Good Night, Blog

I'm officially putting this blog into retirement, at least for the immediate future. I'll leave it up in case anyone is interested in reading through older posts, but for the latest info and to be in touch with me directly, please visit my website and/or my Facebook author page.

Thanks!

Marilyn's Monster Maryland Mini-Tour!

Matt Phelan and I will be hitting the road next week with Marilyn's Monster!

We'll be visiting several schools and also doing some afternoon and evening events that will be open to the public. Here's the scoop!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015, 7:00pm: Join us at the Takoma Park Library in Takoma Park, Maryland! We'll be reading and talking about Marilyn's Monster (and anything else you'd like to talk about). Free and open to the public; books will be available for purchase/signing (thanks to Politics and Prose bookstore).

Friday, May 15, 2015, 3:00pm: We'll be signing books at The Children's Bookstore in Baltimore. Come say hi and get a signed book! (And maybe a mini-monster, too!)

Saturday, May 16, 2015, 12:15pm: The final destination of our mini-tour — the Gaithersburg Book Festival! Book signing to follow directly after our presentation.

Marilyn's Monster Book Party TODAY, April 18!

Can't wait for today's MARILYN'S MONSTER PARTY at WORD Brooklyn! Marilyn's Monster is my new picture book, illustrated by the amazing Matt Phelan. It looks like this:

And do you know what else will be at the party? CUPCAKES. Also, MONSTERS!

So if you're in the NYC area, I hope you'll come by! Hear a story, get a signed book if you like, eat some cupcakes, color and do fun kid-friendly activities, and take home a free mini-monster of your very own! My other books will also be available for signing if you want to stock up! :)

Exciting Things!

SO MANY exciting things to tell you! In mostly reverse chronological order, here are a bunch of them:

1. First, the most time-sensitive: I'll be reading/talking/signing with an AMAZING lineup of other YA authors at the NYC Teen Author Festival event at McNally Jackson Books tonight at 7pm! More info here at the NYCTAF website. I'll also be signing books tomorrow from 2:30–3:00pm as part of the No-Foolin' Mega Signing at Books of Wonder!

2. Second, my new picture book Marilyn's Monster is finally out and about, and Matt Phelan and I had a wonderful launch party for it at Children's Book World in Haverford, PA! If you missed the party, don't be sad! You can still come to my Marilyn's Monster party at WORD in Brooklyn on April 18!

3. Now that the whirlwind of new-book-coming-out stuff is calming down (a little), I can take a breath and tell you the super exciting news that Evil Librarian won the 2015 Sid Fleischman Award for Humor! I was completely blown away by this and still haven't quite recovered. I'm so honored and can't wait to officially accept the award at the SCBWI Annual Conference in Los Angeles this August! You can see more about the award and the full list of Golden Kite award winners and honorees at the SCBWI website.

4. The UK edition of Evil Librarian comes out on April 2! I received my lovely advance copy in the mail just the other day. >:)

5. Evil Librarian is on the 2015-16 master list for the Green Mountain Book Award! Vermont students will be reading and voting on the nominated books over the coming year to choose a winner (to be announced next May).

6. I'm very happy to share that I've joined the Writing for Young People MFA faculty at Lesley University! I'll be teaching starting this June, and am super excited to be working with such a talented group of fellow writers, including the also-just-starting-in-June Jason Reynolds!!

It's Pub Day for Marilyn's Monster!

