the warm mixture.

“Milk chocolate!” Josh announced, waving his finger high in the air. The factory workers cheered and placed another vat before him.

“Bittersweet!” he cried. “White! Unsweetened dark!” The workers gave him the white vat twice in a row but he wasn’t fooled. He was four years old at the time and he knew his chocolate.

Josh’s special gifts gave him special privileges. He had free reign to wander through the factory, observing as his grandfather’s handmade machines turned out candy of all sizes, shapes, colors, and smells. If a Snorting Wingbat had one extra green Wingbat in the bag, Josh would spot it before it was sealed in for good. If the Oozing Crunchorama had one hazelnut too little, Josh would toss in the nut to save the day. And he didn’t get a big head when his first original creation—the Bubbletastic ChocoRocket—sent shock waves through the candy community as the first candy to turn from chocolate to gum…and back again!

Since Josh’s parents didn’t believe in traditional schooling, he grew up as a student of life. His father taught him how to be kind and generous and hardworking. His mother taught him how to read and write and about what was important in life, and what wasn’t. Chemistry and baking he learned at the elbow of the Candymaker’s right-hand-man, Max Pinkus (Max was the confectionary genius responsible for creating the famous neon yellow Lightning Chew, among other bestsellers.) From Max’s wife Suzy, the factory’s bookkeeper, Josh learned how to divide big numbers by small numbers and how to keep organized by taking things one step at a time. Everything else he learned by playing on the great lawn behind the factory.

It was precisely this combination of knowledge that would one day allow Josh to see—or rather, smell—that something just wasn’t right.

* * *

By the way, I owe the names of some of the candies to the candy-loving (and book-loving) kids at Park Middle School in Scotch Plains, NJ. Thank you to everyone who sent in an idea for a sequel to A Mango-Shaped Space or Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. They were SO CREATIVE! I’ll keep you posted! Thank you to everyone who visited me last month in NYC at Books of Wonder, arguably one of the best children’s bookstores in the world. And they have cupcakes! I made some new author pals there, and put up a photo in the Author Pals section of my site, so check that out.

My friend and fellow writer Courtney sent me this pic from her local bookstore in NYC. 11 Birthdays is right next to Every Soul a Star. I haven’t had two new books out within a few months of each other since A Mango-Shaped Space and Leap Day. Fun! (And check out Courtney’s book with the light blue cover!)
Check back in a day or two for lots of new things to see on my website—interviews, author pal pics, and other Fun Stuff.

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope it’s full of joy (and candy!).
(speaking of candy, a big thank you to Katie Davis, author of the fab The Curse of Addy McMahan, for sending me a mutant piece of Good n' Plenty. It was super long and skinny and totally mutant. I'll save it forever. Or at least until it gets moldy, whichever comes first.)

Ah, September. The start of a new school year. I envy those of you who got to shop for shiny new notebooks, funky gel pens, and a mirror to stick inside your locker so you can check your teeth after lunch. That was always my favorite part of going back to school (buying school supplies, not getting stuff stuck in my teeth). But I can’t complain too much. I did get to do some fun children’s book stuff this month. First was the Princeton Children’s Book Festival in Princeton, NJ where I got to meet lots of readers and made some new author-friends. If you live within an hour of Princeton, it’s a wonderful annual event where kids and teens get to meet dozens of authors and illustrators.

Next came a quick trip outside Philadelphia to a conference of Independent Booksellers to sign my newest book, Every Soul a Star. I was a bit concerned when I checked into the hotel because the welcome package included a pair of earplugs, a CD of soothing music, an eye shade, and a small bottle of lavender-scented “Linen Spray.” Basically this tells me the walls are thin and I should expect to use the earplugs and/or CD to drown out the screaming baby next door, the window blinds must not close all the way and I’ll need the eye shade to block out the blinding sunrise, and the linen spray? Well, that doesn’t say anything good about the condition of the sheets. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded and I slept like a baby. The good kind, not the screaming kind.

