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.

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!

Big Mean Mike storytime in Montclair, NJ!

I'll be reading and signing Big Mean Mike at Watchung Booksellers TOMORROW (Saturday), March 16, at 10:30am!

I would love to see you there!

BIG MEAN MIKE pre-order drive and book party!

For a limited time only, pre-order a signed, personalized copy of my new picture book, BIG MEAN MIKE!

Between now and August 7, you can pre-order my new book from WORD in Brooklyn, and I will sign it, and they will either:

• send it to you the week of the book’s release on August 14!

or

• hold it for you to pick up in person at the BIG MEAN MIKE BOOK PARTY on September 15!

Some important things:

1. You only have about a week to place your order! Only orders received by August 7 will be able to be signed and personalized in time for mailing.
2. If you want the book personalized (e.g., “For Margaret” or “Happy birthday, Uncle Len!”), just let us know in the comments field when you order.
3. If you’d like to pick up your pre-ordered copy in person at the BIG MEAN MIKE BOOK PARTY on September 15 instead of having it shipped to you the week of August 14, please mention that in the comments field, too.
4. Feel free to order some of my other books at the same time! :)

Here is a handy link for ordering:  http://www.wordbrooklyn.com/michelle-knudsen

More information on the book party to come soon, but I can tell you that it will be at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Saturday, September 15, from 4–6pm, and also that it will be very fun and if you live in the NYC area, you should come! Children are welcome and encouraged. Some of my other books (Library Lion, Argus, The Dragon of Trelian, The Princess of Trelian) will also be available for purchase/signing at the party.

Stay tuned for more info. In the meantime, feel free to post questions below or email me through my website.

NYC book signing May 12!

I'll be signing books with other authors at the fabulous Books of Wonder next Saturday, May 12, from noon to 2pm. Come get signed copies of The Dragon of Trelian and/or The Princess of Trelian, meet other authors and check out their books, and support a great NYC independent bookstore! 

You can see full event info here. I've also started an event page on Facebook, if you'd like to RSVP (not necessary, but it would be great to know if you're coming!).

If you can't make it, you can still order a signed book through the store, and I'll sign it on the day of the event.

Library Lion in Ireland!

A friend spotted Library Lion on the "staff picks" shelf at The Gutter Bookshop in Dublin, Ireland. Yay!

Boulevard Books & Cafe, This Weekend!

Come see me at Boulevard Books & Cafe this Saturday, January 28! (This is a rescheduling of last week's event, which was postponed due to the snow.)

I'll be reading Argus and Library Lion, signing books (both picture books plus The Dragon of Trelian), and there will also be fun activities for kids!

NEW DATE: Saturday, January 28, 2012
11:00am
Boulevard Books & Cafe LLC
7518 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228-2410

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/179336918832486/
(RSVP not required, but it would be great to know if you're coming!)

WORD 3rd Annual Holiday Open House - This Weekend!

Come to WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn this weekend for their fabulous holiday open house! Authors will be on hand to make book recommendations (their own and their favorites written by other people) and to gift wrap your purchases for you. Oh and of course, signing books, too! :)


I'll be there tomorrow 12/11 at 3pm, but the fun starts today with Sarah MacLean (The Love By the Numbers series), Michael Showalter (Mr. Funny Pants), and Emma Straub (Other People We Married), Michael Buckley (NERDS, The Sisters Grimm), and Fiona Robinson. You can see the full schedule and author lineup here.

Birthday / Argus Book Launch Party

Last night's party at WORD for Argus (and my birthday!) was fabulous fun! Thank you, so much, everyone who came in person and those who were there in spirit! I gave my first public reading of the book to the best audience I could ask for, and we had Q&A and cupcakes and champagne and sold out of Arguses before the night was through!

Here are a few pictures for those of you who couldn't be there:

WORD looking all cozy and inviting. Come on in!

Mmmm....delicious celebratory snacks and beverages!

Yay for Argus!

Beginning my first public reading of Argus for a wonderful group.

(I make a lot of faces when I read, apparently.)

Signing books, with some help from my lovely assistant.

I had so much fun. WORD was wonderful, and it was great to see so many friends from past and present! Thank you for giving Argus such a lovely warm welcome and for making my birthday a night to remember.

* * *

You can buy copies of Argus at your favorite real-life or online bookseller. Click here to see where you can get Argus at an independent bookseller near you.

Argus is here!

Hooray! Today is the release date of my new picture book, ARGUS!

It is also my birthday. And it is also the date of my birthday/book launch party at WORD in Brooklyn this evening!

