Buckeye to Lone Star

When I landed in Cleveland, Ohio last week, I zoomed straight to the house used as Ralphie's in A Christmas Story. I took a tour of the place previously, as seen here, but this time I just wanted to get a couple shots with it as a background for my soon-to-be released Christmas story.

In earlier trips to the area, I never got to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but this time I was determined to change that. So I did! And I got to see one of Slash's hats...

and Bruce's outfit from his Born in the U.S.A. album cover...

and the scribbled lyrics to Jimi's originally titled "Purple Haze Jesus Saves".

But in beweent the Christmas house and the hall of rock, I visited Holy Name High School in Parma Heights.

They were a lovely bunch of nicely dressed students.

And they had some of the best questions. There were questions about character motivation, my own take-away from my books, and even a request to try to get Selena Gomez as some dude's prom date.

Then I had snacks and further conversation with 13 students. (The number 13 was just a coincidence...they said.)

After Ohio, I took a brief breather in California, then it was back on a plane to Texas. There, I visited several very nice art museums in Fort Worth, featuring artists I've studied a lot recently, like Thomas Cole.

That evening, I met up with the organizers and fellow authors to kick-off the Mansfield Book Festival Mellow Mushroom. Here I am with Daniel Jose Older and Christina Diaz Gonzales with our cupcakes (provided by Creations Baking Company).

The first presentation I went to was for Kid Chef Eliana. She is an incredible presenter...

and a delicious cook! I had her book Cool Kids Cook: Fresh and Fit signed for Isaiah.

One of the most entertaining while educational presentations I've seen was Nathan Hale's discussion of his "Hazardous Tales" series. Is there any better combination than hilarious and historical? I mean, if Nathan and Eliana did a program together, that would unbeatable!

I gave a keynote presentation, which is always fun (though slightly intimidating when other authors are present), where I got to get rid of more packets of my What Light hot chocolate in exchange for questions.

That was followed by a panel about social media with Julie Murphy and Kelsey Macke. So this pic, I guess, is Murphy, Mac and Me!

Fall 2016 Children's Books

Scrolling through the Publishers Weekly Fall 2016 Children’s Books issue, these are the soon-to-be released and recently released middle-grade and teen novels that most grabbed my attention:

Insert Coin to Continue by John David Anderson. Bryan Biggins wakes up to find that his life has become a video game.

It’s All Fun and Games by Dave Barrett. Six friends cross into a dangerous fantasy world while taking part in a game of live-action roleplaying.

Lost in Ghostville by John Bladek. When someone kidnaps all the ghosts in town, including his grandmother, Trey races to save her spirit.

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth. In this time-travel tale, Emma is on the crew of both her school production of Hamlet and the Globe Theater’s original play.

Polaris by Beth Bowland. Aaron unwittingly initiates “The Game,” in which his hometown is the playing board and its residents are the players.

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron. Nadia sets out to solve the mystery behind the memory purge her town imposes every 12 years.

The Adventures of a Wimpy Superhero by Tim Collins. A teen’s diary chronicles his attempts to be a superhero.

How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You by Tara Eglington. Aurora doesn’t want her first kiss to be with a guy she can’t stand, her co-star in a play.

The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín. In this tale blending horror, fantasy, and folklore, every teen must spend a day being hunted.

League of Archers by Eva Howard. A girl on the run after being accused of killing Robin Hood leads her League of Archers in a search to find the real killer.

Dreidels on the Brain by Joel Ben Izzy. In this novel of growing up Jewish, Joel tries to survive Hanukkah 1971 in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

The Row by J.R. Johansson. Riley wants to uncover the truth about her father, a convicted serial killer, before his execution.

The Romantics by Leah Konen. The story of a boy’s tangled love life is narrated by Love herself.

More Than Magic by Kathryn Lasky. The daughter of TV animators and a character in one of their cartoons team up to save the day in both of their worlds.

The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee. A teen uses her extrasensitive sense of smell to mix perfumes that help others fall in love.

The Missing by J.R. Lenk. In 1890 London, a teen who witnesses the goings-on of ghosts helps keep the peace between the living and dead.

The Library Book: Curse of the Boggin by D.J. MacHale launches a series set a place where no one knows how stories end, and stories you can’t finish might finish you.

The Best Man by Richard Peck. Archer’s beloved uncle marries another man—Archer’s favorite teacher.

Into White by Randi Pink. When a black teen’s prayers to be white are answered, her journey of self-discovery takes unexpected twists.

Threads by Ami Polonsky. An American girl finds a note with a desperate plea for help from a girl stuck in a Beijing factory.

