New York City to Los Angeles

To kick-off the nomination process for stops on my upcoming book tour, I flew to New York City last week. I gave a presentation at one school while schools across the country watched online. Of course, flying from California to New York with snowstorms approaching, everyone (including me) was nervous about whether I'd make it on time. I couldn't miss it!

 

Thankfully, I made it.

 

Before speaking at the school, I went to my publisher's office to have brunch with some of the many people who continue to have so much excitement for Thirteen Reasons Why (which is almost 6.5 years old now!).

 



 

Then I filmed a few videos that will be posted online in the near future. Like I always do after recorded interviews, I'm now thinking, "Why did I admit to that?" for a few of the answers.

 

 

We walked down to the Little Red Schoolhouse and Elizabeth Irwin High School (which is a mouthful, so thankfully they refer to it as LREI) for the webcast.

The students I spoke with in person were great. And I'm glad they were there! We had a back-up plan to do the webcast from the Penguin offices, with people from Penguin acting as my audience, if there was a snow day in NYC, but it all worked out. The front row in this pic is mostly made up of people from Penguin and School Library Journal (co-sponsors of this event).

 

The webcast will be posted on the SLJ site soon, and I'll link to that here when it's up.

It's weird being in such a large city where I have several really good friends, but having so little time to see any of them. I did get a chance to make a loop through Central Park with Carolyn Mackler, though. Here I am munching on goodies from Magnolia Bakery, a shop that gets a shout-out in our book, The Future of Us. In the background is Belvedere Castle, a location in one of Carolyn's previous books.

Before leaving, I had a delicious dinner with a few of my favorite people at Penguin: Carmela Iaria, Jessica Almon, and Ben Schrank. (If you're from Penguin and aren't in this photo, you should've been there. Because you're one of my favorite people, too!)

Back in California (you'll notice the clothes in the following photos don't look as warm), I was invited to participate in a stop on Lauren Oliver's book tour. Lauren was an editor at Razorbill when they bought Thirteen Reasons Why. When she became an author herself, I gave a quote for her first book, Before I Fall. And now she's promoting her eighth book, Panic.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on book three.

*ahem*

Before the event, I got to meet up with my good friend, now a Razorbill author herself(!), Romina Russell. Her book, Zodiac, comes out this December.

I got to the bookstore early, but not as earlier as I was hoping because of the L.A. Marathon and a cab that never showed up. I always like to take a sneak peek at how many people are sitting in the audience about 30 minutes before we begin.

But this time, I wasn't sneaky enough. You got me, Romance Bookie!

 

The chairs filled up nicely.

 

As someone who doesn't take selfies often, I'm somehow ending up with two selfies in this one blog post. And while Ellen's selfie at the Academy Awards (which I watched while in NYC!) broke Twitter with its massive retweets, I'm certain the crowd in ours reads much better books.

Atascadero, CA

I'm always happy to speak locally, and I got a chance to do that earlier this week at Atascadero High School. While I've travelled all over the country to speak, and even outside the U.S. a couple times, this was absolutely one of my favorite visits.

 

No, it wasn't because I got to sign two foreheads. Although, that was cool (usually, I only get asked to sign one forehead per school...if that!). The reason I loved this visit was mostly because the students in Ms. Hogan's Honors English classes had all read Thirteen Reasons Why.

I spoke to three of her classes, with each period lasting about 90 minutes. I wasn't required to stay the entire time, but because the classes had all discussed my book before the visit, they all had more than enough questions to keep me there.

And that's what made it fun! Their questions were extremely insightful, wanting to know my feelings about certain things that happened in the book and my thought process behind certain scenes.

When I speak to professional writers I rarely get this level of questioning, which gave me an opportunity to explore some new aspects of putting together a story.

Then I spoke in the school library...after eating a yummy salad provided by the district librarian, Ms. Bell, who also organized this visit. Before I spoke, though, we saw a great anti-bullying student video and heard from a Peer Helper at the school. (By the way, this school has a Wellness Center. Does the high school in your community have a place like this? Because it should!)

