Rochester's 9th Annual Teen Book Festival

Last Thursday through Saturday was one of the most fulfilling three days of my author career. It was hectic, yet inspiring. It began with a presentation to 6th and 8th graders at A.D. Oliver Middle School in Brockport, NY.

This was followed by lunch at Brockport High School.

If you've been there, and you've read any Carolyn Mackler books, it may feel familiar. That's where she went to school, and where she visualizes a lot of her scenes taking place as she writes them (such as the track scenes in The Future of Us). And even though we're good friends now, I felt a little "celebrity stalker" when I drove by the home where The Carolyn Mackler grew up.

While having lunch with some students, I got to experience my first high school fire drill in over twenty years!

(The word selfie was not in the dictionary during my last drill.)

Back at the middle school, I spoke to the 7th graders.

And I signed a Hello Kitty backpack (my first autographed Hello Kitty item in four-and-a-half years)!

Back at Brockport High, about to begin speaking, I noticed the podium was a gift from the Class of 1996. 1996? That's the year in which Carolyn and I set The Future of Us.

I know!!!

The next day was spent mostly at Rush-Henrietta Senior High in Henrietta, NY. Their library had a display of my books alongside non-fiction books dealing with some issues presented in my work.

I met a student who looked exactly like the guy on the cover of A.S. King's Everybody Sees the Ants. 

During lunch, we had cake, and everyone was kind enough to avoid eating my name. Isn't that sweet?

The library has a column where authors and librarians leave handprints. I found the perfect spot for mine, just below my mentor, Kathleen Duey.

I then spoke at the Ninth Grade Academy, which was one of the most enthusiastic audiences I'd ever spoken in front of.

Saturday was the day of the 9th Annual Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival. Thirty-one authors were set to appear, though a few couldn't make it because of flight cancellations, which was very unfortunate (for them and us). The rest of us were picked up from the hotel in limos. When we arrived at the event, some of us stayed in the limos and some of us jumped into the back of a pick-up truck for our grand entrance.

(Greg Neri, Ellen Hopkins, Michelle Madow, Lauren Myracle,

Jonathan Auxier, A.S. King, Andrew Smith, E. Lockhart)

And it was indeed a grand entrance! Screaming readers welcomed us, and we were led into the building by a marching band.

Each author was given a bag of pins with our faces on them to hand out. A late-addition to the author crew was Amber Lough, my sister-in-agent. Since she didn't have her mug on a bag of pins, she beautifully turned one of mine into a mirror-image of herself.

I have no idea how many teens attended this massive literature rally, but this pic shows the people right in front of me. It doesn't show the packed stadium seating on both sides.

This is when each author partook in an event called Truth-or-Talent, hosted by Charles Benoit. A lot of people who hear me speak have told me I don't seem shy, but I am. I guess I'm just a good actor! My stomach, brain, heart, knees, and sweat glands hate me for agreeing to speak so often. And while I do enjoy it once I begin, the anticipation is agony. So waiting to hear my name called for this was excruciating! And really, what talent do I have beyond writing? I wasn't sure! But the night before, two authors were rehearsing "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. And that's why I teamed up with Amber Lough and Alethea Kontis. It was the perfect opportunity to display my fabulous impersonation of seaweed.

Then Greg Neri was called upon. He was planning to beatbox to "Come and Get It" by Selena Gomez. For for some totally unplanned (*wink-wink") reason, he decided to call me out to perform with him. As I said into the microphone, "I do seaweed. I don't sing!" But that day, I sang in front of the biggest audience I've ever sung in front of before (or ever will again).

Post by Jordan Brooks.

Each author gave three presentations throughout the day. My first speech almost turned into a fire code violation, so we had to ask a bunch of people to come back later. And yes, I would be happy to be called Jay "Fire Code Violating" Asher!

Finally, we came to the ginormous autographing party. Mostly books were signed, but we also autographed shirts, bags, phones, and I had the opportunity to sign the inside of a girl's glasses.

Afterward, I couldn't travel to Rochester without visiting the beautiful and eerie Mount Hope Cemetery, the final resting home of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Before the gates closed, I had time to locate one of the two.

The next morning, I got in a final chat with (Uncle) Terry Trueman, Joelle Charbonneau, and Alex London, before heading to the airport.

My trip to Rochester is severely incomplete as described in the post above. I had so many more beautiful moments with authors I'm always happy to see or that I met for the first time. I had great conversations with so many readers, and the librarians and teachers who drove me around and hosted me at their schools are all people I hope to see again.

So yes, I'll definitely make another trek to a future Rochester Teen Book Fest!

Canton, GA

Shortly after arriving in Georgia, I went to dinner with two English teachers and four students from the school where I'd be speaking the next day. I ate one of the best steaks I've ever had, which means no A-1 Steak Sauce required, and I also autographed my first straw wrapper. (I know, you'd think that after being published for 6.5 years, I'd have signed a dozen by now! But no, this was the first.)

And a very short while after dinner, I had a sheriff's officer run my license while he kept one hand on his gun. (Again, another first for me!)