Know what is super exciting? When a book you've been working on for a long time is finally released into the world. And today is the day that happens for my new picture book Marilyn's Monster! It has beautiful, beautiful illustrations by the amazing and wonderful Matt Phelan. Here is the cover so you can begin to see what I mean:

And here is what reviews have been saying so far:

"Rich with feeling, it’s a warm, gently funny reminder to chase down one’s dreams, rather than waiting for them to appear on the doorstep." —Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"A surprising spin on monsters with nicely effective artwork—and heart." —Kirkus

"Knudsen’s charming story is a great fit for Phelan’s gentle watercolor-and-pencil illustrations. With just a few lines and brushstrokes, he depicts the wide range of Marilyn’s emotions, from wary hopefulness to sullen grumpiness to, finally, utter joy. The whimsical, friendly monsters are equally expressive, and their supernatural antics in the background will tickle funny bones. Little ones feeling lonely or worried about making friends will be empowered by Marilyn’s determined, take-charge attitude." —Booklist

"Knudsen’s brilliantly simple narrative and Phelan’s whimsical pencil and watercolor drawings speak to the universal need for belonging and the anxiety born of impatience ... Every one of Phelan’s monsters is wonderfully weird, and readers will have fun noting similarities between them and their human friends." —School Library Journal

"A charmer ... Ms. Knudsen has packed a surprising amount of relatable emotion into this story of humility and derring-do." —Wall Street Journal

Also, it is a Junior Library Guild selection!

You can read and/or download a fun Q&A with Matt and me on the Candlewick Press website. 

And you can see some of Matt's early sketches for the book on his blog.

Finally, see yesterday's post for how you can get a signed copy! It's too late to pre-order (now that the book is out, you'll just be, you know, regular ordering, but that is also good!) but you can still order a signed/personalized copy from Word Brooklyn, and/or you can come to the launch party at Children's Book World on March 14 to meet Matt and me and have cake and stuff!

LAST CHANCE TO PRE-ORDER MARILYN'S MONSTER!

Hey, look, it's my blog! I had sort of misplaced it for a while. But thankfully I'm back just in time to tell you that TONIGHT IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK BECAUSE IT COMES OUT ***TOMORROW***!!!

What book, you ask? I will tell you! It's my new picture book MARILYN'S MONSTER, illustrated by the incomparable Matt Phelan! Look at the beautiful cover! But then keep reading for important info below.

1. You can pre-order a signed copy NOW from WORD in Brooklyn, NY. If you pre-order by March 9, they'll send the book out to you on or just after release day (or if you live nearby, you can stop in and pick it up). Place your order here, and be sure to specify either the name of the person(s) to whom you'd like the book inscribed or "signature only" in the comments field.

2. If you live near Haverford, PA, you can come to the MARILYN'S MONSTER LAUNCH PARTY! The wonderful Children's Book World is throwing us a celebration, and Matt and I would love for you to come. Signed books, fun activities, and CAKE! Here is the info:

Saturday, March 14th, 1:00pm
Matt Phelan & Michelle Knudsen
Launch Party for Marilyn’s Monster
17 Haverford Station Rd., Haverford, PA 19041
610.642.6274

You can, of course, order the book from anywhere you like, but you can only get signed books in the ways listed above. And even if you don't want a signed book, I still encourage you to support independent bookstores! You probably have an awesome indie bookstore right there in your very own town. And if not, pick one in some other town and they will ship books out to you. 

Evil Librarian Twitter Chat TODAY

Join me today at 4pm EDT for an Evil Librarian Twitter chat! Use #EvilLibrarian. Ask questions! Answer trivia! Win prizes!

Chat will be moderated by Candlewick Press. Hope to see you there!

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 8!

Last stop on the blog tour! Q&A over at Book Chic. Thanks to all the bloggers who participated, and to everyone who followed along!

If you haven't yet, please check out all the previous stops on the tour!

September 9: WhoRuBlog (Guest Post)

September 10: Random Chalk Talk (Guest Post)

September 11: Books 4 Your Kids (Q&A)

September 12: Green Bean Teen Queen (Guest Post)

September 13: Elizabeth O. Dulemba (Guest Post)

September 15: Katie's Book Blog (Guest Post)

September 16: Word Spelunking (Guest Post)

September 17: Book Chic Club (Q&A)

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 7!

Today on the blog tour I'm talking sweets over at Word Spelunking. SWEETS!

