Special PRINCESS OF TRELIAN pre-order promotion!

Starting this Tuesday, for a limited time, pre-order THE PRINCESS OF TRELIAN and get a free copy of The Dragon of Trelian!

The ever-awesome WORD bookstore will give a free trade paperback edition of the first Trelian novel, The Dragon of Trelian, to the first 10 people who pre-order book 2, THE PRINCESS OF TRELIAN, starting this Tuesday, March 6! I'll post the pre-order link here and on my website late tomorrow night.

Special thanks to my also-ever-awesome publisher, Candlewick Press, for partnering with WORD for this promotion. I'm excited that 10 of you will get free copies of the first book! If you haven't already read book 1, this is your chance to get both books at once. And if you have already read the first one, this is your chance to give it to some nice friend of yours who you think will like it, too!

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!)

It's probably not a good sign...

...when you start googling "how to figure out plot points."

Sigh.

Boulevard Books & Cafe Event Postponed

Hi guys - just a quick note to say that my event today at Boulevard Books & Cafe has been postponed due to the snowy weather. It's now next Saturday, January 28. Would love to see you there!

Reading (Argus and Library Lion), book signing (both picture books plus The Dragon of Trelian), and fun activities (coloring! clay! eggs! dragons! yay!)

NEW DATE: Saturday, January 28, 2012

11:00am
Boulevard Books & Cafe LLC

7518 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228-2410

VLOG needs you

Some of you out there know that one of my favorite non-writing activities is performing in community theater productions of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. The group I perform with in NYC is The Village Light Opera Group — a wonderful organization that has been around for more than 75 years, bringing G&S as well as other plays, musicals, and theatrical offerings to the NYC community.


Like many other theater organizations, we rely greatly on contributions from theater-loving folks to keep our group going. Recently, VLOG was fortunate enough to receive a matching grant from a very generous donor, who has pledged to match every dollar we raise by January 31, 2012 up to $10,000.


If you love theater, or Gilbert & Sullivan, or community organizations, or tax deductions, or me, I hope you will consider helping us to meet our goal! Even a small amount would be greatly appreciated, and the website is set up to accept donations starting as low as $5.00. You can donate online here, and can also send donations by mailing a check to:


Village Light Opera Group
PO Box 143
Village Station, NY 10014


Thank you! :)

Books Read 2011

Last year I posted a list of all the books I read in 2010 (after reading and enjoying lots of other people's lists) and thought I'd keep up the tradition for 2011.

The following are all the books I read in the past year, except for the picture books—I read a lot of picture books and don't usually remember to add them to my Goodreads list, which is how I keep track of my reading these days. The notation "A" following an item means I listened to the audiobook, and "R" means it was a reread.

I read a lot fewer books this year than last year, partially because I no longer had my MFA program driving me to get a certain number of books read each month and partially because a number of 2011's events left me less time than usual for reading (especially: moving to a new apartment, teaching several writing classes and critiquing student manuscripts, and taking on a new day job). I also probably didn't really *need* to re-listen (again) to so many Bujold books, but they make me so happy that I can't really regret the time spent on those too much. But I do wish I'd gotten to more new books over the year (both newly published and old-but-new-to-me), and will definitely try to get more reading accomplished in 2012.

1. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (A)
2. Scrawl by Mark Shulman
3. Podkayne of Mars by Robert A Heinlein (A, R)
4. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
5. Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen (A)
6. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
7. The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver by E. Lockhart
8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (A)
9. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
10. Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg (A)
11. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
12. Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold (A)
13. Bellwether by Connie Willis (A)
14. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (A)
15. Thirsty by M. T. Anderson
16. The Inimitable Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse (A)
17. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
18. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (A)
19. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
20. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami
21. Bossypants by Tina Fey (A)
22. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
23. How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
24. Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, partial R)
25. Charlotte's Web by E. B. White (R)
26. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, R)
27. Each Little Bird that Sings by Deborah Wiles
28. Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
29. Bat 6 by Virginia Euwer Wolff
30. Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight
31. Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
32. Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, R)
33. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
34. Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, R)
35. A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, R)
36. Fire by Kristin Cashore
37. Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold (A, R)
38. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
39. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
40. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (A, R)
41. Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal
42. Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King
43. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (A)
44. Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
45. Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith
46. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (A)
47. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

There were also a couple of audiobooks I started but didn't finish, which I didn't list here.

Reading now (started in 2011, but not yet finished): Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and American Gods by Neil Gaiman (A).

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.