My last event of the month was Children’s Book Day, another annual event which brings over sixty authors and illustrators to the banks of the Hudson River in beautiful Tarrytown, NY. It was like the event in Princeton, but they had a life-size Clifford and Biscuit and Bunnicula running around. Well, more like walking around very carefully because it’s hard to see out of those big furry costumes. Again, if you live anywhere nearby, you won’t want to miss this next year. On the drive up there, I was listening to the audiobook of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. As you know from previous blogs, I’m a big audiobook junkie. Usually I’ll listen to children’s or YA books, but I’d heard this book was really funny. And while it’s definitely funny, it’s heartbreakingly sad too. I had to drive through the blinding tears, which meant I was blotchy and red all day. Ugh. I hereby apologize to anyone who reported crying on trains/buses/planes/study hall when reading A Mango-Shaped Space and/or Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. My latest books are tear-free and suitable for reading/listening to in any public place. I promise.

And now, for the month of October, I am going underground. This is a term my friend Carolyn Mackler uses when she’s hunkering down and facing a deadline. The book I’m working on is called Finally, and it’s about all the things that a girl named Rory gets to do once she (finally!) turns twelve. No crying will be induced. Only laughing. It’s going to be a funny book. At least I intend to laugh while writing it!

Before I head out to the library with my laptop, I wanted to share one piece of advice I recently learned. If making all the changes that you want to make in your life feels overwhelming (as it does to me), simply Do One Thing Different. (Yes, I know it’s supposed to be differently, but this is a blog, not a book, and the rules of grammar are more flexible, so there.) Anyway, just do one thing different. That’s it. Take a different route through the halls at school, or through town. Eat at a new place. Talk to someone in class you’ve never spoken to before. We’re so used to our routine that we don’t see how things can ever change. The first thing I’m going to do different(ly)? Instead of taking the train into the city tomorrow (I live about two hours outside New York City), I’m going to take the bus! I’ve never taken the bus from here before. Might not seem like a big deal, but at least it’s different, right? I’m going in for the opening of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. A two hour bus ride might seem like a long journey to see a movie, but this is a special movie and my friends in the audience will include Rachel Cohn and David Levithan who wrote the book that the movie is based on. I’ll let you know how it went.

UPDATE: It is now midnight. I have returned from the movie and my adventure on the bus. First—the movie. AWESOME! Hilarious and sweet, and it kept the same “feeling” of the book, even though a lot of the plot differs. I highly recommend it if you’re old enough. (It’s PG-13). You can’t really read it, but David and Rachel are standing below the sign for the next showing of Nick & Norah. Courtney Shienmel (author of the new book My So-Called Family) and I are pretending we’re part of the movie poster.

Ok, now onto the bus part of my story. Well, let’s just say, never could I have imagined how making that one simple choice would have led where it did. The ride in was fine, uneventful. Then home…I got to the Port Authority at 5 pm to see a big sign flashing the news of a Big Delay due to police shutting down the opening to the Lincoln Tunnel to investigate suspicious activity. That is never a good sign. After sitting on the bus inside the station for over an hour, not moving an inch, people began to stream out by the hundreds. I wound up walking to the Ferry, buying a ticket off a nice man in line (otherwise would have had to wait like 4 hours!), and headed across the Hudson River with the sun setting behind the glimmering city, the ferry lolling on the waves. But when I arrived on the New Jersey side, there was no bus out to where I needed to go. So I had to take a cab to my mother’s house an hour away (I didn’t have enough $ to have the guy take me all the way out to the bus stop where my car was), but when I got to my mom’s she was on her way out to a dinner date with her friends so along I went, grimy and exhausted. When the last fortune cookie was finally opened, she drove me the twenty miles to my original bus stop to collect my car. Moral of the story? I’m too tired to figure it out! But I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with me being glad to have broken out of my routine, and to have had an adventure I never could have foreseen. It also gave me the confidence to know that I was able to get myself home, even if it did take six hours! And my mom was happy because she got to see me and that made me feel good. So if you’re brave enough, try the One Thing Different idea. You never know, you just might get free Chinese food of the deal!

I’m now beginning my descent underground, and I hope you all have a wonderful fall season. If you’ve signed my mailing list or emailed me before October, expect a newsletter soon announcing the arrival of EVERY SOUL A STAR and some other fun updates, including a contest.

p.s. Those of you who have read Jeremy Fink will understand how excited I was to find a mutant red Good & Fruity in the shape of a perfect heart. Seriously, it’s a work of art! I’ll include a picture in my next blog. Assuming I don’t eat it first. Which I probably will.