During dinner, we'd got to talking about ghosts. (Definitely not a first for me.) I mentioned that I like to go on ghost tours during my travels, and someone mentioned Canton's own haunted site, a place known as Hell's Church. That's not the real name of the church, which is still in use, but a dismembered body was apparently found there in the 80s. Soon after, of course, people began claiming the place was haunted. Ghost hunters even come out to explore! So I had to see it for myself, and since Dennis Jolley (the teacher responsible for bringing me to town) had never been to Hell's Church, he offered to take me.

We got lost because we couldn't find an address, just odd directions online that told us to take turns at forks in the road that we never saw (they must've been converted to sporks). But eventually we found it. And it did look creepy with no streetlights around, and surrounded by a dark forest, and...

...then we noticed a car shining three bright lights at us. Two were headlights, the other was a spotlight. The car doors were open and the sheriff's officers instructed Dennis to get out of the car. They wanted to know what we were doing there. Sadly, the church has had its unfair share of vandalism. But once they realized we weren't out there to do anything with vandalism, drugs, or whatever else two dudes drive way out there to do, they filled us in on some really eerie stuff that's happened there.

But back to the real reason I was in town.

If you like reading, Cherokee High School is the school for you! As part of a senior project, students design tiles for books, which are then set into the hallway ceilings.

Beautiful, right? I know!

I had the opportunity to speak to every student at the school over three assemblies.

Notice the disco ball beside the projector on the ceiling? Sadly, that wasn't used for my introduction. (They didn't even use a fog machine!)

Between the second and third assemblies, I had lunch in the library with about 120 students. For nearly two hours, I ate half of my food because I was doing Q&A the entire time. I've never had that much time to answer so many great questions, and it was wonderful!

Also wonderful? The display they made for my visit. It was so cool!

And yes, I know what you're thinking.

But no, I have no idea why there isn't a book or a movie called Hell's Church.


Yet...

Happy Easter!!!

The following is my annual Easter re-post.

Every so often, a reader will tell me their impression of something I wrote in a way that deepens my own understanding of my own words. Someone in Florida once told me how a decision one of my characters made helped her illustrate a sentiment she'd been trying to get across to her friends.

Here's what she told me:

In the past, I've had to help friends realize that life goes on even after you've made a poor decision. Not because you move on or get over it, but because you grow as a result of it. You build something new, something with a higher purpose, using what you've learned as one of your bricks.

When I read that, my heart leapt! Since there was no way I could say it any better, I immediately knew I'd be using her words in future speeches (and blog posts).

So what does this have to do with Easter?

One of the most beautiful ideas surrounding this holiday is that we're all given an opportunity to make corrections if we find ourselves traveling down a road we don't want to (or shouldn't) be on. In fact, we're given that opportunity to change every day. Every second! But sometimes we need a calendar to remind us.

Refresh. Repair. Rebirth. Whatever you want to call it...

Renewal is a wonderful blessing!

Easter 2014

CA, KY, MT

When I forget to take a lot of pictures at speaking events, it's a sign that I'm enjoying and appreciating the moment. But it's really irritating afterwards! I recently had events in three states, almost back-to-back, and here's a recap of those trips (with far fewer photos than I wish I could share with you).

 

In Sacramento, California, I spoke at a regional conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, an organization that continues to play a huge role in my career. I gave a talk on adding suspense to any story, did a pro-panel that included Dan Yaccarino, and gave a morning keynote presentation in the room below.

 

The above photo was taken during the keynote of Nikki Grimes. When I first met Nikki at a convention a couple years ago, it was one of those moments when I couldn't believe someone whose work I respect so much already knew who I was. This conference was a wonderful opportunity to spend more time with her, and hopefully there will be more chances in the future.

In attendance were locals Mike Jung, Emily Jiang, and Naomi Kinsman, three authors I've been fortunate to meet over the years. One day, I'll need to put together my own conference, inviting writers who inspire different aspects of my own writing and that I know I could learn from. And the three of them will speak there. (I haven't asked them yet, but I know they'll do it. Right???)

Next up? Northern Kentucky University.

I always get nervous before speaking at an event open to the public. What if no one shows up? (One benefit to speaking at a school during school hours: The students have to be there!) So when a public event is well attended, it's awesome!

After I was done speaking, I learned that Jasmine Warga was in the audience. Jasmine has her debut novel, My Heart and Other Black Holes, coming out next year!

 

After this event, I attended another event at KSU: an open mic reading hosted by the school's literature magazine. With another writer there, I read from Thirteen Reasons Why. Then, something I never thought I'd do, I read the very first picture book manuscript I tried to get published, called Stop, Easter Bunny, You Forgot Something! The other writers in the room laughed in all the right spots, including the parts that weren't originally supposed to be funny. And I'm actually very happy they felt comfortable enough to laugh along with me!

 

I had some free time in Kansas, so I took a walk through the Creation Museum. It was interesting. A little different than what I saw when I attended the American Museum of Natural History.

 

From Kansas, I flew to Montana for the annual conference of the Montana Library Association. It was immediately obvious why the librarians chose this hotel in Billings.