Thanks for being a great audience, Atascadero. Thank you for your great questions. And the stories some of you shared privately will stick with me forever.

Thank you.

Red Carpet Fantasies: Part III

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I get very excited to watch the Academy Awards each year. Not just because I get to eat my traditional pint of Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby, but because I'm also a movie freak! (This year, I'll watch the show from a hotel room in NYC. Thankfully, this should keep me from stressing about the live webcast I'm doing the next day.)

One of my not-so-secret fantasies is to one day write an Oscar-nominated screenplay. Something just as exciting would be to have one of my novels turned into an Oscar-nominated adapted screenplay.

If either one of those things happen, hopefully I'll get the chance to walk down the red carpet. Of course, the question then becomes What will I wear? Or What shall I do with my hair?

So, with the help of InStyle's Hollywood Makeover, I decided to try on some hairdos of the nominated actresses of 2014...

Amy Adams for American Hustle:

Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine:

Sandra Bullock for Gravity:

Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle:

Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years a Slave:

Julia Roberts for August: Osage County:

 

Lincolnshire, IL

Back to Chicago!

 

As an author, I fly to Chicago more than anywhere else in the country. From there, it's just a short drive to speak in whichever school or conference I'm in town for. This time, I headed to the largest high school (by square footage) in the country, Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.

 

Every two years, Stevenson hosts the Odyssey program. It's two days of nothing but fine arts, where students attend five workshops a day. And there is so much to choose from! I overheard students discuss classes on glassblowing, belly dancing, and stage fighting.

 

When I was in high school, I made a clay pot.

 

I gave two presentations each day during school, with sixty students per session. Every student who heard me speak got a free signed copy of Thirteen Reasons Why.

 

The library at Stevenson is beautiful. As the speaker, their stadium-type seating was great because I could easily see everyone.

When the first school day was over, my friend (and YA author) Christa Desir took me to Walker Bros., where she promised I could eat a pancake bigger than my head. But she wasn't entirely correct. Yes, it was physically bigger than my head, but there was no way I could eat it all! (Especially when it came stuffed with apples.)

That evening, I spoke to some students and adults in one of the school's theaters. (Yes, I said one of their theaters.)

The next day, I spoke to two more groups during school.

If you've read (or seen) Diary of a Wimpy Kid, you know there's a legendary piece of cheese on the basketball court that's bad luck to touch. At Stevenson, there's a similar tradition. In the center of a very busy hallway is a floor design no one walks across. No one! It doesn't matter how packed the floor is, everyone goes out of their way to walk around it. Everyone!

Actually, when classes were in session, I saw one guy walk across it, thinking no one was watching. And he got this real cocky look on his face when he thought he got away with it. But halfway down the hall, the dude's hair caught on fire.

It was pretty funny.

Even funnier, the Patriot holding the rifle in the artwork has six fingers. Six! Go on, count them.

Apparently this was an accident, but I think it's symbolic of the artist's political leanings. If the mascot ever let go of his gun to flip someone the bird by raising his middle finger, he'd have to raise his middle fingerS, thereby throwing a peace sign instead.

Pure genius.

The Hungry Caterpillar Diet

Last week, on my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, I shared my journey as I tested a popular 7-day diet. The Hungry Caterpillar Diet follows a food plan outlined in a bestselling book by dietitian (and occasional children's book author/illustrator) Eric Carle.

 

Here's how it progressed...

 

Day 1:
On Monday I ate through one apple.

 

Day 2:
On Tuesday I ate through two pears.



Day 3:
On Wednesday I ate through three plums.

(Well, prunes. Ripe plums aren't in season.)



 

Day 4:
On Thursday I ate through four strawberries.

Day 5:
On Friday I ate through five oranges.

Day 6:
On Saturday I ate through one piece of chocolate cake,
one ice-cream cone...

 

one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese...

one slice of salami, one lollipop...

one piece of cherry pie, one sausage...

one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.

That night I had a stomachache.