And Then the Sky Exploded by David A. Poulsen. When a boy learns his great-grandfather helped build the A-bombs dropped on Japan, he wants to make amends.

Monsterville: A Lissa Black Production by Sarah Schauerte Reida. In this series debut, a girl makes monster movies starring a creature from the local woods.

One Was Lost by Natalie Richards. On their senior camping trip, teens wake up to find some kids missing and four dolls dressed like them acting out a murder.

The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy. Multiple murders occur that are eerily similar to the dark stories Lana’s late stepbrother used to tell.

Sticker Girl by Janet Tashjian, illus. by Inga Wilmink, launches a series about a girl whose sticker collection comes to life.

Life in a Fishbowl by Len Vlahos. A teen sabotages the reality TV show that is making a mockery of her family’s life.

Sometimes We Tell the Truth by Kim Zarins. Teens tell stories on a class trip bus ride in this retelling of The Canterbury Tales.

The German Edition!

WHAT LIGHT: Cover Design

I want everyone to read my next book. That would be awesome for so many reasons! But I'll be plenty happy if the only people who read it are the people who want to read a story exactly like the one I wrote. (Although, I think the world would be a much better place if everyone did read it, which I feel morally obligated to say.)

So the most important job of a cover is to grab the attention of people looking for a story just like the one behind the cover. A good title helps, too, which is why I'm glad we settled on what we did rather than those...other ideas of mine.

Until I publish something that's illustrated (no...just checked...I can't say anything yet), one of the most exciting parts of having a book in production is seeing the cover. Or different versions of a cover. With What Light, I saw five potential cover designs. I went back and forth between two designs, but when I showed all five to a couple of people, they chose a different one. So I showed them to a few more people (authors, librarians...), but none of them agreed with me, which was the entire point!

What they kept landing on, whether they knew the premise of the book or not (I wanted both perspectives) was this...

And I liked that one, but I didn't love it. When they told me what they liked about it, I understood where they were coming from, but I imagined myself giving a PowerPoint presentation at a school or library, excitedly showing the covers of Thirteen Reasons Why and The Future of Us, and then casually putting up my latest offering.

How could I tweak this cover to become the cover I would choose? Thankfully, it was winter, and as I was strolling downtown, I came across this poster in a store window...

I snapped a photo of it and emailed it to my publisher and editor. I'll admit, I did not do the best job in telling them how I thought the image of the girl would be enhanced by adding light "flares" or "bursts" or "shimmers" or whatever I called them. And their casual response echoed that I did not describe my vision well enough to convince them.

So I had to show them.

To repeat myself, thankfully, it was winter. That meant I didn't have to climb into the garage attic to fetch a string of Christmas lights, I could simply untangle them from the tree! Then I pulled up the original design onto my laptop, which has a reflective screen, plugged in the lights, and snapped a photo of the cover that included reflected light flares/bursts/shimmers.

And I emailed them this...

Now they understood, and they sent back this...

Thank you, Theresa Evangelista, for working on this cover, which I absolutely love! It represents a book exactly like the one I wrote.

If you'd like to know what What Light is about, or pre-order it, here's a link!

Read Up, Greenville

Greenville, South Carolina. When I announced I was going there to speak at a teen book festival, people piled on the praise for how beautiful it was. And...they were right! The first thing I did when I arrived was head to the most recommended spot, Falls Park.

The morning of the conference, I strolled their Farmers' Market.

Beautiful. Cozy. And the conference itself? Amazing, for so many reasons!

This was the first Read Up, Greenville festival, and I have no doubt it will continue on. It needs to! These teen book festivals are popping up around the country, keeping people inspired to read at a critical time in their lives.

Thankfully, I get to be inspired, too!

I got to hear a keynote from Holly Goldberg Sloan, an author who's also written some great screenplays.

I finally got to hear the powerful presentation of Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely for their book, All American Boys, after following their travels online for the past year.

I also had the opportunity to sit on a keynoters panel with the three previous authors because I gave the first keynote of the day.

When not speaking myself, I heard some other great panels. Something I thoroughly enjoy about YA panels that I rarely see with other authors is the back-and-forth dialogue and camaraderie among the panelists. One of the best examples occurred at this conference with Jessica Brody, Susane Colasanti,Stephanie Perkins, and Will Walton. I'd met Jessica and Stephanie at various events over the years, and they're always a couple of the authors I most look forward to seeing. It was great to see Will again after meeting him a couple years ago right after he sold his debut novel, Anything Could Happen. And now I got to buy a copy and get it signed!

But I'd never met Susane before, and was a little intimidated because she's basically royalty when it comes to YA love stories, and I happen to have one of those releasing in a couple months. So to find out she was hoping I could spare an advance copy of What Light? So! Frickin'! Cool!