I just got back from the IRA conference (the International Reading Association, not the tax people!) where I got to meet amazingly dedicated educators from around the country who love and support children’s literature, along with some authors who I’ve admired for a long time (I’ve added their photos to the Author Pals section of my website). I had been looking forward to meeting John Green, author of one of the best-written novels in my recent memory—The Abundance of Katherines. I immediately informed him he was on my “literary crush list” of authors I want to meet the most. (After Judy Blume, Jerry Spinelli had moved up to the top position until we met last year. I got to spend some time with him this week, and he’s truly a rock star. Gracious, unassuming, and funny. We were all staying at the Omni Hotel, which was hit hard in the freak downtown Atlanta tornado a few weeks ago. Jerry’s room was one of those with duct tape on the window to cover the cracks. He reported that he gave it a little push to make sure it was going anywhere. Seems sensible!) Anyway, John asked who else was on my list, so Eoin Colfer, Scott Westerfeld, and J.K. Rowling, if you’re out there, you’re next! :o)

I had three book signings at the conference—the first at the Little Brown booth (they publish most of my books, always make sure I know where I’m going at these things, and bought me a Cinnabon Pretzel when I really needed one). The second was at the Scholastic Book Fair booth (I want to take all the people who work there home with me), and the final one was at the booth run by Anderson’s Bookshop. They’re an awesome independent children’s bookstore outside Chicago in Naperville, IL and have been wonderful supporters of my books ever since A Mango-Shaped Space came out five years ago. Due to a last minute addition to their signing roster, I was seated elbow-to-elbow next to comedian/TV personality/writer Jeff Foxworthy. A lovely man, and judging by the thousands (literally) of flashbulbs that went off during that hour, a very popular one among the female population of the conference. Moral of the story—never sign next to a celebrity if you want to keep your ego intact! It was his idea to each hold up the other’s book for this picture. Anderson’s folks—I still love you!

Me and Jeff Foxworthy holding up each other's books.

To follow up on my last blog about my search for the new Good & Fruity, the internet order arrived as promised. Were they worth the effort I put into searching for them? Well, who can really say. But they were definitely good! Not exactly the way I remembered them, but close. A little sweeter. And now they have a blue one, which I don’t feel is necessary. I did find a mutant Good & Fruity (out of 12 boxes, there HAD to be one!), but I ate it before I could take a picture of it. I managed to hold off eating a mutant Gobstopper that I found last week though, so check it out in my “Fun Stuff” section. As you know if you’ve read Jeremy Fink, I’m big on the mutant candy.

So if I tally up the grams of sugar I consumed by eating ALL TWELVE BOXES, well, let’s just say it’s such a scary number that I’m now OFF CANDY FOR GOOD!!!

Ok. Probably not for good. Especially since I have a HUGE bag of freshly made chocolate from Hershey’s Chocolate World, compliments of the Scholastic Book Fair people after I signed copies of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life at the Pennsylvania Association of School Librarians conference in Hershey, PA. You see why I want to take these people home with me! Did you know they make marshmallow-flavored Hershey’s kisses now? VERY yummy! And Hershey bars with Green Tea in them? Not so yummy! Perhaps they’re an acquired taste.

All right, back to work putting finishing touches on The Candymaker’s Son. Till next month, happy reading! :o)

Ok. This isn’t easy to admit. I may—just may—be having a hard time writing my next book. But who could blame me? It’s called The Candymaker’s Son, and my sweet tooth is making it hard to concentrate on writing. The only problem is that my deadline is rapidly approaching. I can clearly picture my editor checking her watch as she waits for the pages. That said, here’s a peek into my day today. You can decide for yourself how well I did.

1. Drive to library. Pick up book on candy making. Pay huge library fine. Drive to another library. Pick up book on history of candy and jobs in the candy industry. Pay even huger library fine. Joke about sending the librarian’s kid to college with my fines. While driving to third library, keep mini tape recorder by my side to record any sudden bursts of inspiration. Fill it up with reminder to buy flip-flops for the gym shower, eggs because you’re supposed to be able to stand them upright on the first day of Spring, and to revise the opening scene of Chapter Three. Hey, at least the book got in there somewhere.

2. Eat PB&J sandwich, drink V-8 in parking lot of third library while listening to audiobook of New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Wonder if Bella is ever going to be turned into a vampire. Bemoan the fact that it’s noon already and I haven’t started working yet.

3. Enter third library. Hand in the winning poems for the 8th grade county-wide poetry contest I judge each year. Chat with children’s librarian who has become a friend. This is new for me since growing up I got shushed a lot in libraries. Pay fine.