Details:
Birthday/Book Launch Party for Michelle and Argus!
WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
126 Franklin Street
TONIGHT! February 22, 2011
6:30–8:30pm
http://wordbrooklyn.com/event/birthdaylaunch-party-michelle-knudsen

I hope you can come! I will be reading and signing and there will be books and cupcakes and other good things. Children and adults are equally welcome!

Saturday Six

1. Update: 2011 has been keeping me pretty busy so far. I've been teaching my class at Gotham Writers' Workshop, working on final revisions of my Trelian sequel, writing new picture book drafts, thinking about my next big project, doing a little freelance editing, and trying to still find some time to see friends and my nice boyfriend and go for walks and other things. I also got to spend a lovely long weekend at Kindling Words, recharging my writerly energy and wearing a fancy dress to a masquerade ball.

2. Twitter tells me that today is International Save Libraries Day. (Personally, I think every day should be International Save Libraries Day.) You can participate in the library love by going to your local library, joining if you're not already a member, and checking out a book or three. You can also use the #savelibraries hashtag on Twitter to show your support, and write to your local legislators to let them know libraries matter! I've just added a widget to this page in the column at right (thanks, ALA website!) that will help you identify and contact your local legislators.

(Thanks, Phil Bradley, for the library word art!)

3. I'm teaching a free one-hour children's book writing workshop for Gotham Writers' Workshop tomorrow evening, 6–7pm, at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. If you don't have Super Bowl party plans, come learn about writing for children, instead!

4. WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint is hosting a birthday/book launch party for my new picture book, Argus! It's February 22 (my birthday!) from 6:30–8:30pm. There will be cupcakes and books and general merriment. Grown-ups and children of all ages are welcome. I hope to see you there! If you're on Facebook, you can RSVP here or here (or both), but no official RSVP required—just come on over!

5. My former teacher (and current all-around person of awesomeness) Cynthia Leitich Smith is on tour for her new novel, Blessed! Check out the full schedule and go get yourself a signed book. NYC events start tomorrow and continue through the week.

6. OK, I think I really only had five things today. So I will use #6 here to remind you that The Dragon of Trelian is out in paperback as of last month, and you should probably go get yourself a copy. Or give it as a Valentine's Day gift to a special young reader (or old reader) in your life. Yay!

Upcoming Events

I have some book signings and events coming up, and would love to see you!

Thursday, May 27, 1:30pm: I'll be at BEA, signing Library Lion at the Candlewick Booth.

Saturday, June 5, 2-4pm: Come to the Dragon Day event at the Voracious Reader! I'll be reading and signing The Dragon of Trelian. Kate Klimo, author of the Dragon Keepers books, will be there, too!

Sunday, June 27, 11:30am: I'll be at ALA, signing Library Lion and The Dragon of Trelian. I'll also have postcards for my new picture book, ARGUS, which comes out next Spring!

You can always see an ongoing list of upcoming events in the right-hand column of this blog.

Random Photo of the Month

This afternoon I happened across this very fun photo of me, Lev Grossman, and Maura Madden at a Word Bookstore event this past December. AMAZINGLY, we just happen to be standing in a row reading one another's books. What are the odds? ;)



It was a nice reminder of a lovely afternoon at the store, meeting great authors and enjoying the hospitality of the wonderful folks at Word. For more photos from this and other events, see Word Brooklyn's Photostream on Flickr.

Bloggety Blog

There probably ARE people who blog less often than I do out there, right? I mean, even excepting all those people who do not actually have blogs. Once again, I am here to promise to do better. And now I will tell you all about how busy I have been and will continue to be and thereby lay the foundation for future infrequent blog posting.

I don't even remember where I left off. I will go check. *Consults previous post* Oh, right. Baltimore Book Festival! It was great. Had a lovely time reading Library Lion and an excerpt from The Dragon of Trelian, and signed some books and chatted with lovely authors and illustrators and bookstore people. And I bought a shirt from these nice folks. Then I spent a couple of days with my nice friends Bridey and Joe and little Evie, and went to Evie's third birthday party at a FARM with a PETTING ZOO and there were CHICKENS and BABY GOATS and OTHER FUN ANIMALS. I gave Evie books for her birthday, of course.

Last weekend I went back to Baltimore for the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association conference, which was awesome. I went two years ago when Library Lion received the 2007 NAIBA Children's Picture Book Award and once again I had a great time. Booksellers are really nice, fun people. And they love books. And there were other nice publishing types and authors and illustrators there as well, and I got to talk to people about the novel and hear about other authors' books and generally just had a wonderful time. Plus I scored so many free books that I had to send a box home from the hotel. Yay!