Day 7:
On Sunday I realized we don't need fancy diets.
We're already beautiful butterflies!

By the way, that cherry pie and sausage combo was surprisingly good!

The Israeli Edition!

The Twelve Crazy Days Before Christmas

The following story, to be told over the 12 days leading up to Christmas, is from a picture book manuscript I wrote years ago. I finally decided to post it here for all of you, and a friend agreed to draw me an elf for each day. Every morning, the latest installment will be added to the bottom of this post.

Enjoy!

THE TWELVE CRAZY DAYS
BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Jay Asher
illustrated by Julio Desir

12 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

 

11 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
baking sugar cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

10 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
taking Dasher flying,
baking chocolate cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

9 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
rolling snow for snowmen,
taking Dancer flying,
baking ginger cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

8 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
washing Santa's undies,
placing eyes on snowmen,
taking Prancer flying,
baking shortbread cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

7 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
trimming trees with white lights,
sewing pants for Santa,
sticking carrots on the snowmen,
taking Vixen flying,
baking oatmeal cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

6 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
charting South America,
trimming trees with tinsel,
testing belts for Santa,
pressing buttons on the snowmen,
taking Comet flying,
baking pecan cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

5 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
tying bows on every doorknob,
mapping North America,
trimming trees with popcorn,
shaking crumbs from Santa's jacket,
draping scarves around the snowmen,
taking Cupid flying,
baking peanut butter cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

4 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
drinking apple cider,
tying bows around the windows,
charting all of Europe,
trimming trees with pinecones,
buffing Santa's boots,
sticking stick-arms on the snowmen,
taking Donner flying,
burning several cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

3 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
playing toy pianos,
drinking cocoa with marshmallows,
tying bows around their ladders,
navigating Asia,
trimming trees with angels,
knitting socks for Santa,
handing shovels to the snowmen,
taking Blitzen flying,
baking gumdrop cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

2 days before Christmas the elves were running 'round
checking off the Nice list,
playing on toy drums...PA-RUM PUM PUM PUM,
drinking lots of eggnog,
tying bows on holly,
planning for Africa,
watering the trimmed trees,
ironing undershirts for Santa,
placing top hats on the snowmen,
shining Rudolph's red nose,
baking chocolate mint-chip cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

1 day before Christmas the elves were running 'round
watching all their watches,
double-checking who's been naughty,
singing Christmas carols,
drinking lots of pots of coffee,
tying bows around each other,
searching for Australia,
fixing broken tree lights,
helping Santa find his mittens,
dancing with the snowmen,
waking up the reindeer,
eating milk and cookies,
and loading up the sleigh with lots of toys.

And on the night before Christmas, when the sleigh flew away,
the elves went to bed for twelve wonderful, well deserved days.

Merry Christmas

More Thankful

I live in a part of California that rarely gets too cold. Even in the evenings. Even in winter! But I'm sure it would feel so much colder if I had to be outside all night.

Last night, my family had some friends at our house in the evening. While we invited everyone over so the adults could hang out and our children could play together, we also ate dinner. But for all of us, dinner was going to happen whether we ate it here, at a restaurant, or in our separate homes.

With the holidays approaching, I try to take extra time to notice all that I have to be thankful for. It becomes even more obvious when I read letters from groups seeking donations, which  arrive much more frequently this time of year.

So now I'm looking at the websites for some of these organizations. What they do is beautiful. It's necessary. I'm thankful these groups are out there even if my family never needs to use them. I'm thankful they're there because "never needs to use them" is never guaranteed. So why am I telling you? It isn't that I don't think you already know about these groups. You may already donate to them or volunteer your time with them. I've helped some of these groups myself. But for some reason, it's giving me a lot of joy right now to learn even more about them. If reading this prompts you to research similar groups in your area, and then you feel some of what I'm feeling right now, that'd make me even happier!

And yes, as I learn more about what these groups provide, it's making me want to help more. It's making me want to be even more thankful.

Here are some of the places I've been learning about:

Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County
The People's Kitchen of San Luis Obispo
Prado Day Center
Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter