One Book, One Community - OHIO

Last weekend was a busy and beautiful one. It began with the wedding (thirteen years in the making) of my brother, Nate, and his new bride (my new sister!), Sarah. They had an outdoors autumn-themed wedding. When you walked from your car to the ceremony, you went down a leaf covered path, past pumpkins, lanterns, and hand-painted signs that retold their story. If you arrived as early as the wedding party, you may have seen my son (one of the two ring bearers) give each pumpkin a hug.

And here is the magical couple!

Early the next morning, after partying late into the evening, I flew out to Ohio for a One Book, One Community event. Why? Because I wrote the book! New Philadelphia chose Thirteen Reasons Why for their community read, hosting several events leading up to my presentation that made for a wonderful visit. They had school and public discussions surrounding the book and its topics. They held a book trailer contest, where the students of the winning trailer earned a visit from me to their school. So my first stop in town was Buckeye Career Center!

One thing I've really enjoyed during my author visits is getting to see the many creative ways communities educate their students. BCC has over thirty vocational tracts students may choose from. Here are some of the students who came to hear me speak...

...including a Hannah Baker. Her name badge even proves it!

I then had time to stop at an awesome used bookstore, Books-N-Things, where I bought just enough merchandise to barely squeeze into my carry-on luggage. They even had an entire section of Christmas books, which I'm a sucker for.

In the evening, I spoke at the Kent State Tuscarawas campus.

But before I spoke, the winners of the top three book trailers received a signed book and prizes.

This was a very fun group to speak with, laughing easily, oohing and aahing on cue, and asking great questions.

The autographing part of the evening was one of those inspiring and slightly overwhelming times of being an author that send me back to my hotel with so many profound emotions that I need to decompress by reaching out to author friends and then taking time to let it all soak in. These are the times I feel both unworthy and completely grateful to be in this position.

One of the notes I was handed included a line I can repeat right back to so many of the people I meet at these events.

Of course, it was also very cool to sign so many books handed to me in this condition!

"Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!"

The title of this post is the final line of Fareweel to a' Our Scottish Fame, a poem by poet Robert Burns. It seemed an appropriate note to begin this photojournal of my recent week in Scotland with my wife, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and her boyfriend.

Here we are, arriving at the gate to our house in Inverness.

me, Adam, Gypsy, DonnaJo, JoanMarie

Inverness is an amazingly beautiful city to walk through, day or night. This is taken from the bridge over River Ness.

And check out this amazing used bookstore, Leakey's Bookshop!

Growing up (meaning, from birth until now), I've been fascinated by monster legends. When I learned a trip to Loch Ness was on the itinerary, I nerded out! Any good book on the Loch Ness Monster will include a photo taken near Urquhart Castle. And now I was there!

And on the Loch Ness by Jacobite boat tour, I saw him!

From the front window at our house, I did some editing of an upcoming book while looking out at a castle. It was an inspirational and magical view. In fact, another writer wrote a fairly popular seven-part children's book series in Scotland. And, for at least a few of those books, she wrote them while looking out at another castle. But more on that later! Here was my view.

We then hopped a train to Pitlochry and hiked to the smallest distillery in Scotland. I'm not a big fan of alcoholic drinks, especially alcoholic drinks that taste like alcohol...(shudder)...but I love the history behind things that other people are connoisseurs of. The Edradour Distillery had a great tour, and the free sample they gave while describing the distillery's background made my face and body go like this: shudder!

And here's a cool group shot on a rare sunny day.

Adam, DonnaJo, Gypsy, JoanMarie, me

We had something called "high tea" at Culloden House, which is a beautiful place with a beautiful walled garden. I drank my tea with...wait... I just realized I ordered coffee and drank coffee at a high tea. That's awesome! (I'm such an American.) Anyway, I drank my coffee with my pinkie raised, which felt utterly appropriate.