Also, you could win a free copy of Evil Librarian!

Also, SWEETS!

Go visit!

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 6!

Today I'm at Katie's Book Blog, talking about my favorite musical theater chorus experiences. :)

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 5!

Today I'm over at Elizabeth O. Dulemba's blog, talking about some of the writing process behind Evil Librarian. Please come visit, and enter to win a free copy of the book while you're there!

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 4!

Come visit me today over at Green Bean Teen Queen, where I talk about some of my favorite musical theater songs (because there's a musical theater/Sweeney Todd subplot in the book, and also because musical theater = awesome).

Also, don't forget that the Evil Librarian official launch party is happening TONIGHT at WORD bookstore in Brooklyn! Full details here. I hope you can come and help me celebrate! Free and open to the public.

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 3!

Today on the blog tour I'm over at books4yourkids.com, answering Tanya's really great interview questions!

Also a reminder for anyone in the NYC area that tomorrow is the official launch party for Evil Librarian! It's at WORD in Greenpoint Brooklyn, staring at 7pm. You can see all the info here. (RSVP encouraged but not required — you can totally decide to just come by at the last minute! There will be SO MUCH FOOD AND DRINKS and also many delicious mini cupcakes.)

Evil Librarian Blog Tour Day 2!

Come visit me today over at Random Chalk Talk, where I share part of my writing playlist for Evil Librarian!

ALSO! Please join me on Twitter on Friday, September 19 at 4:00pm for a post-tour Twitter chat with hashtag #EvilLibrarian! You could win a signed copy! See you there!

Evil Librarian Pub Day and Blog Tour!

IT'S EVIL LIBRARIAN PUB DAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I am super excited. Can you tell that I am super excited?

That means today is the day you can find EVIL LIBRARIAN out in the world, ideally in your favorite local independent bookstore, but also in various other bookselling places and libraries (except maybe evil ones).

It ALSO means that today is the first day of the EVIL LIBRARIAN BLOG TOUR! You can find me at my first stop on the tour: over at Liza Wiemer's WhoRuBlog.

Here's the whole list of blog tour stops for the next week or so. I hope you'll come visit me along the way!

September 9: WhoRuBlog (Guest Post)

September 10: Random Chalk Talk (Guest Post)

September 11: Books 4 Your Kids (Q&A)

September 12: Green Bean Teen Queen (Guest Post)

September 13: Elizabeth O. Dulemba (Guest Post)

September 15: Katie's Book Blog (Guest Post)

September 16: Word Spelunking (Guest Post)

September 17: Book Chic Club (Q&A)

If you've already read the book, or whenever you do read it, please consider posting reviews on Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, your local library website, etc.! Reviews are a great way to help spread the word (and help authors that you like to reach more readers). I also welcome comments on this blog, and you can email me through my website, as well.

I would also like to give a shared-pub-day shout out to fellow authors Caroline Carlson, whose second book in The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series, The Terror of the Southlands, comes out today, and Matt Phelan, whose lovely picture book Druthers comes out today, too!

EVIL LIBRARIAN BOOK TRAILER

Hey look, it's the book trailer for EVIL LIBRARIAN!

Director/Animator: Brent Felker

Illustrator: Barbara Ng

Composer: Joemca

Voice: Jessica Luck

Something to tide you over until you can get your hands on a shiny new copy TOMORROW!

Also tomorrow: check back here for links to all my blog tour stops over the next eight days!

As for tonight, you've still got a couple of hours to be super awesome and pre-order your copy of the book. After tonight, you'll just be buying the book like a regular person. (Which is still awesome, it's just not quite as super awesome as pre-ordering.)

And don't forget to come party with me and a whole bunch of other people at WORD this Friday, September 12: https://www.facebook.com/events/263292263860273/

(There will be food and drinks and lollipops will little devil heads on them. You really don't want to miss this, I think.)