In other news, I am continuing to work on the sequel to The Dragon of Trelian, the first draft of which will be finished by the end of the year. And I'm still working on my critical thesis for my MFA, which will also be finished by the end of the year, but hopefully sooner—say, by my next packet deadline, which is November 10. ALSO working on a new YA novel for school, which started out great and fun and exciting but has been less great lately...still trying to figure out what the deal is with this story.

What else...on October 17 I will be at the Mandell School Book Fair, and on October 24 I will be reading Library Lion to help celebrate the opening of Brooklyn's new Greenlight Bookstore, and on October 31 I will be reading from The Dragon of Trelian while dressed as a princess at the New York Public Library Shop at the NYPL main branch. And on November 7, I will be at the FABULOUS Rochester Children's Book Festival in Rochester, NY, which is my favorite event to go to every year. This time I'll be doing a joint presentation with Rebecca Stead in addition to signing books and talking with kids and parents and teachers and other authors and anyone else who comes out that day! If you are in the area you should definitely come. This is the 13th year of the festival, and it just keeps getting better and better.

And then on December 12, I'll be reading and signing books at the Elmira Barnes & Noble in Elmira, NY.

And because I apparently did not already have enough on my plate, I am in the ensemble of the Village Light Opera Group's fall production of Starship Pinafore. You should all come see it, because it will be AWESOME and a lot of fun. If you know me personally, you can email me directly for tickets. Otherwise, you can get them online here. Performance dates are:

Friday, November 13 at 8pm
Saturday, November 14 at 8pm
Friday, November 20 at 8pm
Saturday, November 21 at 2pm
Sunday, November 22 at 2pm

And, as always, I have been playing lots of Facebook Scrabble and reading lots of books. (If you are curious about what I'm reading, you can always check out my reading list on Goodreads.)

And I suppose that is enough for this update. I should get back to work!

Hello and pelicans and interview and things

Yikes - more than a month since my last post. Busy, busy, as usual.

But you know, I've been thinking that maybe it's not such a bad thing that I don't post more often. Whenever I fall behind on reading other people's blogs, I am always a little distressed to see 12 or 34 or 119 new posts waiting to be read on each blog I follow. Sometimes it's nice to see that only one or two posts have gone up while I've been too busy to read regularly. So maybe it's nice for anyone out there reading this blog to know that if you don't check in every day, you're not going to miss tons and tons of posts. I am the intermittent blog reader's blogger!

Anyway. Now that I'm here, quick update.

Just got back last night from a lovely vacation in sunny, sunny Florida with my nice boyfriend. We visited his friend Erin there, and had a great time. Here is a picture of me, in Florida:



There are lots of pelicans in Florida. They are cool, but also kind of creepy up close. They often look as though they are sizing you up for possible ingestion.


While I was in Florida, I stopped in at Haslam's Book Store, which is huge and wonderful and if you are in the area, you should go there. I happen to know there is a signed first edition of Library Lion waiting for you! Or at least there was, as of several days ago, when I signed it. They sell both new and used books. I bought a choose-your-own-adventure-type Dungeons & Dragons book from 1983 called Dragon of Doom. I am very excited to read it. I used to love those choose-your-own adventure stories. And with a dragon theme...well, it seems just up my alley. :)

I am now getting ready to head out again on Saturday for my next residency at The Vermont College of Fine Arts. I'll be kicking off my third semester in the program, and am very excited to see my VCFA friends and find out who my next advisor will be!

While I was away, Amy Kraft of Media Macaroni posted her recent interview with me. You can see it here, and there are some additional questions and answers on the Hooked on Phonics blog. There's a photo of me in the Media Macaroni interview that shows my dragon tattoo. (Nope, it's not Jakl - a lot of people ask me that!)

Amy and I actually sat down and talked in PERSON. It's the first interview I've done in a long time that wasn't conducted over email. It's harder to make your answers sound smart when you have to just, you know, SAY them, on the spot. But Amy asked such great questions and it was very fun to chat with her. Also, there was iced coffee.

OK - I am supposed to be doing a million things to get ready for school. But I wanted to check in because it had been so long, and also to let people know about the interview!

I hope you're all having a great summer so far. I probably won't post again until late July. So don't worry if you are going on vacation and will be away from your blog reader for a while. I won't get too far ahead of you, I promise. :)

Dragon of Trelian Update

I had a wonderful time at the First Annual Hudson Children's Book Festival yesterday. It was lovely to see so many author and illustrator friends and to make some nice new ones. Thanks to everyone who came out for the event and bought books and chatted with authors and illustrators and listened to stories and attended panels and participated in activities!

When you run into author friends you haven't seen since the last conference or festival, two questions often come up:

(1) How's the new book doing?
(2) What are you working on now?