The Culloden House had a cool, detailed chess board that displayed the long battle between the Scottish and British, which is talked about everywhere. I'm not a big fan of battles and wars, but sometimes they provide the inspiration for really cool, detailed gameboards.

We stopped by the Clava Cairns for a drizzly stroll through the prehistoric cemetery. At least, that's what archaeologists assume it was. You see, it's prehistory, which means the people back then didn't think tourists would care about what in the world they were doing with all those stones. But we're pretty sure it's a cemetery. Or something ceremonial. When you find a pile of prehistoric rocks, it's probably one of those two things. And it's always cool to look at!

The next few days were spent in Edinburgh. If you're a frequenter to my blog, you know that I often take haunted history walking tours when I visit cities. Adam, JoanMarie, and I went on the Cadies and Witchery Tour, which was one of the most entertaining tours I've taken. Not only was the guide a great storyteller of dark Edinburgh history, they periodically had another cast member appear in various guises to add to the craziness.

Another incredible walking tour was the Literary Pub Tour. They have two cast members, Clart and McBrain. Clart is fascinated by the debauchery of Edinburgh's literary superstars, and McBrain is a "tourist" who would like to clean up the story a bit. We roamed the city, stopping in several pubs for a break, which for most people meant a drink or two.

McBrain and Clart

For the final castle on this trip, we went to Edinburgh Castle. Inside a small chapel, St. Margaret's, the oldest surving building in the city, JoanMarie took a picture of me taking a picture of Adam taking a picture of a stained glass picture of William Wallace (a.k.a. Braveheart).

Previously, I mentioned a writer who wrote some fairly successful books in Scotland, which was inspired by many places around Scotland. The first book was written in a coffee house which later became a Chinese buffet and is now a cafe. But she wrote the next few books in the back room of a cafe that's still there, The Elephant House. I'm speaking, of course, about J.K. Rowling and the phenomenon known as Harry Potter. 

Of course, I had to eat a meal in that back room, which overlooks Edinburgh Castle. Talk about inspirational!

JoanMarie went into the ladies' room, where fans leave messages, and I'm just going to hope and assume the owners are okay with that.

One more tour on our Scotland trip...The Potter Trail! Another wonderful and enthusiastic guide took us to places related to the series. Ms. Rowling took many of the names for her characters in Grayfriars Kirkyard (a.k.a. a cemetery). For example, the man known as "Scotland's worst poet" was William McGonnegal. Ms. Rowling would sit at a bench beside this grave and brainstorm. creating characters such as Minerva McGonagall.

Since I was editing a book on this trip, in such an important literary place, I did some name-taking from Grayfriars, as well. Beside the grave of Scotland's worst poet is one for a woman with a first name that matches a character in my book. I didn't originally give my character a last name, but now she has one!

Right behind the wall where that bench used to be is George Heriot's School, which was the inspiration for Hogwarts. Students at this real school are actually divided into four houses! See? Write what you know!

Also in the kirkyard are the graves of father and son, Thomas Riddell, changed to Thomas Riddle for anagram's sake in the series. (All these inspirations have been confirmed by Ms. Rowling herself.) And yes, this is me pointing a magic wand handed out by the guide toward the Riddell tombstone.

The tour ended above Victoria Street, which may look to you a lot like Diagon Alley.

After all of this witchcraft and wizardry and pub crawling and haunted history, we took in a church service at the beautiful St. Giles' Cathedral.

Outside, we finally saw and heard a kilt-wearing bagpiper!

Before heading home, I noticed the bookshelves at the bed-and-breakfast where we stayed had been altered a bit from the day we arrived. A book was conveniently placed face-out near the table where we ate breakfast.

Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation

by Robert Burns

1791

Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame,

Fareweel our ancient glory;

Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name,

Sae fam'd in martial story.

Now Sark rins over Solway sands,

An' Tweed rins to the ocean,

To mark where England's province stands-

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

What force or guile could not subdue,

Thro' many warlike ages,

Is wrought now by a coward few,

For hireling traitor's wages.