EVIL LIBRARIAN IS COMING

Less than three weeks until my new book (and debut YA novel) EVIL LIBRARIAN is set free to roam the Earth! I could not be more excited. Here is some news about the release and pre-ordering and the PARTY that will be happening in Brooklyn very soon!

But first, please look at how awesome the full jacket design is:

The designer is Matt Roeser, because I am the luckiest girl in the world.

OK so here is important information you need to know about this book:

1. The release date is September 9, 2014.

2. You can pre-order RIGHT NOW, and I hope that you will. Pre-ordering is THE most important thing you can do to help an author's book. Among other things, pre-orders get rolled into the first week's sales figures, which can help get a book onto a best-seller list. It also signals to the stores that there's a demand for the book, which might encourage them to order more copies for the store, which will help it to stand out on the shelves and be discovered by new people, and so on. (Two good posts that explain the importance of pre-orders really well are these by Kevin Hearne and Brian McClellan, if you would like to know more.)

3. You can pre-order from anywhere you like, but if you pre-order from WORD in Brooklyn, I can sign it for you! Then you can either pick it up at the store (at the party or any other time on or after 9/9/14), or have it shipped to you wherever you are. You can order from WORD here; just put a note in the comments field saying whom you would like the book signed to (e.g., "For Sue and Linda" or "Happy birthday, Joe") or say "just signature" if you want it signed but not personalized.

4. WHAT'S THAT ABOUT A PARTY? I'll be celebrating the book's release with some of my very favorite book people at WORD on Friday, September 12, at 7:00pm, and you are invited! See the handy launch party invite on Facebook for all the details. RSVPs encouraged, but not required.

5. The book has been getting some great reviews, which makes me really happy. Here are some particularly nice little snippets, plus the very kind words from Stephenie Meyer (you know, she wrote those Twilight books you may have heard of) that appear on the back cover, in case you can't see them clearly in the picture above. :)

[A] self-aware supernatural dramedy... The writing is clever, the tone wry, and the stakes high, with surprises that keep the plot unpredictable. Cyn’s internal monologue provides plenty of amusement, especially when her hormones threaten to overpower her common sense. It’s an entertaining tale with room for future installments.
— Publishers Weekly

Snappily narrated, tightly plotted and generally just right. Forget paranormal romance; this horror-humor-romance pastiche is where those in search of hot nonhumans should set their sights.
— Kirkus Reviews

"If Louise Rennison and Christopher Moore had a bibliographic love child it would be this cheekily narrated supernatural offering."
— School Library Journal

Hysterical! Smart and funny, with a little drama, a little romance, and just the right touch of evil.
— Stephenie Meyer, author of the bestselling Twilight Saga

Guest Post at What Was on Her ...

Come visit me today over at Sandra Nickel's What Was on Her ... blog, where I talk about my most evil plan, karaoke favorites, and other fun things. Also, information you need to know about appropriate numbers of spiders.

BEA 2014 Schedule!

So excited for BEA this week! If you want to get a signed EVIL LIBRARIAN galley, here's where to find me:

WEDNESDAY: BEA Blogger Conference Party (Javits Room 1A06) 3:45–5:00pm

FRIDAY: Candlewick Booth #2857 galley signing 2:30–3:30pm

I'll also be at the ABA Silent Auction Wednesday evening, Friday afternoon's ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch, and various other places around the floor on Friday throughout the day. Please come find me and say hello!

Princess of Trelian in paperback!

It's paperback pub day for The Princess of Trelian! 

As always, I strongly encourage you to get a copy at your local independent bookstore, but it's also available at Barnes & Noble and on Amazon. 

If you want a signed and/or personalized copy, you should order from WORD bookstore in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They'll let me know and I'll head over to sign a copy just for you! (If you only see the hardcover listed, just click "other editions of this title" to get to the paperback.)

If you've already read The Princess of Trelian and are waiting for book 3 ... I can tell you that the third book is now scheduled for fall of 2015. I'll post more specific details when I have them! :)