4. Set up laptop in my usual spot by the library fireplace. Fix window shade so sun isn’t on screen. Cover air vents on floor blowing cold air. Switch chairs due to original one having a spider on it.

5. Type notes about history of candy into file marked RESEARCH FOR THE CANDYMAKER’S SON. Answer three emails. Read AOL article on foods for a flat belly. Watch preview for new Indiana Jones movie. Return to note-taking and promise myself not to look up for an hour.

6. Ten minutes later, search frantically through my bag for something sweet. Find a packet of Rolo’s with one Rolo left. Grin. Unwrap. Eat. Go back to work with new, sugar-charged vigor. Learn that chocolate grows on trees and that corn syrup is really just the pulp of corn, and how bad could that really be for you? Learn that candy has been around for 4,000 years, and our abiding love for it has to do with the fond memories of our favorite childhood candies.

7. Daydream about favorite childhood candies--Fun Dip, Volcano Rocks (discontinued), Good ’n Fruity (discontinued), Circus Peanuts, Pine Bros Cherry Cough Drops (not officially candy but should have been. Also discontinued.) Shake myself out of daydream. Return to candy books. Learn that 16 BILLION jelly beans are eaten at Easter time, along with 90 million chocolate bunnies. Wish I had a chocolate bunny right now. Or jelly beans.

8. Revise opening of Chapter Three. Begin Chapter Four, a scene that takes place inside the cotton candy room of my main character’s candy factory. Yes, they have a whole room just for cotton candy. Mind wanders back to childhood favorites. Curiosity gets the best of me. Embark on an internet search for Good ’n Fruity, the candy whose disappearance has been the hardest for me to deal with. Find a petition with over two thousand names calling on Hershey to bring them back. Eagerly sign petition. Then discover that unbelievably, GOOD ’N FRUITY ARE RETURNING TO THE MARKETPLACE! Now! This Very Month! Heart leaps. Mind races. Will they be as good as I remember? The slightly crunchy outside, the chewy fruity inside? Would the box have the black background of my earliest years, the pink one of my adolescence, or the purple one which graced the final box before it was yanked with no warning?

9. With much effort, force myself to go back to work. Keep researching stuff for the book. More I learn about candy, its ingredients, the history of the candymakers who brought it lovingly to this country, the more I can’t stop thinking about that darn Good ’n Fruity.

10. Can’t take it anymore. Pack up my stuff and tell myself that somehow my quest to rediscover this candy of my childhood will put me in a clearer state of mind to write this book.

11. Search the candy shelves of 7-11, CVS, and Shop Rite. Do not find Good ’n Fruity there, but do pick up eggs, flip flops, and a lottery ticket.

12. Pass Best Buy on the way home. Do a u-turn as recall they have candy there by the check-out aisle. No Good ’n Fruity, but I do find a new candy that is pretty much blue goo inside a red tube. The red tube is licorice, and the blue goo has Nerds mixed into it. Cannot pass this up. Wait until I’m in the car to sample it. Nice consistency and sweetness, slightly soapy aftertaste though. Doubt I’ll purchase it again, as it’s really not a candy a grown-up can eat without pretending it’s their kid’s, but it does take the edge off the disappointment of my failed mission.

13. In the interest of my impending deadline and the high price of gas, turn to the Internet after dinner. Track down the illusive Good ’n Fruity at candywarehouse.com. To my surprise, the new incarnation is now called: Good & Fruity. No more “’n” in the middle. I do not think this bodes well. Still, I have to try, and candywarehouse promises to have a box at my doorstep in 5-8 business days. More precisely, they promise to have TWELVE boxes at my doorstep, since I had to buy them in bulk.

14. Quest now behind me, I can return to writing my book. In an office across the Hudson River, my worried editor breathes a sigh of relief.

So did everyone see the lunar eclipse the other night? Wasn’t it awesome?? I took this picture from my backyard and magnified it.

My fingers almost froze, but it was worth it. When I was working on EVERY SOUL A STAR, which is about a total eclipse of the sun, I got hooked on eclipses. I think it’s so interesting that the whole country could have seen this eclipse of the moon (unless it was covered by clouds), but only the smallest areas of the earth can see an eclipse of the sun. We tried to use our new telescope, but every time we centered the moon in the eyepiece, it moved again and we lost it! (The earth constantly rotates, so you have to keep moving the telescope in order to keep something in view). We’re so clueless about how to use it, that we finally had to give up before we missed the entire thing. You’d think the moon would be too big to lose! Apparently not! Binoculars worked almost as well though.