Another very fun and informative panel featured people who work at Penguin Random House Audio. We also got to hear from a couple actors who narrate for them, Kirby Heyborne and January LaVoy. One activity requiring audience participation prompted Jason, Brendan, and I to give our best impressions of happy cows.

That evening, the speakers were treated to a great meal, hosted at the beautiful bookstore, M. Judson Books. There, I was fortunate enough to sit beside and chat with the super-smart-but-makes-you-feel-smart-too Jennifer Lynn Barnes, an author I somehow haven't crossed paths with since shortly after her first book came out.

That evening, as everyone was winding down, some of us stayed up late in the hotel lobby. There, something happened that never even crossed my mind as a series of words I could one day string into a sentence: I got a tarot reading from Maggie Stiefvater.

Other incredible authors at this festival, all of whom I hope to see again in the very near future: Aisha Saeed, Beth Revis, Brendan Reichs, Carry Ryan, Cassie Beasley, Jessica Khoury, Maya Van Wagenen, Megan Miranda, Nova Ren Suma, Renee Ahdieh, Ryan Graudin, Terra Elan McVoy, and Tiffany Schmidt.

The U.K. Fall/Winter Edition!

RWA 2016

For several days recently, I attended my third RWA conference. That anagram stands for Romance Writers of America. And yes, I was one of only a handful of dudes there. Thankfully, as one of my friends unironically said, "You seem to fit right in."

Truly, this is such a warm, welcoming, and supportive group of professionals. Unless you try really hard, it's nearly impossible to feel like an outsider. More than anything, the group is so inspiring. It's impossible to find authors who collectively work harder (as well as put up with the most crap) than romance authors. Check out the trailer for this new documentary, which they screened the first night of the conference:

As a bonus, this year's conference was held at a beautiful San Diego hotel.

While conferences are great to get re-inspired, reunited with friends, and learn, it's also a great place to promote a new or upcoming release. For me, that meant bringing What Light hot cocoa packets to the Goody Room. I could have given away over 300 of these things if I'd brought them, but we were allowed very specific dimensions, so I had to return over and over to replenish my box.

One of the first people I ran into at the conference was Crystal Perkins, who wore a dress that basically begged me to ask for a selfie.

I had dinner with an author I haven't had a chance to hang out with before, Jenny Han. Chatting one-on-one with someone I've never really spoken with can be difficult for a shy, introverted, small-talk-fumbling guy like me. But I completely enjoyed--and learned from--our freewheeling discussion of writing, promotion, race, gender issues, politics and religion. Yes, we absolutely went there in our very first conversation. And we left as friends!

Plus, the food was delicious. Delicious! This wooden bowl is holding BBQ carrots. I know, they look all...whaaaaaa???...but they tasted like...mmmmmm!!!

Other wonderful authors whose books I've read that I dined with but was too dumb to document with a pic: Jennifer Snow, Heather Davis, and Sally Kilpatrick.

I also got to meet a YA author whose debut novel I've been wanting to read since I first heard its premise. And now I have a signed copy of Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods!

An exciting aspect of this conference was running into authors who had read my books and had teenagers back home who had also read my books. So they sent pics to their daughters to make them jealous!

Kimberly Kincaid

Jill Shalvis

I can't wait to hear what their daughters (and these authors!) think of my new book, which I made sure they received.

Another thing I love about this conference is the thought put into presentation. The main ballroom always looks so glamorous, which adds to the feeling of respect for the art and business being discussed.

The highlight of the conference is always the awards ceremony. Awards are given to many subgenres within the romance category, with the RITA going to published books and the Golden Heart going to unpublished manuscripts. Both awards are given equal prestige, and the editors of the winning books are also invited to speak after the authors accepts their award.

One winner of a RITA is also a friend. Pintip Dunn's YA novel, Forget Tomorrow, won in the Best First Book category. 

I would love to win a RITA one day. Love! Just sayin'. Just throwing it out there...

There were a lot of sequins and high heels at the ceremony, and even a dude in a kilt, but I was mighty proud of the tie I had made just for this event. I even had it signed by the RITA winner above!

Here's the larger group of YA authors I had the opportunity to hang out with at the conference.

Meg Kassel, T.L. Sumner, L.A. Freeland, Pintip Dunn,
Darcy Woods, Kimberly MacCarron, Sheri Renae Preston-Adkins,
Marni Bates, Mary Sullivan, Vanessa Barneveld, Marnee Blake,
Amy DeLuca (a.k.a. Amy Patrick), Jessica Ruddick, Nicole Hohmann

Hopefully I'll see you all next year in Orlando!