The English steel we could disdain,

Secure in valour's station;

But English gold has been our bane -

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

O would, ere I had seen the day

That Treason thus could sell us,

My auld grey head had lien in clay,

Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!

But pith and power, till my last hour,

I'll mak this declaration;

We're bought and sold for English gold-

Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!

Goin' Back to Indiana

Before heading to Indiana for their Indiana Library Federation conference, I stayed with my friend (and YA author) Christa Desir and her family near Chicago. Dinnertime conversation involved a lot of talk about comic books and graphic novels, which happens to go great with tater tots! It was also nice to catch up with my canine namesake, Asher the Dog.

We get along great, but he knows who had the name first.

The next morning, I went with the Desirs to their church. It was a beautiful sermon, and I also loved the look and sound of the huge pipe organ.

Book-In-Production Hint #1:

a pipe organ plays an important role

That night in Indiana, I spoke to a roomful of librarians, but only after all of our bellies were fully satisfied. At each table, they had a different question posted to help get conversations started. I specifically chose this table because I love R.L. Stine and can't wait for the upcoming Goosebumps movie!

Either I was really on, there was something funky in the green beans, or that group laughs very easily, because I had such a great time giving my presentation. While I do discuss serious things in my talks, I also like to have fun. But when I make jokes, I pride myself on being able to keep a straight face. This time, however, their laughter got to me and I laughed with them several times. (Next time, I'm totally not breaking!)

But as you can see, this was an exceptionally fun group.

Thanks for inviting me to your conference, Indiana librarians!

Sleepy Hollow

A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.

Last week, after a great visit with my publisher, I took a day trip to the village of Sleepy Hollow. I'm not going to tell you which classic story was set in Sleepy Hollow, because if you don't already know...uh...well, I have no inoffensive way to complete that statement. But if you like to take literary detours, this area is a must. 

First, I visited Sunnyside, the home of Washington Irving (the dude who wrote the unnamed story).

I'm sure he named his estate after its angle toward the sun, but whenever the tour guide said "Sunnyside," it made me think of eggs. But it was a fantastic tour, and learning more about the man inspired me to read more of his work, which I began to devour that very night.

I then went to Philipsburg Manor, referenced without a name in the story, but confirmed to be the location by Irving in a later essay, and watched a restored waterwheel grind corn into cornmeal just as it would have back then. This place is basically a living history museum and worth an afternoon.

His greatest treasure of historic lore, however, was discovered in an old goblin-looking mill, situated among rocks and water-falls, with clanking wheels, and rushing streams, and all kinds of uncouth noises. A horse-shoe, nailed to the door to keep off witches and evil spirits, showed that this mill was subject to awful visitations.

No trip to Sleepy Hollow would be complete (unless you're too cool for this stuff...and you're not!) without spending time at the Old Dutch Church and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

The sequestered situation of this church seems always to have made it a favourite haunt of troubled spirits. It stands on a knoll, surrounded by locust trees and lofty elms... Over a deep black part of the stream, not far from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees, which cast a gloom about it, even in the day time; but occasioned a fearful darkness at night. Such was one of the favourite haunts of the headless horseman, and the place where he was most frequently encountered.

Sadly, the bridge is no longer there. And sadlier(?), I never saw the horseman. But I did see something just as creepy! A tree in the process of swallowing a tombstone.

I located the unassuming burial place of Washington Irving and paid my respects (see, I'm trying not to smile in the photo).

I also sought out the graves of people thought to have inspired characters in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (Oops! I just told you the title of the story.) For example, Katrina Van Tassel may have been inspired by...Catriena Van Tessel.

And finally...

To pass this bridge, was the severest trial. It was at this identical spot that the unfortunate Andre was captured... This has ever since been considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark... Just at this moment a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge caught the sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen, black and towering.

Time to run, Ichabod!