50 States Against Bullying: TENNESSEE

I love that most airlines now let you keep your phone on (in airplane mode!) so I can take air shots of places I'm visiting. Or places I'm briefly hopping into, like L.A., as I make my way to my next stop.

My next stop, the forty-fourth visit of my 50 States Against Bullying campaign, took me to Tennessee. There I got to spend more time in one of my favorite cities, Nashville. One of the greatest opportunities Nashville provides is live music (you knew that, right?), and I was lucky enough to have a real, live country artist show me where the locals go for that sound experience. Brittany Bexton has been a family friend since my wife was her counselor at a music performance camp. Yes, even back then it was obvious she'd end up here.

We were at Soulshine Pizza Factory on the evening of their blues jam, which was unbelievably awesome. Especially this bass player. Amazing!

My hotel was weirdly cool. Between the shower and the bed was a large translucent plate. This way, I guess, you can watch a person's silhouette as they take a shower. I'm sure that's supposed to be sexy, but all I could imagine were the many ways a horror movie could use this feature.

Psycho 2.0

Where do the locals get breakfast? The Pancake Pantry. That's where I stopped on my way to speak at the high school. Maybe it's not a good idea to fill your tummy with pancakes before speaking, but it's a local place! I had to try it!

Unfortunately, I arrived at the school early and right next door was a donut shop. But it's local! So I partook.

The Donut Den has a cowbell that rings as you enter and exit. Isn't that rude? Isn't that also funny? Either way, it didn't stop me from enjoying their fried dough.

Finally, tummy bursting, I made my way to Hillsboro High School. If you've followed my travels, you know that I've had several schools close for snow days on the very dates my visits were scheduled. I will be making those schools up in the next couple weeks, but Nashville has also been hit hard this year. Even though their schools are open now, the schedule before the end of the year has tightened quite a bit. There were supposed to be five other schools sending students, but only Antioch High was able to send their book club to join Hillsboro students.

These students asked the most consistently thoughtful and thought provoking questions of this tour so far, and they were beautifully open about their own experiences. Afterward, the librarian told me she was a little nervous about how I would answer some of their very specific questions. Thankfully, she was pleased with how I dealt with these sensitive issues. So how did I deal with them? Honestly. Just as I wrote the book. (Writing tip #874: Teens have enough adults sugarcoating reality. Don't do that. Don't. Cool? Cool.)

As a sucker for a good gimmick, I found this library display brilliant!

I'll be back eventually, Nashville. Hopefully many times!

The (New) Russian Edition!

50 States Against Bullying: MAINE

Last week, I flew from the west coast to the east coast for two school visits on the 50 States Against Bullying campaign. Both of those schools had snow days, so I used my free days to explore the D.C. area, but I'll be back to make up those states, because 48 States Against Bullying just sounds...ooh, so close.

After a weekend back at home, I hopped in a plane and flew from the west coast to the east coast again to attempt a school visit in Maine, making it my forty-third stop on the tour.

But again...snow day!

This time, I was able to move my flight back a day in the hope that there wouldn't be two snow days in a row. So what to do with my free day in Bangor? Well, the most important thing any author can do in Bangor is pay his or her respects to the home where many, many, many brilliant and dark stories originated.

I'm talking, of course, about the home of Mr. Stephen King.

The gate around his house has evil looking metal sculptures guarding the inhabitants on the other side, so I didn't dare walk up to the door. But I wanted to!

Then I did a little fanboy touring around town, visiting the storm drain that inspired the famous paperboat and clown scene in IT. Of course, the drain was covered in snow, so I couldn't take a photo of it, but I know I drove over it!

I also visited the cemetery where they filmed some scenes from Pet Sematary, including Mr. King's cameo.

By the way, if your're not from here, you're probably saying Bangor wrong.

The next day...no snow day! So I was able to visit Mount Desert Island High School.

I know what you're thinking: It sure doesn't look like a desert! And I knew you were thinking that because I thought the same thing. But this whole area obviously likes to play with how words are pronounced. It's pronounced dessert, like what you eat soon after dinner and usually again before bed. The story goes, some French guy came here and saw the mountains where nothing grew on top of them and thought they looked like deserted mountains. Did you hear that? Deserted. So that's why...

Nope! Still doesn't make any sense to me, but whatever.

Inside, they displayed their #ReasonsWhyYouMatter notecards.

The students were amazing to speak with and had many great questions, plus some silly ones. For example, apparently I look like I drive an Audi. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not, but the Audi website calls them luxury performance cars, and that sounds pretty good.

By the way, the students at MDIHS are All About Those Books.

The school librarian took me and local author (and friend) Christina Baker Kline out to lunch. And yes, Ms. CBK is an awesome author, but guess what. She used to babysit Stephen King's kids! If you're thinking, "I think I recall a story in Stephen King's On Writing about a babysitter," you're right. But that was his babysitter, not theirs. Please don't get the two confused.

This was followed by coffee with YA author Carrie Jones, whose debut novel came out the same year as mine. And we were in the Class of 2k7 together, so there is much history shared!

On my way back to the hotel in Bangor, I had to stop and get a pic of this miniature golf course covered in snow. The place is called Pirate's Cove, which made me laugh because the Pirate's Cove where I live is a nudist beach. But I didn't see any nudies running around here.