As promised, here’s another excerpt from my 5th grade diary:
“Dear Diary,
I’ve been thinking, when everyone asks me who my boyfriend is I always say Bobby, but a boyfriend is when you like the boy and the boy likes you. Now I’m all mixed up.
Yours Truly, Wendy”

I’m glad to say I finally got THAT all sorted out!

On the last page of the diary I had my younger-by-a-year sister Jennifer “rate” me at the end of each day. Here’s how I did:

Day One: Wendy is a good kid most of the time. We get into fights but we usually make up. She’s smart. 10 +
Day Two: Wendy did not get a good rating today. No offense. Good kid!! She’s tricky. -5
Day Three: We got along good today. She’s nice. 10
Day Four: Wendy was very nice to me today so I am going to give her a very high rating. 100.
Day Five: Wendy let me make rice krispy treats and she gave me TWO complements. 1000+

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that we’re all different people to each person who knows us. Our parents see us one way, each of our friends another, our teachers a whole other way, etc. No one really gets the whole picture because we act differently around each person. We show different sides of us. This is what made me choose the opening quote for my second book, LEAP DAY – “The real you is who you are when no one’s watching.” So in keeping with this theme, I thought it would be fun to look back over my old report cards to see what my teachers thought of me:

Grade 3 – “Now that Wendy has begun to rely on her own good judgment, instead of a friend’s, her workbook and worksheets are much improved.”
Ok, so is this my teacher’s way of saying I was...gasp…CHEATING? Harrumph!

Grade 5 – “Wendy’s papers should be done more neatly.”
I’m sure this was true. My handwriting is still horrible.

Grade 6 – In the section under “Personal and Social Growth” my teacher wrote: “Inconsistent self-control.”
What does that mean? That I answered questions without raising my hand? Did I get up and dance on the desk? Alas, it is lost to the sands of time.

At least my 8th grade Hebrew School teacher appreciated me! She had this to say on my progress report: “Wendy is a lovely girl and a real pleasure in the class. She has a high interest level and great ability to learn. Let us teach her and encourage further studies in Judaism! Let’s also try for better attendance!” I love the dig at the end about how often I was absent. I’m not surprised. After all, instead of using a rabbi when we got married, my husband and I each had a close friend ordained over the internet to co-officiate. Instead of a rabbinical robe, his friend wore a college graduation gown, while mine wore a long black coat like Keanu Reeves wore in the Matrix movies. Actually, it WAS the one Keanu Reeves wore (or at least the Halloween costume version). Instead of reciting the prayer over the wine during the ceremony, my friend mistakenly recited the prayer over the Chanukah candles instead. It was pretty funny. Maybe if I hadn’t been absent so many days during Hebrew school I could have prepared him better. :o)

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful Leap Day on the 29th (or HAD a wonderful Leap Day, depending on when you’re reading this!). I had a lot of fun learning about what it would be like to be born on this day when I was doing the research for LEAP DAY. Take advantage of this extra day and do something special. I’m planning on learning a new magic trick and donating business clothes I don’t wear anymore to my local Dress for Success branch. You can also donate fancy dresses like prom and bridesmaid dresses to the glass slipper project (www.glassslipperproject.org) which offers prom dresses to girls who might have trouble affording them otherwise.

Leap On, everyone!

Thank you to everyone who commented on my new site and first blog. I really appreciate the kind words. My sister Allison says I should write about the time she put a big garbage bag full of hand-me-down baby clothes in the backseat of my car as a surprise, but realized 10 hours later she had actually put her GARBAGE in my car, since they were both by her front door.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my car (which had been sitting in the sun all day) and was greeted by the smell of cat litter and rotten eggs. Good thing I love my sister.

So I just discovered in my diary that there was a point in my life I didn’t like reading! I couldn’t believe it. Here’s what I wrote on February 14th, when I was ten years old:

“Today was pretty great. I got 11 valentines, and Miss Goodman gave out big heart shaped lollypops, were they ever delicious! We also didn’t have reading witch I’m glad about. We had science. I love science! It’s so neat! I pulled a fast one on Mrs. Lahm in piano. I said I had my report on Beethoven in my Chord Speller, but I also forgot my Chord Speller! From, Wendy.”

