Back from BEA in the Big Apple
What a whirlwind. I met Walter Dean Myers and his son Christopher, talked about their new book We Are America. Myers is coming to the Northern Neck on August 1 to talk about his 76 books. Joining me for a teen writing contest and workshop are local authors Rena Shipp and Dorothy Holmes, hoping to inspire more young writers with Myers’ award-winning books.
My publisher is expanding with mystery/thriller imprint and a New York team. Some of us who signed with AmazonEncore early in 2010 have second books out, some third. Francine Prose left her Tennessee stories for Paris Noire. Karen McQuestion rounded us all up for breakfast after the fabulous rooftop reception on Monday night. Steffan Piper and Maria Murnane, early AE cybercolleagues, and I caught up on writing news. Maria’s The MisAdventures of Waverly Bryson is in 3500 CVS stores. Hoorah for AE.
Good news on home front: I’ve been invited to speak at Fall for the Book, the Fairfax Book Festival, on September 18. And my editor, bless his soul, arranged for the big black car in NYC, so I felt like I had really arrived. Lots of buzz about Catcher, Caught with school librarians, and at the Children’s Book Breakfast where AE gave away hundreds of copies to booksellers and librarians who had ‘heard of the book.’ Ink 48 Hotel took great care of us, from fancy hors d’ouevres to leopard terry robes. I scarfed up a copy of Alice Hoffman’s new book and Paul Farmer’s advance review copy on Haiti. Walked those New York streets, danced in the aisles at the musical Chicago and sat in Times Square and absorbed the kaleidoscope of signs and people. Fun (and exhausting).