It's been just over a month since The Dragon of Trelian came out, and I'm really happy about its reception so far. I still need to add a lot of this information to the book page on my website, but here's a roundup of some of the responses to the book...

First, I am so excited to say that The Dragon of Trelian has been selected for The Summer 2009 Children's Indie Next List!

It has also received nice reviews from some of the print journals. Here are excerpts:

“Appealing characterization” and “charmingly honest portrayals of family life, the dizzying heartbreak of first romance, the insecurities of loneliness and the rewards of scholarship....[T]he narrative moves at a brisk clip to a satisfying conclusion, with a broad hint of sequels. A promising start.” —Kirkus

“Calen and Meg’s easygoing, entirely believable friendship is the core of this adventurous first novel. Meg is gutsy and impulsive, while Calen is thoughtful and steadfast; and they make an appealing duo....[A] solid addition to the fantasy genre.” —Booklist

“[T]his strong debut novel should find a welcoming audience among Gail Carson Levine and Shannon Hale fans.” —Horn Book

Readers have been saying absolutely lovely things about it on Goodreads and LibraryThing. I can't tell you how good that makes me feel, to know that people are reading and liking my novel!

Several bloggers have also posted reviews, including:

Janet Fox at Through the Wardrobe
Marcus at The Rad Librarian
Greg Leitich Smith at GregLSBlog
Sheila Ruth at Wands and Worlds

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write a review and put it up to share with other readers. I'm not usually comfortable responding directly to reviewers; the etiquette rules are fuzzy on this, I think. As far as I know, it is rarely if ever considered appropriate for authors to respond to print reviews, but some authors do seem to feel okay about responding to online reviews. I still feel odd about that, though, so I wanted to say a general and public thank-you here, to all of you. The first few months after publication can be a very weird and scary time for an author—the book is out there, in the world, on its own...people are reading it(!), or maybe they're not(!!).... Hearing back from readers is so important, and of course it's especially wonderful to hear positive things! :) So thank you again, and I hope to hear back from more of you, either via email or blog comments or through the reviews you post in public forums.

(Incidentally, I'd be very interested to hear other opinions on the responding-to-reviews issue. Are the rules changing? Were they never rules in the first place?)

I'm also participating in a blog tour June 1–3 with KidzBookBuzz.com; stay tuned for more links and information about that!

As for that other question, the what-are-you-working-on-now one...the answer is a sequel to The Dragon of Trelian as well as another, completely unrelated YA novel. And more picture books. Always more picture books! :)

Multi-Author Event at Books of Wonder this Sunday

I'll be reading and signing The Dragon of Trelian this Sunday, April 26, at Books of Wonder. Tamora Pierce, Dena K. Salmon, and Peter Kujawinski will also be there, and we'll all be reading and talking, signing books, and answering questions. You can see the full event details here. I hope to see you there!

Dragon Day!

Hurrah! The Dragon of Trelian releases today!!!


You can order a copy from indiebound.org here.

You can read an interview with me at Janet Fox's blog here.

And if you're in the NYC area, please come to my launch party tonight at Books of Wonder! Full details here.

The Dragon of Trelian Launch Party!

The Dragon of Trelian comes out ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!!

I am very excited about this.

I'm having a book launch party that evening, and everyone is invited. Yes, you! You're invited! Here are the details:

The Dragon of Trelian Book Launch Party
April 14, 2009, 5 to 7pm
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 989-3270

I'll be doing a short reading/Q&A around 6pm, and there will be refreshments before and after. And during, I guess, too! :) And general chatting and mingling and looking at books the whole time.

So please come on out, get a signed book, support a fabulous independent children's bookstore, and help me celebrate the release of my first novel! I hope to see you there.

Support your local independent bookstore!

As I learned via Laurie Halse Anderson, author Joe Hill has declared March to be Love-Your-Small-Bookstore-Month. This seems like a great idea to me, and so I took a nice walk over to my own small local indie this afternoon and bought myself a couple of books. (What books, you ask? Here, I will tell you: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and First Test by Tamora Pierce.)

My local indie, btw, is The Community Bookstore in Park Slope. (I live on the other side of the park, but it's an easy and pleasant walk.) If you live nearby, or if you live elsewhere and just happen to be visiting Park Slope, you should go there. They have friendly dogs and things. And books too, of course. And every time I've been in, they've had Library Lion in stock. What else could you ask for? :)

If you don't know where your local independent bookstore is, indiebound.org will help you find it.

Bookstore visit bonus: I'm pretty sure I passed Steve Buscemi on the street as I was starting my walk home. That was cool.