I love the fact that I spelled Beethoven correctly, but messed up on witch/which! The very next day I apparently had a change of heart. You’ll notice below that my best friend was also named Wendy, except her last name started with a “B”. A lot of the stories in Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall were inspired by our “misadventures”. Wendy really helped a lot with the end of the book, too. She’s a very deep person. She’s probably never even HEARD of American Idol. Which I’m about to go watch as soon as I finish this. But I digress.

February 15
“Lunch time was the best! Me and Wendy B. got to stay in Mrs. Horey’s room and look through magazines for a picture of a typewriter for the talent show. I found one, but Wendy B. found two and Mrs. Horey took hers. We did have reading today. It really wasn’t that bad. I think I’m beginning to like it. After school I played with Robin. It was fun. Allison said Bobby smiled at me. I don’t know if I should believe her. From, Wendy”

I seem to remember that back in 5th grade when I wrote these things, “reading” meant reading out loud, not reading to ourselves. I was very nervous having to read in front of people. I’m glad it didn’t scare me away from reading on my own, because I can’t even imagine my life without books in it. Although there would be a lot more room in my house!

Check out my Author Pals section for some new photos from this weekend. And below is a sneak peek of the cover for my next book, Every Soul a Star. It’s not coming out until September but I really love the cover and couldn’t wait to share it.

Parting thought: “We do not see things as they are. We see them as WE are.” - Kare Anderson

Cheers,
Wendy

Welcome to my first blog, and my new and improved web site. I hope you enjoy looking around. If there’s anything you don’t see here that you’d like to, please leave a comment below. You’ll notice on my contact page that my email address has changed.

I’ll be using this space partly to talk about book stuff—what books I’m loving, what new projects I have going on, and fun stuff like the fact that my first novel, A Mango-Shaped Space, is going to be made into a Manga comic in Korea! Mango/Manga, I guess it was fated to be.

I’d really like this to be interactive. Feel free to say what’s on your mind and I will too. I’m big on making lists. I honestly couldn’t function in life without a daily list. I even have to write “shower” on my list or else I might forget. So, in no particular order, here are some things on my mind today:

1. Since my New Year’s resolutions (things like work out more, eat candy less) usually just get transferred to the list the following year, I’ve decided to go easy on myself this year and do something that I might actually have a chance of sticking to. In 2008, I resolve not to click on any headline that has the words “Britney” and “Spears” in it. If I had back all the time I’ve spent reading about her antics (and those of her celebrity peers), I could have written another book! Plus, I’m starting to feel sorry for her. Can you imagine if your every waking moment was documented for the world to see? I shudder at the thought.

2. Quote of the day: “Most of the shadows in this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.” -- Ralph Waldo Emerson. I used this quote in Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life because I liked it so much. Emerson was talking about how we put limitations on ourselves and hold ourselves back. Life has a way of doing this all on its own; it doesn’t need our help. If we always tell ourselves negative things, we’ll start to believe them. I invite all of you to join me in this one—dwell on the positive, give yourself a break, don’t block your own sunshine.

3. When I write a book I always have to figure out the title before I can start writing. I work really hard at coming up with the right title to reflect the kind of book it is. Some are easier and some take more time. For instance, it took me weeks to come up with Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall, while Leap Day was pretty obvious since the book takes place on Leap Day. So when I see a great title on a book in the store, it always catches my attention. Favorite book title of the day, spotted in Borders in Rockaway, NJ: Stop Dressing your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank. Love it!

4. My mother recently made me a scrapbook of my childhood. I couldn’t believe the things she’d kept. My pre-school diploma! A photo of me in our driveway where the snow is taller than I am. The stuffed purple shark I got a “D” on in sewing class in eighth grade (do they still HAVE sewing class??). She also saved my diary from 5th grade. It ends abruptly when one of my sisters found it hidden under my mattress and told the boy I had a crush on that I liked him. I never kept a diary again. Lesson learned: never hide anything under your mattress, that’s the first place snooping sisters look! In my next blog I’ll include some funny passages from the diary.

5. Ok, it’s getting late and I have the second half of Season Three of LOST to watch on DVD before Season Four starts in a few weeks. I’ve gotta say, this Writer’s Guild strike is giving me a lot of extra time at night with no new sitcoms to watch. Although as a card-carrying member of the Guild, I do hope it ends soon so everyone can get back to work. (Not too soon though. It has also come in handy when my husband asks me to do something around the house. I simply shake my head and say, “I can’t, I’m on strike.”)

Cheers, and Happy New Year!

Wendy