And that's probably a good thing right now.

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 and Jerry's Chubby Hubby, but because I'm also a movie freak! This year, as enter the final fifth of my 50 States Against Bullying campaign, my publisher was kind enough to make sure I was traveling on Oscar night (and they know me well enough that I didn't even need to ask).

One of my not-so-secret fantasies is to one day write an Oscar-nominated screenplay. If that happens, and I get the chance to walk the red carpet, 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 2015...

Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything:

Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game:

Julianne Moore for Still Alice:

Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl:

 Emma Stone for Birdman or (The Unexepected Virtue of Ignorance):

Reese Witherspoon for Wild:

50 States Against Bullying: OREGON

The forty-second stop on my 50 States Against Bullying campaign, Oregon, was an extra special one. I spoke at Grant High School, where my nephew, Ellory, is a student! Since we have family in the area, my wife and son flew to Oregon with me to turn it into a little workation.

The night before my presentation, JoanMarie and her sister, Gypsy, did some boring public exercise thingie in the park. Meanwhile, Isaiah and I went to an awesome movie at the awesome McMenamins Kennedy School. The Kennedy School used to be an actual school but is now a hotel with its own movie theater. Instead of individual seats, there are couches. And who needs movie posters when you have chalkboards and artists!

The next day, I attended school.

At the entrance to the library were projects inspired by Thirteen Reasons Why, including an essay, cassette tapes labeled with judgemental labels often given to teens, a swing in a box, and a poster.

Isaiah was excited to hear me give the presentation that's had me traveling around the country through so much of the past year. But while students were asking to get selfies with me, my family was taking selfies of themselves.

Gypsy, Adam, Isaiah, JoanMarie

And here are the students! Many of them take classes that use Thirteen Reasons Why in the curriculum. One of the teachers has been using it since its release in 2007.

In the school bathroom, JoanMarie snapped a pic of a beautiful message someone left on the mirror. (I'm only posting it here with the assumption that this wasn't done with permanent marker, and if it was, that this particular photographer didn't do it!)

The next pic is fuzzy because I was a little nervous getting to meet the star and writer/director of a Thirteen Reasons Why one-act play recently performed at Grant.

The school day was followed by a wonderful hike to the top of Mount Tabor, an "extinct or dormant volcano," according to Wikipedia. Personally, I think extinct and dormant are quite different, and I'd kind of like to know which it is! Either way, it's beautiful. But I do find it odd that the playground is situated in the same direction as the volcano. Makes me wonder if someone at Portland Parks & Rec doesn't like kids very much.

So now I'm off to the next state, and JoanMarie and Isaiah are back home in California. But we'll be back in Oregon very soon, I'm sure!

50 States Against Bullying: VERMONT

The forty-first stop on my 50 States Against Bullying campaign is one I'll have to come back to visit just for fun. Or relaxation. Or, more than likely, relaxing fun! Descending into Vermont was where the beauty started, even though it only involved a couple of colors.

Walking through the airport, I couldn't help comparing what I saw to my stereotype before ever setting foot here. For example, the chairs available to watch planes land and take off made me think, "That's so Vermont!"

Where did my stereotype of the Green Mountain State come from? From watching and loving this show in the 80s.

Even though the show about the inn run by Dick and Joanna was filmed in a studio, it was supposed to be set in Vermont, and the outside establishing shots of the inn were from a real Vermont inn. Even though it required driving an hour through snow to get there, I had to go there!

Yep, this was the place.

I drove an hour back to Burlington, and my tummy was growling, so I grabbed some yummy spaghetti and walked around (briskly!) in the negative-degree weather. It was so beautiful, even late at night, I couldn't just sit in a hotel and stare at generic hotel walls.

This is an ice sculpture, of which there were many around downtown. This one, if you lick it, actually has a hint of chocolate. I don't know if people are supposed to lick it, but how often do you have the chance to lick a Lake Champlain Chocolates ice sculpture?

No, I didn't really lick it. That would be too weird even for me. But seriously, that would be cool if they mixed a little chocolate into the ice.

This is the second time the people who stayed in a hotel room before me were so frickin' hilarious that they set the alarm for some random middle of the night time.

Ha.

Frickin'.

Ha.

That tweaked my sleep just enough that I woke up five minutes before I was supposed to leave for Burlington High School. Luckily, my hair takes about as long to sculpt as it took you to read that first "Ha" above.

Upon entering the auditorium were filled out #ReasonsWhyYouMatter notecards, wristbands, and books. Three of my favorite things!

Then, a great introduction by a student...

...and it was my turn to speak to these beautiful people!

I loved all of the positive and thought provoking messages throughout this school.

And the flags hanging in the cafeteria depicted all of the nationalities represented by the students. It's a wonderful thing to see a school recognizing and celebrating its diversity.

What didn't I see in Vermont this time? Colored leaves on trees. The Ben and Jerry's factory. The Vermont Teddy Bear factory. The Rokeby Museum of the Underground Railroad. The Christmas Loft. And so many maple-making and cheese-making tours...with samples!

I'll be back, Vermont!