But I didn't have time to slip down the slide when I first arrived. Why? Because I had to play my first game of Bunco! I remember my mom regularly having a bunch of women over while I was growing up so they could play Bunco. I don't remember my mom or her friends wearing crazy hats, though. And I don't remember them raising scholarship money by having people sit at the same table as me. But that's probably because my mom and her friends weren't Montana librarians!

I gave a talk on writing "gritty" literature and how books like mine can be used at schools or libraries. I then gave a lunchtime keynote, where the audience was great and the dessert was delicious!

Thank you for hosting these great first visits to your states, Kentucky and Montana. I'll be back soon!

Lake Placid

When I first became an author and spoke in a place I'd never been, I always stayed an extra day to check out the town. The school or library hosting me would pay for the hotel nights needed for my visit, and I paid for the extra night. It didn't matter how small the town, I always found something beautiful and unique on my Days of Exploration.

 

Eventually, especially with a young son at home, I stopped staying those extra days. While I've absolutely loved every town I've visited, I leave some places kicking myself that I didn't stay that extra day.

 

Lake Placid, in New York, is one of those towns. The downtown was so quaint, and the surrounding area was so beautiful!

 

I flew into Albany and then had a 2.5 hour drive to Lake Placid. When I need to rent a car, I usually pick something small and fuel efficient. But I checked the weather the night before I left sunny California, and I thankfully was able to upgrade to something a bit heavier because it snowed the entire drive.

 

Entering Lake Placid at night was kind of eerie. I knew the Winter Olympics were held there in 1980, but I didn't know most of the structures built for that event were still up. So when two ginormous silhouetted "things" appeared above the trees, it freaked me out! It didn't look like a factory. It looked like where you'd launch something into space. But as a NASA buff, I knew there wasn't a launch site in Lake Placid.

Turns out...they were ski jumps.

I spoke to the students of Lake Placid High in the morning, and they were a lot of fun!

I spent the rest of the day in the school library, where students and classes came throughout the day for informal chatting. We discussed books, writing, my teen years, and I may have leaked some Thirteen Reasons Why info that I wasn't supposed to leak yet. Thankfully, those students promised not to tweet anything. And they haven't!

When I was in high school, I took two semesters of Creative Writing. I wasn't any good at it, and I'm thankful I didn't know that at the time. Sadly, most schools have cut their elective writing classes. So I'm always thrilled to find schools like L.P.H.S. that found ways to keep those classes. In fact, one of the classes that joined me in the library studies nothing but Crime Noir literature. How specific and awesome is that!?!?

In the evening, I spoke on a panel about suicide prevention. The CYC helped bring me to Lake Placid, and any community that has a group like that is extremely fortunate.

The Bookstore Plus sold my books during my events. In the little downtime I had, I made my way over there and I picked up three books: a novel set in Lake Placid, Sugar and Ice, by nearby author Kate Messner; a book about the Miracle on Ice, The Boys of Winter, which took place in the hockey arena built right next to the high school (and I mean, right next to it!); and Champ, about America's own Loch Ness-type monster. So that's one fiction book, one non-fiction, and one non-fiction about something fictitious...or is it?

Ben Davis High School

I'm sick. And I blame the guy sitting beside me on the flight home from Indiana. He kept talking at me, even with my earbuds in. Talking at me, even while I was reading. Talking at me, even though I pretended to play games on my phone now that we're allowed to do that!

So I blame him.

But my author visit to Ben Davis High in Indianapolis was still great! I was one of many authors there for their first Literacy Conference. Soon after arriving, I went out to dinner with several people on the faculty. I sat beside Sam Bracken, who wrote My Orange Duffel Bag. That is one inspiring dude who cares so much for his readers, as well as people who aren't his readers.

Not that I don't! I do. I'm just pointing out his awesomeness.

Not that I'm saying I'm awesome. I'm not saying that! I just...oh, never mind.

I was supposed to speak in the auditorium to all ninth graders and all students from the connected middle school. But because of Cold Days (not Snow Days...Cold Days), the middle school students couldn't come.

So the freshmen had to rock the place on their own!

Then I spoke to two individual tenth grade classrooms. Most of them had read Thirteen Reasons Why, which made for some great Q&A.

I love when traveling allows me to meet people I've interacted with online for years, and they seem like people I'd get along with. Mike Mullen is one of those guys!

Kids Ink Children's Bookstore sold books throughout the day, which was the first time I saw the floor display for my 50 States Against Bullying tour. There are still a few weeks for your school to apply for a visit, so have your school librarian visit here.

I wasn't able to hear Saundra Mitchell speak because our events were at the same time, but I was able to get a couple of her books signed! The other authors in the photo below are Gene Luen Yang, Eliot Schrefer, and Jason Reynolds. Gene, Eliot, and Jason spoke at a dinner, and the three of them made probably the best author combination I've heard. The differences in their topics, all conveyed with such passion, was fascinating.

Next up? I'm visiting Lake Placid, NY. And I will be better by then. I'm not letting that airplane-talker keep me down!